Soup Dumplings and the High Line

After visiting the Conservatory Garden we headed down to Chelsea for some food. When Brian went to Taipei, Taiwan in 2013, he discovered Xiaolongbao or soup dumplings. He instantly fell in love with them, and since he came home he's been on the search for them in NYC. He told me that it was the only thing on his entire trip that he thought I would like...or even want to try. It wasn't until this last October that he got to have some again. He had an evening work event in Chelsea and needed to grab some dinner. He stopped at a Chinese Restaurant called Hot Sichuan, and was pleasantly surprised to see soup dumplings on their menu. Of course that's what he ordered, and was so happy that they were just like the ones he had in Taiwan. Since then, he's been wanting to take me there to try them, but we just hadn't gotten around to it.

So, Brian decided that this last Saturday was the day. We easily found the place, on 9 Ave between 18th and 19th Streets. It was a lot nicer than I was expecting, and we decided to stay and eat our dumplings there.

Along with pork soup dumplings, we got a couple spring rolls, and some pork fried rice. Brian almost couldn't contain his excitement when they brought the dumplings to our table. He was very anxious for me to try them, and hopeful that I would like them. And I did! They were delicious! It's not very often that I like a new food that Brian asks me to try, so he was excited.

The dumplings contain a ball of meat (usually pork) mixed with chives and other seasonings, and soup broth. They're little balloons of deliciousness. Brian has looked up how to make them, although we haven't tried it yet. The soup broth is mixed with gelatin to congeal it, and then that is mixed in with the meat. They add the mixture to the dumpling skins and twist them closed. During steaming, the gelatinized soup "melts" and you're left with a meat and broth filling. They were too big for me to eat all in one bite, so I'm glad they are served with these porcelain spoons so I didn't lose any of the broth.

To the side of the restaurant, there was a tree covered in white blossoms. The petals were falling off the tree and the wind would catch them and blow them past the window. While we were eating, i kept catching the petals blowing past the window with my eye and my first thought each time was that it was snowing. Haha! I guess we aren't that far away from when it was snowing. 

Nearby Chelsea (they might even overlap) is the Meatpacking District. Brian often has work events and meetings in this area of the city because there are a lot of spaces for rent for business functions. In the early 1900's there were 250 slaughterhouses and meat packing plants in the area, thus it became known as the Meatpacking District. There are still meat handling business in the area today, but not nearly as many as there once was. The area has turned into a neighborhood for hipsters and artsy individuals with high-end retail stores, restaurants, and residential buildings. It's a unique area and kind of fun to walk around in.

One of our favorite Manhattan Parks runs through the Meatpacking District and Chelsea. I've written about the High Line before, it's the set of elevated railroad tracks that were converted into a linear park. It was just a block or two away from the restaurant, so we decided to walk over and visit.

Brian has been there more recently than I have, it's been a couple years for me. They've expanded the park, opening up new sections further north on the tracks. It's really a neat place to visit. It' gives great views of the city, while letting you experience a touch of nature as well.

This section (pictured below) is my favorite part of the whole park. It has a lot of birch trees and even some conifers...it feels a lot like a forest or grove you'd find in Idaho. Except for the giant holly trees, of course, and all the buildings beyond this little strip of heaven. The evening was cool, by the end it was almost too cold and I was freezing, but when we walked through this section it was perfect.

     

There is art everywhere in the city, and the High Line is no exception. They always have some art installation or other going on. One display during our visit, consisted of rebar graffiti installed every so often along the park's railing. It was actually kind of cool. 

When looking straight on at the graffiti, it looked like it was painted on the building behind it.  I prefer graffiti in this less permanent form.

Another favorite part of the park for me was the large strip of lawn. When we were walking by it I leaned over and touched it... the thick, fresh, green grass felt so good. There is not a lot of grass here in NYC, hardly any at all really, except in Central Park. Most of the smaller parks contain gravel, bark, ground covers or brickwork. The High Line's grass had recently been reseeded, so the area was roped off. I asked Brian if he thought they would let me come and mow their lawn just once. I love mowing the lawn, and haven't done it for a very long time.

We were amused by the giant Einstein mural on one of the neighboring buildings.

Our favorite piece of art at the park Saturday night was this carving of Manhattan. We think it is made of marble, but we weren't allowed to touch it to find out for sure.

It even included the bridges. It was fun to look at and identify portions of the city that we've been too...which at this point are a lot of them.

Central Park is always identifiable. Earlier that day we were up in the northeast corner of the park at the Conservatory Garden and Harlem Meer.

The Empire State Building and Madison Square Garden.

The third piece of art that caught our attention were these weird yellow heads. They looked like they were sculpted from the potato salad that I had made earlier that day (although a bit more yellow). It made us laugh.

One of the other things we think is cool at the High Line, is that some of the buildings sit over it. It's fun to walk underneath them. You can see into some of the windows and see people and their pets moving about inside. If I lived there, I would keep my blinds closed all the time.

     

We had a lot of fun. It was great to try some new food, and we had fun revisiting some of our favorite spots in Manhattan.