hello brooklyn! to kick off october, justin & i spent a week in new york city. it was the perfect fall getaway, even though the weather was in the high summer temps (i guess we just have to go back for round two of fall in the city). we seriously had the best time, i can't wait to visit again! it was justin's first trip to new york city & my first trip to brooklyn. we (ok.. i) decided to road trip up (which was an 8 hour drive) because i wanted justin to expereince the best of a new york state road trip. a pit stop for breakfast at cracker barrel, lunch at paneras & a scenic drive throughout pennsylvania/new jersey where we caught the start of the fall foliage. how can anyone not love this time of year?
we stayed at the hoxton hotel in williamsburg, brooklyn & it was so beautiful! i am in love with every little detail of the hotel. the interiors are stunning & the restaurant serves up a delicious brunch. the hoxton is london based, which makes the style so unique to new york. when you enter, there is a cafe serving up amazing baked goods, fancy coffee & fresh pressed juices. to the other side of the entry is the restaurant called klein's, which has a large outdoor patio. we enjoyed a few brunches here which i managed to photograph! the traditional english breakfast was a favourite (look at that tater tot). plus, each morning the hoxton delivers breakfast in a bag to your door which includes an overnight oats, orange juice & banana. we will call it first breakfast because on vacation the food never really stops.
we spent our first day exploring williamsburg (brooklyn) & east village (manhattan). i got to visit my favourite online shops in person! bird brooklyn, 7115 by szeki & caron callahan to name a few. i was fortunate enough to meet caron callahan herself (i think justin was fangirling more then me) who is one of the best designers i know. we had dinner at pies 'n' thighs, which served up some amazing fried chicken + waffles. the next day we walked over the williamsburg bridge & explored just about all of manhattan. we had coffee in the streets next to the flat iron building (which was one of the highlights of the trip), saw the empire state building, went through times square, radio city music hall, rockefeller center & central park. on the way home justin wanted to check out grand central station & we came across urbanspace vanderbilt. urbanspace brings over 20 artisanal + chef-driven food concepts to one space. it was so hard to choose a vendor, but we both settled on mian kitchen which served up some amazing bao, fried dumplings & popcorn chicken. justin said it was the "best popcorn chicken he's ever had".
the next day was the hottest day of them all, so we stayed in brooklyn & explored the greenpoint neighbourhood. it reminded me of toronto's queen west, where justin & i previously lived. such a quaint & artsy neighbourhood! we had coffee at homecoming, walked around the historic brownstones, shopped at home of the brave, ate lunch at fornino pizza & relaxed by the waterfront. i was hoping to see the brownstones in park slope as well, but because of the heat we decided to stay close to the hotel. our next two days were spent with red star yeast & the feed feed celebrating the launch of the new platinum instant sourdough yeast. more about this in my next blog post! for now, i will link to some of my favourite shops, cafes & restaurants below.
until next time new york! xo
cafes: partners coffee, homecoming, depanneur , dominique ansel bakery & oslo coffee roasters
shops: caron callahan, 7115 by szeki, bird brooklyn, home of the brave & wolves within.
restaurants: klein's (hoxton), pies 'n' thighs, chez ma tante, mian kitchen, fornino & chelsea market.
hotels: the hoxton, williamsburg
