Eating Our Way Through New York

For those of you who don't know, we were in New York for three days this week. Is it just me, or do you tend to never tell anyone about the fun that you had on vacation, even though people always ask, "How was your vacation?" Is it because we don't think people really want to hear about our fun? Or because we don't have the time or desire to share our itinerary with every person who asks? Not sure. But I want to share, so if you don't want to hear about my fun, feel free to move on to checking your email or getting sucked into youtube.

We arrived at JFK on Saturday night. Getting to our hotel in Manhattan involved a tram, a bus, a subway ride, and a walk of several blocks. This took two hours. Will carried both giant bags. He was not excited. I love my husband.

To sum up our trip...it was all about the food. We love to eat good food. The only plans I had made for our trip were see one Broadway show and eat. The first food destination occurred on Sunday at lunch: Juniors. We had brisket with au jus, potato pancakes, and applesauce, finished off with Junior's famous devil food cheesecake. Mmmm. This filled our bellies for the one planned non-eating event, watching Avenue Q. By the way, despite the fact that this show has puppets, do NOT take your children to see it. You might be a little taken aback when you have to explain the birds and bees afterwards due to some puppet indiscretions. The second food destination...Mandoo Bar. Yummy Korean food. Unfortunately, the taxi we caught to get there was not in fact the Cash Cab. Boo. On Monday we did the Greenwich Village Food Tour. Of course we sampled NY style pizza, but also canoli, cheese, risotto, olive oil, salami, and gelato. Later that day, dinner took the prize for most memorable waiter. We couldn't finish all of our food and had no ability to take leftovers with us. The waiter came by and proceeded to have this conversation with Will:

Waiter: You need a box?
Will: No thank you.
Waiter (with puzzled expression): You not finished?
Will: Oh no, I'm done.
Waiter (with suspicious look): Something wrong with food? You not like?

I can't say that we've ever been grilled by a server before. I thought for a second that we were going to have to force the rest of that food down so as to avoid some serious social blunder. But he seemed to understand us not having a refrigerator and let us go. But the last and most memorable eating event occured on Tuesday. We rushed uptown around 11:30, desperate to squeeze in a trip to one of the best sushi restaurants in Manhattan before leaving for the airport at 1:30. We get there right after they open for lunch, feeling underdressed and a little sweaty. The menu is sparse, there are no helpful explanations or pictures of different types of sushi. Willl is afraid that at any moment the chef might come crashing out of the kitchen and accuse me of insulting his skills as a sushi master because I am dipping my eel roll in soy sauce. But it is by far the best sushi that Will has ever had, so the stress was worth it. AND, I got to use one of those crazy fancy toilets. If you have not experienced the $5000 toilet with multiple buttons, heated seat, sprayers and driers, I recommend you find one ASAP. Incredibly entertaining. But don't worry, we didn't just eat. We walked ourselves silly getting to all of these restaurants. And we spent time lounging in Central Park, walking by the river in Battery Park, and visiting the World Trade Center site. It was fantastic. I'd go every year if I could.