How to celebrate the end of 6th grade....

We spent an absolutely GORGEOUS day in NYC yesterday with our niece, Isabela, to officially celebrate the end of her school year!  And how do we do that in NYC???

...with bomboloni , boats, burgers &...bars(??) J

                 
Our first stop once we got into the city was to the Sullivan Street Bakery...

Owned by Jim Lahey, creator of the "no knead bread" (a true lifesaver!), this place was already selling out of bread & pizza....at 10:30AM!!!!!

But we started our day with a couple sweet treats.  Scott & I split a yummy espresso, chocolate chip banana bread cake.  But the highlight was those little cream filled bomboloni!

Mmmmmmmm...they tasted JUST like a zeppole (my childhood favorites!), with a slightly crisp outside & a doughy & chewy inside...and then STUFFED with sweet and creamy vanilla bean custard....

Oh man...soooo good!  I wanted to chow down on 10 more of these.  Buttttt...with so much left on the menu for the day, we had to press onJ

Next up, Izzy & I headed over to ride the "Beast," the 45 mile per hour speedboat that goes WHIPPING around the Hudson river....

(Scott had to hang back...he doesn't do too well with boatsJ)

But while you're flying around at top speeds (and TRYING to avoid the sprays of water being kicked up!!!!....unsuccessfully, I will say!  DO NOT ride this on a chilly day!!!J) you get spectacular views of the city....

...the greatest skyline in the world....

....and awesome views of Lady Liberty herself! 

The boat even turned around so everyone got a great shot with the statue.  It was awesome to see her so close!

After that dizzying ride, we headed downtown to a restaurant I had read about just this past week in Food Network Magazine called Whitman's.  While we waited for our main dishes, we snacked on some sweet potato & blue cheese (YUM!) fries while playing cards (yes, they had cards on the table to help pass the timeJ)

Whitman's was featured in "FNM" for its claim to fame: the "Juicy Lucy".  A burger stuffed with SOO much cheese that it comes with a warning to beware of the hot dripping center....

Oh yeah, and it was really tasty tooJ  But alas, I just had a bite as I had my eye on my OWN interesting choice on the menu.  Are you ready?????

A Peanut butter & bacon burger!

I know, I KNOW....you can be skeptical all you want, but I'm telling you one bite would change your mind!  Savory, creamy peanut butter against the charred burger & finished off with the crispy, salty bacon.  Oh my...it was just DELICIOUS!  Sometimes it's the simplest, silly thingsJ  I love that someone probably just said "hey, I like all of those things!  Let's throw em together" J  It works, folks!  It worksJ

Next we took the longer than expected walk for a dessert 'path' recommended by a friendJ  First up was Francois Payard's bakery on West Houston Street....

Everything in this joint, from cookies to macaroons, looked impeccable so it was tough to narrow down our choices!   But finally I went with the Fleur de sel filled eclair...

...and when I say FILLED, I MEAN FILLED!!!  This thing was BURSTING at the seams with the buttery, savory goodnessJ

Izzy had tried out the Mexican vanilla bean ice cream sandwiched between 2 BROWNIES...yeah, it was as good as it sounds!

And finally, nearly everyone's favorite was Scott's Milk Chocolate Espresso Le Gâteau Roulé (yes, I had to look that upJ)

I usually think cakes like this tend to be dry & dense, but this one was super moist from all of the layers of smooth & silky ganache swirled in.  Oh man...SPOT ON!

And finally, our last spot (HEY! Finishing 6th grade requires three two desserts!) we headed down to ANOTHER place my friend had recommended.  Popbar sells terribly expensive gelato on a stick in a bunch of yummy flavors...

...and then the fun part: You get to dip them in either milk, dark or white chocolate AND then a variety of toppings.  Cool, right??

They were heartbreaking enough not serving coconut gelato yesterday (tears), so I had to settle for a banana bar dipped in milk chocolate & rolled in coconut.  1/2 of this baby was more than enough for me, these things were SUPER rich!!!  But the place is ultra modern & I loved the concept...so yeah, Popbar!

After that, it was a little more strolling...and maybe one more stop for a "take home treat" from Sweet Revenge....J

...and then it was time to head home, complete with a bit of a sunburn thanks to the nearly cloudless day!  Hope you guys enjoyed our recap as much as we enjoyed our dayJ

I'll save all of my "Monday Motivation" stuff to share with you tomorrow along with our "Monday Salads"...until then, have a great day!