Transition into Autumn

Although this weekend warmed back up, a few days ago the temperature dropped here in NYC and it started to feel like autumn was here. A visit to the Union Square Greenmarket revealed that while there is still the tail end of summer produce... fall treats are here as well...


I got in one more trip to the Shake Shack (in Madison Square Park) before the weather turns too cold to enjoy lunch outside. I tried the chicken version of the Chicago Dog. Very good and you don't feel so guilty adding on that order of fries. M. was in town from the West Coast, so S. and I used her as an excuse to go out to eat. There was the aforementioned trip to the Shake Shack, as well as a spontaneous visit to Max Brenner Chocolates. This is a relatively new dessert cafe on Broadway near 14th Street. Have you noticed these cafe/bars are the new thing??? A few opened up this year and I believe more are to come. Dora wrote up a beautiful description of Chikalicious, which was on the forefront of this trend. But back to the chocolate...it's a huge space, actually a little big for my taste. But we were able to be seated immediately, a big plus since we had just come from dinner at Tia Pol, which had a wait of over an hour. The three of us shared the Double Chocolate Fondue. We chose to get it with dark and milk chocolates and it came with banana bread cubes, banana slices, strawberries and marshmallows. While I was not overly impressed, it served its purpose that evening, giving us a place to sit and chat over coffee and sweets.

By the way, Tia Pol, a tapas place on 10th Avenue between 22nd and 23rd Streets, is awesome! Their food is the closest thing S. and I have found in NYC to what we had on our trip to Spain. The only negative is that the restaurant in so small, the wait is unbearably long on most nights. If you go, try the pan tomacat (toasted baguette slices with tomato) and patatas bravas (roasted potatoes with a spicy, creamy sauce). Both very simple dishes that hit all the right flavors. NYC Tart