On Friday I took the train down to New York City for my friend Rebecca’s bachelorette party. I had not been to NYC for a bach party yet so I was excited. You may recognize Rebecca as the owner of The Ripe Stuff, the Boston based juice company I’m always posting about on Instagram. On Friday night, we met at 7pm in the Lower East Side for a cooking class at Appetite for Seduction.
There were a total of 13 girls in a small apartment but it was fun getting to know the other girls. We were given a little demo on how to hold a knife properly and chop the vegetables for our appetizer and main course. We also were taught a little about aphrodisiac foods and how our 5 senses come into play when we eat, hence the name of the place. The owner does a lot of couples cooking classes during the week.
Our menu included prosciutto wrapped asparagus, a zucchini ricotta mint pasta dish and bacon toffee. I never thought to shave the ends of asparagus after cutting off the bottom but we were taught and I kinda like the idea as it saves a little length verses snapping off the ends. We also did a little fun mystery ingredient test with a blindfold. I had to guess popcorn by touching it, soy sauce by smelling it and lemon curd by tasting it. I did not get the lemon curd as I think it was the first time I’ve every tasted it! Blindfolded, I thought the foods were going to be a lot more scary. We wanted to mess with the blindfolded girls of course but played nice.
We sat down to eat around 10 finally and were starving. I of course forgot to take pictures of the actual food. The appetizer was simple and delicious. The Zucchini, Ricotta and Mint pasta dish was surprisingly light and very good as well. I must admit I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did. Shani, the owner, sent us the recipes so I may have to make it the next time I have a large crowd to please.
It also happened to be Rebecca’s 28th birthday on Friday so we celebrated for both with a cake from Momofuku that I absolutely loved.
Saturday morning everyone got up to go to a spin class at Swerve that we reserved. Cate (owner of Recycle Studio here in Boston) made us shirts and headbands for the special occasion. Since Bec has her own juice company, it was the perfect accessory for the occasion.
I’m going to review Swerve in a separate post but it was a very sweaty workout. I didn’t realize the group picture was blurry until now but you can tell by our red faces we worked hard.
After spin, it was off to Willow Road for brunch. We walked over after cleaning ourselves up and sat right down. The space was adorable and the pre fixe menu looked delicious. I couldn’t decide what to order but as luck would have it, we got everything! Each item was served family style so we were able to try everything. I highly recommend the french toast and the grapefruit.
After brunch, we decided to enjoy the weather outside instead of get our nails done by hanging out at The Standard’s beer garden. I ordered the yummiest drink made with Prosecco, vodka and peach puree. It was amazing. I had been here before with a few bloggers after an event two years ago and knew I wanted to come back. By the time we left around 3pm, there was a very long line to get inside!
We took some time afterwards to relax, shower and get ready for the lingerie party at The Bowery Hotel.
When I arrived, Joshua Jackson and Diane Krueger were getting out of the elevator that I was getting in. Celeb sighting, check! After playing a few games and opening up sexy gifts, we headed to dinner at Beauty and Essex. The music upon arrival was awesome and very quickly I knew I was going to love this place. There was even a champagne bar in the ladies bathroom! We of course got ourselves a glass while we waited to be sat for dinner. We were seated at a long table in the back of the restaurant downstairs.
Like brunch, the menu was set and they just brought us out dishes. Everything that we ate was delicious. We had lobster tacos, tuna sashimi, chicken meatballs, filet mignon, salt & vinegar fries, roasted veggies and then dessert that no one could fit! My favorite was my cocktail though. It was made with jalapeño infused tequila, beet juice, lime and celery bitters. It was like a deliciously healthy spicy margarita. We headed upstairs after for some dancing until we couldn’t keep our eyes open. The music kept us up late literally working up a sweat.
NYC was a great city for Rebecca’s bachelorette party. She had a great group of friends come out to celebrate. Most of her friends live in the city so the remaining few either stayed with friends or shared the hotel room at The Bowery. The restaurants we went to were very accommodating and perfect hosts for our large group. The pre-set menu at restaurants is the way to go. After many bachelorette parties, this made Bec’s feel very relaxed even with 18 girls at dinner.
Between Vegas, New Orleans, Provincetown, Newport and now NYC, I’m not sure which city is favorite for a bachelorette party. I can tell you that Vegas was my least! Bec’s fiancé went to Nashville, my favorite recent city that I visited for the first time last year. Where is your favorite bachelorette destination?
