Despite the weather this weekend we enjoyed a walking day in Manhattan! Highlights…
We didn’t enjoy this marzipan cap iced latte from Smiley Coffee (they don’t have skim so I used macadamia milk and it felt greasy) but we LOVED the experience of getting it.
On the other hand this coquito iced latte from Cafe Colmado was delicious.
I get the hype around the newly opened Homie’s doughnuts, our maple glazed was solid.
They can’t compete with the crueler though. The monthly special is lemon poppy.
Deux Luxe does make a delicious burger. We got ours with pickle and a side of fries.
Mimi Cheng‘s current dumpling collaboration is with Katz’s Deli and it’s fantastic. Dumplings filled with hand-carved pastrami, Swiss cheese, house-cured sauerkraut, and Reuben dressing.
Our favorite meal of the weekend was this dinner at home. My personal best egg sandwich – Stone and Skillet roasted herb and garlic English muffin toasted with butter / tangy dijonayo / sharp cheddar omelet. Plus steamed green beans sauteed with Milu Everything Spice, chili crisp, honey, and rice vinegar.
I bought the sando sauce almost entirely because of how it looks but it turned out to be delicious!
Frozen banana protein coffees. Coffee blended with frozen banana, skim milk, vanilla protein powder, cinnamon, vanilla bean powder, and the last of the Trick Pony maple crunch peanut butter (we both ate it pretty much every day until it was gone!). I drank mine in almost empty marshmallow fluff container for a fluffernutter vibe.
Barebells Coco-Caramel Almond. The coconut was in the form of a cream layer and it was delicious!
A fantastic dinner at Laurel Diner. Adam generously shared chocolate egg cream and matzoh ball soup.
I got the Goldburger – double smash patties with smoked gouda, crispy onion strings, fire-roasted peppers, and hot honey truffle sauce on a dark pumpernickel bun. I loved it; doesn’t make my top five list but definitely top ten. With solid but not perfect waffle fries.
My New Years Eve plan was fancy cheese plates and an early bedtime. We ended up eating deranged snack boards but I was in bed by 9:30! Pimento cheese, baby carrots, deviled eggs, and extra-crunchy Southwest chicken taquitos.
The best part was the homemade deviled eggs because we topped them with this delicious everything spice from Milu.
We started our new year with the Buzz’d monthly special, obviously; salted brown butter iced latte with brown butter cold foam.
P.S. The alternative title for this post was “Drinks on Drinks” because in addition to drinking my weight in hot chocolate I also tried several canned beverages. Huxley tangerine energy drink – good not great; I would not buy again but I would try in other flavors.
Liquid Death sparking strawberry energy drink – good not great; I would not buy again but I would try in other flavors.
Protein Pop watermelon clear protein drink – good not great; I would not buy again but I would try in a sour flavor.
NYC has a thousand hot chocolate options right now but I only have my eye on four. We hit three this weekend (our final/upcoming stop is the one I’m most excited for). Good – Lost Borough. Topped with torched marshmallow fluff, whipped cream, and a cinnamon Graham cracker.
Better – Frenchette Bakery. French-style hot chocolate topped with a toasted green chartreuse marshmallow. This was solid hot chocolate but it wasn’t a drinking chocolate.
Best – Rigor Hill Market. Rich and thick chocolate topped the best burnt marshmallow I’ve ever eaten.
I’ll never get tired of my usual plain skyr and blueberries bowl but I did particularly enjoy this one I smashed a hunk of cheesecake into.
The best thing we’ve eaten in 2026 came from Apollo Bagels – lightly toasted sesame bagel with cream cheese and jelly.
Brunch at Holy Water. This was a weird meal – we probably wouldn’t go back but we adored several items. We despised both of our drinks but the vodka lime Jell-o shot was the best I’ve ever had. We also had solid hushpuppies with honey butter and Tabasco.
Adam’s lobster roll was ho-hum but my (very solid) pancakes came topped with praline and bourbon maple syrup and with a side of their Nola fried chicken — some of the best fried chicken we’ve ever eaten.
We ordered take-out from Primehouse – (too much) sushi and these sort of insane Waygu meatballs. I didn’t take a photo until I realized how fantastic the leftovers were, they started out with three huge balls and a bunch of melty burrata.
A much-needed veggie(tarian) meal from Little Beet – charred broccoli, hot honey roasted carrots, green beans, and miso tofu with Chimichurri and cranberry harissa sauce.
Trader Joe’s frozen veggie pancake topped Sriracha and pimento cheese.
My favorite meal of the week was homemade! Collard greens sauteed with mined garlic, salt, pepper, gochugaru, rice vinegar, maple syrup, and smoked poblano bbq sauce. Agi’s Counter-inspired potato salad – with hard boiled egg, smoked canned trout, chopped pickles, celery, green onion, celery seed, salt, white pepper, smoked paprika, horseradish, rice vinegar, Dijon mustard, Duke’s mayo, and plain skry.
This week was very long. Also the 2nd to last week in the 2nd to last month of 2025??! Some things…
Yogurt bowls. Plain skyr with cinnamon granola and blueberries. We buy Sweetest Batch and Super Jumbos every week now and I am hooked.
French onion dip. Speaking of things we buy every week, we have both been having a dip obsession lately!
Juicy chewy candies. The Nerds are a 100/10, even better than the original gummy clusters.
Also in chewy things – these grape, green tea, and cheese ice cream bars.
Cheesecake Factory’s pecan pie pumpkin cheesecake is obviously going to be my Pie Month peak.
Take out dinner from Shanghai You Garden in 99 Ranch. Red bean sesame ball (and a pork floss mochi for Adam) / rice cakes with shredded chicken / fantastic scallion pancake / edamame with pickled cabbage and tofu // beef and rice from the Vietnamese spot next door
Fast-food style chicken sandwich. Brioche buns / house sauce – mayo, skyr, honey, yellow mustard, Dijon mustard, dill pickle mustard, roasted poblano bbq sauce, and lemon juice / baked chicken marinated in skyr, hot sauce, and dill pickle mustard / tons of pickles. Plus roasted yellow cauliflower and broccoli.
Double egg sandwich. More brioche and house sauce with a fried egg and a cheesy soft-scrambled egg.
Tuna salad with an Eastern European vibe. Canned tuna and smoked trout / mayo, skyr, Dijon, and tons of horseradish / green onion / pickled beets / hard-boiled eggs. Plus sauteed asparagus and Trader Joe’s cornbread crackers.
Horchata-ish iced latte. I blended leftover brown rice, milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla bean powder in the blender. Unstrained, with ice, half and half, and espresso.
Berry smoothie. Frozen strawberries and blueberries, with chocolate protein powder, milk, and water. And a strawberry gummy.
These Kissabel apples have rose colored flesh.
I enjoyed these Quin maple almond butter filled pretzels much more than I was expecting to.
Chip City’s caramel apple cider donut cookie is hands-down the best thing they make. The cookie has the perfect amount of apple tang and the cider donut cinnamon sugar spice rub is divine.
10/10 dessert skyr bowl. Plain skyr, salty peanuts, leftover pecan pie toffee candy, and TWO KINDS of blueberries (Sweetest Batch and Super Jumbo!).
Braised tofu bowls. Brown rice with roasted cauliflower rice / sauteed bok choy with green onion / firm tofu cooked in butter and braised in chicken broth, rice vinegar, gochujang, gochugaru, Sichuan pepper, sugar, and sesame seeds / cashews.
Greek-ish salad. Romaine, Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing, baby tomatoes, roasted zucchini, and roasted chickpeas (baked until crispy with evoo, salt, pepper, sumac, onion powder, and garlic powder). Plus Trader Joe’s dolmas.
Crispy rice omelet. Eggs steamed on top of crisped-up leftover brown rice, kimchi, and extra-sharp cheddar. Plus roasted broccoli and baked chicken on the side.
I can’t skip a seasonal special; even if it’s from Arby’s. Their Gobbler sandwich was great though – deep-fried turkey, crispy onion, Swiss, stuffing, cranberry spread, and mayo on a toasted sub.
Blank Street‘s (dirty) iced matcha with blueberry and ube.
It’s Pie Month! Four & Twenty Blackbird‘s brown sugar pie with peanuts and toasted coconut was divine.
Elleno’s pecan pie yogurt with Biscoff cookie crumble. Pie Month!
Chip City fall special – maple cookies with maple cream cheese frosting and chopped pecans.
Brunch at Agi’s Counter. I had a dirty Ovaltine with oat milk.
We shared several dishes. Everything ended up going together perfectly. Tuna melt – served on a griddled potato pullman with alpine cheddar and a side of cabbage slaw and mustard // hash brown with trout roe.
Palacsinta, Hungarian crepes with with port-stewed figs, butter, and maple.
Little Grenjai does brunch now and it’s even better than their dinner service! We shared several things and are dying to go back soon to try more dishes. Pandan iced matcha latte (not as good as I was expecting but still an ok matcha).
Thai iced coffee (delicious!) // Hat Yai fried chicken and with sticky rice waffles, fantastic chili sauce, and maple syrup.
Pad Thai with confit duck.
The lox platter was my favorite dish of the meal – cured salmon crudo with everything roti and rangoon cream cheese // fried duck egg.
Baba’s Pierogies. We shared pan-fried with feta, black garlic, and potato and boiled potato, cheddar, and jalapeno with a horseradish sauce.
Homemade taco dinners that were both wonderful. Baked chicken chopped together with canned pumpkin puree, roasted poblano pepper, and extra-sharp cheddar. Heated in a frying pan. Plus green beans that were steamed and then sauteed with onion chili crisp, honey, and rice vinegar. Plus the best ever homemade ranch (Duke’s mayo, ranch seasoning, and some liquid from Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy pickled jalapenos).
Local lamb sausage, roasted onion and bell peppers, extra sharp cheddar, and labne baked in the oven. Plus sauteed asparagus.
It was a great weekend! We got in a final run on the Long Beach Boardwalk and spent some time in Brooklyn. Some of what we ate…
Witches Brew from Rose Wolf. Cold brew with oat milk, cinnamon, maple, and caramel. We actually didn’t love this – too milky and too sweet.
Cookies and Scream iced latte from The Barn. We didn’t like this coffee either(!!) but we loved the Shmackary’s cookie on top.
Spooky yogurt bowl. Plain skyr with golden kiwi, blueberries, and candy eyes.
Beers at Grimm. Love a spot with small pours! My stand-out favorite was the Maximum Boogie triple IPA.
More importantly, we had food from Lala’s Apizza on their upper level. A 10/10 kale salad with cheese and sweet and spicy nuts.
And a Funghi Pie – mozzarella, fontina, tarragon oyster mushrooms, and lemon zest.
We had an exceptional dinner at Rose Marie. The space was cute, the service was great, and my cocktail was perfect. Goin’ to Alcapulco – lime, guava, white rum, dark rum, and lime bitters. Adam also had stunning pickled green tomato martini.
Sourdough bread and focaccia with radishes and whipped garlic parsley butter. <– this was the best butter I’ve ever tasted
Cranberry beans with paprika vinaigrette, croutons, and baby cauliflower.
Fried cheddar cheese curds with a burnt olive ranch.
And a patty melt on a homemade Pullman with grilled onion, white cheddar, and pickled green tomatoes.
I’m not usually a big pear person but these Happi one’s are divine.
My best souvenirs from Scotland were Haribo gummies.
Crusted tofu – super-firm tofu baked coated in egg wash and food-processed kettle chips, seaweed, and gochugaru / broccoli salad – roasted and tossed in a sauce of food-processed roasted garlic and green onion, parsley, evoo, gochugaru, walnuts, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, and maple syrup.
Tuna cakes – canned tuna, panade, Kewpie, egg, and crunchy chili flakes; baked. With leftover broccoli salad.
Gooey grilled cheese – stuffed with a mix of cream cheese, blueberry preserves, gochujang, and smoked cheddar / with green beans that were steamed and then sauteed with soy sauce, maple syrup, and gochugaru.
Crab rangoon casserole (how have I never seen someone else make this yet?!) – Sauteed green onion with ginger, sugar, white pepper, soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, and a mix of real crab meat and imitation crab; mixed with Goodle’s Loopdy-Loos; topped with panko bread crumbs toasted with crunchy chili flakes, and butter; and baked / roasted brussels sprouts sauteed with peanut butter, gochujang, sugar, and lime juice.
Eating Chalk 