Taking another Bite (file under Bright Lights, Big City)

Thomas Wolfe once wrote; “One belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years” And I believe this to be absolutely true. It is such an immense city that requires immense personalities in order to maintain its greatness. The beautiful Gotham. Constantly reinventing itself but at its core New York remains the same and is the perfect example of what is right with America.

I love flying into Newark because it is cheaper and to me at least, seems like less of a struggle and hassle to get to. The train takes you right there cheaply and efficiently. Of course this blog is about my cooking experience so I won’t tell you everything in the same vivid detail that I do my cooking experience. Suffice to say I saw all the sites (that I hadn’t yet had pictures of), Grand Central, Rockefeller Centre, Central Park (in the day), Tavern on the Green, etc. Most of these are places that I feel drawn to when I am in New York because I am in love with the Art Deco architecture and rich history. Before I get to the dinner that I cooked on Sunday night for twenty of C’s friends I will let you know about my food experiences in New York.

Friday night we met up with some friends in Little Italy. They had already eaten but I was famished so we ended up at this little joint (if it was good believe me I would give you the name and I am not in protest to the food) which billed itself as authentic Mama cuisine. Of course it didn’t say Italian Mama and all our servers and the managers were Mexican (not that that is a bad thing) but it certainly allowed me to see that I wasn’t about to eat authentic Italian Cuisine. However the Peroni was authentic and was going down like water.

C, L and I split a Caprese Salad which I had used as a benchmark for the meal. It was ok, but, when I am in New York City, in Little Italy, I don’t want ok, I want Tony Soprano’s mothers recipe which will knock my socks off. Due to my earlier observation I opted for the simplest dish on the menu. Penne a La Mama (again, should have known). Billed itself as Penne in a Red Sauce with fresh mozzarella and basil. At least the basil was fresh. C and L shared a Lobster Ravioli special which they enjoyed. I had taken one bite of it and felt that I could do a better job cooking with my feet. Horrible, BUT TRUE! Again the Peroni was authentic and eased the blow of the crappy food. For the rest of the night as we walked around doing a New York City Pub Crawl (beer, to next beer, to beer, to next beer) I practiced my best Irish diet.

Saturday started off with so much enthusiasm and excitement as I was going to go to Union Square Greenmarket with L to get the ingredients for the extravaganza the next day. I did what I always do, walked the whole market once, looking, touching, smelling and then went to sit for a smoke and start creating. The produce is amazing. Beautiful, big and fresh and to me remarkable that in the middle of this bustling city is a market of great food. Not just good food but great.

C had to work on Saturday so L and I walked around NYC and had some fun. We ended up eating at some BBQ place for lunch because we were starved. It was alright. Nothing spectacular but it was more than enough because we were absolutely famished. When we started walking again we ended up on Central Park West. As we approached I mused whether or not Tavern on the Green would be busy with a wedding or something of the like. There must have been what seemed to be a million people in Central Park but we managed to walk in where we had a great experience meeting some new people. A firefighter and his girlfriend from Arizona. In fact he is a Captain and as so often happens in my life she is the manager of Food and Bev for a big company where they live. The story of how we met was great. There was only one table left and we both approached it but they beat us there. Never one to concede defeat I asked them if they minded if we joined them. They said no and thus a new friendship was born as we waited for C to be done at work. I can hardly wait to see them again. They have promised to come up to Toronto very soon, in fact, they are already planning it.

That night we went to the birthday party for a friend that I had not seen in twenty years. It was awesome to reconnect after all this time (naturally we had spoken on facebook numerous times) but it was great to see her all grown up and living in the city that never sleeps.

Sunday morning we woke up and started our day by going out and walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. For some reason I don’t quite understand I love crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. I try to cross it every time I am there. After we crossed it we hustled to Pace University for a taping of Inside the Actors Studio with the cast of Family Guy; Seth Macfarlane, Seth Green, Alex Borstein and Mike Henry. One of the greatest experiences of my life. It was a great treat to see them in person, learn their stories and a bit more about family guy. James Lipton has to be one of the sharpest eighty year olds to ever live. When that episode airs you all should watch it. Unfortunately we had to leave so that I could start cooking the extravaganza which is the subject of the next post.

Monday ( I know I'm skipping ahead but...) L had to go and get some paper work done at the Canadian Consulate so I had to do some running around on my own but then we ended up going to the Top of the Rock. From there, we were in NYC and I thought it would be great to go to Ruhlmann which is right across the street. They both had the Lobster Bisque which was to die for and I had the French Onion Soup and a Croque Monsieur which was awesome. Ok Extravaganza now...

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM