Last week I took a day trip into New York City.  It was a quick trip with my mom.  We grabbed the 9:29 train, and came back by 4:24.  My mom is an art history teacher, so for my family, a trip to New York means a trip to at least one museum.  This time it was the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I’ve been to the Met plenty of times, it’s definitely one of my favorite museums, probably because it’s so familiar.  For this trip we took a quick walk through the Greek and Roman hall (my favorite), then moved on to the second floor.  We took a look at some new pieces in the museum’s East Asian and Middle Eastern collections, then browsed through the current portrait exhibit.  And obviously, we hit the gift shop on the way out.  I just hope my mom can remember that she bought Christmas cards for this year when December rolls around!

After the Met we took the bus down to 23rd and 5th to go to Eataly, an Italian food hall/market that is owned by Mario  Batali, and Lidia and Joe Bastianich.  It’s a favorite stop for my mom, but this was my first experience.  I’m a celebrity chef nerd, so I’ve read about it and seen Mario talk about it in interviews on several occasions.  I was excited to see it with my own eyes.  To be honest, it was exactly what I expected: nothing more, nothing less.

The market has all the things that Italy is known for: pasta, specialty meats, cheese, bread, wine, gelato…  There are a few different dining options within Eataly including a vegetable section, pasta and pizza section, fish section, charcuterie section, and a full blown fine dining option.  My mom is a fan of the pasta area, so we went with that.  I stayed safe with a green salad and pasta pomodoro.  I was underwhelmed in my choice but after reviewing my decision, I feel I probably made the incorrect choice.  I thought the sauce would be a little chunkier with some tomatoes, but it was just an ordinary tomato sauce.  Don’t you hate when that happens?  The gelato after the meal made up for my previous poor decision.

I snuck a couple shots, but apologize that they are lame.  I didn’t want to look like a tourist snapping pictures in the open.