48 Hours in the Big Apple: Part One
By Daniel Graham
I found myself strapped into an Air Alaska seat that seemed comfortable enough for the flight ahead (I mean, how bad can a 5hr 45m flight really be?) and my newfound travel anxieties started to settle in.
What if the flight gets delayed?
What if there is a storm in our path and we get rerouted?
What if there is a forced landing?
Despite the years of uneventful flights and successful landings, my mind could not help but settle on the worst-case scenario. It was, in fact, my first flight in over 10 years (not including the time I went skydiving for a friend’s birthday) and I could not help but be consumed by worry.
A reassuring glance from my girlfriend as we lift-off from the tarmac does little to set my mind at ease before I spend the next few hours fading in and out of sleep until we finally touch down at JFK. Now, the 48-hour clock we have starts counting down until we are on our flight back home.
Two short train rides later and we arrive in Bedford Stuyvesant -- aka Bedford or Bedstuy -- where my cousin, Raquel, has lived for a few years. Following a quick welcome, shower and wardrobe change, we are out on the street again headed to our first stop.
9 a.m. Miss Bagel Brooklyn – 1351 Fulton St., Brooklyn, NY.
A brief walk from the apartment and we find Miss Bagel. It seems fairly unassuming from the outside with its muted storefront and well-kept interior; my faith in its offerings rested in my cousin’s recommendation.
Not knowing where to start, I eyed the $14 specialty bagels and settled on the Moroccan Morning -- a bagel sandwich with merguez-sausage, shakshuka tomato sauce, harissa aioli, green salsa and two fried eggs.
Another short train ride and our sleepy food-tour found seating at the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, and I dug into the most divine bagel I have ever been blessed with. My everything bagel was the perfect platform for the saucy and gooey mess made by the shakshuka. My bagel was not the only one that made its mark either. Along with their Korean Hangover bagel's gochujang and kimchi, Miss Bagel Brooklyn proved to be a delectable fusion that felt perfect for our first meal in New York.
Photo by Daniel Graham: Moroccan Morning Bagel being held in its wrapper.
11:30 a.m. - Midday Snacks and Activities
Bagels now tucked away safely in our bellies, we make our way down to the underside of the Brooklyn Bridge. Here, we catch a closer view of the Manhattan skyline before making our way back to the subway to take another 10-minute ride to the World Trade Center. There, we find rows of EZups and various aromatics to greet us as we approached the Oculus.
“Oh my god I had no idea this was happening this today,” Raquel said.
The weekly market Smorgasburg travels between various locations every weekend. On Fridays, you can find it at the World Trade Center. Saturdays the fest can be found in Williamsburg and on Sundays, in Prospect Park.
The vendors were selling everything you could think of, hailing from all sorts of nationalities. Fresh bao, barbeque, Georgian cuisine, fresh-baked cookies and doughnuts, fresh-squeezed sugar cane and coconut beverages and so much more. It was a shame that we had just stuffed our faces with bagels a few minutes before, but my girlfriend and I did indulge ourselves in a pineapple and mint lemonade from “Vermont Maple Lemonade” while my cousin got a blackberry and blueberry lemonade. Both drinks were among the best lemonades I have had; the pineapple and mint being an unexpected favorite that gave us enough energy to carry us to our next destination.
Shopping in SoHo did not give us much time to stop and eat, however it was remarkable how many shops fit in those few blocks we walked down. After an hour or so of shopping, we took another train back to Bedford for a much-needed power-nap before getting ready for dinner.
Photo by Daniel Graham: Smorgasburg tents set up outside the Oculus
5:30 p.m. - BarDough - 350 West 46th Street New York, NY., 10036
After waking up in a daze, I hastily threw on a new outfit before spending the next 30 minutes on an A-train to Hell’s Kitchen trying to wake up. On our agenda? An early dinner at BarDough, a quaint Italian joint that we hoped would satiate our desire for authentic New York style pizza.
After a starter of whipped ricotta with balsamic cherries -- quite rich, definitely worth a try -- I ordered their Truffle Pie, a pizza with a ricotta cream sauce and topped with caramelized onions and mushrooms that proved to be the highlight of the trip thus far.
We spent the rest of our time there reconnecting with another cousin, who happened to be in the city as well, before heading to Times Square to burn off a few more calories to make room for dessert.
Photo by Daniel Graham: Pepperoni Pizza and Truffle Pie from Bardough in Hell's Kitchen.
8:30 p.m. – Magnolia Bakery – 1240 Avenue of the Americas (at 49th St.) New York, NY., 10020
I did not even realize we were walking into the bakery when we arrived. The location we walked to was right around the corner (it literally sat on the corner) from Rockefeller center.
Admittedly, I had not even heard of this place until that day, but that did not stop me from excitedly ordering the “world-famous” banana pudding -- something I have also never tried before. We had not even made it to Rockefeller center before my girlfriend and I were scraping the sides of the cup for whatever was left. Luckily, it gave us enough energy to wander around the city before catching the late-night C-train back to Bedford to rest my eyes for the first time in nearly 26 hours.
Photo by Daniel Graham: Banana pudding cup from Magnolia Bakery.