Day 1 - Part 2

All the walking during the day had made me work up a serious appetite and what better place to load up than my favorite restaurant in NYC, Meme. Meme is down in the West Village on Hudson and serves up Mediterranean style tapas. To me it's the epitome of a NYC restaurant. Cosy, pressed tin roof, awesome food, that real buzz you get from a thriving place, pedestrian traffic and constant yellow cabs going past. Meme is also in a really unique position as it's at the elbow where Hudson turns into 8th Ave. It's the only spot I know where you can sit and look all the way down one of Manhattans North-South Avenues. Let's not forget all the awesome memories we've had there as one of our local favs.

I met my mate Matt and I had one thing on my mind. Ricotta gnocchi in a  cream truffle sauce. This dish is without a doubt the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. Something Tracy and I could never get enough of. I was a tad nervous as menus change but I was stoked to see it still on the menu. We shared a bunch of different things such as muscles, meatballs, lobster cake and mushroom risotto to name a few. Washed down with an Allagash (white ale) and I was in culinary heaven.

Ahhh the gnocchi

But like late night t.v., wait there's more. After finishing dinner we headed over the road to Bleaker street and to Magnolia Bakery. Most well know for it's muffins, Magnolia serves what I think is the single best cheesecake in the world. It's a simple vanilla bean cheesecake that blends a perfect texture with a vanilla infused taste. Sensational.

While we were in the hood i thought I better take the opportunity to hang a bit on my lovely sister. We headed further down Bleaker to Rissotria. This restaurant is 100% gluten free and was a real fav. I took the opportunity to smash down one of their chocolate eclairs. I offered to bring one back!

By this stage I was starting to fill up but the night was our oyster. We headed back to 8th Ave and to my old local, the Tav on Jane. The Tav is a quaint little West Village pub hidden behind an unassuming facade on 8th Ave and Jane Street. It's a real local's place but they welcome anyone. The food is good, beers cold and they're open to 4am every night. Winter is awesome as they crank up a log fire and the place heats up. Their menu was solid but their standout dish was their chocolate molten cake. So what's desert number three for the road. We smashed one down and at this point were about as stuffed as one can get during a West Village desert crawl.

All the tables at the Tav have crayons which they encourage you to draw on the paper table cloths.