Day # 30- Thursday

Our last full day in NYC.

Where does the time go? Since it was our last day, we decided to make it count. We went to lunch at this restaurant that I'd had my eye on since our first day there. It was called Risottoria. Yes, as in a Risotto restaurant! Along with noodles and tomatoes, my 3rd greatest food love is risotto. I love love love risotto, so OF COURSE we had to go here! The risotto list was huge, with tons of variations on different additions to risotto dishes. It took about 15 minutes to decide (no joke!), but I finally decided on risotto with shitake mushrooms, arugula, and gouda.

Look at that creamy, cheesy, mushroomy pile of deliciousness! Mmm!!!

Scott got the special of the day, which was risotto with chicken, zucchini, kalamata olives, and parmasean:

While this place was very good, I guess I had extremely high expectations due to my burning love for risotto. I'll have to say, I'd probably only give this place a 7/10. It was good, but I've definitely had better. My friend Brandy makes THE BEST RISOTTO EVER! I tell her this all the time, because it is absolutely true.

The Risotto Force is strong with her. She is the Risotto Master.

My risotto is pretty good as well (not Brandy good, but good still), and I think it's better than this place. But, I was glad that we went here, and I love the concept of a risotto restaurant. Maybe I can convince Brandy to open one of these! I'd be her #1 patron!

After our somewhat disappointing lunch, we decided to go to the MET. Yes, this makes our 3rd time! Scott had read about a rooftop exhibit called Big Bamboo that he wanted us to see. And since today it had finally quit raining, and the temperature was back in the low 80's, we wanted to check it out.

We took the subway to the Central Park, and walked through the park to the MET. This was a really neat exhibit. It's a work in progress, and has been all summer. There are a few "bamboo artists" (for lack of a better word) who are constantly adding new bamboo shoots to the structure:

You can see the person at the top working on the structure.

There is a stairway throughout the bamboo where people can take guided tours. They only allow so many per day, and we had missed the sign up so couldn't do it

See the staircase? Pretty cool!

Scott hanging out under the stairs

There was also an awesome view of the city from the MET rooftop as well:

We walked through the art gallery on the way out so Scott could get one last look at some favorite paintings:

This is one of his favorites. It's VanGough, Wheat field with Cypruses.

Whatever.

:-)

Later that night, we went to dinner at Bill's Burger Bar. We've already been here one other time this trip, but it is so dang good. So similar to Shake Shack, but without the long line.

Cooking is art to me. Look at how perfectly that burger was grilled, with just the right amount of pink peeking through. See how vibrant the color of the melted cheese, the rich red of the tomato, and the bright green hue of lettuce contrast against each other. Isn't this pretty? This is a work of art.

And even better, because this is art you can EAT! :-)

We had a great experience here, and even better, it only cost $34. Just as fabulous as some of the gourmet places, but at a fraction of the cost!

We had a wonderful last day in our favorite city.