DUMBO

On Sunday, we spent a casual day in the DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) area.

Howard insisted on trying pizza while we were in New York. My aunt and uncle suggested that we go to Grimaldi's Pizzeria in DUMBO. They dropped us off and there really wasn't a need to point us in the right direction. The restaurant with the line-up was Grimaldi's.

Here we are, nearly at the front of the line! It is hard to believe that we were way back there an hour ago!

Teehee. Smallville fans? Okay, I realize that Chloe Sullivan isn't in there and the building has to do with Jehovah's Witnesses.

Lots to look at while we're waiting in line...

The little shop beside Grimaldi's even rents out chairs!

Grimaldi's Pizzeria
19 Old Fulton Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201
(718) 858-4300

The restaurant is quite crowded and many people share tables to maximize the space. Howard, my brother, and I shared our table for 4 with the woman who was in front of us in line.

She resides in Italy and was currently in New York City to study English for a month. How fantastic is that? It reminded me of a reversed Eat, Pray, Love. I shared the small pizza with her, we only added mushrooms to ours because she's a vegetarian. Howard and my brother shared a large pizza with pepperoni and sausages.

Here's our small pizza - we couldn't finish it.

The guys managed to finish their large pizza. I enjoyed the pizza, but I don't think we would wait an hour for it again. Howard and my brother said the same thing, the pizza was good, but definitely not worth the long wait.

Tip: To skip the line, call in, and order your pizza for "pick up." Otherwise you'll have to wait in line with everyone else that's there for eat-in and "take out."

We did a lot of walking after lunch. There are lots of shops, boutiques, and restaurants in this area. We took lots of photos of the Manhattan skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge.

There was one more stop we needed to visit before leaving DUMBO:

Jacque Torres Chocolate
66 Water Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201

The Jacque Torres ice cream location is right beside it. Cupcakes are listed on the menu, but when we asked. There weren't any that day. ='(

The chocolate displays, yum! The cute one on the right is called Love Bug, which is key lime ganache.

Time to walk the Brooklyn Bridge!

It was probably a good thing that it was cloudy, because it was hot! It took us half an hour to cross the bridge. No, we're not slow walkers! We did stop along the bridge for photos. =)

There was a drizzle of rain when we made it to mid-bridge. Quite refreshing actually!

Baked NYC

Last week, Howard and I went to visit New York for some sightseeing, food, and shopping. I'm warning you now, I will probably be doing a post everyday this week. I need to SHARE.

We had such a good time walking around the city and eating. We hope that you'll get to visit some of these spots one day!

First up, we visited Baked on Sunday, August 15th:

Baked NYC
359 Van Brunt Street
Brooklyn, New York 11231
(718) 222-0345

They're on facebook and twitter too!

Baked. With all your accolades and press, we just had to try it for ourselves. Howard was skeptical. I was worried walking in because I had such high expectations.

Now that we have visited, what can we say? We're impressed. I am so happy that I have their cookbook and I'm looking forward to the next one (also check out the trailer). But first, let's look around the bakery:

Jars full of brownies! Your experience isn't complete unless you reach in and try one.

Busy, busy! But don't worry, they have excellent customer service. I spent quite some time deciding on which one cupcake to get. Then added another cupcake. Then Howard picked a treat. Finally, I knew I couldn't leave without trying the brownie. Yet, she was patience as we kept adding last minute picks. She didn't even rush us (and luckily there wasn't a line behind me yet). I think she understood that we were making some serious decisions.

Mmmm look at the grasshopper bars. Are those lemon lime bars?

Over on the wall is their little gift shop. I just love the look of their boxed candies! They sell malted milk balls that top their famous Malted Cake.

After browsing, Howard and I bought a few treats to go:

The classic whoopie pie! Chocolate and vanilla, this goes great with a glass of milk.

One big bite from Howard. He said it was so good, so I took the next bite, and then he finished it! It was kind of sad when there was no more whoopie pie.

Our pistachio cupcake, vanilla base with pistachio sprinkled on top of the frosting.

I also wanted to try their chocolate frosting, so I got the chocolate and vanilla cupcake. Now that I thought about it, I should have went full chocolate since the pistachio had a vanilla base.

I was given the honour of first bite. I ate the chocolate and vanilla cupcake first. I was jumping up and down to wave Howard over - he went to get a drink. I told him that he had to try the cupcake, especially the frosting. I was going to save the pistachio for later, but didn't. We ate the cupcakes back-to-back because of the frosting.

Seriously, the frosting is just amazing. It is light and fluffy and isn't too sweet.

Howard thinks it is the best frosting he's ever tried yet!!!

Finally, the treat that received raves from Oprah and Food Network, the sweet and salty brownie! Nom nom nom!

Another sure sign that we couldn't stop? Well, we generally try 1 or 2 items from each bakery we visit. Here, we found ourselves getting 4 delicious items! So hats off to Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Please visit Toronto for your next book tour?