Cookshop
New York City is full of amazing eats. Whether fine dining or grabbing a bagel, you're pretty much guaranteed deliciousness. My girlfriends and I learnt this as we arrived to stay with our friend, Bhey, who showed us that often it's not the famed, hyped spot that has the best grub, but a little hole in the wall joint around the corner. Yes we had amazing eats at places like Momofoku, Spice Market and Babbo, but we also had incredibly yummy food at places like Snack Dragon, which is literally a hole in the wall taco spot around the corner from their apartment. We were spoilt, deliciously and very happily spoilt for food in New York City.
Having said all of this, I did have one lady (aside from Bhey) whom I would turn to for a guaranteed superb bite. The divine Gwyneth Paltrow. I hear a lot of people rag on Gwyneth (haters), but to me, she's perfect. And the girl knows her food. I would often (willingly) drag the girls off to one of her recommendations in New York, and we were always thrilled with what we found. This post about her favourite New York City eats on her website, Goop, was the source of much deliciousness. I only wish we could have visited all of the places listed. Thank you, Gwyneth, I will forever dream of those Cookshop Buttermilk Pancakes.
And here they are...
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It was a breezy, humid Monday morning when we first visited Cookshop. We headed into Chelsea for a robust brunch to fuel us before we spent the day in Central park, riding bicycles and generally just loving life.
We grabbed a table outside (better for people watching) and promptly devoured the menu.
It was a tough choice, it truly was, but it seemed we were all in a sweet mood that day. Vicki pulled a swifty right as we ordered and completely changed her order from eggs to pancakes. What can I say, the pancakes were too hard to resist. Excellent move, Vickles.
We started with coffee. Esspresso over ice (double shot for me, zing!) with a side of skim milk.
This was my favourite way to enjoy coffee in The States, during their humid Summer. Ultra refreshing, and incredibly buzz inspiring. Definitely a good idea before setting out for a day of sight-seeing and exploring.
Peta and I shared our meals, which were both beautiful. And Vicki was definitely happy with her last minute switch.
Oatmeal with Peaches and Brown Sugar.
Hard to mess this up really, but the stellar stone fruit, which I was just enraptured with, made this dish really something special. The oatmeal was not overly sweet, which was nice.
Buttermilk Pancakes with Blueberries and Maple Syrup.
These pancakes were supremely fluffy. And they were big. Naturally we struggled to get through them. They were quite sweet, but not overly so. You could tell that these were made with love. Love and butter. Heaven on a plate? Why yes, I believe so.
We also shared a Fruit Salad...
...and Grapefruit with olive oil and cracked pepper.
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The following week, after Peta had left to go home, Vicki and I were blessed with one more day to explore the city before I headed north to Boston and she travelled West to Seattle. We spent our last New York City morning at Cookshop. Naturally.