- Stumptown Coffee - Inside the Ace Hotel lobby. These guys started in Portland but have a couple of locations in NYC. Amazing coffee.
- Blue Bottle - Originally an SF joint, they've also expanded over to NYC. I have one two blocks from my house and go almost every morning ;) The cappuccino's and "New Orleans" (iced coffee with chicory and a tiny amount of sugar) are amazing. They usually have small pastries that are really good too.
- Blue Bottle - The Brooklyn location is in Williamsburg
- Momofuku Ssäm Bar - Get the pork buns! Everything is really, really good though
- Motorino - Napoletana style pizza (wood fire oven) the best in the city I've had so far
- The Breslin - Inside the Ace Hotel, mostly pork focused menu but really great food
- The Spotted Pig - The parent restaurant to The Breslin, really small but great atmosphere and food
- Mayahuel - Really good "fancy" mexican food and tequila bar. The drinks are incredible here.
- The Nomad Hotel - The restaurant inside is incredible
- Pok Pok - Thai street food. One of my favorite restaurants in the world. Definitely hit this place up if you have a chance. The kafir lime leaf infused gin and tonic is awesome. Definitely get the fish sauce chicken wings (seriously).
- Frankies Spuntino - Best Italian food in the US. Every single dish is amazing. Beautiful atmosphere too.
- Bedford Cheese Shop - My favorite spot to grab a baguette, some cheese and a few snacks. They have a lot of imported foods too, mostly Italian I think.
- Roberta's - Pizza and Italian food. There's a fun bar in the back too.
- Eleven Madison Park - Tasting menu. I haven't been yet but am dying to try it.
- Marea - A la carte menu. Seafood focused.
- Betony - A la carte menu
- Momofuku Ko - Tasting menu. Only 12 seats, but worth every penny.
- Blanca - Tasting menu. This was one of my favorite dinners, ever. It's behind Roberta's.
- The Bar at the Ace Hotel - It can get pretty crowded at night but it's a fun place to hang out at. There's a DJ playing music almost every night.
- Mayahuel - Same place that I mentioned above, just adding this here as well since they have such good cocktails ;)
- Maysville - Great whiskey selection and great cocktails.
- Brandy Library - Huge selection of rare whiskey and brandy.
- The Nomad Hotel - There are 4 or 5 bars here. The "Library" is my favorite.
- Dram - Incredible cocktails
- Radegast Hall & Biergarten - Brooklyn - Really fun (and loud) German-inspired beer garden. There's sausage and lots of beer.
- Brooklyn Brewery - Brooklyn - The name says it all. They make pretty great beer.
- Grom - Best gelato you'll ever have. They're from Italy but have a couple of locations in NYC. I used to go all the time when I lived in Florence.
- Central Park - It's HUGE. Really cool place to wonder around though.
- East River State Park - Near the Williamsburg ferry stop, if it's nice out I LOVE grabbing some stuff at the Bedford Cheese Shop then walking over to this park to hang out and enjoy the view of the city. On the weekends there's a thing called Smorgasburg that happens there. It's kindof an art and antique market with some pretty good food trucks and stuff.
- Brooklyn Bridge Park - Near the Brooklyn Bridge ferry stop. Amazing views of lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge.
- Walk over the Brooklyn Bridge - Gorgeous walk over one of the oldest bridges in the city.