Midtown Secrets

Seeing as how I shouldn't be spending money taking Clara to the Christmas Spectacular, aka The Rockettes, I was happy to discover that we could meet some of the Rockettes in person, for free, at the Shops at the Plaza Hotel. We met two of them, got a signed photograph, and signatures in Clara's Disneyland autograph book, and then had a lovely coffee and cake at the Demel, also in the Shops at the Plaza. It's the only outlet of the Viennese cafe outside of Austria, and its perfectly presented, has lovely packaging on chocolates and jams that you can buy, and is half the price of eating upstairs at The Plaza. demel.at/en/

Also on the same floor, is the Eloise at the Plaza 'shop'. It's not all the way up and running, but what it has now is a cafe where girls can have pretend tea parties, and do Eloise puzzles; a bean-bag lounge where they can watch Eloise movies, and retail areas which sell all things Eloise. Apparently by the spring they will offer real tea parties--for now, its a sweet fantasy space for your child to have some down-time--as long as you keep them away from the $55 satin headbands, and all the other Eloise merchandise that will be wooing them.

On our way out, we discovered the Cafe AKA, next to the Hotel AKA (42 W. 58th St). It has La Colombe d'Or coffee, and a smart menu...and the hotel itself seems great...I just looked online, and saw rates as low as $295. It's also just a couple of blocks from our favorite burger spot, Burger Joint, in Le Parker Meridien, at 119 W. 56th St.