New York City • Pre-cruise

2016 marks the year I ventured onto my first cruise experience. Long story short, Lindsay and Will were going with a couple friends and it was also their first cruise; I asked if I could also tag along since I had never been on a cruise and they let me join on the adventure! LaDante (also his first time on a cruise) and LaTonya ended up also booking a room and we all went together.

The day before we were set to embark on our voyage, we flew into New York and Olivia graciously spent the day with us and took us around.

View from Olivia’s Apartment Complex

Rooftop Lounge

Dante being a tourist at Grand Central

Subway Selfie

We at at The Modern at MOMA for lunch. I was very interested in eating at a restaurant with Michelin stars; Olivia suggested lunch menus at some of them were pretty affordable (re: not 200+ a person). The Modern holds two Michelin stars, and it was delicious.

The Modern at MOMA

Fancy Bread

Foie Gras Terrine rolled in Spiced Peanuts

Pan-Roasted Salmon with Hen of the Woods Mushrooms and Horseradish

Slow-Baked Sea Bass with Glazed Turnips and Green Curry Nage

Seared Scallops with Smoked Shellfish, Fennel, and Potatoes

Dessert Menu

Spiced Chocolate Beignets with Crème Catalan and Ginger Ice Cream

Dinner was at Zenkichi. No Michelin stars, but possibly more delicious than our lunch. We ordered almost one of everything on the menu between the 4 of us.

Zenkichi Entrance

Unfiltered Sake

Marguro Carpaccio: Medium tuna sashimi: green yuzu pepper sauce

Sweet Duck Salad: Simmered duck, soft egg, baby greens, sweet duck dressing

LaTonya applying the poached egg

Potato Mochi: Deep fried potato rice cake served with spicy mayonnaise

Sashimi Plate

Salmon Sashimi

Back: Filet Mignon Tataki – All natural filet mignon, thinly sliced and lightly seared (rare): Ginger garlic soy sauce, Front: Tsukune Chicken – Japanese chicken meatball on bamboo served with soft egg dipping sauce

Grilled Saikyo Black Cod, Jidori Chicken, Organic Vegetable Tempura

Grilled Rice Ball with Chicken Miso and Spicy Cod Roe Mayonnaise

I had bought a ticket to see Sleepy Man Band, but unfortunately traffic and our delicious dinner was not accommodating. I’ll have to catch them another time.

We met up with Will and Lindsay and the crew at Times Square after they arrived via car from Michigan and hung out a bit. Dante and I then made our way to The Halal Guys cart to see what all the hubbub was about. Olivia had pointed it out a few times while we walked around the city earlier in the day. Verdict? Delicious. We met up with Tiffany after we acquired our food, and returned to Olivia’s apartment. It was great catching up with the two of them and I had a blast. It was a great start to my one week vacation.