Annie & Cameron Say I Do to Cookie Do NYC & More

By Annie Farley and Cameron Rhind

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We hope that everyone enjoyed great food and company this holiday! This weekends food crawl was packed to say the least. The beautiful Saturday morning started with an early rise at 7 AM. We quickly got ready and hurried down to the #turkeyburn Soulcycle class in Greenwich, Connecticut, run by well known instructor, Connor Kelly. After a grueling 90 minute ride, we strolled down Greenwich Ave to find a cute, quaint coffee shop for a quick pick-me-up, which we found at Cafe Coffee Roasters. I decided to have a Choco-latte with a coffee cake muffin while Annie had the classic cappuccino. The drinks were good but the atmosphere was even better. With tons of local artwork and a modern design, the coffee shop seemed to be a local favorite.

The next stop was to head back to New Canaan to change out of our sweat-drenched clothing and into more suited attire to fit our NYC crawl. We perhaps left a little late because after a seemingly quick stop at Starbucks for PTL's, we rushed onto the train only to find that ten seconds later, the train doors slammed shut behind us. With an hour or so to spare, we spent the train ride charging our phones and researching the best spot for dinner with our close foodie friends.

Grand Central crept up on them faster than expected and before long, we were looking up at the ceiling mural in the train station's center. Before stepping out onto the NYC streets, a blustering cold air wisped past them and awakened our senses, priming them for our first ever foodie feast. The first stop was The RAWL. The RAWL specialized in one thing. This one thing seemed incredibly special and caught our attention while scrolling through our Instagram and Facebook feeds: the sushi burrito. When we were researching for a sushi burrito joint in the city the past week, they came upon The RAWL. Not more than five short blocks from Grand Central Station, The RAWL was easy to travel to and find. But it was chilly enough out that we quickened our pace, coming upon the small restaurant in no time. A sign reading, "SUSHI BURRITO" in all red lettering immediately caught our attention and both of us knew that they traveled to the right location.

Gladly escaping the chilly breeze, we rushed into the small restaurant to find more than enough charm. The restaurant was bursting with a fresh feel that echoed the restaurant’s use of organic and farm fresh produce. Walking past a stand full of Japanese inspired snacks such as moon pies and cream filled biscuits, we came to the counter, greeted by two chefs who kindly took our orders after explaining to us the restaurant’s menu.

I decided that he would order the original Ebisu sushi burrito filled with fresh tuna marinated in a jalapeno and garlic infused soy sauce, romaine lettuce, shredded carrot, cucumber, cabbage, avocado, gari which is sweet pickled ginger, and masago (fish caviar). Annie chose a custom poke bowl with salmon, shredded carrots, a ginger lime dressing, cabbage, red onions, topped off with masago. I couldn't help but feel as though he was at a foreign Chipotle. We sat on the wooden stools towards the front of the restaurant and pulled out our phones and camera, because #phoneseatfirst!

The burrito was creatively wrapped in what looked like a Japanese styled newspaper. The food was fresh, and every bite held a surprise tangy taste to it. The thinness of the nori made it difficult to eat without slipping, however a little mess never hurts. I'd like to think it was part of the experience, but eating the burrito on the go might have been hard given the 'spillage' that was occurring. Do note that even if you're not a fan of sashimi (raw fish), The RAWL has several cooked proteins to go into your burrito. All in all, after a little over an hour, we were happy to get some more fresh air and to walk off the sashimi inside us.

Our next foodie stop was the spot Instagram was blowing up over, Cookie DŌ! Annie's sister had originally recommended them this charming bakery. We looked up the place on Intagram to find it had an incredible social media following. The bakery wasn't incredibly easy to find, but it was without a doubt worth the hunt. It was no more than a 10 minute walk from The RAWL, but we spent 5 more minutes relentlessly searching for the store. We hadn't been very clever because we had walked past the large Cookie DŌ's signs twice before realizing our mistake of completely passing the small stairwell leading up to the bakery. After getting buzzed into the apartment-like building, the pleasantly overwhelming scent of fresh cookies engulfed us. With every step up the staircase of the building complex, the smell intensified and involuntarily made our mouths to water. Upon entering, we were greeted warmly with a, "Welcome to Cookie DŌ!" The one roomed bakery was incredibly delightful with brightly colored accents everywhere. Despite the small size, the space comfortable and welcoming!

We chatted with two of the bakers about all of the different flavor of cookie dough they had. We learned more about their business model and their brainstorming board for upcoming flavors. It was finally time to try the famous dough for ourselves. We tasted four flavors when they were there: Chocolate Dream (brownie batter, oreos, chocolate chips), Salty & Sweet (sugar cookie, salted caramel, dark chocolate chips, sea salt), Gimme S'more (signature batter, hershey bar, toasted marshmallow, graham crackers), and Coffee Toffee (signature batter, espresso, chocolate flavored toffee). The dough tasted exactly like homemade cookie batter without the guilty and upset stomach afterwards.

Amazing. Each flavor had so much character! You could clearly taste each ingredient in the doughs and together the flavors melded into one another to become a delicious symphony. We both favored the chocolate dream dough the most. In short it was decadent, chocolatey and a pleasure overload! Closely behind was my second favorite, Coffee Toffee, and Annie's second favorite Salty & Sweet. Spoonful after spoonful, we found ourselves unable to put the doughs down! You might think it ended there, but soon we learned of the versatility of the doughs. Each one could be served right out of the fridge, warmed up in the microwave, baked into cookies, or even in made into an ice cream sandwich! Oh the endless and scrumptious possibilities! In truth, I became obsessed with the Chocolate Dream dough and already finished the pint before the next day. Well worth each and every calorie! We were gifted with Cookie DŌ stickers, menus, and flyers to take home in an endearing gift bag. Leaving the bakery was hard, but they were eager to visit our next more touristy destination, The Top of the Rock.

We decided to walk 30 minutes to the Rockefeller building to feel slightly better regarding our previous indulgences. After a speed shopping session in J Crew at the bottom of the building, it was time to ascend to the top. We were escorted by a special security guard and into an elevator that looked from the ceiling as though we were traveling in a spaceship with purple fluorescent lights. On the top we took some photos of one another in the beautiful setting sun and played around in the 'light room'. The sky was perfectly clear, giving us a magnificent shot of the city buildings. In this atmosphere the saying of, good food good mood seemed all too real. After admiring the city's serenity, we took the elevator back down the building and walked outside to see the Rockefeller holiday tree. Hearing a bunch of commotion from the ice rink, we looked to find that a marriage proposal was taking place below us. Following a bunch of aw's, it was time to take the road to the restaurant Natsumi with our close friends.

The Uber that we drove in decided to take them in the most absurd route to the restaurant, resulting in an arrival that was considered “fashionably late”. The ambiance was a perfect finish to our NYC adventure! The lighting was dim and sentimental. We were seated on a low table surrounded by small sofas which they found very comfortable. As a group, we decided to order a soba noodle soup and chicken and shrimp dumplings with a plum dipping sauce as appetizers. The noodles were perfectly chewy and the broth was especially delicious with notes of ginger and cumin. The pan fried dumplings were crispy on the outside and delectably soft on the inside. Overall, a great start to our final NYC meal. Then came the entrée! As a group, we shared a sushi special with three large rolls including a crunchy salmon roll, yellowtail jalapeno roll, and an eel and avocado roll. All three were excellent, our favorite being the eel and avocado roll. The salty and tangy eel matched superbly with the creaminess and fattiness of the avocado. I’d have to admit, it was some great sushi. By the end of the night, we were too filled for any dessert, especially after a day of foodie feasting; so we grabbed the check and said our goodbyes but not before taking some photos outside Natsumi with our friends.

The earliest train was 10 minutes from departing making we ran as fast as they could, getting lost more than once, trying to find our way back to Grand Central Station! Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, the station was crowded and we were forced to bob and weave between people until we found our track. We hopped onto the departing train with a few minutes to spare. With our legs tired and stomachs happy, we stretched out, pulling out the leftover cookie dough, beginning to helplessly snacking despite our full stomachs. We couldn't resist! We looked at one another with content smiles. Their NYC food crawl was complete! Sitting back in our seats, both of us closed our eyes-- satisfied and happy. The rumbling of the train on its tracks slowly drifted us into soft daydreams about our completed aventure.