As far as New York, some great eating. We took a redeye and arrived early Wed. morning. After a nap, I took the subway to one of the holy grails of pizza, Di Faro's. One time I had a rental car and we went there but it was closed. This time it was open and not crowded. What luck! I had a square slice which is on a thicker base than the slice. Nice olive oil crust, a little crispy. Lovely tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, fresh-cut basil, a little olive oil, some seasoning, all done by one guy who makes one pie at a time--no rushing. The more I ate the better it was, a great beginning to my days of NY repast. I can't say it's the best I've ever had, but worth the trip.
That night we went to see Hamlet with Jude Law, which was quite spectacular. He was great! Before the play, we and our friends went to db Bistro Moderne, a Daniel Boulud spinoff (I think the first). I had another of my "I have to try this before I die" dishes I've been reading about for years, their burger with foie gras and short rib. No socks knocked off, esp. for $32! The pommes souflees that came with the burger were a delight, crisp and puffy. Our party's favorite dishes were the coq au vin and the Moroccan tuna tartare. A very lovely room and good service, but not essential to return to.
But one that I did return to and would again is Jean-Georges, at least for lunch. Their $29 lunch is for any 2 courses. Each additional course is $14.50 and desserts are $8. The food and service are wonderful. Last time we went, I had the foie gras appetizer with roasted strawberries, one of the best dishes I have ever had anywhere. This time is had dried cherries and was delicious but not as spectacular as the strawberry. Sheila had their justly famous scallops with cauliflower in caper/raisin sauce, which I made once. Doesn't sound great, but it really shows what a great chef can do. It had a $8 supplement. Entrees were a spectacular rock cod crusted with nuts and seeds (made into a powder so it was light) in a broth with fresh vegetables and skate with Chalon sauce, marvelous. Desserts were fair, but they offer a lagniappe of fresh marshmallows and chocolates so I might skip dessert in future. The wine list has fantastic wines by the glass from $10-30. I'd go back.
Another New York lunch favorite is Gotham Bar and Grill, reliably excellent. They're celebrating their 25th anniversary and have a $25 3-course lunch special. The autumn squash soup was delicate and flavorful, watermelon and cherry tomato salad was refreshing, the Atlantic cod with chanterelles was perfectly cooked, as was the hangar steak. And for dessert, you can get their absolutely incredible chocolate cake. It's perfect, melt-in-your-mouth chocolateness. The sweet corn creme caramel was wonderful too, but I'll always take the cake.
And another NY favorite is Carnegie Deli. Their sandwiches are just so good and huge. Four of us ate 3 sandwiches and had lots of leftovers. I love their corn beef. Service is not great and I hate that they do not accept credit cards, but I still love it. We usually like to get a matza ball soup and sandwich and take to our hotel (no sharing charge!). Ate their before seeing Hair, which was also fantastic.
Besides Di Faro, the only pizza I tried was a slice from Sal and Carmine's which just got a great write-up on Sliceny.com. Feh, nothing great. Had a usually great lox and bagel from Ess-a-Bagel (although I prefer their 1st Ave. location), excellent bagels from Murray's, and very good bagels from La Bagel Delights and the Bagel Hole, the latter two in Brooklyn.
Our last dinner was at Scopello, a very good neighborhood place in Brooklyn. Excellent calamari salad and octopus appetizer, fresh pastas and a fine seafood risotto at reasonable prices.
Just a note on shows: Hair and Hamlet were both superb.
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