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Rachel Khoo

The Khoo Times

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A weekend in New York

This post comes to you from the Big Apple. Leaving Europe behind for a couple of weeks, I touched down in sticky NYC on none other than 4th July to be greeted by 33 degree heat and a prime view of the Empire State Building from my room at the Ace Hotel.

Leaving behind the cooling comfort of the a/c, I donned my sandals and sunnies and hit the streets in search of some tasty treats to take away the nasty taste of that plane food. Frankie's Spuntino in the meatpacking with its American - Italian menu was just the place for some wholesome first night food in the form of a saucy plate of meatballs, souped up with some pine nuts and raisins.

 

The next day I was Brooklyn bound on the ferry to Brooklyn for Smorgasburg, a weekly food and flea market event in a park in front of the water with views onto Manhattan. Despite the excessive heat, the food offerings were still hearty and very hot, from giant fried turkey drumsticks to piping hot spring rolls.

Not exactly what I was craving, but the queue for the barbecue called and next thing I knew I was chomping on some tasty smoked brisket, not what the heat called for, but when in Rome.

With the help of a local friend, we trawled the eclectic stores of Williamsburg and popped into Mast Brothers Chocolates, where the production line is in full view and they boast some stunning packaging for their blends.

Next door lies the home of the Sketchbook Project, a cute creative concept in which people compile a sketchbook over a year and send it into this library for others to peruse, there's a nice selection of books and stationary there too.

Saturday night, Frankie and I headed to David Chang's Momofoku Ssam Bar, which, in keeping with the NYC theme of dark rooms and loud acoustics, had a great buzz about it, and the melt in the mouth pork buns genuinely lived up to the hype.

When in New York, you have to find a commanding view to take in the scale of the city and admire its jungle of skyscrapers, so Sunday morning we headed to the Top of the Rock on the Rockefeller centre.

Moma is just round the corner, boasting an insane collection of Modern art, 6 floors of extensive works from Miro to Monet, some stunning Kandinskys in particular, as well as photography and sculptures. We could have spent the day there were it not for the baltic blasting air conditioning, but we defrosted in the sculpture garden next to a Giacometti to make up for it.

After some confusion when it came to understanding the difference between Madison Square Gardens and Madison Square Park, we made it to Shake Shack for some of those famous crinkle cut chips and burgers before heading to the picturesque West Village to explore an epic collection of vintage cookery books currently weighing down my luggage.

 

Topping off the weekend was the gig I had been waiting for, Jesse Boykins III and Theophilus London performing in an intimate gig on the roof of the Soho House. We dangled our legs in the pool and sipped on rose as the sun went down on the city, the perfect way to finish off the weekend, aside from the tasty buns we chowed down at Red Farm, a fun Chinese restaurant down the road. Keep you posted with more from my travels!

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