Buddakan

You may remember Buddakan from the Sex and the City movie, this is where they celebrated Carrie and Big's engagement. Remember this long table where Samantha gives an applaud worthy toast?
Everything about Buddakan is fantastic, it's a chic spot to have cocktails or enjoy a wonderful dinner. It's located near Chelsea Market on 9th Ave. and 16th St. in a black painted brick building. Walking through the space you realize how large the restaurant really is and every area has a slightly different interior design. The cocktail/lounge area is basically all black with accents of turquoise pillows and white ceramic vases on the black tables in the middle of the room. Downstairs is the famous long table meant to be shared or for big parties. There is another room that has turquoise booth style seating among black walls and tables. All the way in the back of the restaurant is another room where diners enter via curvy shaped cut outs (see the photo above) with red booths and vases.

With a restaurant as chic as Buddakan you'd expect the cocktails to be fabulous, which they were (definitely recommend Charm), but to my surprise the food was just as amazing! I looked at the menu before arriving at the restaurant and didn't see anything that stood out but I basically just listened to my friend Julie of Juls and the City and took her recommendations. We ordered a lot of dishes to share including Edamame Dumplings served in a shallot broth; Chilled Udon Noodles served with a small scoop of sorbet with lime segments sprinkled within and a creamy peanut sauce; Charred Asparagus with a light black bean foam and Asian Green Stir Fry accompanied by pine nuts and garlic chips. My favorite dish was definitely he Edamame Dumplings, they were absolutely devine!

Cowgirl

I first heard about Cowgirl while on the Sex and the City tour in July, it's the place where Carrie and Miranda run into Aidan and Steve having lunch together.
It's a cute place and offers great outdoor dining in the warmer months but unfortunately the food was sub par. If you order right it's good place for comfort food but I ordered the Cowgirl Citrus salad from the Specials menu and it was definitely nothing special. Two of my friends ordered the Texas Veggie Trio (a cup of veggie chili, a side salad, a baked potato and a warm piece of cornbread served with sour cream, jack and pico de gallo on the side). It was a nice variety of food but they both commented that it really wasn't worth $15.

I liked the rustic feel of the restaurant and loved the idea of the little roadside General Store inside which sold candies, t-shirts and other knickknacks. Cowgirl would be a great place to meet friends at the bar and sip on the fresh fruit margaritas, cleverly served in mason jars.

I've heard that Cowgirl is a great brunch spot, if you've ever visited for brunch leave a comment below to let us know what you thought.

Located at 519 Hudson St. (at 10th St.) and open everyday- Mondays-Thursdays until midnight, Fridays and Saturdays until 2am and until 11pm on Sundays.

New Blog Alert!

I am loving my friend's new blog! If you love Sex and the City and cherish quality time with your girl friends you should definitely read Juls and the City. She's an event planner living in NYC with fabulous humor and has a great perspective of life in the Big Apple.

NYC Bachelorette Party Weekend

Last weekend I hosted a Bachelorette Party for my cousin and 7 of her friends (only one of whom I had met before) in NYC. I was thrilled my cousin wanted to celebrate with all her friends in New York but definitely challenged to keep things affordable and enjoyable, especially since this was the first time some of them had been in NY!

The girls arrived on Friday morning ready to shop! First stop: Tiffany's & Co. where each girl bought a special gift for themselves. After a long day of walking around everyone came over to my apartment for hors d'oeuvres and cocktails. Signature drink for the night was champagne with raspberries. I ordered all the food ahead of time from Fresh Direct and had it delivered about 20 minutes before the girls arrived. I ordered a big chickpea salad, grilled chicken strips (delivered ready to serve), artichoke dip, a big fresh fruit bowl and a vegetable platter.

Before going back to the hotel Friday night we wanted one last chance to publicly embarrass the bride-to-be so we headed to a bar near the hotel, Connolly's Pub on W. 54th St.

Saturday morning we all put on our matching T-shirts that said "Buy Her a Drink Before she Takes the Plunge" and headed out for the Sex and The City tour of New York. I definitely recommend going on this 3.5 hour tour that stops at NYC hot-spots made famous by the hit HBO series. Starting at The Plaza we all pile into a chartered (air-conditioned) bus all the way down 5th toward Soho, West Village, Meatpacking District, and more! Not only does our spunky guide, Emily Sproch, reveal a ton of Sex & The City behind-the-scenes info but we make three different stops throughout the tour to walk along the same streets as our favorite characters. The first stop was at the Pleasure Chest, where the SATC girls bought their "Rabbits." (Anything purchased at the Pleasure Chest was discounted for all tour attendees.) Next stop was to the famous Magnolia Bakery on Bleeker Street. The $42 tour ticket also included cupcakes from Magnolia for everyone! The last stop of the tour was at the bar Adian and Steve owned in the show, which is actually called Onieals Grand Street located on Grand between Baxter St & Centre Market Place. (Cosmos were served at a discount for all tour attendees.)

We ended the night at Tony n' Tina's Wedding, an interactive off-Broadway performance where the audience serves as Tony and Tina's wedding guests in their crazy Italian wedding. Tickets are $90 per person and free for the bride-to-be if you're there celebrating a bachelorette party, and include dinner, unlimited champagne and a slice of cake.

Overall, the weekend was a blast and now we just can't wait for the weeding in August!