Food Tourism

I've just returned from four days in New York, and while I've been slacking on the cooking front lately for a million reasons, I hope some of these treats will tide you over.

First stop was the Chelsea Market, packed with bakeries, butchers, fishmongers, chocolatiers and seemingly every other tasty thing imaginable.

Usually I am not so enthused about seafood-I get a lot of the good stuff at home, but some of these preparations were truly special and inspiring.


I've kvetched about the inferiority of New York bagels, but this spread I would happily eat on anything, from bagels to saltines.

Picked up some chocolates from Jacques Torres as a small Valentine's Day treat.

Giant jar of Nutella-a treat too large for my suitcase and my budget (ringing in at $70 USD).

Now this is just silly.

Don't worry, "Eternal Flame" is our song.

Carrot cupcake at Billy's. I like baked goods plenty, probably more than most people, but am not totally on board with the cupcake craze. Cupcakes are fine, they just aren't anything special (read: hovering around $5) in my books. I guess with all the hype I was expecting something elevating that would dispel my cupcake doubt, and while this was very good, it was overly sweet and not quite everything I think a cupcake could be. I also stopped by Magnolia for an absurdly rich cheesecake/chocolate cookie cupcake hybrid, which again was good but not great.

Cheeseburger, medium-rare, with the works at the Parker Meridien's Burger Joint. It was everything they (friends, guidebooks) told me it would be. Tucked behind a dark curtain in a decidedly upscale hotel, this burger (and excellent fries) was well worth the wait (about 20 minutes on a holiday Monday afternoon). Made to order, juicy but not soggy, tasting strongly of delicious delicious beef above all the prime condiments, it is a serious contender. Atmosphere behind the curtain is like a casual, lively bar-orders are placed at the counter and yelled out when grilled to near carnivorous perfection. $14 USD for cheeseburger, fries and a Coke. I meant to make it to Shake Shack as well but ran out of time. Next trip.

I've just finished Ruth Reichl's Garlic and Sapphires, an account of her adventures as New York Times food critic, and in another life where I am not a student living below the poverty line I would love nothing more than to retrace some of her mouth-watering steps in the city. Really fantastic; highly recommended.