restaurants


Places to eat in New York City

pictured: interior of Sveta’s in New York, the interior changes depending upon the season /

New York City is full of delicious places to eat. Everywhere you turn there are several choices when it comes to picking a place to eat for your next meal. This can make it challenging to choose just one restaurant for each meal because you want to try everything! On our recent trip to New York, I made sure to visit a few restaurants I enjoyed from my days of traveling to New York for fashion week, as well as trying a few new places to eat. As a result, I curated my favorite restaurants from my recent trip to New York so you have a guide to refer to next time you travel to New York. Enjoy!

San Marino Ristorante

One of my favorite places to eat in New York is San Marino Ristorante. Located inside the Four Points Sheraton SOHO, in the back of the lobby, San Marino Ristorante serves delicious Italian food. As someone with Italian ancestry, I can attest that this restaurant is authentic and absolutely delicious. I love the ravioli, pictured above, as well as the Bolognese. This place is a must-try! You can use the address 60 Charlton Street to find the hotel and make sure you walk through the lobby into the back on the right. In the warmer months the front patio is open, so you can easily walk through the front of the restaurant.

Abiko Curry

Located in Koreatown at 2 west 32rd street, Abiko Curry is a casual dining restaurant where you order your meal at your table using a tablet. They have a large menu full of various types of curry which you can customize for your spice tolerance. I enjoyed donburi with delicious baby spice level-don’t laugh. I have zero spice tolerance! haha

Chow House

Since I am from the Bay Area, I never have high expectations eating Chinese food elsewhere. It is usually watered down and very American. When we tried Chow House, I instantly judged it because the name is very American. The menu was also tailored for American’s. Thankfully, this was not an indication of taste! The food turned out to be very good and we really enjoyed our meal. The tea was high quality and the xlb was flavorful. Chow House is located at 181 Bleeker Street in New York.

Joe’s Pizza

Have you eaten in New York if you haven’t had a pizza by the slice? I think not! Joe’s Pizza has pizza by the slice priced under $5 and has photograph’s inside to prove all the celebrities who have enjoyed pizza there. There are several locations. We enjoyed pizza at the 7 Carmine Street location.

Sveta

This might have been my favorite meal of our New York trip! Sveta is located at 64 Carmine Street and boasts a menu of Ukrainian and Russian food. The food was delicious, and the decor was something else! Inside the restaurant there is a huge array of seasonal flowers, faux of course, which go along the poles, beams and ceiling. You feel like you are walking into a magical garden. In addition to decor, the drink menu has giant handbag shaped glasses as well as other interesting designs. The table next to us ordered several drinks served in handbags, feathers, and very interested glassware. Since I don’t drink alcohol, I am not sure what they ordered, but they were very big and interesting! We enjoyed tea, which was served in metal and glass, and very pretty too.

Yama Ramen

Yes, I went to a Ramen place and ordered sushi. In my defense, it was really good sushi! My daughter enjoyed their ramen and assured me it was delicious. So, if you are looking for sushi or ramen, Yama Ramen is a great place to go! It is conveniently located near Rockefeller Plaza at 60 West 48th street. The door is a little tricky to find, but once you locate it, you can go upstairs to the restaurant. Yummy!

Laduree SOHO

I had to bring my daughter to tea at Laduree! They have a non-alcoholic tea option which was perfect for us. As always, the sandwiches are delicious, and the sweets are out of this world. I highly recommend a slow day when you can enjoy tea time! Laduree SOHO is located at 398 West Broadway.

Well, that’s it! We ate at several other restaurants too which were delicious, but these were my favorites. I hope you are able to try a few of these on your next trip to the big apple!

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy


Places to eat in Santa Rosa

pictured: pasta from 19ten Bar & Provisions /

Santa Rosa is a quick drive north on highway 101 from the city. There are a lot of fun activities to do in the area for either a day trip, or a weekend staycation. While visiting Santa Rosa in late December, we ate at several restaurants, some we loved, and a couple which were “meh.” So, I decided to curate all my favorite places to eat in Santa Rosa right here in one convenient post! This way, when you head up to Santa Rosa for a day trip or staycation, you will know exactly where to eat! Yum!

pictured: Santa Rosa Omlette from Americana

  • 19ten Bar & Provisions
    • 115 4th St., Santa Rosa
    • Favorites: Miso Cilantro Fettucine, 19ten Burger, Spiced Apple & Brie
  • Jackson’s Bar and Oven
    • 135 4th St., Santa Rosa
    • Favorites: all the pizzas, Mac & Cheese, Truffle Fries, and the burger.
  • A’Roma Roasters Coffee and Tea
    • 5th St., Santa Rosa (near the train station)
    • Favorites: Salted Caramel Latte, all the coffee is good tho!
  • Americana
    • 205 5th St, Santa Rosa
    • Favorites: Santa Rosa Omlette, Chicken Fried Chicken, Breakfast Sandwich
    • They also serve lunch, but we didn’t taste it. I am sure it is good! They use all local ingredients, love that!

When you walk around downtown, see how many Peanuts characters you can spot! It’s fun!

Do you have any favorite places to eat in Santa Rosa?

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO
Cathy

pictured below: Spiced Apple & Brie from 19ten Bar & Provisions


Striped sweater and jeans

striped sweater and jeans how to style a striped sweater

wearing: silver hoop earrings / striped sweater / caramel top handle bag / holiday nail polish / black jeans / black belt / black boots /

In any given season, I have a go-to outfit. This fall season, my go-to outfit has become this striped sweater and jeans! I love how they look together, and I also love how this handbag contrasts the ensemble.

I have been wearing this outfit often, so I snapped a photo on my last trip to Valley Fair to window shop with my mom and also enjoy some delicious udon. If you are local, have you tried Marugame Udon yet? They have two locations, one in Cupertino and one in Valley Fair.

When Marugame Udon first opened at Valley Fair, the line was really long-I mean REALLY long! I knew I wanted to try the Udon, but the line seemed longer than the one at Ramen Nagi, so I kept going back to the line I knew how to navigate at Ramen Nagi. Thankfully, my mom spotted Marugame Udon and instantly suggested we go there, she was even willing to wait in line! Love!

The line moved really fast. I didn’t realize the restaurant was cafeteria style, where you are given a bowl of base udon on a tray, and you can add to it down the line. So, the line is deceiving! You don’t have to wait for a table, it is a quick line for ordering. I wish I had known that sooner! haha

We ended up eating lunch quickly, and we really enjoyed it! I had the BK Udon and I added a soft-boiled egg, tempura, and a potato vegetable croquet. Yum! I would definitely order the same combo again. My only complaint was my egg was cold, as if it just came out of the refrigerator. Other than that, the food was delicious! Again, YUM!

Shop my striped sweater outfit online:

So, if you are local, I highly recommend Marugame Udon. It is delicious!

Thanks for stopping by,

XOXO

Cathy

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