First Bite of the Big Apple - Taking teenagers to NYC

City breaks seem to suit our family extremely well. The teenagers are quickly bored on the beach (spoilt) and the hustle and bustle of a foreign city is a great contrast to our sleepy Cornish home town. New York City is an ideal destination for teenagers for as well as feeling like a huge movie set, the jet lag created by travelling west means that they will actually get out of bed before lunch. Prior to leaving we all wrote down the things that we wanted to do resulting in a contented balance of modern art and fried chicken. Our boys (aged 15 and 17 years) are at an ideal stage to enjoy the city and could manage their subway passes, hecklers, late nights and improvising on the fly.

Brooklyn

Our days booking a hotel room with a fold out sofa bed are long gone. Hotel rooms in Manhatten for four people are prohibitively expensive and tiny. We opted for more space and booked a lovely Air B n B in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Our appartment was a brisk five minute walk to the Subway Station (Grand Street) and a 10 minute subway ride to Manhatten (Union Square). There were plenty of affordable food options and coffee shops on our doorstep including Three Legged Cat (best coffee in NYC) From Rome to Brooklyn (pizza) and the fabulous Kellogg’s Diner serving American and Mexican food in a tradional Happy Days- style setting. We attended the Sunday Service at Love, Fellowship Tabanacle (Brooklyn) where we were made to feel very welcome and enjoyed listening to their fabulous gospel choir.

Central Park brrrrrrr.

Activities

Our Go City Pass included access to five major attractions in New York City. One of the unexpected highlights was the American Museum of Natural History. Who knew that the teenage boys were still so enamoured by dinosaurs? We were all impressed by the Hayden Big Bang Theatre and the scale of the exhibits. I enjoyed the rather niche tour of Art Deco friezes at the Rockerfella Centre although I am not sure that my enthusiasm was shared. The story of immigration was well told at Ellis Island and a great insight into the melting pot of cultures within the city.

We snagged some last minute tickets to watch Moulin Rouge on Broadway (TodayTix) which was spectacular and more fabulous than the film with the addition of contemporary bangers that were familiar to the teens. We pre booked tickets to see the Knicks vs Bulls at Madison Square Gardens (Ticketmaster). I am not a sport enthusiast but thoroughly enjoyed the basketball (apart from the awful honking) it’s a much more wholesome family affair than watching the football. (less c bombs more giveaways). A visit to the National Stonewall Memorial Centre was eye opening and felt timely given the current US political climate.

Gay Liberation’ statue by George Segal (outside Stonwewall Inn)

Food

Food is a very high priority on our family holidays. As well as some rather grim fried chicken affairs (the kids loved Raising Canes and Chick-Fil-A) we were excited to find some great Jewish Delis. We enjoyed chicken soup and Reuben sandwiches at PJ Bernsteins on the Upper East Side (close to the Met and Guggenheim). The more famous Katz Deli was worth the queue but you’ll need sharp elbows to grab a table. We found the best bagels at Bagel Bobs in Grenwich Village : popular with the students at NYU, these bagels were loaded and very budget friendly. We ate gorgeous Italian food at Nizza and Bea in Hell’s Kitchen. These fun restaurants were bursting with atmosphere and their menus had all the regular crowd pleasers as well as more creative offerings.

My last visit to New York was in 1996 when I seemed to spend most of my time sunbathing and smoking on the steps of the Met (I did go in briefly). I had forgotten that the Subway was edgy and makes the London Underground look like the Orient Express. Our teenagers were definitely exposed to the more grubby side of the city, in fact they were absolutely thrilled to witness criminal activity (Tasor anyone?) All in all, New York City blew their minds and I don’t think they’ll ever forget their first bite of the Big Apple.

Delicious Reuben Sandwiches with no queue at PJ Bernstein.

Make Sandwiches Great Again

In difficult times it’s always helpful to focus on life’s minutiae, in this case sandwiches. I am a huge enthusiast of anything slapped between two pieces of good bread and my death row meal would definitely include an excellently constructed sandwich. School packed lunches and service stations have given this cullinary treat a bad reputation : flappy ham, soggy tomato and dry bread. A well- made sandwich can easily take centre stage at supper and need not only be reserved for lunches-on-the go. Is it time to rethink your sandwich game?

The sandwich is officially 263 years old. Although there are earlier accounts of meals served between two slices of bread, the sandwich is named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. As the story goes, he was playing cards and did not want to leave the gaming table to eat. The rogue Earl asked for a serving of roast beef to be placed between two slices of bread so he could eat with his hands. At the time this was scandalous, as eating with your hands was not considered polite. Other people were probably eating this way, but they weren’t considered important enough to write about. The Earl was considered a ‘daring man’ and probably didn’t know that his snack requests would become a global convenience meal.

According to the British Sandwich Association, in the UK we spend over £8.2bn on sandwiches every year. Marks and Spencers first produced a wrapped sandwich in 1980 for 43p and the industry took off exponentially in spite of doubts that customers would want to buy something that could be easily whipped up at home from leftovers. The average packaged sandwich is consumed within 3.5 mins and people were up for instant gratification during the 80’s convenience foods boom. By the 1990’s, the sandwich industry had trebled in size and sandwich invention became competitive between major retailers.

Sandwich cutters at Katz’ Deli

Fancy sandwiches were championed by Pret-a-Manger in the 1990’s with more daring creations including roast leg of lamb, redcurrant jelly and aubergine. However, the immigrant cultures in New York bought varied deli sandwiches to the city from the 1880’s on wards. Personally, I don’t think that packaged versions can ever complete with freshly constructed elaborate or simple sandwiches. Deli’s such as Katz have up to 8 cutters working furiously to produce phenomenally well stacked sandwiches including aged pastrami, brisket, swiss cheese and pickles with Russian dressing. Here in the UK we are seeing the emergence of shops that are taking the skill and construction of sandwiches more seriously. Great British Chefs have compiled a list of the top 15 sandwich cafes in the UK that would be well worth a pilgrimage.

From Elvis’ fried banana and bacon offering to the Queen’s dainty finger sandwiches, good bread is the ultimate vehicle for your favourite snack. The question of what is more important the carrier or the filling is difficult to answer. Personally, I feel that processed bread is ruiness to a sandwich as is a slimy filling that has been sitting between the slices for too long. Life is too short to eat bad sandwiches, so do yourself a favour and make yourself an epic one this weekend. These are my top 5…

Top 5 sandwiches

1. The Reuben - pastrami, saurkraut, swiss cheese on Rye Bread with Russian Dressing.

2. Crab Sandwich - white crab meat, homemade mayonnaise with crispy iceberg lettuce on brown bread,

3. Smoked Salmon Pumpernikel bagel with cream cheese and capers.

4. Fish Finger Sandwich - goujons with tartare sauce on fresh white bread.

5. Cucumber Finger Sandwich - softened butter, thin slices of cumumber and salt and pepper on brown bread.

Salmon and Cream Cheese on Pumpernickel Bagel (Bagel Bobs, NYC)

Pudding for One

I find myself at home alone on Friday nights with increasing frequency. To be clear, I am absolutely fine with the situation as I am always knackered and don’t have the energy to create a meal , go out (what?????) or compromise on my Netflix choices. To optimize these quiet and wonderful evenings, I like to indulge in a personal pudding. There is no need to share and there is something a little rebellious about having ‘just a pudding’ for supper. If this is also your Friday night situation, I have put a couple of VERY simple recipes below to cover both chocolatey and carby cravings.

Chocolate Soufflé for One

50g dark chocolate

A pinch of sea salt

2 heaped tablespoons caster sugar,

25g butter,

1 large egg separated

1 tsp vanilla extract

• Set a fan oven to 180°C and grease a ramekin or small oven proof dish with butter

• Place the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and melt slowly.

• Whilst the chocolatey mixture is melting, whisk your egg whites until they become snowy peaks and then whizz in the sugar until it all becomes glossy.

• Take the bowl of chocolate and butter off the heat and cool slightly. Then stir in the vanilla extract and egg yolk.

• Fold the stiff egg whites into the chocolatey mixture and delicately spoon into the ramekin.

• Cook for 18 mins and scoff with cream and or ice cream.

Individual Bread and Butter Pudding

x2 small slices of any bread or brioche

a handful of sultanas, cranberries or choc chips

x2 tbsp caster sugar

x2 tbsp double cream

60ml whole milk

Butter to spread

x1 egg

• Set a fan oven to 180° C and grease a ramekin or small oven proof dish with butter

• Spread the bread liberally with butter.

• Layer the bread (you may need to cut it down) into the ramekin sprinkling the dried fruit or choc chips between the layers as you go.

• Meanwhile whisk the egg, cream, sugar and milk together in small jug.

• Pour the creamy mixture over the bread in the ramekin, sprinkling nutmeg or cinnamon on the top if desired.

• Bake for 35 minutes until the top is golden and delicious.

YUM YUM and no need for mind-bending ‘Ottolenghi-style’ 15 ingredient and 25 step instructional methods for total delicious decadence.

Sophie xx

One spoon please?