Anthony Bourdain's NYC Layover: Short Order Style

In last week's episode of The Layover, Anthony Bourdain showed us what to do in New York City with only 24 hours in the Big Apple (read our recap here). We wanted to do something similar, but with a twist.

We landed in New York yesterday with only three hours in the city, which is really what most layovers consist of.

Tony Bourdain starts his journey on the Upper East Side. We head for the East Side too...the Lower East Side. As the clock starts, We've got doughnuts on our minds.

Doughnut Plant is one of the

few places in the world you should eat a doughnut from. Lines form

pre-dawn, as eager people wait for the doors to fly open at 6:30 a.m.

Doughnuts are made with no eggs and no trans-fats and come in season

flavors. The pumpkin glazed cake doughnut is a favorite, as are the

cranberry and chestnut varieties. Get there early, because favorites

sell out by noon. Doughnut Plant, 379 Grand Street, New York

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Making our way back uptown with only two-and-a-half hours to go, we make a stop at Eataly.

This Ikea of Italian food is a mega-complex on 23rd Street and Fifth

Avenue. Co-owned by Oscar Farinetti, Mario Batali, and Lidia Bastianich,

it's always crowded with a wait of over an hour to get through the

doors on weekends. Once inside, you'll find different restaurants and

markets. The rooftop Bierreria where Bourdain likes to go is jammed, so

we opt for a Prosecco and Caprese salad made from mozzarella made fresh

daily on premises. Eataly, 200 Fifth Avenue, New York

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It's touristy, it's crowded, but if it's Christmastime

in New York, a trip to see the tree at Rockefeller Center is mandatory.

Once there, peruse the tree, the spectators, and go into St. Patrick's

Cathedral for a bit of majesty, but not before getting a bag of hot

chestnuts from a guy on the street. Where else can you literally eat

Christmas? The chestnuts are warm, soft, and taste like a dense, smokey

baked potato. We're totally sure Bourdain eats street

chestnuts.

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With one hour to go, we have to visit some pubs. Tony Bourdain loves

dive bars and so do we. We grab a quick beer at Smith's, a dive bar

institution in Hell's Kitchen. On the border of the Theatre District and

close to the Port Authority, this bar serves both as a watering hole for

blue collar workers on their way home from the graveyard shift and an

after-show pub for Broadway chorus girls and boys. Not so surprisingly,

it's also a good place to hear up and coming jazz bands practice their

sets. Seedy, cheap, and a good place to knock one back before heading

home to the boroughs. Smith's 701 8th Avenue, New York

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If you're into Broadway, you might think of Sardi's as the place to dine

with celebrities. It is if someone else is paying. However, if you want

to actually sit at the bar next to the likes of a Matthew Broderick or a

Mel Brooks, Angus MacIndoe is

the place to go. Featuring Irish/American pub food, Anguslies directly in

the Theatre District (in fact, the stage door of the St. James Theatre

leads directly into the restaurant). We grab a wine and some Scotch eggs

before heading out (and running into John Ratzenberger on the corner). Angus MacIndoe, 258 W. 44th Street, New York

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Before heading to the train, we pick up a to-go treat. The TSA, Bourdain, and I can all agree on one thing as our time in New York runs

out -- leave the gun, take the cannoli.

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