Thanksgiving and NYC

I feel that I have been neglecting my blog again... maybe the holiday season makes me lazy.  Or, maybe I just like to make excuses.  Either way, I felt a post was due.

Over Thanksgiving, I visited my brother in NYC and had some pretty delicious food.  I also cooked some pretty delicious food for Thanksigving but didn't think to photograph any of it.  I figured I would share two places that we went to in case anyone is traveling there in the near (or distant) future. 

Cafe Gitane at the Jane Hotel
This little cafe was an interesting mix of French and Moroccan influences, both in food and decor.  It is located in the Jane Hotel on Jane Street, not far from the Hudson River.  I had a lovely mint iced tea to drink and the cous cous with merguez sausages.  The cous cous had a good bit of spice and was full of red peppers, raisins, pine nuts, and eggplant.  It was topped with delicious hummus and placed a top a delectable herb oil.  Everything was delicious and made me want to polish off my plate, even though my stomach was full. 

La Maison du Macaron
My family is all about eating out, but we are also all about eating dessert.  We stopped in for some macarons at this cute little bakery and were not disappointed.  From what I can remember, the flavors ranged from simple pistachio to pink champagne, lavender, and apple cider.  I chose the pistachio, apple cider, and fleur de sel caramel for my little trio.  I think the fleur de sel was my favorite because I am a sucker for salty/sweet desserts. 

We also ate at an interesting Peruvian restaurant named Pio Pio, but unfortunately, it was too dark for me to take pictures of anything.  I had a pisco sour and some shrimp in an aji amarillo sauce served with quinoa.  The sauce was so good that I ended up eating my quinoa with it, too.  If you are in NYC anytime in the future, I highly recommend any of these places.  You won't be disappointed!