New York City, New York - Day Two of Fun

Day two got off to a slow start as I spent the whole morning on my blackberry trying to coordinate my factory, the press release, the invites and press party logistics, the photo shoot fabric for international design magazines, and so many other things for the launch of our furnishing fabrics range at Liberty in London! It is all finally happening next week, so more on that to come. I did make it for a 1pm carb-filled lunch at Cipriani Downtown in Soho. It was another 90+ degree day in the city and I couldn't wait to get my hands on the Harry's Bar specialty: a chilly peach bellini. 

Lunch consisted of a fresh spring pea tagliatelle pasta and eggplant parmigiana ... 

... followed by a giant slice of zabaglione cake. From the Harry's Bar Cookbook: "I always call this a Venetian cake because of its fantastic appearance and also because zabaglione is the main ingredient of another well-known Venetian speciality, tiramisu, which means "pick-me-up." Our zabaglione cake has a similar taste to tiramisu, but it is much lighter".... Ariggo Cipriani. For the recipe click here. 

These biscuits came with the bill, so I dipped them in my tea. Why not? 

The next stop was Bryant Park to meet up with my dear friend Mario, who now resides in the Bahamas and was also, luckily, in NYC for the same two days as me. He is the personal assistant to someone I obviously can't mention, but suffice it to say his pay check is signed by someone whose title begins with H.H. (His Highness). We met up for a cool drink and some chilli spiced watermelon on the rooftop of the Bryant Park Grill. 

What I'm Wearing: Dress Theyskens Theory (buy here), Flower Pins Chanel, Sunglasses Chanel

Chanel pins and Essie nail color: Nice is Nice

From there we made our way to the Upper East Side to The Surrey Hotel, a posh little lodging with a celebrity clientèle that includes Oprah as a regular. We headed to the 17th floor private roof deck garden with its beautiful view framed by rows of lavender (entry is exclusive to guests of the hotel).

BASIL BLEU: Stoli Blueberry Vodka,fresh blueberries, Rose champagne, basil, simple syrup ... 

Make your own muddled fresh lemonade. Choose from a variety of fruits, herbs, spices and alcohol and the bar will muddle them together for you. Mine was lemonade, lime, mint and lemongrass: 

A shower (gosh it was HOT in NYC!) and an outfit change and onto the next stop: the Polynesian-inspired Hurricane Club. Created in partnership with designers AvroKO and Fourth Wall Restaurants, the 10,000 square foot space includes dining and lounge areas, and five private dining alcoves. The dramatically lit space transports guests from the streets of New York into an elegant South Pacific supper club, filled with curiosities. 

Go for the amazing interior design, festive (loud!) atmosphere and pre or post dinner cocktails, but skip the food, trust me. They have a great rum selection, so many inventive tipples, and if you are a small group (with no communicable diseases, ha ha) the shared drinks served in whole watermelons are fun. 

Drinks to share: The Watermelon: Vodka, fresh lime, mint, rhubarb 

Thank you New York City, I had a blast!