After a few days in Vegas for work, I flew to New York and stayed with my family for a few days.
Thursday 3/13, I took the train from Connecticut into the city. No bags, no ipod. Just my wallet and cellphone and clothes. Traveling light.

The first place I went was Russ & Daughters. While most people swoon over the Gaspé nova there (which I love), there’s something great about the Wild Western Nova (shown here atop bagel). Seemingly less oily than other popular novas, the Wild Western Nova at Russ and Daughters - http://www.russanddaughters.com - is exquisite, the gentle flavor is just lovely. I know with overharvesting, wild fish populations worldwide are plummeting, but man, it’s tough to feel guilty after enjoying something so great. After my snack, I wandered around the lower East Side and Chinatown. Saw the reopened Dumpling House on Eldridge, signless yet bustling, another one of those NY Chinatown spots where you can get 5 fried dumplings for a dollar. The one I frequented 2001-2004 before my move westward was Fried Dumpling on Mosco, a dump where 2 dollars got you a coke, a fried pork bun, and 5 fried pork dumplings. That’s quite the 2 dollar lunch. All these places offer soy sauce and sriracha as the 2 sauces for your dumplings. I didn’t have time to stop for a dumpling because I was moving on. I went to Allen and Delancey to meet CR, GG and E-Hals. It was E-Hals’s birthday! Go to http://www.allenanddelancey.net/menu.html if you’re curious. Allen/Delancey is one of the darkest restaurants I’ve ever eaten at. A long bar in front with a warm cozy room in the back. Good food there. Sadly my cameraphone couldn’t handle taking photos in the dim environs, so all I have to go on are my memories. The dish that stood out most to me was the rabbit terrine, not so much for the terrine itself, but for the violet mustard it was served with, a mustard of gentle flavor that coupled nicely with the well-seasoned terrine. The bone marrow was served out-of-bone. I was boozing a tad heavily (bourbon!) so can’t describe what made the scallops at Allen/Delancey so excellent. I never swoon for scallops but these nicely seared examples were great, as were the ones I had a few weeks back at Providence. The standout dish at Providence was the scrambled eggs and sea urchin, but that’s a story for another time. After Allen/Delancey, we 4 merrily set out for dinner #2.

New York was so cold I’d bought a hat. This is a photo taken as we journeyed from Allen&Delancey towards Tailor. http://www.tailornyc.com/ Again, I don’t have photographic evidence of Tailor, but only my memories… Looking at the Tailor menu, it’s really hard to see how some of these dishes will work. While WD-50 still feels a little bit like half-lesson/half-meal, Tailor is much warmer. For a restaurant with so much hype, Sam Mason’s Tailor delivers good to great dishes; brilliant food that still comforts and delights the eaters; rather than confound them. The sweetbreads were very good, but nothing new; I likely missed the citrus sauce they were served with. The foie gras with peanut butter is a thick slice of foie gras terrine, with a thin layer of peanut butter, wrapped around it. While rich in flavor, it’s not dense, and the peanut butter is only an accent. The pork belly with miso butterscotch was my fav of the night. I wish I could remember every dish we had, but I was tired/inebriated. Speaking of which, the mixed drinks at Tailor are ahead of the curve, redefining the libation landscape in New York. Seriously. Traditional cocktails updated with flavor infused sodas (Smoked Coke! Hibiscus 7-up) and unusual ingredients. There’s a great bar in the basement of the restaurant, serving all of these kickass drinks, as well as some of the dishes from the menu as bar food. Tailor is great, and I can’t wait to return in the near future. The superb delight of the evening however was mostly due to getting to celebrate a great friend’s birthday with fine drink, fancy grub and laughter. Also, Ms. Double-S was downstairs in the bar with her crew, so got to chat with her, albeit briefly. I jumped in a cab late and headed to my sister’s apartment, where she let me crash on her sofa. The decor of her apartment clearly shows that despite being 4 years my junior, she is much more of a grownup than I am going to be anytime soon. I fell asleep reading Jeffrey Steingarten’s piece on Toro. Yes, I dreamt.
On Friday morning, I woke up, and called the awesome/amazing K-Tong. We met up at Barney Greengrass for bagels and nova/lox. We then headed to the Museum of Natural History, where I failed to take photos. In fact, in NYC, I didn’t have a camera with me, so most of the following photos are courtesy of K-Tong. After the museum, we headed to the Time Warner center so I could try the TKO (Thomas Keller Oreo) at Bouchon Bakery. Imagine not an oreo, but what the ideal oreo would be. The cookies themselves in flavor. reminded me most of Nabisco’s Chocolate Wafers (the ones commonly used for icebox cake). If only all oreos could be lifted towards the sublime, the transcendent. My chocolate allergy didn’t stop me. This was an adventure. After the Time Warner Center, we headed across the street to the new Blue Ribbon.

Bone Marrow served with toasted brioche/challah. HOLY DELICIOUS. K-Tong and I thought we were ordering a marrow skewer the chef had specially made a few weeks back, but this was not a disappointment in the least. The sweetness of egg bread worked so well with the luxurious wallop that marrow presents, creamy salty decadence itself. Why have I always been so accepting of regular crusty bread to partner with my marrow? Never again. This I loved. Challah is King.

Sumptuous bacon at Blue Ribbon. Thick, eh? A story from my youth, I came home from a sleepover, raving about how I had eaten the most wonderful thing ever and we needed to start eating it at home. My mom asked what it was, and I said, “Bacon”. She said, “We don’t eat bacon in this house.” Not that we kept kosher, but my love of bacon (following my love of ham and swiss on wonderbread with mayo) threw my Mom off a tad. Why’d her son have a Darien Connecticut Episcopalian’s palate? - We left Blue Ribbon, and stopped quickly at Daisy May’s, so I could introduce K-Tong to the out-of-the-ballpark splendor of their pulled pork sandwich. She was in agreement that this was some splendid q.

After passing time at a strange bar, we went to Fatty Crab, meeting up with Kirsch for dinner. This is a photo of the watermelon pickle and crispy pork salad. I approve. I have no photos of the pork buns but remember loving them.

Good bird! Look at the vein in Kirsch’s forearm! He looks pumped, eh? Sadly, I was too intimidated to arm wrestle.

Malay Fish Fry. I ate most of it before stopping to take a picture. The rice beneath the fish was impossible to stop eating. After dinner and a nice walk, I caught the train back to Connecticut, in the same clothes I’d been wearing the day before. A transient foodie isn’t the worst thing to be. On Monday, I returned to the city for my flight back to Los Angeles. Before my flight back, I met up with K-Tong, Professor B, and Big Tze for lunch at Momofuku Ssam Bar.

Steak Ssam. Meat wrapped up in lettuce. I could eat that every meal. But probably shouldn’t.

Side dishes. Sriracha’d plate. Housemade pickles. Simple sprout salad. Roasted cauliflower.

Side dishes. 2nd photo.

Banh Mi. 3 terrines. Definitely great. Yes, I know that veal head is involved. Too delicious to be bothered. Offal ain’t awful. It’s lunch!

Every restaurant should serve pork buns this good. Fatty Crab’s are pretty close to being as excellent as these. Pork Belly Futures? Hopefully in my future. After lunch, K-Tong and I walked around a little (Otafuku for me to have a quick takoyaki fix, then we peeked our head into the Black Hound bakery. I sampled the carrot cake and it was heavenly; I may order my 30th birthday cake from this place, it was that good). - www.blackhoundny.com/

A very happy Eric en-route to the airport.
I return to NYC in 3 weeks to rock the Pesach. And yes, I think I know where I want to eat when I return. And no, I don’t consider pizza to be leavened bread so the rules of Passover won’t break my stride.
- Eric