Exploring New York City

One of the best ways to experience a city is by foot. Walking allows you the opportunity to sightsee, people watch, and be mindful of your surroundings. This past weekend, we visited New York City. Beginning around Central Park, we slowly made our way down to Greenwich Village on foot. Along the way, we window shopped, watched street musicians, and were overcome with visual stimulation.

After strolling for many hours, we found ourselves quite hungry in Union Square. Instead of dropping into one of the many delicious spots to grab a bite to eat, we put the creation of lunch in our own hands. In Europe, our fondest memories were going to open-air markets, picking up supplies, staking out a spot in a park, and enjoying a picnic. With simple, fresh ingredients in a picturesque setting, a picnic can be quite the elegant afternoon activity. We popped into the newly opened Eataly, a foodie’s playground filled with tantalizing aromas, vibrant produce, gourmet groceries, and Italian treats. We set out to assemble our picnic menu, making sure to cover the following categories:

-Bread – soft and doughy focaccia with sundried tomatoes and olives
-Cheese – slightly-sweet and nutty Asiago
-Meat – paper-thin peppered prosciutto
-Olives- assorted herb-marinated green and black olives
-Fruit- for fresh produce, we walked down to Union Square Greenmarket and selected a couple Upstate Gala apples.
-Drink-Eve’s Cidery’s sparkling cider
-A sweet note –Perugina’s Baci chocolates (our absolute favorite hazelnut truffles in signature silver and blue packaging)

The casual, relaxing, hassle free afternoon of walking and dining al fresco was a refreshing way to spend our time on Saturday!