Last week I touched down, for the first time in my 32 years, in New York City. From the start my experience here was pretty amazing. My taxi driver, taking me back to the hotel, was so in love with the city. He was so excited that it was my first time, he kept saying (in his true NY accent) "I love this city, this is the city that never sleeps, where anything is possible. I love this city. This is my city!"
The next day, while wandering down Mott Street searching for Cafe Gitane in NoLita. I looked for my wallet so I could grab some lunch. Well I couldn't find it. It took a good few minutes for reality to hit me that I really had lost my wallet. With all my cash and cards in it. I was 40 blocks (at least) from my hotel with not a cent to my name. The tears arrived and I couldn't hold them back. All I could think of was to call my boyfriend who spoke to me calmly and told me what I needed to do. I called and cancelled my cards and caught a cab back to the hotel where my friend paid for it.
Eventually, I got back to Cafe Gitane for a meal, and again the next day too. It's a little haunt that is full of locals and people who have travelled far and wide. It was so good, and I can see why it's so hard to get a table. The first day I ordered the couscous with organic chicken and crouton toasts. It reminded me of my signature couscous I make at home, only they had grapes and raisins, and toasted pine nuts in it. Oh my! The next day, determined not to eat bread I ordered the trout salad, but then spied the lunch of the guy next to me and changed to the roast chicken baguette instead. I wasn't sorry. Despite it being delicious (and I ate every bit), my favourite part was the unassuming green salad on the side. It was simply dressed in a vinaigrette that was spiced with cinnamon or something of that description! I couldn't get enough.
When I got back to my hotel, the evening I lost my wallet, there was a message from a taxi company in Queens saying they had found my wallet in the back of their cab and it was ready for me to collect it. I couldn't believe it. Even when I picked it up I was blown away, in utter disbelief that in a city as large and sprawling as NYC, that I would get my wallet back. Exactly as I had left it with my $220 cash. I left a big tip and said thank you. Thank you. You've truly made my day, my whole trip even. At that point I knew my trip here was going to be something special. Yes I love New York, but what's not to love!!
You can find Cafe Gitane here,
242 Mott St., New York, NY 10012 at Prince St. and take a look at New York Magazine's review here too: http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/cafe-gitane/ |
Their buttercream frosted cupcakes are so unbelievably melt in your mouth good, the line to get into the store goes all the way down the street. I ate two in one sitting, trying to calculate in my head whether the 60 or so blocks I'd walked all over town that day would somehow cancel it out. Then I just decided that this was New York City, with so much food to be discovered, and that I'm on holidays, and therefore so was any kind of healthful, sensible eating! I'm saving the diet for Sydney!
