New loves.

New York City is constantly evolving. There is always a new "it" neighborhood, a new restaurant, a new beer garden, a new museum exhibit, the list could go on and on. So, no matter how long you once lived in a neighborhood, when you go back to visit after some time away it can look completely new. This was exactly the case when Brian and I were in the Seaport last week.

For two years, Lindsey and I shared an apartment on Water Street and Fulton. I have so many memories from those years. Countless hours of Sex and the City, Cranium and Clue with friends, and eating many meals sitting on my kitchen counter with a view of the Brooklyn Bridge and the hustle and bustle of downtown Manhattan below. 1906 was a very good apartment. Another memory from those years is the South Street Seaport. Brian and I used to have lunch at Red, Lindsey and I used to shop in the stores that lined the cobble stone streets, and I used to love to sit on the old wooden steps looking out at the river.

Last week, Brian asked me if I wanted to have a date night and see a show on Broadway. I, of course, immediately took him up on his offer. We decided to take advantage of the tkts booth and their discount tickets. We opted for the downtown location in the Seaport instead of the midtown location in the gates of hell Times Square. Within four minutes of arrival, we had two tickets for Hair and plenty of time to grab lunch before making our way back to Queens. At first, we talked about going back to Red, but then we decided to continue walking down Front Street instead. This was when my old neighborhood became completely new again. My eyes darted from one cute restaurant to another, all of which I had never heard of or tried. I picked out a coffee shop I knew I wanted to stop at after lunch, and then we started taking a closer look at menus displayed in the windows of the old fish market buildings.

After walking into Barbarini and seeing a plate of homemade pasta being carried to a table, I knew that was where we needed to eat. We grabbed the last two-top table in the deli and eagerly read over the menu. Despite the New York City summer heat, I had to have their hand-rolled spaghetti with sausage ragu. Brian ordered the more seasonally appropriate calamari, celery, and pepper salad. We sipped blood orange iced tea and devoured fresh bread with olive oil as we waited for our food. Once our meals arrived, we continually interrupted our conversations to talk about how delicious everything was. I stopped mid sentence to point out the man behind the counter weighing handfuls of fresh pasta and arranging plates of biscotti and cookies. After the check was paid, we made our way over to that counter and picked out a container of cookies before making our way onto our next destination. Barbarini is officially one of my new loves.

The lid to my container of cookies was off before we even crossed the street. I popped treats into my mouth as we waited in line for iced coffee at Jack's Stir Brew Coffee. I loved the tin ceilings and the photos of fisherman and fish markets of the seaport's past that lined the walls. Another new love.

Later that evening, we saw Hair. And loved it. The music was a-mazing. And let me just say, those hippies know how to dress. Our seats were perfect- third row center in the mezzanine (thanks tkts!). I highly recommend the show.

Our date day (and night) concluded at an old love, The Delta Grill. Fried cheese grits, corn-stuffed flounder, alligator sausage, and ice cold root beer were the perfect end to our evening.

The day was a beautiful mix of old loves and new loves with my love.