Hemispheres Magazine

DAY TWO / Wake up early and head to the many charms of downtown New York in those walking shoes you brought. A subway ride down to Spring Street is the fastest way to get to breakfast at Balthazar, in the heart of SoHo. You can drink excellent café au lait or even cappuccino out of a bowl the way the French do, enjoy fine fresh-baked croissants or quiche, and pretend you’re in Paris—but only until you walk through SoHo to see the 50 famous cast-iron buildings dating from 1869 to 1895. Greene Street is the heart of this district, and building Nos. 8 through 34 make up the longest row of cast-iron buildings in the world. Don’t forget to look down— the streets are the original cobblestone. Of great historical interest is the Haughwout Building, at 488 to 492 Broadway. It boasts the first Otis elevator (which made skyscrapers possible).

SoHo is also home to myriads of trendy food, clothing, and design boutiques, most of which open by 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. Be sure to explore the flagship Dean & DeLucca, at Prince and West Broadway; the exquisite little boutique Kee’s Chocolates, at 80 Thompson, for sensational chocolate truffles; and the charming tea room MarieBelle, at 484 Broome Street, to enjoy a bittersweet demitasse cup of hot chocolate, rich with Colombian single-vintage chocolate. Complete your visit to SoHo by checking out the trendiest designs at Armani Casa, at 97 Green Street, and Moss gallery, at 146 Greene Street, just off Houston.

If you haven’t sampled too much chocolate, you’ll be ready for lunch at the Blue Ribbon Bakery, in the West Village. Ask to see the ancient wood-burning bread oven they excavated and reconditioned, and you’ll have a clue why they produce some of the best bread anywhere. The menu is French-inspired, with escargot, French onion soup, and charcuterie that rival any in France, but the spot also has the crispest, juiciest Southern fried chicken. Save some appetite for Torres Chocolate, just a short walk into the West Village. Master chocolatier Jacques Torres’ confections will rejuvenate your appetite. Nibble on a dark-chocolate mudslide cookie, with a deliciously gooey center, or a creamy, tangy-with-lime, wee, white, love-bug truffle.

Now that you’re comfortably sated, you’ll really appreciate the walk through the West Village past charming buildings where the Dutch first settled. The Isaacs-Hendricks House at 77 Bedford Street is the oldest home in the Village, and 75½ Bedford Street is the narrowest. Be sure to walk by Twin Peaks at 102 Bedford Street, The Cherry Lane Theatre at 38 Commerce, and the 15 row houses built in the 1850s at St. Luke’s Place. Don’t miss the most extraordinary little house of all, mostly hidden behind a high, walled-in garden and leaning up against a taller building on the corner of Charles Street and Greenwich.

You are now about to leave one New York world for another, and the transition will be best accomplished by taxi. Time for cosmopolitans at the most beautiful bar in New York: The Four Seasons Restaurant at 99 East 52nd Street. The Grill Room opposite the bar is the “in” place for power-publishing lunches, but I’ve had my best times at the bar chatting with the perennially fascinating coowner and host Alex von Bidder. Gazing up at the famous Richard Lippold sculpture of long, metallic raindrops above the bar will transport you to a beatific state of mind. And if you catch it right, the setting sun will be captured in the seductively swaying bronze-chain curtains, casting golden, roseate hues.

Drink in the calm; then you’re off to a hot spot for the full New York steak experience: dinner at BLT Steak. Sail past the lively bar scene into the slightly less noisy main dining room for culinary adventure. Laurent Tourondel started out as an inspired seafood chef, so lobster and three main selections of fish are always available. Be sure to try the tuna tartar appetizer, a cylinder of little jewellike cubes of the finest sushi-grade tuna atop pale-green cubes of perfectly ripe avocado, surrounded by a synergistic soy vinaigrette. For the meat lover, there is a great New York strip, the prized center eye of the rib roast from Wagyu beef. There are also veal chops, and excellent rib lamb chops cleverly encrusted with pesto. As soon as you order, gigantic, 5-inch-tall Gruyère popovers arrive along with a tasty charcuterie sampling including velvety and delicate duck liver pâté topped with port wine gelée. For dessert, don’t miss the light and luscious crêpe soufflé with passion fruit sauce.

Ask the sommelier’s advice; the soufflé deserves to be paired with his best dessert wine of the evening. Don’t deprive yourself—you’re only a block from bed.

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