Our must-eats in New York

MILLIE: It was our first winter in New York, and it was simply awesome!

Karla and I came prepared, equipped with thick, warm heavy coats and suede boots to keep us warm. It was minus-two degrees when we arrived at JFK International Airport at six o’clock in the morning, armed with a long list of places to eat in New York.

First stop was the French Culinary Institute at Broadway and Grand St., where Karla took her formal culinary education. We were taken on a grand tour of the kitchens and classrooms and my brother Gerry and I were simply impressed.

Next stop was Dean & DeLuca, a fabulous gourmet shop on Broadway and Prince St. that has everything a foodie could ever dream of, from fresh truffles to truffle oils, patés, different kinds of salt, wines from all over the world, chocolates and more!

We found time to drop by at Magnolia Bakery in Bloomingdale’s department store, known to specialize in cupcake trees and dessert tables. We just had to try their famous chocolate cake, which was moist and velvety-rich. The key lime cheesecake was also quite irresistible.

My friend Linda Ortega Sanchez and her daughter Sabrina hosted us for dinner at Hillstone Grill on 153 East and 53rd Street. I met Linda when she came to Manila for UNCTAD V, which was held at the PICC in 1979 and since then, we have kept in touch. The restaurant was already packed when we arrived at six in the evening. We feasted on thick, juicy and tender roast prime rib au jus. We all agreed that the prime rib was indeed superb!

KARLA: Mom said that her must-haves in New York were pizza and hotdog, while mine was chicken rice and Shake Shack. On our second day, we came across Nathan’s in front of Madison Square Garden after dropping off Tito Gerry at Penn Station. Since this was one of mom’s must-haves, we crossed the street so she could get her hotdog. She ended up having two. Haha! Nathan’s Famous was founded in 1916 by Nathan Handweker, a Polish immigrant. It started as a small stand in Coney Island selling nickel hotdogs and has now expanded across the United States and even internationally with over 40,000 food service and retail outlets.

MILLIE: Linda insisted that we try the lobster sandwich at Sarabeth’s at Lord & Taylor, so off we went after irresistible shopping. Linda and I ordered the lobster sandwich, presented in a brioche with a light calypso sauce and a simple arugula salad doused with vinaigrette dressing. Karla had a creamy tomato soup and Caesar salad.

My cousin Rosemarie Gomeri Pettersson and her daughter Eva Marie took Karla and me for Sunday brunch at Junior’s in Brooklyn after Palm Sunday Mass. We feasted on simple deli sandwiches: Eva had a corned beef and pastrami combo, Rosemarie had beef tongue pastrami, Karla and I shared a Virginia ham and turkey sandwich. The portions were huge and we could not finish it, but the four of us shared and devoured a slice of plain New York cheesecake and strawberry cheesecake, which was yummy-licious!

KARLA: Junior’s has been featured numerous times as the best cheesecake in New York since the 1950s. Until now, it is a family-owned business, which has been passed on for three generations, pretty much like our family catering business, The Plaza. Now with four locations: Brooklyn, Times Square, Grand Central and MGM Hotel at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut, Junior’s continues to serve their world-renowned cheesecake alongside steaks, seafood, deli items, sandwiches and more. After our lunch at Junior’s, we decided to pass by the chocolate shop of Jacques Torres in Brooklyn for more sweets. Mom grabbed a cup of hot chocolate while I got some candy-coated peanut butter eggs for my little cousin, Cammy, back in L.A. Jacques Torres, a celebrity pastry chef who is actually called Mr. Chocolate, stars in a TV series called Dessert Circus and now has six branches of his chocolate shop.

MILLIE: It was expected to snow that Monday and Linda wanted to stay in, but changed her mind when Karla and I announced that we would go out anyway. We met up with Sabrina for lunch at Le Train Bleu at Bloomingdale’s which, of course, was nothing compared to the real Le Train Bleu at the Gare de Lyon in Paris. But this one had the interiors of a train and served French cuisine. Linda had her steak and frites. Sabrina chose the warm goat cheese salad with baby arugula, warm goat cheese, fennel, mandarin oranges and pignoli nuts with a pistou vinaigrette. Karla ordered a croque monsieur. I opted for the Petrossian smoked salmon and pan-roasted Long Island duck breast served with a lingonberry sauce, garlic and chive mashed potatoes and haricots verts.

After lunch, we strolled down Fifth Avenue taking pictures of famous landmarks as we walked towards Saks Fifth. This included a couple of stops at the Lindt store, as they were giving out chocolates for free! It was a pleasant day and the cold air was perfect.

In the evening, as Karla watched a musical, I had a date with my cousins Marissa Wellstood and Chiqui Ackerman, whom I had not seen in five years as they both live in NYC and hardly come to Manila to visit. They took me to Becco, Lidia Bastianich’s restaurant on 355 West and 46th Street near Times Square. Lidia has authored several cookbooks and is the mom of Joe Bastianich, partner of Mario Batali. The restaurant was filled to capacity and we had a waiting time of about 20 minutes, but we didn’t mind as we had a lot of catching up to do. We ordered the all-you-can-eat pasta of the day and a little salad on the side.

KARLA: During our last full day in NYC, I was lucky enough to get tickets to the musical Book of Mormon. Since there was only one seat left at the far end and last row of the theater, I immediately bought the seat not thinking where I could “deposit” my mother for a couple of hours while I watched the show. Good thing mom’s cousins insisted on taking her to dinner; if not, I would have felt so guilty. Half an hour before the show started, I waited for Tita Marissa and Tita Chiqui to meet us before I split from the group. The musical was hysterical. I was laughing so loud even if I was alone. By the time I was out of the theater, I was quite hungry but still had to meet up with mom. We were walking towards the subway station in Times Square when we passed a food truck that was serving chicken rice. And since it was on my “must eat in NYC” list, I asked mom to give me 10 minutes. I could not resist the chicken rice, especially since I’d been looking forward to it since day one. Every time we would pass by a food truck, I’d shout out “Chicken rice!” and get all giddy. But it would always show up at the wrong time, like having just come from lunch or right before dinner. So I finally got my chicken rice. And while mom was waiting, she could not believe that I was eating from a food truck and with so much gusto for less than $8 that she took about a dozen photos of me from all angles eating at the side of the truck. I let her try a bit and she admitted that it was very good and tasty. I think she would have gotten her own order if she had not had a heavy dinner with her cousins. I actually would have taken another order home to have for lunch the next day, but then again I remembered that we were going to have Shake Shack for lunch before our flight.

On our last day, we met with Sabrina and two of my friends from Poveda who are now based in NYC, Erika Prado and Candice Aquino at the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. Thankfully, when we arrived, Candice and Erika were already in line so we didn’t have to wait too long. It was a quick lunch since they both had places to be and we were also catching our flight back to L.A. We only really had time to catch up while we were waiting in line. Mom, allergic to waiting in line or rather, waiting in general, found a vacant table in the middle of the park and reserved it for us. Mom ordered the Shack Burger, Sabrina had the Smoked Shack, Erika and Candice split the Shack Stack, and I had the ’Shroom Burger plus a strawberry milkshake that I only had one sip from. I told mom to try my milkshake because I told her it reminded me of Lolo Joe and how he would crave for burger, fries and a milkshake. Next thing I knew, I could hear that slurping sound when you’re trying to suck out the last few drops of your drink up the straw, only to find out that mom had finished my milkshake! I was not about to line up again for another milkshake so I swore that next time, I’d get mom her own. Haha!

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