missing new york...

although i love, love, love los angeles, i do have the occasional pang of longing for some of my old haunts in new york city.  i haven't been back since we moved last may, and i am constantly remembering places i want to revisit for old time's sake when i finally do make it out there again.  my list is weighted towards lower manhattan, for sure, thanks to living and working in the same neighborhood for a few years.  new york is an ever changing city, though, so i will have to make a list of new places to go to that have sprung up since we left.  here are the oldies, for now, so i don't forget!

i want to eat...

• burgers at burger joint, hidden inside le parker meridien hotel in midtown (
• the chicken sandwich with chipotle mayo at tiny cafe gitane (mott and prince), or a quick sandwich at ruby's (mulberry at spring)
  
• a piece of cheese-dusted corn from cafe habana
• a slice at ray's on prince street at mott
• breakfast at balthazar, (spring at crosby)
• pain au chocolat from ceci cela, (spring at mulberry)
• a big ol' steak at keen's (36th street at 6th avenue)
• dinner at gramercy tavern (20th street between park and madison) or craftbar
• dinner at freeman's (at the end of freeman alley, off rivington near bowery)
• a slice of the cold pizza at sullivan street bakery in soho (sullivan near broome)
• cupcakes at billy's bakery (9th avenue near 23rd street) after hitting the galleries in chelsea (better than magnolia, and not such a line!)
• burger and shake at shake shack (in madison square park, madison and 23rd street)
• chocolate everything at jacques torres, on hudson near houston
• a spot of tea at wild lily tea room in chelsea, to recover from all that art, or at thé adore (on 13th street near university place), near union square
• a cowboy cookie at olive's (prince at greene) in soho, and here's the recipe
• an apple turnover at la table o& co., the random little cafe inside the l'occitane store in soho (i swear, it's an amazing pastry)
• chicken coconut curry over thai black at rice (mott between prince and spring)
• blackjack burgers and beers at pianos (ludlow at stanton)
• brunch at the new location of paris commune in west village (bank street at greenwich) or prune in east village (1st street between 1st and 2nd aves)
• a big bowl o' rigatoni at bar pitti, hoping for a wes anderson/noah baumbach sighting
• a warm egg bagel at david's bagels, on 1st avenue around 14th street
• the best chocolate ship cookie ever, at city bakery (18th street near 5th ave.) (even though we have one in l.a. now, too)
• scallion pancakes and dumplings at one of our no-name holes in chinatown
• dessert at chikalicious, east village
• some red sauce at gino (780 lexington) on the upper east side... and some zebra wallpaper while we're at it
• a cone at ciao bella (mott near houston), nolita
• pizza at otto (8th street at 5th avenue) or grimaldi's (in brooklyn heights, on fulton by the waterfront and the brooklyn bridge)
• dosas at hampton chutney co. (prince street at crosby)
• some fancy chocolate at dean and deluca (prince and broadway)
• my favorite mints from gourmet garage (broome and mercer)

i want to sip....

• a late-night kir royale at restaurant florent (on gansevoort near washington) in the meatpacking district
• an expensive cocktail at public (elizabeth between spring and prince) in nolita
• a glass of wine in near darkness at the other room, on perry street in west west village
• cocktails at bemelman's bar in the carlyle hotel (76th street and madison)
• a beer at good world (on orchard near canal) in chinatown/LES

i want to shop at...

• a few of my favorite garment district faves - tinsel trading company, for some cool notions; hyman hendler and sons for the most amazing ribbon; school products for discount cones of yarn; mood for designer fabric remnants
• jack spade - to check out the remodeled store and say hi to my old friends there
• my old nolita favorites - erica tanov, hable construction, lyell, á detacher, mayle, marchand et legumes, seize sur vingt, and the calypso outlet store (on broome street)
• makie in soho - the most charming, understated baby store on the planet (109 thompson street)
• purl and downtown yarns, my favorite knitting stores in the city (and i have to check out the new purl patchwork quilting store, also on sullivan street!)
• abc carpet and home, to look at their always impressive windows and displays (and maybe the one in dumbo for a deal)
• the big, glamorous department stores: barneys and bergdorf's, definitely takashimaya, and maybe henri bendel and saks
• the bleecker street marc jacobs, and see what else has opened up on that rapidly morphing street
• three lives and co., for a book to read on the plane ride home, and to wander around and get lost in the west village... c.o. bigelow on the way?
• pearl river mart for my favorite cheap dishtowels
• bddw (perfect handcrafted furniture), ted muehling (delicate jewelry), and opening ceremony (conceptual clothing) in soho
• find outlet in chelsea, for a deal on some cute indie designer's leftovers
• printed matter and balenciaga in chelsea
• jeffrey, bodum, auto, move lab, and breukelen (closed) in meatpacking
• steven alan and olatz in tribeca
• moss, the post-fire prada, kirna zabete, jill stuart, pastec (459 broome street), matta (115 grand street) and apc in soho
• century 21 - need i say more?
• spoonbill and sugartown, spacial (bedford and n. 6th), fabiane's and future perfect in williamsburg, bark (brooklyn's moss) and butter in boerum hill, and castor and pollux, bird and nest in park slope
• the dueling japanese dollar stores on grand street, between mott and mulberry - neither of which are as good as my california faves, but for old times' sake, you know?

i want to go to...

• the new new museum (wish i could see that andrea zittel show up right now...)
• the dia
• central park for a stroll, to camp out with the sunday times in the sunshine, and to check out the sunday afternoon rollerskaters (click for a picture on someone's flicker account of the most fabulous skater of all, my old-lady favorite... that woman knows how to skate!)
• williamsburg, to see what's new out there
• dumbo
• the galleries in chelsea, especially 303, henry urbach, max protech, and all the others that i can't remember the names of
  
• the whitney, moma, the met, cooper-hewitt design museum, american folk art museum and the swiss institute
• for a stroll among the fancy shops on madison avenue
• PS 1
• the statue of liberty and ellis island... because believe it or not, i never went to either in all the time i lived in new york.  whoops!