I buy gigantic dry-aged steaks and 1.5-inch pork chops here. The staff is really friendly and helpful.

Easing in the park, the city facing you and traffic honking its way over the Brooklyn Bridge. Best enjoyed on a late-summer afternoon/night.

I love having Breakfast at Le Coucou - you'll find me here several times a week. Le Californien, OJ and Expresso! Dinner is very formal - but amazing if you dig the French high-end, but Pro tip: They have amazing drinks, so drop by and hang in the bar for a few drinks!

When I first moved to New York, enamoured by its parks and museums and design firms and restaurants and bars, I never imagined that there could be much more to its geography than that. How wrong I was. My first drive across the George Washington Bridge was jaw-dropping - the cliffs of New Jersey are astonishingly tall, covered in a dense thicket of trees. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. Drive up 87 to the Catskills or the Adirondacks and you'll witness the Hudson River winding its way through spectacular scenery and unforgiving seasons. Now I can't get enough; just two hours up the road, it's like the city never existed. Perfect recuperation after a long week.

Extra Chinese Restaurant. Have the ChongQing Wings if you Dare.