For this blog post, we’re not going to talk about castles or cathedrals or anything even remotely groundbreaking in the world of architecture, instead, I am going to talk about my favorite restaurant in all of New York City. It’s called the Tavern On The Green and as its name suggests it’s a restored tavern on the western edge of Central Park. I love this place and for good reason. I first visited New York City while I was in high school. It was the summer of my junior year and my mother, with New York being her favorite city, wanted to take me before school started up again. So away we went and after getting settled in our hotel in lower manhattan we decided to take a walk to central park because who wouldn’t?

Whether we had planned to go to the tavern or if it was out of pure convenience I can’t remember but eventually, we decided to get lunch there before continuing on. The tavern was originally designed by Calvert Vaux and was originally built as a sheepfold in the 1880s to house the 700 Southdown sheep that grazed in Central Park’s Sheep Meadow. In 1934 Robert Moss turned the building into a restaurant as a part of the park renovations going on at the time. The tavern to this day maintains its original charms. It is styled as a lavish red brick tavern with a few modern renovations to keep it with the times. One of those renovations can be found in the dining area where a large window opens up the entire side of the building and looks out into an open courtyard where guests are also able to dine. I love this dining area, it’s open and bright and allows you to look out into the heart of the park and see all the people going about their lives. Yet even with these modern renovations, the building has this comfy cottage feel about it which can be credited to the ancient-looking rafters that build the ceiling and to the vintage wallpaper that decorates the walls.

But above all the tavern is my favorite place because of its sentimental value to me. It was the first place we went to in New York and it really was just a great first stop on a great trip I went on with my mom, plus the food was not half bad (it’s great). I have been back to New York City several times since that summer and each time I am there I always make sure to have lunch at the tavern. If you ever find yourself in NYC I strongly suggest you give it a try and experience its charms.