Make sure to find yourself a friend who says, let me take you out for lunch for your birthday…in Brooklyn (when you live in Massachusetts).

We finally made a date and took the Amtrak Northeast Regional one drizzly morning down to Penn Station. Two days before, I get a text saying, “My plan is to catch up on the train, sleep a little, read a little, have lunch, come home.” I wrote back, “do I even get to sit next to each other, or should I walk past you and pretend like we don’t know each other?” Good friends send messages like that, and understand each other. We can say hello, catch up for 10 minutes, and then, let’s just relax and unwind and not feel like we have to talk the whole time. And that is exactly what we did. It was perfect. Although I did get mocked for the actual size of the book that I brought with me…

So approximately four hours later, and two subway transfers, and a fifteen minute walk, we were there, Misi. It did not disappoint. Worth every calorie (which I am pretty sure we burned off walking to the subway anyway). We sat at the counter and had a front row seat to the open kitchen, fascinated by just how much citrus they use.

Hard to not order one of everything on the menu, but here is what we chose:

MisiPasta is located at 46 Grand Street Brooklyn, NY https://www.misipasta.com/ They ship nationwide

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I needed a day off to regroup and have a little “me” time. I woke up at the crack of dawn and drove in the dark to pick up Kim to head over to New London, CT to catch the 9am ferry. She made the mix tape and I brought the snacks and we took route 395 all the way there (trust me, way better than taking 95!). The trip took just under two hours and we pulled into the parking lot with plenty of time to spare. (Parking is $10 a day in New London) We were getting ready to board the Sea Jet, the fast ferry that takes you to Orient Point, Long Island. The trip takes about 40 minutes and you’re there before you know it. If you’re taking a car over, the trip takes about an hour and 20 minutes. We get on the ferry and I have time to unwind and enjoy a little time to myself – we have a full day ahead of us. The boat itself is super clean and has tables so you can get some work done if you choose. Feeling a little hungry? No worries, the cafe on board has you covered. Once we arrive in Orient Point, we are picked up in a cute little bus and Vintage Tours takes us to our first stop. Our guide today is owner Jo-Ann Perry who is such a sweetie. Her company provides tours of local wineries. She knows the area and has personal relationships with the owners of the wineries, so you are sure to have a great trip. On the weekends, tours cost $99, which includes 4 wineries and tastings and a box lunch.

Our first stop is Sep’s Farm, a family run farm that goes back 5 generations. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day in North Fork, just look at the lighting!  We were able to go out into the fields and see where the food comes from. Sep’s grows over 50 varieties of fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers. They have a great little road side farm stand where you can get a carrot or a pepper that has just been pulled from the ground earlier in the day! How cool is that?

They have great barn where we had a little snack – but it would be perfect for a summer dinner party. Do you see the vibrant colors of the cauliflowers? The top and bottom right are peppers at the farm and the third photo from the top are tomatoes.

It’s amazing how different food tastes when it is fresh from the farm! Sep’s also carries a variety of delicious jams (pictured left middle) and they make these amazing zucchini pickles (bottom right).

Sepenoski’s wife Katie pulled this fennel up from the ground while she was telling us about their farming practices. Have you ever smelled fresh fennel??

How beautiful is this purple pepper? Although, when you cook it, it doesn’t keep the bright color.

“Sep” treated us to some delicious striped bass that he had caught the day before, it was light and so delicious. Simple, fresh ingredients really make a difference.

You can find Sep’s Farm located at 7395 Main Street in East Marion. http://www.sepsfarm.com

Next stop is Old Field Vineyards, a small family owned vineyard, in fact, it is the only mother/daughter winery on Long Island. Perry, the 5th generation to work on the vineyard, lives here as well with her family. Her brother comes back east frequently to help out with the vineyard. They hand pick all of their grapes and hand cork all of their bottles. They raise chickens for fertilizer and they have a few pet ducks that prefer the kiddie swimming pool to the pond. We arrive in time to watch the punch down of the wine. While wine is fermenting, it is important to keep the fermenting wine and skins mixed – it is also important to break the cap that forms on the top several times a day to increase the color and flavor of the wine and to keep the cap from drying out. To do the punch down, they use a long tool that looks a little like a potato masher – it makes for a great arm work out! We get to taste a little from the giant vat, it tastes sweet like juice! We were able to sample 3 wines and chat with Perry about the history of the vineyard, the wine making process and the wines.

The Old Field can be found at 59600 Main Street in Southold, Long Island. http://www.theoldfield.com

Next stop is Little Creek Oyster Farm and Market. Ian and Rosalie have this cute little shop/restaurant with all things oysters. Cute t-shirts, locally made goods and of course, oysters. If the weather is nice, you can grab a seat outside on the hay bales that act as couches or a spot under the umbrella. We head inside and they show us how to shuck our own oysters.

You can “shuck yourself” for a discounted price (don’t worry, they’ll show you how!), 6 for $9, 12 for $16 or 24 for $30. If you don’t feel like working…grab 6 for $15 or 12 for $30. Never shucked an oyster before, me either. It’s a little trickier than it seems, but once you get the hang of it, it’s smooth sailing. Rosalie made it look so easy, it certainly took me a few tries to get my first one open!

In addition to oysters they have some other light bites. The pickle plate is not to be missed folks, the smoked pickles are super delicious! Also not to be missed is the chowder – creamy but not thick, flavorful, and they slice the potatoes ever so thin so that you don’t feel so bad when you’re eating them!

Little Creek Oyster Farm and Market can be found at 37 Front Street, down bootleg alley, in Greenport. http://littlecreekoysters.com

If you have a chance, make sure to stop over at the nearby carousel. It’s 100 years old and housed in an ultra modern glass house. Bring back memories from your childhood by riding the flying horses and grabbing for that special brass ring. Rides are $2 per person. Find out more information about the carousel here.

Full from lunch, we jump back on the bus and head over to Kontokosta Winery. The views are breathtaking and the tasting room is picturesque, a perfect place for a wedding. Owner Michael Kontokosta was there to greet us and give us a tour of the property. A corporate finance lawyer by trade, Michael has no formal training, but you’d never know it! The property is fairly new, with the first grapes planted in 2002.

They were still picking grapes this late in the season, so it was cool to have the chance to see the beginning of the wine making process. We were asking all kinds of questions, one of which was, “what was one of your biggest hurdles when you first started making wine?” His answer, faxing. When you go and visit, ask for the story! The winery is 62 acres and the tasting room is about 9,00 sq. ft. I loved their rosé, just trying to hold onto every last bit of summer I suppose, but seriously,  for me, it could be rosé all year round! Kontokosta also owns the Harborfront Inn nearby.

Kontokosta Winery can be found at 825 North Road in Greenport, on Long Island. http://www.kontokostawinery.com

Every trip has to have a sweet ending – this was no exception. Our final stop before heading to the ferry was The Candy Man, a small homemade candy shop that has been operated by the Heins family for four generations. On the left you can see the rum balls being made and on the right, the popular hollow turkeys.

The Candy Man can be found at 22350 Main Road in Orient, on Long Island. http://www.orientcandyman.com/

We arrive at Orient Point with minutes to spare and board the Cross Sound Ferry’s “Mary Ellen”, an auto ferry. We sit with Stan Mickus, Director of Public Affairs and Marketing for the Cross Sound Ferry. Stan tells us about the tours that the ferry offers and about all the great things the company is doing.

The Cross Sound Ferry offers a lighthouse cruise (check out my post here), a “lights and sights” tour that features view of spectacular mansions (ahem, Taylor Swift) and historic hotels in addition to the light houses, and two great packages for those traveling from Orient Point to New London to the casinos. A coach bus meets passengers in New London and takes them to either Foxwoods (where you get $10 towards food or a free festival buffet and $20 in a bonus slot play) or Mohegan Sun (where you get a $15 meal credit two $10 free bets and one $5 free bet).

For more information about the Cross Sound Ferry, check out their website here.

After a very full day, we grabbed a bite for dinner before heading home. I had such an amazing day with some good friends – I can’t wait to go back, maybe next time with my family. There was so much more to explore than what we squeezed into one day – cute shops in town, tons of wineries and breweries, restaurants, and of course the carousel. A special thanks to Stan and the folks at the Cross Sound Ferry for a wonderful afternoon.

Disclaimer: I was invited as a guest of the Cross Sound Ferry to tour the North Fork. All transportation, parking, meals and tastings were provided complimentary. All opinions are my own.

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What trip to New York is complete without stop at Magnolia Bakery? We were staying in midtown (let’s not talk about it) and so we headed up to the Rockefeller Center location. Not quite as charming as the Bleeker Street location, but hey…let’s not get picky.

Have you checked out their instagram account lately? I dig what they are doing these days!

Of course my go to is the vanilla with buttercream frosting. Still as sweet as I remember with light and fluffy cake. One bite will put you in a diabetic coma, but hey, isn’t that part of the fun? Can’t make it there? Don’t worry, they ship. Not quite the same as walking into the store and getting a fresh one, but when you don’t live in NYC, sometimes you have to make do.

Have you had their banana pudding? Tell me about it! Curious minds want to know…

Magnolia Bakery

1240 Avenue of the Americas at 49th Street, New York, NY

http://www.magnoliabakery.com

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Located at the pier, just under the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory is in a prime location. The day was humid and frankly hot as hell. Of course after walking around at the Brooklyn Flea we were sweating and needed something cool, so we waited in the enormous line to get an ice cream.

The line went out the door and around the building. There are a few seats inside but most people tried to catch the shade of the building at the benches outside. Don’t forget your cash kids, this place is cash only!

There are rest rooms located in the back, and if you try to get to them before you have ordered, prepare for lots of dirty looks from the people waiting in line!

While their ice cream looked delicious, we went with the old fashioned ice cream soda, vanilla ice cream with coke. Although, while waiting to pay, the guy behind me ordered strawberry ice cream and sprite, which seems like sacriledge but I’m oddly intrigued. Next time!!

How do you order your ice cream soda?

Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory

The Corners of Old Fulton and Water Street, Brooklyn, NY

http://www.brooklynicecreamfactory.com

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Little Cupcake Bakeshop was founded in 2005 in Brooklyn. They have expanded to two locations, one in Brooklyn and one in Nolita. We visited Nolita and loved the feel of the bakery (it just feels like a real bakery). They had an amazing assortment of cupcakes, it was hard not to buy one of everything! We got ours to go, but there are a bunch of tables for you to sit at and eat your sweets right away.

Rose Pistachio cupcake ($3.75) Such an interesting flavor – like the adult version of those green pistachio cupcakes. Great frosting to cake ratio.

Carrot Cake ($3.75) Delicious – carrot cake is one of my favorites.

Mini white chocolate raspberry cheesecake ($7) was really dense – and no matter who makes the cheesecake, there is never enough raspberry for me. That being said, this was an excellent after dinner dessert choice!

In addition to selling cupcakes and cheesecakes, they also have cookies, pies, ice cream, bars and breakfast items. They have gluten free and vegan items as well.

Little Cupcake Bakeshop

30 Prince Street, New York, NY

www.littlecupcakebakeshop.com

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Sprinkles is located in Brookfield Place, on the second floor, in the food court. Sprinkles was the world’s first cupcake bakery, founded in 2005 by Candace Nelson. The first store was opened in 2005 in Beverly Hills and they have expanded to 14 locations across the country. If you can’t make it to a Sprinkles store, you can buy the mix at Williams Sonoma and make them at home! The signature dots on the cupcakes tell you what flavor cupcake you’ve chosen. See the menu here. They have gluten free, sugar free and vegan options in addition to their standard and seasonal flavors.

(Clockwise starting at top left) ($3.75 each) Red Velvet: red velvet cake with cream cheese icing, Key Lime: key lime cake with key lime vanilla frosting, Cuban Coffee: Belgian light chocolate cake with coffee frosting with notes of cinnamon and cocoa, Chocolate Marshmallow: Belgian dark chocolate cake with marshmallow cream and bittersweet chocolate ganache, Carrot: walnut studded cake with cinnamon cream cheese frosting, Vanilla: vanilla cake with vanilla frosting.

My favorites were the cuban coffee (I loved the flavor), the carrot (for the cinnamon cream cheese frosting) and the classic red velvet (decadent but not overly sweet).

Sprinkles

225 Liberty Street, New York, NY

http://www.sprinkles.com

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While walking around we happened upon the Plaza Food Hall. The hall opened in 2010 with Todd English’s as the anchor. It has since added on to become 32,000 sq. ft of deliciousness. The shops are carefully curated. Some well know favorites and some new names pop up in the list. We started out our night getting Lady M cake slices to go.

The cake slices are not inexpensive at $7.75 a slice, but the mille crepes…totally worth it. The cake features no less than 20 paper thin handmade crepes layered with pastry cream and the top is caramelized until golden. The cake is so impossibly light with just a hint of sweetness. I love it!

Strawberry Shortcake ($7.75) is another favorite of mine. Lady M’s version is made with flour imported from Japan and it produces a vanilla sponge cake like no other. The filling is whipped cream with fresh strawberries throughout. The cake was light as air!

Chi Noodle Bar was our next stop. It was hard to decide what to get because everything sounded so good! They offer ramen, wontons, spring rolls and delicious dumplings.

The chicken dumplings were delicious, they were light and flavorful. They were not greasy at all, which you know some dumplings can be. Looking forward to going back and trying some of the other items on the menu.

Next stop Ora di Pasta, a cute little shop with a few tables inside to dine in at. We took ours out to the communal seating so that we could get a little something from a few different places.

The spaghetti with meatballs is so simple and so classic that it is a good test of an Italian restaurant. This did not disappoint with the noodles cooked perfectly al dente and the meatballs were tender and flavorful. We gobbled this up in an embarrassingly short amount of time!

We re-visited Luke’s Lobster, but decided to get something besides the lobster roll.

Ok, well not really because we did get the lobster roll, but not a whole one! We got the combo that is 1/2 crab roll, 1/2 shrimp roll and 1/2 lobster roll. I was diggin’ this trio and the spices on the shrimp roll!

No. 7 Sub is a small chain that started off in Brooklyn. Two college friends started the restaurant together in 2008 to critical acclaim by publications like Bon Appetit.

While they  have tasty subs like ‘the frito kid’ made with cold balsamic chicken, black bean hummus, lettuce, tomato and fritos or the ‘tuna toastie’ made with tuna salad, mozzarella, tomatoes, pickled red onions, thai basil and wasabi grape nuts, our dining companion went with the less than adventurous turkey with lettuce, mayo and tomato. While boring, the sub was still tasty.

The Plaza Food Hall

1 West 59th Street, New York, NY

http://www.theplazany.com/dining/foodhall/

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The Hilton in Midtown is conveniently located and has a great dining space to boot.

Just outside the restaurant, there is a convenient market of sorts where you can get breakfast to go or a late night snack (they’re open until 1am).

They offer healthy options as well as things to cheat with!

The restaurant has many different options for seating, traditional tables for those who may be here with their family and a cool bar area, shown above, if perhaps you are on business and are having breakfast alone.

The restaurant offers a hot buffet from 6:30am-11am. Fruit, yogurt, pastries, eggs, bacon, cereal, you name it, they have it.

The service is attentive and your server is always near by to clear your (not so) empty plate away or get you a new fork. For a hotel buffet, it was a pretty decent option.

Herb N Kitchen

Inside the Hilton Midtown

1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY

To view their menu, click here.

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Following up from my previous post, I had mentioned that I had seen list in Zagat for the best food halls in NY. We already went to City Kitchen, next stop was Gotham West Market. A little out of the way if you aren’t in the area (Hell’s Kitchen), but we happened to be coming home from the water taxi!

The space is industrial and plays the music just a tad too loud for conversations to be had at a normal tone. 9 vendors have space here and all of them looked delicious, it was hard to choose!

Our first stop, Genuine Roadside.

The menu offers a sampling of burgers, pork, chicken and vegetarian options.

Poke style ahi tacos ($13) were top on our must try list. They came with spicy mayo, avocado and border slaw with sesame in crispy corn shells. This puts tacos in a whole new light – it may be hard to go back to traditional tacos after this! Really delicious – salty and creamy, I love everything that was going on in this dish.

I had been dying to try out Ivan Ramen’s Slurp Shop. Ivan Orkin is a world renowned ramen expert and his shop serves classic ramen. If you can’t make it to Hell’s Kitchen, they have a location on Clinton Street.

Here’s what I love about this place, they keep the soup separate until you’re ready to eat it so the noodles stay in tact. I ordered the Shio ramen that came with sea salt, dashi, chicken broth, pork belly chashu and rye noodles.

Tokyo Shio ($12). Don’t worry if you’re not in the mood for ramen, they also have some delicious rice bowls. And, if you happen to be there in weekend mornings, they have a tasty brunch men complete with breakfast buns, rice porridge and even a breakfast ramen.

Choza Taqueria serves up a variety of tamales, burritos, tacos, torts and ceviches.

The burritos are enormous ($8.73) and come loaded with black beans, rice and pico, along with fresh cilantro in a flour tortilla.

The chicken tacos were delicious, they came 3 to an order for $8.04 – double corn tortillas served with citrus marinated chicken and queso fresco.

And how can you forget dessert? Zagat rated Ample Hills the #1 ice cream shop in New York City.

This Brooklyn based company serves up hand crafted ice cream in flavors like ooey gooey cake batter, snap mallow pop, chocolate milk and cookies and peppermint patty.

I had the orange dreamsicle, sherbet made with orange juice, pure vanilla cream and a splash of Grand Marnier. Super delicious!

Nothing starts the day or ends the evening better than a cup of coffee. Blue Bottle has locations in SF, LA, New York and Tokyo. For the serious coffee drinker, not those that are looking for milk and sugar with a touch of coffee, Blue Bottle offers a variety of coffee options. If you’re stopping in in the morning, they also have some delicious baked goods.

Gotham West Market

600 11th Ave., New York, NY

http://gothamwestmarket.com/

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I had seen an article in Zagat on the top food halls in New York City. So on a recent trip, we decided to try and hit up as many as we could! First stop, City Kitchen. City Kitchen is located at Row NYC, a hotel in Times Square. The space has 9 vendors and we had a good sampling – we wish we had worn sweat pants, but it was all in the name of research!!

Wooly’s makes shaved snow in two sizes, 12oz for $6 and 16oz for $8. They have 5 flavors: original leche, matcha green tea, strawberry shortcake, root beer float and a flavor of the day, which happened to be melon.

After you order the flavor you add your toppings – you can pick 3 and each additional topping is $0.50. Choose from cereal to fresh fruit to mochi. And in addition, you can get that topped with sea salt leech, chocolate drizzle, whipped cream or strawberry cream.

I was so full from my savory items I had eaten I just wanted to cleanse my palate and ordered a shaved snow plain.

Check out this cool video as I watched them make it!

It was delicious, really light, an odd mouth feel when I thought about it, but cool and refreshing!

Gabriela’s Taqueria makes delicious tacos as well as other favorites such as quesadillas, empanadas and breakfast tacos.

We had the steak taco ($6) – they make the tortillas in the press so you know they’re fresh. The steak did not disappoint, well seasoned and with little else in the taco, the meat was able to be the star of the show.

I first tried Dough at the Brooklyn Flea.

They have a massive round counter with all the doughnuts on display! I was drooling while I was waiting in line.

We picked the toasted coconut, a sweet doughnut with coconut glazed that is topped with toasted coconut. I love these because they taste so light and airy!

Lunch of champions right?!

I love this little cart from Sigmund’s! If you do too, you can rent it for your next function!

I had the truffle cheddar pretzel ($3.68) which they heated up in a little toaster, so cute! Really delicious and flavorful – I happen to love pretzels! It was like a good New York bagel, crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside.

And just when you thought that I didn’t eat actual lunch! I had a lobster roll from Luke’s Lobster. They have over a dozen locations, including one in Boston in case you don’t have the chance to get to NY (it’s on Exeter Street).

The lobster roll is affordably priced at $16. It is light on the mayo and served Maine style with  chilled lobster meat on a toasted split top bun. There’s a little mayo, a little lemon butter and a pinch of spice. Really nice.

There is communal seating where the vendors are and if you walk across the hall, there are tons of tables and stadium like seating (wooden steps) as other options. Restrooms are located in the hotel.

City Kitchen

700 8th Avenue at 44th Street, New York, NY

http://citykitchen.rownyc.com/

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