The morning of my departure
My day started with an alarm at 3am, after staying up packing until 2am. My mom also stayed up all night, making me some kimbap for my flight.
Kimbap is a (Korean) seaweed rice roll that is perfect for picnics and travel, but laborious to make; from julienning to cooking; from spreading to lining; from rolling to slicing — nothing like putting together a simple sandwich or burrito.
At 10:30pm last night, my mom offered to make some for me. Given the time of day (or night) and the required labor, I told her there’s no need – but she insisted. So at 10:45pm, she hopped in her car to grab some cucumber from the store and slaved away all night.
This is a Korean mother’s spoken love language.
When we arrived at the airport, around 4:30 am, I was shocked at how busy and long the lines were at security. Luckily, Ashley and I both have TSA Pre-Check so we went through like a breeze.
Sadly, I realized it would be my last time using TSA Pre-Check for a while. I never got to use my Global Entry, but good thing I got on nearly a dozen domestic flights in the last couple years. I guess it’s all #worthit?
Never again, New Jersey
My flight was originally direct to Newark, but 3 weeks after booking they added a layover. I was so annoyed, but my mother claims that a layover actually helps you not feel tired, because you have to get up to switch planes, but I disagree.
I prefer one continuous flight so I can make my best attempt at falling asleep — and staying asleep. I slept as much as I could on both flights, and once we landed I actually felt fine. So maaaybe she’s right?
I had booked the flight to Newark because it was cheaper than to JFK. To me, Newark was synonymous with NYC so I didn’t even realize the airport is in another state until we landed. Wow — I really did zero planning before my departure.
I never want to fly into Newark again because the process of getting into the city, with all my luggage, was a real PITA (Pain In The Ass). Once we got into the city, we rolled our luggage to our hotel twice – we went to the wrong location the first time *face palm.* It was hot and I was hungry, lugging around my entire life with me, and just wanted to get to the hotel and shower.
Arriving in The City
Arriving in NYC felt different than all the other times I’ve traveled, because this time it wasn’t just a “vacation.”
This was my new life.
So that “12 minute walk” to the hotel (twice) was really hard on my mental health – I was stressed about making it to our dinner reservation, anxious about the amount and type of luggage I’m traveling with, and had flashforwards into my daunting future. I was thinking, “what did I just do?”
But everything turned around once we checked into our room. We showered, got ready, and barely made it to our dinner reservation at Sant Ambroeus. The dinner was the perfect start to our NYC trip, and it was extra cool and memorable because of how it all came to be.
The (Partial) Reason for our trip to The Big Apple
I met the now-executive chef of Sant Ambroeus, Lanfranco, when he was the chef at L’unico food cart in Portland last year; a cute, green Italian street food cart in North Portland by the Moda Center.
During the pandemic, I was (and still am) really passionate about supporting local businesses as they were (and still are) struggling to keep their businesses afloat. I made it my priority to support them by not only patronizing them, but by spreading the word to my friends via word of mouth and on my Instagram.
Throughout the year+ of the pandemic, I developed many relationships, friendships and connections with business owners in the Portland food scene because of Instagram. And L’unico was one of my favorite carts.
The owners were lovely and sweet, and they made the best Italian food – it was simple but so delicious. They were one of few carts I re-visited multiple times, and I recommended their cart to soo many people.
When they shut down last winter, I was devastated because I already missed their food so much. I was so sad that I hadn’t tried some of their new fall items, like the squid ink risotto *crying emoji.*
So when Lanfranco moved to NYC and he invited me to visit his new restaurant, it was a no brainer for me.
Dinner at Sant Ambroeus
Upon arrival, we checked in for our reservation and, moments after being seated we were greeted by Lanfranco.
It was such a lovely and epic reunion!
After a brief chat he said to us, “I’ll send you some food.” The best thing you can hear, especially after a long day of travel.
And one by one, each dish appeared on our table in 4 courses.
OUR INCREDIBLE FOUR-COURSE MEAL
FIRST COURSE
My dish:
Burrata cheese, lobster, cherry tomatoes, white peaches
Ashley’s dish:
Celery root “scallops” (v)
SECOND COURSE
My dish:
Squid ink spaghetti, fluke ragout, tuna bottarga
Ashley’s dish:
Radish carpaccio with English peas, fava beans, carrots, basil, parsley (v)
THIRD COURSE
My dish:
Branzino, zucchini puree, lobster shell bisque, spring salad
Ashley’s dish:
Simple spaghetti with tomato sauce (v)
DESSERT
My dish:
Tiramisu
Ashley’s dish:
Raspberry & mango sorbet (v)
Everything was fantastic. My favorite dish was the burrata cheese with lobster and peach. YUM! I missed Lanfranco’s food so much! And we felt like VIP. He brought out every single course to us, each dish crafted specifically for us as it was completely off menu.
He wants to change/update the menu but, because Sant Ambroeus is such an old restaurant with many loyal customers, it’s not an easy feat. So he tested out his new concept as well as his vegan concept, which was fortuitous since Ashley is vegan.
The whole dinner was like a dream!
Lovely ending to a perfect night
After dinner, we went to the highly anticipated Van Leeuwen. We LOVED it. Then we strolled around the city, walking by Little Italy and China town, Grand Central Terminal, and Times Square. It was so alive, the streets were bright and filled with lots of people. NYC is back!
Read about the rest of my NYC trip here.
