Taste of Chelsea-Meatpacking

This past Saturday, I heard there was a sale at the Christian Louboutin store in the Meatpacking and decided I needed to torture myself - sounds fun, right?. As I walked solemnly around the Meatpacking District, I stumbled upon a food tasting event that totally cheered me up. Tastes From the Meatpacking District Through Chelsea featured 26 restaurants from around the neighborhood. For $40, you can taste 6 booths while also enjoying live music and the wonderful New York sunshine. So how was the food? I don't know. I'm on a tight budget these days, so $40 for 6 bites of food seemed a little steep. (Yes, this coming from the same girl who, 5 minutes earlier tried to justify buying 4-inch patent leather Loubis for $600 - ON SALE)

Fret not! I didn't walk away completely empty handed. I was given a free sample of LU chocolate cookies and purchased some tasty ginger lemonade for a more reasonable $2 from The Simple Kitchen. It was the perfect beverage for the warm day. The Chelsea/Meatpacking food scene has more of a reputation of flash and glamour vs. taste and substance, but I think that is slowly changing. The Red Cat, Cookshop and Spice Market are great restaurants. The Chelsea Market, home to the Food Network, offers gourmet food on the go, perfect for a Hudson River Park picnic. Kind of like the San Francisco Ferry Building of the East.

I'll finish this post by saying that Chelsea is home to the best cupcakes in New York: Billy's Bakery. Crumbs cupcakes are too ostentatious. Magnolia's are overshadowed by their Banana Pudding. Buttercup is a close second, but they don't frost my cupcakes while lip synching to Madonna and I think we can all agree that that is the secret to a good cupcake.