So in my personal opinion, the three best pizza places in the world are Grimaldi’s, Pepe’s (in New Haven), and John’s Pizzeria (pictured above), our Saturday lunch pick. Over our olive, pepperoni & onion pizza, Kendrick and I had a bit of a debate over which is the best best…and couldn’t decide.
In my opinion, Grimaldi’s is far and away the best-tasting…but you have to deal with the hour-long wait. John’s has the best location (Bleecker Street) with the most potential for post-brunch wanderings…but the pizza, while delicious, isn’t quiiiite as spectacular. And Pepe’s is…well, it’s in New Haven. But that usually means we’re mid road-trip (and I love road trips).
Like The Rusty Knot, John’s encourages (allows?) patrons to carve their names into the tables and chairs. Happily, someone had already taken care of this little chore for Kendrick.
After John’s, we walked North through the Meatpacking District (where I discovered a perfect – and completely unaffordable – summer purse from Kotur), and then turned East to make our way through Union Square.
In the Greenmarket, I picked up a bunch of watermelon radishes, which are basically larger and sweeter radishes with a gorgeous hot-pink center and pale-green “rind”. They’re excellent for adding flavor and crunch to salads, but I like eating them as a healthier (and, I think, even more delicious) alternative to popcorn, with butter and salt. (The Windfall Farms stall, by the way, is where I bought the edible borage flowers that I featured in a video that I made ages ago on the best fall produce.)
Another purchase from Union Square: a bunch of dried lavender ($5) from Lavender By The Bay, which also sells lavender plants, lavender sachets, and lavender honey. They have a beautiful U-Pick Lavender farm (I saw pictures)…but it’s unfortunately inaccessible without a car, or I’d already have a day trip planned.
Saturday night, we ate frickles (fried pickles; up there in my favorite things on the planet) with Morgan and Tyler at Brother Jimmy’s, and discovered the wonder that is 16 Handles (sort of a DIY Pinkberry with bazillions of different frozen yogurt flavors and toppings).
Sunday was Project Day: after a quick stop into Naruto for some fortifying brunch ramen, I headed down to the Home Depot on 59th and 3rd to pick up a can of chalkboard paint.
Black chalkboard paint and spray, incidentally, are easy to find, but the colored stuff (I was in search of dark green) seems to sell out all over the place (although if you’re more patient than me, you can order it online here). At Home Depot, though, you can buy tintable paint and customize it in any of the shades pictured above (I went for Schoolhouse Green) in just 5 minutes.
I spent the rest of Sunday coating myself from head-to-foot in green spatters, and getting very excited to show you my new favorite thing (coming up soon!).
Click here to learn how to make DIY chalkboard paint wineglasses (a fantastic – and fantastically inexpensive – hostess gift!).
