Although we only live 20 minutes outside NYC it’s a still a great “getaway” weekend for us to spend together and play “tourists.” David and I tend to spend several weekends a year in NYC and have come to enjoy being there on or around [color:"red"]Valentine’s Day[/color]. We are both the romantics!

We spent the weekend this year at the W Times Square in the heart of Times Square on Broadway & 46th. For the die-hard Manhattanites I’m sure it’s a turn-off to be in the “tourist” area of the city but it works for us especially when it’s cold and we don’t want to venture too far from the hotel. The W brand hotels are hip and promise “whatever/whenever!” This particular hotel has the Blue Fin Restaurant which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. The hotel has 4 bar. The Blue Fin operates the bar on street level, and on the second floor of the restaurant. The club which gets a late crowd is called the Whiskey Bar and is located in the basement area. The hotel operates their own bar/lounge on the reception level called the “Library” bar. It’s large area with many areas of comfortable couches, private tables and a long bar. Later in the evening this area tends to attract a younger (thirty something) crowd and children are not allowed in this area after 8:00 PM.

We started off on Friday afternoon early with cocktails. For me the signature Blue Fin and David had a Manhattan. We shared sushi and ½ dozen raw oysters sitting at the bar “people watching” out onto Broadway and 46th. For appetizers and 4 cocktails the bill was $69.00 Blue Fin is the third party vendor and part of the BR Guest chain servicing the bar and dining rooms. At the bar you can order several raw items, sushi as well as soup and salads.

After relaxing in the room we decided to check out a Belgian bar/restaurant called BXL Café on 43rd between 6 & 7th Avenue. I am not a fan of beer but am of moules/frites and wanted to try the place without having to travel by foot or mass tran too far because it was extremely cold out this evening. We arrived to a packed house – very loud but everyone was having a good time. We were seated after 10 minutes and enjoyed the moules/frits in a cream white wine sauce. The “frits” were OK, not fabulous but service was friendly and it was a departure from our usual Asian, Cuban dinners out. David had a draft Stella Artois and I had a raspberry beer which was too sweet so I only drank half of it. Since I’m not a beer drinker I asked for something as far away from the taste of beer and that is what the host recommended. We also shared a goat cheese salad which was only average and in hindsight not necessary. Price of salad was $10.95. Moules/frit was $19.95 but I don’t remember what the total bill was?

We returned to the hotel to listen to a jazz duo that played piano and bass for several hours. Blue Fin offers free jazz on the weekend with no cover to all patrons. There is a bar on the second floor of the Blue Fin with a good amount of stools in addition to tables and chairs where you can listen to them. We enjoyed an after-dinner drink along with a decadent molten lava cake similar to the one served at Bistrot Caraïbes Restaurant in Grand Case, St. Martin.

Day 2 - On Saturday we walked two blocks to 50th & 8th and took the subway A, E or C (sorry can’t remember but they all go downtown) to 15th & 9th and walked a couple of blocks to Chelsea Market. www.chelseamarket.com What a fun place!

We shopped, ate and browsed for more than 2 ½ hours. Since it was noon and we hadn’t eaten we hit the first sit down place we found which was Ronnybrook Dairy. I wished we had walked farther as I didn’t find the menu very interested aside from a lot of milk shakes. David had scrambled eggs, which where just OK and I had a grain toast with farmers cheese and honey. With two teas the bill was around $13.00. We had intentions of eating lunch later at either Buddakan or Morimoto’s at Chelsea Market but after sharing a piece of Focaccia from Buon Italia we were not hungry. The Lobster Palace had lots of prepared and uncooked seafood. The place was doing a brisk business and almost everything had our mouths watering for some! The Bowery Supply Kitchen store had a variety of kitchen ware for the professional and personal home cook at very reasonable prices. Buon Italia had many domestic and imported Italian food to eat there or take home. I could have spent a fortune just in that one store. We found the prices to be reasonable for most of the stores inside Chelsea Market. Some of the stores selling baked items were overpriced in our opinion but we expected that from all the places inside the market and were pleasantly surprised this was not the case.

Although Buddakan and Morimoto’s restaurants are advertised as being in Chelsea Market neither are inside and if it wasn’t for the security guard no one we asked could tell us where either one was. We found a security guard who directed us outside the market to both. We only got to Buddakan which is closed for lunch on the weekend but the door was open so we walked inside. The receptionist was very friendly and asked if we’d like to walk around and take a look? It was a very nice space, decorated beautifully. There was another couple looking around taking photos so we joined them – didn’t feel rushed at all. Upon leaving she told us that they accept reservations 1 month plus a day in advance and book up quickly. The prices are high but it’s a place we would consider in the future.

Saturday evening was even colder than Friday because of the addition of a brisk wind. We decided to go to dinner after the theater crowd left for their performances as we were staying in the mid town area and didn’t want our meal to be rushed. We had planned on eating at a Greek restaurant we saw mentioned twice in the hotel magazine but it was so cold we got as far as Virgil’s BBQ (West 44th) and tried to dine there. To my surprise it was packed and it was after 8 PM. When the host told us we’d have to wait 45 minutes I said “no way.” We left and walked farther than we should have because of the frigid weather down to the Greek place. It wasn’t very crowded, was pretty big and the prices were a bit to high for what was listed on the menu so we turned around.

Winded up in a nice restaurant called Café Un, Deux, Trois (44th between Broadway & 6th). We sat at the bar and ordered wine and after looking at the menu decided to eat at the bar. The smoked salmon appetizers larger enough for two healthy eaters. Served with capers, hard boil eggs, and red onions. It was served with a basket of bread. For dinner I had spinach, mushroom and cream crepe and David had a croque-monsieur. We ended our meal sharing profiteroles. (insert link) We enjoyed the food and found the prices OK.

It was so cold we ran back to the hotel but had to “duck” into ToysRUs to get warm. Too bad I’m afraid of heights because they have a full blown Ferris wheel inside the store you can ride on. Each compartment is modeled after a popular toy. I’m unsure of the cost?? http://www2.toysrus.com/TimesSquare/dsp_home.cfm

In the middle of Times Square which is closed off to traffic they had a giant ice sculpted heart where everyone was taking photos. We had a fun time on our mini vacation and look forward to another weekend in NYC in the spring. photos