New York 2013 - Peter Pan's Bakery - Eataly - PopBar - Caliente Cab - Nathan's Hot Dog

My third trip to New York was full of rooftop fun. I stayed with my friend Mary in Brooklyn and basically shadowed her around to observe the typical Brooklynite life.

It started with some beer and a gorgeous view of Manhattan from a swanky rooftop

 Of course, the New York Pizza is a must have. I always love margherita. On the top, our friend tried this weird black been sauce, avocado, and tomato pizza which was no good. Always stick to the classics, folks.

Red Velvet donut from Peter Pan's Bakery. This place is one of Tina Fey's favorite places and this donut was really good.

Off we go to Manhattan to take in some sights and bites. An artist had made all these walls around trees in the park using brightly colored ropes. There were so many other structures but I had the wrong lens...le boo

I finally get to try Eataly and I order this Romaine lettuce with shaved asparagus and a ton of cheese. It wasn't even good. I was already super full by the time I got here but I had to eat something just to say I ate something here so I chose a light salad and twas the wrong choice. But Eataly is really a fun place to just peruse the aisles. If I lived in NY, I would buy gourmet foods here when I want to splurge with my home cooking.

I've always wanted to try Pop Bar since I saw them on TV some years back. You can customize your own popsicle by choosing the gelato flavor, type of chocolate for the dip, and toppings for the outside. I chose a vanilla bar with milk chocolate dip, pistachios on one side and peanuts on the other. This was over $5. Yikes! We sat outside the shop and it was so hot that the bar started melting faster than I could eat. Gelato in bar form is not at its best. Otherwise, everything about this bar is awesome, except the price. It's vacation though, once in a while you should try a $5 gelato bar.

Stopped by Caliente Cab for some uneventful appetizers on the side of some really great margaritas. I chose guava and my friend had the classic lime margarita. Both good. I wish I had chosen a larger cup but then again bathrooms can be hard to come by in the streets of Manhattan so maybe I did make the right choice.

Met up with Alvin to check out the Mermaid Parade at Coney Island. I took a super long and packed train ride up here, full of screaming Chinese school children and people dressed as mermaids. Standing room only. Ahhh I was so grumpy when I got here, almost turned right back around and got back on the train before it got crowded with people returning from the festival. I was too short to get any pictures of the mermaids except these two non-mermaid sea creatures.

Tried to get a video clip of Alvin on this hang gliding ride and I couldn't work my camera settings so I only got a video of my feet. Man, this trip was an utter fail.

Except for this hot dog with onions and peppers from the original Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs. It was good but meh, just a regular hot dog at the end of the day. Long and skinny. tee hee

The trip ended as it started, with a Brooklyn rooftop BBQ. I met these guys from Manhattan Agriculture, a Brooklyn based rooftop farm. At first they were just enjoying the bbq and then suddenly Luke Wu pulls out a bag of home grown veggies. What?!? Who brings veggies to a bbq and lays them out like a farmer's market? I loved it. If I wasn't traveling, I would totally take these veggies and cook something, especially those baby carrots and garlic scapes. Rooftop agriculture is really fascinating for a California girl like me because densely populated urban areas do not have a lot of land for farming. It's a great way to make use of the same land without plowing down more trees to make arable land. San Francisco is already doing this but I hear that rooftop gardens in SF are struggling. Well you pretty much have a Whole Foods or a community garden on every corner, it must be a tough market. Check out the Manhattan Agriculture Facebook page, make a donation if you wish. Look at their awesome food porn. Enjoy!