It almost feels unreal, like pretend or something. Yesterday I was in New York, and by 1 p.m. today Pacific time, I was back in San Francisco.

What a day though.

Not only did I see my two best friends, Kay who flew in from Indiana where she’s training for her pharmaceutical job, and Kristan who flew in from Cincinnati where she works for GE, I also got a whirlwind tour of New York’s best bridal shops.

And topped off everything with the most amazing dinner at quite the trendy restaurant.

My red eye flight got in just before 8 a.m. and I was in a cab and off to the Grand Hyatt before 8:30. Met up with the girlies and set off for Kleinfield’s.

I don’t watch “Say Yes to the Dress” but there is something extra glamorous about flying into NY and going to a shop famous for being on TV. Kay loved one particular dress very much, it even brought tears to my eyes, but we found “the one” at our next appointment. First we stopped for a much-needed lunch though.

Fortified and hydrated, we set out for our next appointment.

Amsale brought it home for us.

Of course I can’t divulge any of the details, but it is beautiful, totally Kay, and she’s wearing a cathedral-length untrimmed veil. Romantic to the nth degree.

We had another appointment after this at Reem Acra that left a bad tasted in all of our mouths. We didn’t like the service or the dresses. They were a little too gaudy for us. But no big deal. Kayla said yes to the dress!

On to the night’s festivities. Kay booked reservations at Buddakan, supposedly a super-trendy Asian-fusion restaurant in the Meatpacking district. It was unbelievable. The ambiance itself was worth paying for. Dark, dim-lit, sexy and full of hot people. It was great.

Buddakan is huge inside. There is a downstairs and upstairs area, private boothes, lounge tables, huge long banquettes, intimate areas in the back – ridiculous. We started off with drinks. The Fate cocktail (x2) for Kay and I, Kristan got a Riesling. Apps included the edamame dumplings for me and pork dumplings for the meateaters. I read about the edamame dumplings on Yelp and though both girls were doubtful, I mean, edamame dumplings?, they were fantastic. It tasted like garlic mashed potatoes inside, steamed soft and supple on the outside.

After our apps, Kay also got a Charm cocktail. Our waiter was super helpful – bringing us drinks and dishes when we asked him to recommend things. We loved all his recommendations.

On to the real dinner. Confession: in between drinks, I was staring at this guy in a suit about 15 feet from my table standing in an alcove. The reason was because I was trying to figure out if he was a patron of the restaurant or someone working there because he was lurking and seemed to be staring at me. But it was so dark I couldn’t really make him out so I probably looked like I was the one creeping. He turned out to be the manager (and I will get to the importance of this in a few.)

After our excellent meal and while we were contemplating dessert, suddenly our waiter appeared with three glasses of dessert wine – Muscato d’Asti. Just so happens to be Kristan’s favorite dessert wine. These glasses were on the house because our waiter told the manager (the lurker) that Kayla was celebrating buying her wedding dress, but also because he wanted to pay his compliments to me. To me. Imagine.

I was very, very flattered. It was a very nice gesture and we chatted with Markus before we left.

Then came dessert. I read about this on Yelp too. Chocolate peanut butter bombe. It was the bomb. Ok, sorry, I had to do it. Light, fluffy peanutty taste bracketed by chocolate and caramelized peanuts. We were all in heaven. (And a little tipsy at this point.)

I love New York. I love my girlfriends. I love food. Congrats Kay!

And so my weekend in NY came to an end.

xoxo,
Jenn