Many Thanks to all the NEW people who clicked in last week to read about the wedding and repeated thanks to those of you who stick with me each week!!
When most Foodies go to NYC they have a list of places they want to visit that they have read about or seen on TV. Typically those places are high end, tough to get reservations for and over the top on service and flavor. And while I would have loved to go to Eric Ripert’s Le Bernardin, Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster and Jonathan Waxman’s Barbuto, this trip was about eating the classics, drinking beer and hanging out with old friends. We decided this trip was all about Cheap Eats for us. We knew, since we were attending wedding festivities, that we’d get quality food and wanted to have fun eating the grub from our youth outside of the nuptial celebrations.
Our first morning we decided to eat in a REAL diner. Open 24 hours, with breakfast served all day and a beautiful rotating case full of delicious looking desserts. John’s breakfast of ham steak and eggs was perfect. I wish I could say the same for mine. Over cooked scrambled eggs (they were brown-ish) are not my idea of a good thing.
If you are from NY, you know there is no better pizza in the world outside of Italy. Even a “bad” slice is better than most pizza you get elsewhere in the country. Now before you Chicagoans get your panties in a twist, I enjoy Chicago style pies as well, but there is something nostalgic and perfect about a NY slice at a hole in the wall joint. This trip we went to “Original Famous Ray’s” on 54th & 7th TWICE. And employee Mike made the trip PERFECT. The place was packed and seating was at a premium with a huge group of High Schoolers and other people jostling for position. Some of the things we heard come out of Mike’s mouth were these:
• “Did I tell you to sit there? No! You sit over here, this table has your name on it.”
• “You wanna sit here? Fine. There’s only 2 of you, I’ll need the other half of this table” (this was said to us and we ended up sitting with a gal from Atlanta much to our delight).
• “Move all the way in – sit next to the wall – leave the end open so other people can sit with you.”
• “YOU! (pointing) Sit over here and bring 3 of your friends.”
He was hilarious! Needless to say I was openly laughing, feeling like I got a meal and a show minutes from Broadway. And he informed me if I needed work done on my computer he could do it by remote access, “I don’t care if you are in Bulgaria. I can fix it.”
Another thing we HAD to have was a decent bagel. Like my Mother, I am convinced that the secret to a great bagel is the water in NYC and the greater metro area. It doesn’t matter how closely a recipe is followed, if you aren’t using the right water it won’t taste like a REAL bagel. There are places here in Vegas that make bagels, but only a few make the ever elusive salt bagel. Imagine all the salty goodness of a pretzel, but a bagel, not a pretzel. And the ones here in Vegas aren’t QUITE right, they only put salt on the top, it’s supposed to be top AND bottom! Yeah, I had that for breakfast 2 days in a row (with lox cream cheese), and on one occassion I split a knish with John too. I haven’t had a knish in YEARS – literally. John says you know you got a good bagel when it is so chewy and thick that your jaw hurts half way through the bagel. Our jaws ached.
My bagel in the foreground and the 1/2 knish in the back
And of course there was the beer and bar food (steamed mussels in garlic and wine, Korean BBQ wings, burgers, etc). We drank locally brewed whenever possible. We particularly liked Captain Lawrence (of course we kept calling it Walter Lawrence). We truly loved Valhalla in Hell’s Kitchen. As John, Geoff and Tim were the fallen warriors, I was a Valkyrie.
The “show” taps at House of Brews on 51st St.
The taps at Valhalla
Three perfectly poured libations at Valhalla
When we make our triumphant return in June, with Jack, we’ll be going to Barbuto for Jonathan Waxman’s perfect roasted chicken. We’ll be choosing more upscale eateries since son Jack is a foodie, and has been since he was 5 and wanted to eat his first raw oyster (Moment of Truth: we made him wait until he was 12 and he had his first at the Acme Oyster House in New Orleans). We may even make it to Red Rooster to enjoy more of Marcus Samuelsson’s food. Details to be determined and of course YOU will all hear about it.
This week’s Food Memories are eating with son Jack who was home on his first Spring Break, an impromptu BBQ at Friend Becky’s house, and a lovely Pork Pie I made using a recipe from Canadian Sugar Shack Au Pied du Cochon.
Until next time – go out and make your OWN Food Memories.
