#nyc – Griffey's Great Adventures

The Dead Rabbit, NYC

Nestled in the Financial District on Water Street in NYC you will find The Dead Rabbit- not the animal, the pub. It’s an old fashioned “saw dust on the floor” Irish bar started by Jack McGarry and Sean Muldoon back in 2013 when they came to New York from Ireland. It didn’t take long for them to be voted “Best Bar in North America”. In fact, they hit a homerun, claiming the title for 4 consecutive years!!

The Dead Rabbit: 30 Water Street, New York, NY

So what does it take to get on the “Best Bars” list? The menu is far more impressive than most Irish bars. The whiskey list is so great the Village Voice voted The Dead Rabbit “Best Whiskey Bar in New York” in 2015. The cocktail menu has won so many awards that we lost count. This should come as not surprise considering the fact the Jack McGarry has been voted “International Bartender of the Year” and Jillian Vose, the bar manager, won a 2013 “Rising Star Award” from Star Chefs. The food menu is a little more upscale than your typical Irish bar and is as good as the cocktails and whiskey, offering labeled gluten free menu options for those with food allergies and sensitivities. If you are downtown and looking for a place to enjoy good food, drinks, and atmosphere, this is it! There are 3 floors of fun and cheer, including The Taproom on the first floor, The Parlor on the second floor, and The Occasional on the third floor, where small private parties can be accommodated. Cheers, or should I say Slàinte!

What We Ate and Drank:

~”World Famous” Irish Coffee
~Deviled Eggs (Gluten Free)
~Hand Cut Truffle “Chips”

*According to the National Institute of Health, the distilling process removes all gluten proteins from whiskey, making it gluten free.

*After this trip, we returned to The Dead Rabbit for brunch. If you are looking for an authentic Irish breakfast, this is the place! Whether you are going for drinks, food, or their comic book-like menus, it’s definitely worth a trip to see The Dead Rabbit!

Slàinte!

For more information, visit their website www.deadrabbitnyc.com

Suprema Provisions, NYC

There is a lot of flavor cooking at this West Village gourmet eatery and market. With the feel of an Italian Salumeria and the taste of a French Bistro, Suprema will leave you salivating for more. The setting is cute and informal with just the right amount of tables for a small restaurant feel. There is a full service bar with a wine list that complements the cuisine, which is no surprise with Joshua Wesson, a well known sommelier, heavily involved in the restaurant’s success. The wait staff was friendly and helpful, assisting us with the best choices for pairing our food and drinks. At the back entrance of Suprema, Italian meats, books, and other fine imported foods can be purchased in the “market”. From salami and cheese boards to pork shoulder lasagna to the famous “Suprema Burger” itself, you won’t be disappointed here. It is worth noting that the “Suprema Burger” was the highest rated burger in NYC by the Gotham Burger Social Club!

What We Ate:

**The Suprema Burger: Short Rib, Brisket, iberico jamon, bacon jam,**
**black garlic sauce, aged cheddar cheese sauce, and sundried tomatoes.**

**Roasted Chicken with Young Carrots and Potatoes**

Since this is a smaller venue, reservations are recommended, especially in the evenings and on weekends.

You can call for reservations at 646-964-4994.
You can visit their website at www.supremanyc.com

Suprema Provisions is located in the West Greenwich Village neighborhood at 305 Bleecker Street New York, NY

Venchi, NYC

What if I told you that you could visit a place where the walls were made of chocolate fountains? It seems like something out of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory but move over Willy Wonka, there is chocolate flowing in the heart of Union Square, NYC!

Chocolate Fountains at *Venchi*, Union Square NYC

The place is Venchi, a world renowned Italian Chocolatier serving up gourmet chocolates, coffees, gelato and crepes. These are all amazing, but the star of the show in the 45-foot long and 10-foot high chocolate fountain that makes up the walls of half of this decadent dessert shop. Look, don’t touch though! The walls are not for eating.

You can visit Venchi’s chocolate fountains at 861 Broadway, New York, NY. Just want to indulge in the sweet treats? Venchi also sells their goods at the Flatiron and World Trade Center Eataly locations in NYC, and various locations around the world.

For more information, or to find a Venchi near you, visit their website here.

Remi Flower and Coffee, NYC

I don’t know about you but I find gardens and greenhouses to be very soothing spaces. After all, psychologists have found that having plants in your living space can decrease stress and anxiety, boost your mood, and enhance creative thinking. And who doesn’t enjoy starting their day with a good cup of coffee or tea? So the idea of combining plants with coffee is brilliant! That is just what you will get at Remi Flower and Coffee in NYC! Buy your java in the front of the store and your hand cut flowers in the back! The café beverages are well done and are complete with a frothy design. There is seating available amongst the greenery so you can enjoy your coffee peacefully in house or you can get it to go. Either way, this is a great spot for your morning joe!

What we ordered:

Left: Turmeric Latte with Almond Milk

Right: Pumpkin Spice Latte

You can visit Remi Flower and Coffee at 906 2nd Avenue New York, NY
For more information, visit www.reminyc.com

~Enjoy!~

The New York City Marathon- A One-of-A-Kind Experience

If you have ever been in or around NYC during the New York City Marathon, you know that this is a citywide party, a celebration, a recognition of what the human body, heart and mind is capable of. The New York City Marathon was started in 1970 by its founder, Fred Lebow. He guided 55 participants through Central Park, completing the 26.2 mile marathon distance. By 1976, he had racked up 2,090 participants and took the marathon to all 5 boroughs. Fred continued to grow the race each year. In 1992, just in remission from brain cancer, Fred ran the race again and finished in 5:32:34. Just before the event’s 25th anniversary, Fred succumbed to his brain cancer. Today, over 50,000 runners take to the streets of NYC the first Sunday of every November to honor Fred and those who have paved the way before them, and to test their will, their endurance, their guts.

The course begins in Staten Island at the mouth of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. You can’t help the excitement that wells up inside you as you turn the corner and see the bridge come into sight. The starting line is barricaded with NYPD, FDNY, and military members saluting you and sending you off on your 26.2 mile journey. After the Star Spangled Banner plays, cannons thunder to signal the start. Frank Sinatra is singing “New York, New York” in the loud speaker and NYPD helicopters are sounding their sirens on both sides of the bridge, their way of wishing you good luck. For a moment, it all seems surreal.

Adrenaline takes you quickly over the bridge for the first mile as you come into the streets of Brooklyn. If the weather on marathon day is nice, there are 2-3 million spectators cheering you on throughout the course. Brooklyn, in particular, feels like one big block party. There is a moment of calm and quiet when you cross over the Queensboro Bridge, but when you reach the end, there is a whole new crowd screaming your name or your bib number, reminding you of how capable you are to finish, and what an awesome experience you are having. None of this compares to the feeling you have when you are coming up the hill on 5th Avenue for the 23rd mile, feeling like it will never end, and you enter Central Park where the sidelines are flooded with people screaming to you that you are so close to the finish line you can taste it. After you make your way onto Central Park South for the final stretch of NYC street you will see of this race, you can see the entrance to the park, the final .2 miles until your destination, the finish line you have been waiting to see since January when you committed to the marathon. When the finish line comes within view, something deep inside you, something made of sheer will, propels you forward making your numb legs move faster than they have the whole race. There are no good words to describe the emotions you experience during this journey but the best I can say is that at this point, you become flooded with both relief and sadness that it’s almost over, pride in your accomplishment, faith in human nature, the excitement from the energy the city emits, the pain in your limbs, the hunger in your belly, and finally the tears of satisfaction as you take your final step onto the last tracking strip- THE FINISH LINE.

There are very few things in life that are as emotional or as exhilarating as finishing a marathon, and there is no marathon like the New York City Marathon. It is bigger than just running a race or checking off your bucket list. It is a demonstration of citizens from around the world – runners from 130 different countries- inspiring a city full of people to come together and cheer on 50,000 complete strangers, proving that the human spirit is very much alive and well.

For more information on the NYC Marathon, or for details on how to enter, visit www.tcsnycmarathon.org