Greenwich Village Food Tour With Kim and Kristen

Back in June, I got a Facebook message from an old friend of mine with some exciting news, she was going to be camping down at Saskatchewan Landing one of the weekends that I was going to be.  We quickly made plans for a visit and it turned out that they were camping right beside us.   Kim and I were university room mates and actually hadn't seen each other in probably at least 11 years so it would be a great opportunity to catch up (even though there was a lot to catch up on!).  During our visit, she mentioned that here and her sister Kristen would be coming to NYC for a girls weekend in August so again we made plans to get together.  A few days before they arrived, Kim sent me a message saying they planned to do the Greenwich Village Food Tour on the Friday that they were going to be there and wondered if i wanted to come along. Of course I can never say no to food or a tour, and I was super excited to see some familiar faces from home, so I quickly signed up.

When the day finally arrived to meet up with the girls at Murray's Cheese, it could not have come at a better time.  I hadn't been out much in a week and I needed some distraction.  We started the tour at Murrray's but didn't get to go in there yet.  I was a little sad because I love that place!

We walked down to Joe's Pizza a short walk away.  I had never had pizza but I knew it was pretty famous and I never turn down a NY Pizza!  It turned out the pizza was okay, not awesome BUT the pizza slices that were actually being eaten in the shop looked amazing!  I think we got the shaft a little bit because we weren't exactly customers.  In any case, it was pizza... hard to go wrong!  

Our next stop was O&Co., a fantastic little Olive Oil and specialty stop.  We got to try some french bread with delicious olive oil and popcorn with truffle salt (some of you will know of my truffle obsession).  We ended up going back after the tour for me to do some shopping.  The staff here is also so great!

Next up was Fiacco's, a famous Italian Delicatessen that I have walked by before but never really paid much attention to.  They have the most delicious rice balls EVER. If you have never had a rice ball it is a delicious little deep fried ball of Italian rice, bread crumbs, mozza and parmesan.  We also got a piece of yummy Italian Salami.  

Palma was next and  by far the the most beautiful restaurant on the tour and actually one of the nicest I have been inside in NYC.   It looks rather unassuming from the front but inside was filled with amazing fresh flowers (the most beautiful roses I have ever seen) and a adorable courtyard with a glass ceiling so it can be enjoyed in the winter as well.  Beyond that is a little room that can hold about 20 people for a private event, also filled to the brim with fresh flowers and a staircase that takes you to the second floor library.  We got to sample their famous Cavolfiore; a mix of sautéed cauliflower, pine nuts, caramelized onion, currants and breadcrumbs.  Delicious!

Up next was Rafele Bar and Ristorante.  This was our stop for a drink and bite to eat.  This place is also gorgeous and the Eggplant Rollatini (wrapped up layers of eggplant, ricotta, and their homemade tomato sauce) was so delicious I forgot to even take a picture of it!  Kim and I got some Sangria that really hit the spot because it was scorching out.  This would be a great dinner spot for some authentic Italian and drinks.

Rollatini photo courtesy FoodSpotting.com

We also got to learn some history on our little walk.  Somehow after walking by this key cutting and locksmith shop dozens of times, I never noticed it is basically made of keys haha.  We walked by the Cherry lane theater, an off Broadway theater hidden in the Village.  Many famous actors have been in shows there and Jerry Seinfeld's "The new York Story" starring Colin Quinn will start its second showing in October.  Around this area we also got to see some of the oldest and most famous homes in NYC.  You would never guess that most of them got for millions of dollars just by looking at them.

After a little walk to digest and learn some history, we got to go to Milk and Cookies Bakery for one of the best chocolate chip cookies ever.  No messing around here, amazing.

The cookies were massive and filling, but I still had room in my tummy for more!  Next was finally Murray's Cheese a NYC institution that literally has anything you could ever want.  Cheese, meats, crackers, drink mixes, honey, olives.  EVERYTHING and it is all to die for.  It is either locally made or imported from fancy places in Italy.  We got to try some delicious in store made cheese and cheese bread.

Our last stop, across the street was Pasticceria Rocco another famous pastry shop in the city.  We got to try some cannolis that are supposed to be THE BEST.  I was a little worried, I was scared I would be ruined from any other Cannoli because I will really only eat them from Carlo's Bakery (CakeBoss) in Hoboken.  turns out they were almost identical and just as yummy!  Thank goodness.

In the most delicious and NYC style way we ended the tour.  Kim and Kristen again invited me along with them for a couple more hours to tour around SoHo.  You can't beat the beautiful cobblestone streets and old buildings in this part of town!

I found this and thought it was pretty cool haha.

I was totally going to buy the face dress on the right but I didn't have a spare $3000 on me.

Our end to the day was pizza at my favorite place in the world, Lombardi's.  We didn't have to wait and line and everything was as usual unbelievable.  The best pizza in the world!  We said our goodnights with plans to meet up for a bit the next day and I made my way home, stuffed to the gills, fat and happy.