The last time I was in New York City, I was checking into a brand new hotel with the World Trade Center looming in the background of our room window. My family and I sampled the tourist circuit as first-timers to the concrete jungle often do. We scaled the Empire State Building, admired Rockefeller Center, scooted through Battery Park (Razor scooters were hot back then), slurped up noodles at some Thai restaurant in SoHo.

Back then I was unimpressed, overwalked and like my burgeoning taste for the world beyond my pacific island home, a developing palate.

Now, on my most recent visit to the city I welcomed the kaleidoscope of fall leaves, interesting people and the even more provoking dining scene. Below, part one of a three-part summary of my trip through a sample platter of NYC’s eats, served with a side of antics, as twenty-somethings girls often do when they get together.

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