NYC - Day 2 - Eating

Our second day in the city began with some killer bagels - they were light and toasted up beautifully in our apartment's toaster. I wish I knew where they originated from, but they were just something Tom picked up at a nearby deli. We headed out to the Intrepid following our breakfast amid swirling snow. Again, our apartment's location was terrific and we arrived at the river in no time. It was a bit more expensive to get in than I anticipated ($105 for our family of 5), but it was definitely cool and Liam's response was worth the price of admission. The Intrepid was recently (within the last year or 2?) renovated and everything about it was shiny and clean. We spent a couple of hours going through the ship, examining the fighter planes on the deck, touring the docked submarine and checking out the retired Concorde. There was a multimedia presentation with multiple screens and flashing lights and smoke, which really gave a flavor of what it must have been like to have been aboard the ship during WW II. The Intrepid is pretty damn cool and I would recommend it.
Next, we dragged the kids to Chinatown for lunch @ Joe's Shanghai. It was quite a walk, particularly for Tom with Q on and off his shoulders, but the guys were troopers. Yes, we do know about mass transit, but Tom & I are all about walking. We enjoyed a glorious feast at Joe's - 2 orders of pork soup dumplings, crispy duck, fried squid with hot peppers and salt, marvelous green beans and an order of sesame chicken which Q essentially devoured. Thanks, Rachel, for turning us on to this place! A trip to the city is incomplete without a stop at Porto Rico Importing to stock up on coffee. This place totally rocks - wonderful coffee and very reasonably priced. At this point in the day, the boys were getting a bit whiny - being out in the snow and walking 50 blocks can do that to a person, I guess. We cheered them up with a stop at Rocco's on Bleeker St. If you are a fan of the black & white cookie, this place kicks them up a notch by applying a very thin smear of apricot preserves between the cookie and the icing - divine! The guys had some cocoa and massive cupcakes laden with frosting. I tasted the cupcakes and they were really good - not dense or heavy at all. We yielded to the boys' wishes and caught a train uptown to relax (I think I even napped for 20 minutes!) before our Valentine's date.
Niece Jessica arrived at the apartment around 7 pm and Tom & I jetted out to Tabla. As with every Danny Meyer restaurant that we've ever visited, the service was gracious, accommodating and unpretentious. When I made our reservation, I mentioned we were restaurant folks and the staff couldn't have been nicer. We had a great table looking out at the Flat Iron building and thoroughly enjoyed our meal. Tom found a funky Italian Gewurztraminer which paired beautifully with the Indian style fare and we completely enjoyed the hospitality and food. We cabbed it uptown and I do believe we were passed out by 11 pm.