NEW YORK: DAY 1

It had started snowing and Boston was expecting 4-8 inches of snow, awaiting the arrival of the largest winter storm of the season thus far. In anticipation of the storm, Jetblue cancelled over 200 flights. And so, on that cold wintry day, we boarded a very crowded train and headed down to New York. Luckily, we had decided to take the train this time. If we had planned on driving, we would never have even made it. I've been planning this trip for weeks, and wouldn't it just figure that I chose to go the one weekend this winter where there would be significant amounts of snow and make walking treacherous and difficult? But we pushed on.

By the time we arrived in New York, the city was covered in a thick blanket of snow. In addition, the streets weren't being plowed fast enough and the wind was blowing painful ice crystals directly into my face. As we struggled to get to my cousin's condo in DUMBO, Tom asked if we were really going to venture out into the snow again. Of course! I replied. We had reservations at Enoteca.

So yes, I was able to score my reservation at Enoteca on Friday morning. And when the reservationist plugged my info into their computer system, she realized that we'd been there before. That was a nice touch. I made the reservation for 6 people, but in the end, we only had 5. When we finally arrived at Enoteca, not surprisingly, the restaurant wasn't bustling like the first time. The bar empty was nearly empty (though Joe Bastiniach was sitting there making phone calls), but the Enoteca was still pretty full. We were seated at the largest table they had, which comfortably holds six, but in the future, I won't go here with a party greater than 4. I won't go into the details of the meal, because the menu was exactly the same as the first time I went. I will say that the Spaghetti Aglio e Olio was probably the best thing I had. It was soooo simple. Perfectly cooked fresh pasta, some olive oil, salt, garlic, parsley and red pepper flakes, but delicious. I don't think I could reproduce it in my own kitchen. Tom got to enjoy his lardo and I also had a wonderful chocolate hazelnut tart for dessert. Service was impeccable as usual.

Though I wasn't as stuffed as the first time I'd been to Enoteca, I think we all walked away from dinner quite happy. It was certainly worth a cold, wet trek in the snow and was a great start to a weekend filled with food.