My spouse and I visited New York City for a 1-night stay in early October 2011 to celebrate my spouse's birthday and to take part in the NYC Wine & Food Festival. We arrived in the city and immediately traveled downtown to the Meatpacking District to listen to a panel discussion by Mario Batali, Marcus Samuelson, and Andrew Zimmern, which was moderated by Dana Cowin. Afterwards, we ate at Spice Market. We walked around Chelsea Market before traveling back uptown to attend a presentation at the New York Times building by Eric Ripert and Jennifer Carroll. We had a bit of time beforehand, so we had drinks at Heartland Brewery. Then we tried to check into the hotel that we booked, the Crowne Plaza Times Square, but they ended up walking us to the nearby Intercontinental Times Square (where we had stayed previously, and which was actually a better/step-up hotel). That evening, we dined at Marea, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that my sister-in-law had purchased a gift certificate that offset the price of our dinner. What a great night! The next day, we traveled back downtown to dine outdoors at Dos Caminos.
Hotels:
InterContinental Times Square Link to my review
Crowne Plaza Times Square Link to my review
Restaurants:
Dos Caminos Link to my review
Spice Market Link to my review
Marea Link to my review
Heartland Brewery Link to my review