Three drinks last night. Seven miles this morning. I am a rock star.
Theodora‘s interview lasted two long hours yesterday afternoon, so when she walked in the door of her apartment, it was time to drink. Yes, Theodora, I will drink with you. Friends don’t let friends drink alone.
We drank Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka mixed with lemonade and iced tea. Oh, yes, we did.
We also munched on some pita chips with hummus.
After our little happy hour, we headed to Eataly for dinner with friends.
Eataly, the largest artisanal Italian food and wine marketplace in the world, is finally here in New York. Two years after Oscar Farinetti opened his groundbreaking food and wine market in Turin, Italy, he has teamed up with Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich, and Lidia Matticchio Bastianich of Batali-Bastianich (B&B) Hospitality Group to transform a 50,000 square – foot space in the Flatiron District into New York City’s premier culinary mecca.
We headed upstairs to Birreria, a rooftop restaurant and brewery. The menu is mostly Italian, but influenced by Austria and Germany cuisine.
Theodora and I met Gabriela at the bar, where we immediately ordered a round of beers. Cheers!
It was my first beer since being sick, and it went down fine (no stomach issues), but it didn’t taste as delicious as it normally does. Somehow, I lost my love for beer. How sad. I’m actually not that worried considering marathon training has started and that’s how my beer obsession started in the first place. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time until I’m craving beer carbs again.
Ashley arrived a little while later and we sat down for dinner. It was a hot night, but the cool breeze felt nice.
To start, we enjoyed freshly baked bread and olive oil. The olive oil was especially amazing when sopped up with bread. I ate a lot of it.
For my entrĆĀ©e, I ordered the Insalata Cotta Cruda, which was Bibb lettuce with wax beans, potato, roasted onion, asparagus, tomato, olives, capers, and red wine vinaigrette. It was awesomeāā refreshing, flavorful, and surprisingly hearty. The potatoes and salty capers were great additions.
After dinner, we said goodbye to Gabriela and went to Wined Up for a post-dinner drink.
Ashley’s husband, Bo, met us there, and we enjoyed some good wine and conversation. We talked about running and training for the New York City Marathon, which, of course, reminded me of my run the next morning. I wanted to drink a second glass of wine, but the thought of running hungover in the steamy city heat quickly changed my mind.
Theodora and I ended up calling it quits pretty early and headed home to bed. Marathon training = responsible Tina.
52 Comments
What a fun day spent with friends, love it! š
Nice work! I have such a hard time running the morning after drinks, but it always makes me feel better. It’s great to see that you have a fun balance even when training for a marathon!
I’m so jealous of your fun day! I’d love to go to Eataly some time, I hear that it’s a really cool concept. Plus i love Mario Batali. I have his Molto Italiano cookbook and everything that I make from it turns out amazing.
If you’re looking for a good cookbook, try Molto Italiano.
Ah, I need to go to New York some day!
Looks like fun! Great job on the 7 miles first thing in the morning!
That salad has my name all over it.
I’m interested to see where this diet lighter in gluten will take you. Interesting that you are losing your taste for beer. After going gluten free, I too hated even the thought of drinking beer – let alone the smell of it. Then about a month ago, I had my first GF beer (Redbridge). Even an average beer tasted like nectar of the gods!
Firefly bottles are so pretty. Almost pretty enough to keep…but not, not really. š
When I vacationed to Charleston with my mom we actually went to the Fireflies distillery! I was able to taste-test all their vodkas. Delish!!
Don’t say that! Your love of beer is still there! It must be. Grab a kolsch and relax in the summer sun. That’s where you’ll find love!
Eataly is the one place I know we’ll visit for sure this weekend – you have me really excited about it!
Well done you! And potatoes and capers are such a magnificent combination, I’m sure that salad was delicious!
what a fun night, there is seriously nothing better than good bread and olive oil!!
This place looks amazing, i’ll have to make it a stop on my first trip to New York this fall
Way to get that run in Tina š
Isn’t Eataly amazing? I’ve never eaten there but roamed the aisles for hours ending up with some incredibly delicious (and expensive!) finds.
What a fun night! That restaurant looks really cool. I like the unique atmosphere. That salad looks really tasty too! š
Tina I appreciate that you share things like this — you seem to live a very normal life which I like to read about! It looks like you had a great evening!
I love Firefly, I just tried it about a month ago and it is wonderful. It looks like you guys had such a fun time!
Everything looks delicious! Sorry I couldn’t make it… next time? For real?? Haha.
Great job on the run – you ARE a rockstar!! Looks like a really fun night and your entree sounds delicious! I always find it a little tougher to get myself moving after a night of drinks but after it’s done, I feel SO much better! š
Great drink combo (sweet tea vodka and lemonade). Brings back fond memories of college in the south.
Wow, what a fun night!! And that salad looks delicious! That Firefly stuff can be dangerous because it tastes so good!
you girls are champs!
beer 4 life.
Haha you ARE a rock star! I used to be able to do that back in my college days but certainly no longer!
And isn’t Eataly the best?! I was so excited when it opened – you just reminded me I need to make another trip there soon!
I’m so jealous of all of you !! I went to Eataly when I came up to visit my cousin in NY last month and absolutely LOVED it !! The panini place was awesome and the little desserts !!
it’s so great to see you feeling better! happy marathon training…hoping those beer cravings come back soon because i always love to see all of the fun beers you try! š
Nice job on busting out that run after a night of drinking! That’s awesome that you’re able to balance having fun AND training!
That’s awesome that you made it to your run after the drinks! I love Firefly but it can sneak up on you!
Looks like such a fun night!
I also found it a bit difficult to balance my social life and marathon training. I definitely managed to still put back a few drinks but it did make me more responsible, probably a good thing!
Amazing photos and amusing ‘Eataly’!
Your sweet tea vodka/lemonade/iced tea drink looks so good… perfect for summer!
Nice. Looks like a fun night was had š
Looks like you’re having a great time! Keep up the fun š
Yay girl time!
i finally went to eataly during my last trip to NYC – and when i returned to LA i read that they’re opening one here š
That’s pretty awesome. I’d be calling my self a rock star too. Except I accidentally slept in this morning and now the heat is ridiculous. BOO!!!
Have you ever tried English Cider? I’m not talking Woodchucks, but I mean Magners or Strongbow? They are Gluten Free and absolutely DELICIOUS!! I know a few places in Harvard Square sell Magners Hard Cider- I highly recommend it if you haven’t tried it yet!
@Laura:
I second the Magners. One of my favorite summer drinks!
@Sarah Donovan: yeah, magners is a summer love of mine too!! and strongbow. Didn’t know they were gluten free!! even better
She’s mixing!!! Hard alcohol, beer, wine AND a run?! You are my hero.
Sweet tea vodka and lemonade is my current favorite drink. I have never heard of it, but all my friends knew it’s called a John Daley. So delicious!
I love sweet tea vodka!! It’s just so refreshing in the summer!!
Sounds like another amazing meal!! Jealous.
Call me crazy, but lots of my best runs in college were after a night of cocktails..perhaps it was the post-buzz adrenaline rush? It’s a mystery to me.
Isn’t Birriera awesome? I was just at Eataly this past Saturday…the only issue is the ridiculous line. The secret is to go with friends and be each others’ placeholders while you buy things to snack on during the wait š
You are so my type of person – long run followed up with Happy Hour and delicious food! Sounds like a fabulous day!
Next time you’re in NYC try Becco – Mario Batali also has a stake in it and it’s DELICIOUS! (and totally not that expensive for NYC!)
This sounds like such a wonderful evening.
What a fun night! š Nice job on being responsible! lol. Hungover runs=zero fun!
That just looks like a beautiful day, especially the boozy Arnold Palmers!! Love the look of that salad too!! molto bene.
U sure are a rockstar! My running motivation is close to zilch after a night drinking!
Firefly vodka is the bomb dot com
It was great to see you last night! I feel like you need to make another trip back to try Birerria when you’re back in the beer mood š
Can’t believe there is an Eataly in New York! I used to travel to Turin, Italy for weeks at a time for work and that was such a great place to go after a long day of work. Your salad looked great!