Afternoon Tea at the St. Regis Hotel

Thanks "R" for taking "J" and I for Afternoon Tea at the Astor Court in the St. Regis Hotel located at 5 West 55th Street.

For $48 per person you receive a silver pot of your choice of tea (I had the White Tip and "J" had the Mad Hatter's Tea Party) and two courses:

- Savory: five different dainty sandwiches (smoked salmon on pumpernickel bread, cucumber napoleon, mint cream cheese, smoked duck with orange, radish and cilantro, rosemary chicken with shallot and yellow bell peppers, king crabmeat salad with lemon and grain mustard, and traditional egg salad on brioche.

- Sweet: 3-tiered silver tray containing freshly baked scones (plan and rum raisin with double Devonshire cream, lemon curd and raspberry jam), almond blueberry financier (tasted like pound cake), assorted petite fours (lemon meringue tart, espresso chocolate tart with gold leaf, and caramel tart).

A harpist strummed away nearby and it was quite civilized.

Gingerbread Houses

Le Parker Meridien in NYC's Midtown has an annual Gingerbread House display. This year's theme was movies made in NY and there were 6 on display. King Kong was my favorite.

Four Seasons

The Four Seasons Hotel (not to be confused with the Four Seasons Restaurant) is located in NYC's midtown prime shopping area on East 57th Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues. Their bar, aptly named, The Bar, is an upscale hangout for business people and tourists. And with cocktails costing $20 each you better not be too thirsty. And the place was packed - all tables were occupied and it was 2 deep standing at the bar

We went for the burgers - all priced at $32. Both "T" and "L" ordered their classic Niman Ranch beef burger with Wisconsin cheddar which were served with fries. I ordered the Kobe beef sliders with chedder. Although my sliders were adorable, each adorned with a pickly slice and cherry tomato the regular beef burger had more flavor. And the fries were crispy, almost like skinny potato chips. For the cost and size of my sliders I think they should have been served with fries as well.

Sorry for the poor photos - it was quite dark in the bar.