We take making a meal out of appetizers very seriously. Having them at multiple restaurants is even better. For this appy crawl, in the heart of Manhattan, we enlisted help from our middle child, Decibel, the black-wearing, taxi-flagging, fast-walking, free-lancing, f-bomb-dropping, urbanite New Yorker. Feeling generous, we asked Decibel to decide on three restaurants she’d been waiting to visit until Mom and Dad could be there to pick up the tab. She rattled off three so fast that we knew she must have been waiting for us to ask and next thing we knew she was at our hotel room. The girl is like the wind. Before we could catch our breath, we were chasing Decibel around trendy SoHo -- NYC speak for “south of Houston Street.” Attempting to take in the sights while keeping up a brisk New York gait, we were abruptly chastised by Decibel:

“Quit looking up -- you look like a tourist!” Apparently, being a tourist is not the optimal thing.

We arrived at Aquagrill in the blink of an eye.

Aquagrill
Spring and 6th

The oysters, oh, the oysters. Veronica was in heaven. She actually wept. We sat at the end of the bar near the oyster specialist to take in the full mollusk experience. We were handed a list of oyster choices -- assuming there would be two or three --and were bowled over at the medieval scroll we were given. There had to be thirty choices!

The specialist, picking up on Veronica’s bovine look, sweetly suggested that he choose for her. And choose he did. He shucked those fat bad boys like the pro he was and whomped down a platter of the most beautiful invertebrates we’d ever tasted. We might be ruined for life.

Making our way through SoHo, past the fashionable shops and even more fashionable people, it felt like we had stumbled into a Woody Allen movie -- or perhaps “The Devil Wears Prada.” Everyone was beautiful, dressed to the nines and sporting some serious footwear! Really? Those girls can walk that fast in those skyscraper heels? Impressive. Lacking the will to keep up, we sauntered on to our next destination.

Lure
Prince and Mercer

Walk into Lure and experience what it was like to spend some time with the Onassis clan aboard one of their ridiculously fabulous yachts. Wait -- really -- it’s a yacht in the middle of SoHo. We sat and watched the stylish New Yorkers blaze by through the portholes--it’s seriously groovy.

It’s a boat in the middle of Manhattan, it’s called Lure, it’s obviously a seafood restaurant. If the quality of their sushi is any indication, we’re guessing that the entrée menu is to die for.

Spring Pea and White Asparagus Soup
Somehow this soup was frothy AND hot. Had hunks of shrimp (oh the texture). We tasted mint. Loved it.

Sushi
We had the salmon sushi and the House Roll. This roll consisted of shrimp tempura and cucumber with an outer rim of spicy tuna and dollops of yummy sauce. Add the black sesame seeds in the rice and you’ve got the makings of one fine roll. Decibel deemed it “freakin’ awesome” and Decibel knows her sushi.

The stunningly huge wine list reads like a juicy romance novel. It had to be removed from Veronica’s sweaty hands by management. We have all kinds of inappropriate adjectives we could use here, but let’s leave it at sexy, shall we?

We elected to do a bit of a digestive stroll. It led us out of SoHo proper, but still within appy crawling distance. We were fortunate enough to experience a true NYC moment. This sign was found outside a posh shop -- not exactly something one would see in say, Sheboygan.

The best part? This guy sat down at his computer, chose a font, laid it out nicely and nestled it into a protective sleeve to save it from the elements. BRA-VO pissed off New York City bike dude!

Decibel’s next suggestion was tapas, ba-by! A restaurant sanctioned appy crawl if there ever was one--tapas are small portions--so order away!

Café Español
Bleeker and Thompson

Decibel walked into Café Español and immediately pegged it for a great place to go on a date. It WAS pretty cute. The menu contains five types of sangria--white, red, cava, mango and strawberry. We tried the red and it was delicious, but -- careful -- it's very strong. Order by the glass, just to be safe. Don't eat the fruit if you want to be able to walk out the door unaided. Pimientos de Piquillo Roasted spicy sweet peppers--yeah! These were REALLY good Spanish Olives Wonderful combo--some stuffed with nuts or pickles. Pimentos and capers, oh so yummy. Tortilla Espanola Very authentic egg and potato "omelette"

Champiñones Rellenos
Mushrooms stuffed with bland bread crumbs or what tasted like bland bread crumbs anyway. Skip this one.

Vieriras en Salsa Verde
Also not good. Scallops--only fair--and the sauce was bland. Really didn’t stand up well to the evening’s previous shellfish experiences.

Nata con Nueces
Saved the day--vanilla ice cream with a caramel ribbon topped with caramelized walnuts. Caramel. Goooood.

Also see: The Appy Crawl Philosophy, All Appy Crawls

David & Veronica, GypsyNester.com