New York Guide

everything we did in the city this weekend <3

Apr 01, 2025

The Hotel

B and I love going to museums so we decided the best area for us to stay in would be the Upper East Side. After weighing all of our options, we decided to stay at the newly renovated Surrey Hotel - only blocks away from Ralph’s Coffee and The Met.

We got a view of Madison Avenue, nightly turn down service with slippers and glass water bottles, and room service from Casa Tua every morning.

Our entire experience was wonderful and the location was absolutely perfect. The streets around the hotel were quaint and peaceful (as much as they can be in NYC), so we never felt overwhelmed by too much traffic, activity, people, or noise (can you tell we’re introverts?)

The biggest plus was that we were only a couple blocks away from coffee, museums, and shopping.

The Food

Anytime we travel the dinner reservations are the first thing I think of booking (sometimes even before flights). We arrived Thursday afternoon and went straight to lunch at the hotel restaurant, Casa Tua. We shared a couple appetizers, then B had the cacio e pepe and I ordered the wagyu filet special. Everything was absolutely delicious.

For dinner we stayed with the Italian theme and went to one of my favorite restaurants ever, Cipriani’s, specifically their 59th street location. Their endive salad is my must-order any time I go.

Friday was our shopping day, so we had lunch on the 7th floor of Bergdorf’s overlooking Central Park.

For dinner we went to another one of my favorite restaurants, Estiatorio Milo’s. If you ask me what the perfect bite is: i’d say it’s their salmon sashimi. Other must-orders are the Romaine Salad with house dressing and the Zucchini flowers.

On Saturday we walked to Serafina’s after walking around the Met and then had dinner with friends at Sartiano’s in Soho. The decor/vibe was 10/10, we were never rushed, and the food was insanely yummy (which explains the difficulty landing a reservation here.) So if you have a trip to NYC soon, I’d definitely recommend booking this one in advance. The Caesar Salad and the Lasagna were to die for.

The Shopping