spring break review

Last week I made my annual pilgrimage to the East Coast to visit the darling boyfriend and visit the mecca of the land of god-awful weather (spoiled SoCal girl here), New York. I had, as usual, an amazing time and enjoyed all the sights and tastes I encountered.

This year, I stayed in the East Village with an old high school friend while visiting New York. Anny’s an architecture major currently attending Parson’s New School of Design whose apartment and lifestyle makes me almost wish I lived in New York (but really, I’m a Biology major; what in the world would I do in the capital of hipsters?). And of course, the good thing about staying with a local is hearing about their favorite places to eat.

The first place she raved to us about is the Caracas Arepa Bar, which serves yummy South American food. Incidentally, I had never tried South American food before, so it was an adventure. Caracas’ specialties are obviously its arepas, stuffed, cornmeal flat-breads that, in this case, were grilled to perfection, but we also all ordered an empanada each, which is a deep-fried, savory filled pastry. Let me tell you, these things are effing amazing—so good I couldn’t even bring myself to take pictures before I dug in and stuffed my face. The restaurant is very, very small, and there was a bit of a wait, but all in all, a great first experience with Latin food.

Anny also recommended a local ramen place called Rai Rai Ken, whose limited menu was filled with such good stuff I could have just closed my eyes and pointed to order. The place is tiny (14 seats!) but the food is well worth the wait. Intensely flavorful, savory broths and plenty of toppings to spice things up… Roasted pork and perfectly cooked noodles… Mmm… I’m getting jealous of East Villagers just thinking about it. It’s food like this that makes me want to give up the perfect San Diego weather for dirty subways and too many straight men in skinny jeans.

Since we didn’t have to commute, the boyfriend and I took this mini-vacation rather leisurely. We strolled around the East Village, went shopping, walked around Central Park (gorgeous this time of year; the tree branches are covered in little green leaves and the daffodils are coming up), and visited the Met again. We also got great seats to watch the (now) off-Broadway showing of Avenue Q, which is definitely the most hilarious production I have ever, ever seen. I laughed the entire way through and yes, am guilty of being titillated at the full-frontal puppet nudity. I wish we had more time, as I always do, but this was a great taste of what life could be (of course, the complete lack of academic worries and parents helps too). I can’t wait to go back again next year!