Margot Restaurant: A Reason to Head Uptown

Its been a while, but this place is worth mentioning. We took the 1 train up to 157th Street yesterday, and headed two block north to Margot Restaurant at 159th St and Broadway (3822 Broadway, New York, NY 10032-1547, 212- 781-8494). Its a pretty quick trip from the Upper West Side. The place is a tiny hole, but the food was quite good, and some of it was a clear step up over places south of 96th Street. Good dishes included the Masitas of pork (fried pork chunks), Shrimp with garlic sauce, pepper steak (which I normally don't even like), and Moro (rice with peas). Fried Yuca was not be missed. The only thing I didn't love was the stewed fish, which was well, fishy. Dessert was good, but you should share it. They don't take reservations, but you might want to call ahead anyway to see how they are doing. The staff is great. And if you live up in Washington Heights, they deliver!

Craft Steak NYC: Don't

I usually don't write negative reviews. Its not my speed: I'd rather just ignore the place. That's why my London posts were so few! But, after my meal tonight at Craft Steak, I feel that I really can't ignore this...the service and food were unacceptable for such a venture. I remember Tom Colicchio telling a contestant on "Top Chef" that people came to top flight restaurants for a special occasion, and that it wasn't fair to them to have a bad night. If the meal we had tonight was on Top Chef, it would definitely have been a "Pack Your Knives and Go" type of night for the chef who prepared it for us.

We went for a special occasion: boy #2's birthday. Our entry into Craft Steak started with an indifferent greeting in the Las Vegas like space that is this restaurant (the decor and table spacing are the best part of the place, and are quite nice in a Gordon Gekko kind of way). Led to our table, we sat a bit, and then were asked our drink orders. We had some questions about the food and whether there were any specials, and the waiter told us that he would have a complete explanation when he came back. Some time after that, he came back and said "ready to order!??" We made him do the explanations. In summary, they have a "market menu" that changes every day and therefore there are "no specials." Very nice in concept, but the menu from November 29th that is posted on the internet is almost identical to the one we had....the differences being a few dishes or types of steak that you might even want to call "special" if you so desired.

The Caesar salad was too fishy, the frisee with fried pork ear was fine. The marrow bones were good, but they were served on a giant plate of kosher salt. One slip of the fork and your marrow was toast (not on toast, as it should be). The dinner rolls were supposed to be a "better" version of the warm parker rolls that you can buy in the supermarket, but were lacking something that those rolls had. And they were dolled out as if they were gold.

We did not have the Wagyu beef, but we did have a wide selection of other cuts: the porterhouse, strip steak, flat iron and hanger steak. The porterhouse was clearly the best, with the flat iron in a somewhat distant second. All of the steaks were salted in a way that could only be described as "variable." The hanger steak was like shoe leather.

We had been there for almost two hours at the end of dinner (this is a steak house) and couldn't deal with it anymore. We paid and left without eating dessert.

Needless to say, next time we go to Luger's, and if we can't get in Palm, Too.

Moti Mahal in London: Excellent Indian Food!

This occasional blog continues! We are just back from London, where we and a large group of others visited the famous friends in London for an auspicious family event. Surprisingly, it didn't rain till our last night there! While London, despite its residents claims, will never be known for its excess of quality food, there is some stuff out there if you try (really try). Our best meal while we were there was at Moti Mahal (45 Great Queen Street, Covent Garden, London WC2B 5AA, T: +44 (0)20 7240 9329 ), which is right by Covent Gardens.

The restaurant is clearly an upscale affair, with prices to match (it is London, after all). The seats are great, and it is easy to carry on a conversation. About the only thing I didn't love was the menu, which is designed as sort of a Mogul travelouge but is sort of confusing. Fortunately, we were with some Indian friends, who took over the ordering process (and I would say did an excellent job). Unfortunately, even though I have a copy of the menu, I am trying to reconstruct what we ate as much as possible.

First the good. The dal, relishes (included with the meal), bread and raita are quite good. The grilled lamb (49 pounds per kilo!!) is excellent. I was not a huge fan of the chooza (butter chicken) but it is clearly the right choice for the under 18 set. Chauchori, which is a mix of potatoes and baby eggplant, is not to be missed. Nor is the Bhala Papadi Chaat, which is a mix of pastry bits, chick peas, yogurt and mint chutney. If you are a fish fan, the Meen Polichathu, which is baked seabass and crabmeat served in a banana rapper.

Now the not so good. Its a short list, but the biryani, at 19 pounds, was small, not very good, and, clearly, quite pricey.

If you are going to London and want a decent meal do not miss Moti Mahal. I don't think I've had Indian food this good in New York. If you do know a place, let me know.

Pat's Pizza in Maine

There are a lot of Pat's Pizza restaurants throughout
Maine. Usually, the lovely wife and I try to avoid chains, but 1) we
weren't that hungry 2) it was late and 3) we make an exception for
mini-chains, which this clearly is.

We went to the patsy's in Windham on Route 302 (844 Roosevet Trl(207) 892-1700). The service was fast and friendly and if you like tv you will not be dissapointed. We even
has a little flat screen at our booth. It was even possible to change the channel. Not suprisingly, everyone was watching the Red Sox game but us (we watched tennis).

As for the food: well it was inexpensive and edible. Safe and dull.
Not great. But not bad either. There is a wide variety of pizzas
which are a little overcheesed and have crusts that are a bit too
cakey for my liking. But you are in Maine. You should have eaten
lobster and clams (again). And, if you were with your kids, and not
just visiting them at camp, you would definitely be back.

Adventures in Queens: Hahn Ji Bach Korean Restaurant

I will finish blogging about Israel at some point. But first, back to New York. More specifically Queens, where the family and I headed off with friends to discover a new Korean Restaurant. I researched a bit using Yelp and Chowhound, and then, after driving to Murray Hill, pretty much semi-randomly found Hahn Ji Bach (spelled Ham Ji Bak on Yelp) right near the LIRR Murray Hill Train Station Stop at 41-08 149th Pl (NOT STREET!!!), Flushing, NY 11355 (718-460-9289). There are two other Korean restaurants flanking it, and several on the next block. If you drive, all three of these places have valet parking.

After tossing the keys to the valet (I felt so very Los Angeles) we headed in and sat down in this compact, traditionally decorated Korean Barbecue. I read on Yelp that the specialty was pork, and we proceeded to order several different pork barbecues, including spicy pork, pork belly, and some form of piece of pork. Although they have an English menu, we were clearly one of the few non-Korean speaking clients to have patronzed Hahn Ji Bach, and figuring out exactly what we ordered was a little difficult. Everyone was very nice though, and we received instruction on how to put together our barbecued meats. For example, pork belly should be eaten with a piece of kimchee, while the spicy pork was wrapped in a paper thin slice of daikon radish. The piece of pork was served with, garlic powder, sesamee oil and daikon radish. It was all rather good, as were the seemingly endless plates of beef short ribs eaten by the children, all of whom appear to be on an extended and expensive growth spurt.

Seafood pancake was good, and the bimbambop so so. The kim chee to start was good and more diverse than most Manhattanites are used to.

The lovely wife declared the place a winner and worthy of a repeat and I agree. The only problem is that the two restaurants flanking Hahn Ji Bach looked pretty good too, as did the few places down the street. Maybe I'll stop at Murray Hill the next time I take the LIRR!

Fatty Crab:Glitz on the Upper West Side

The lovely wife stopped by the new Fatty Crab at 2170 Broadway (Tel: 212.496.CRAB) before we went away and made a dinner reservation for 8! people for when we came back.  Which meant that we ate there last night.  Actually 9 of us ate there.  I have to admit to admiring the lovely wife's forethought: I wanted to go and the idea of having many people at such a restaurant seemed like a great idea.  And in fact, I had a great time with my friends last night.  But that's despite the food at Fatty Crab. 

Fatty Crab is cool looking, but so noisy that no one in their fifth decade of life could hear the person next to them.  The servers are all extremely friendly, but, at least last night, they didn't have their stuff together.  Utensils arrived well after the food.  And the food...well the food is fine but nothing to run back for.  Almost everything tastes like dan dan noodles from a Schiuan restaurant at considerably more cost.  Some of the good things included Chinese Broccoli with salted fish, the short rib Rendang, and the wonton Mee.  The "Fatty Crab" I found to be greasy and overcooked.  Other dishes, such as the pork buns, were overpowered by heat.  

So, while I had a great evening, and the place is fun (even if you can't hear a thing) I am not running back.  I'll head downtown to 229 9th Avenue (24th Street) to Grand Sichuan, or if I can, out to Queens!

Chololetta, Shokoletta,Chocolata or, of course,שוקולטה

Greetings from Rosh Pina, where the lovely wife's extended family held an amazing reunion of cousins. Rosh Pina is in the heart of the Galilee, where we were staying in a beautiful resort called Mizpe-Hayamin. This hotel is not overly child friendly, however, and we needed to find somewhere else to have our large reunion. Our Israeli relatives made reservations at שּוֹקולטה and we were glad they did.

I couldn't really find the right spelling in English of this place, although they do have a passable english menu and most of the staff spoke english rather well. So I will stick with the hebrew name or use Chocoletta, which I think is the closest. It is located on the top of the hill of the old part of Rosh Pina, near the synagogue. It may take a little effort to find. The phone number is 04-6860219. The restaurant itself has the feel of "old Israel," with vaulted ceilings and lots of stones.

The specialty of the house is clearly dessert, of which there are many. Boy 2 had a layered chocolate mousse cake which he particularly liked, and a chocolate pie was also quite good. The dinner was good as well. It was dairy, and I liked the shakshouka (of course, I always like good shakshouka). Other things that people liked included the pasta dishes (you could choose your pasta and your sauce!), and salads.

So, if you end up in the Galilee, and want a cool place to eat and drink (and of course, have dessert) that is not full of tourists, try Chocoletta (שוקולטה ). You'll be glad you did.

Sammy's(Sami) Restaurant in Jerusalem: "That Place is Good"

Aha. Back. I have some catching up to do. Its been a bit crazy the past few days, and then I went to Jordan sans computer. Thankfully I am back, sunning in the beach at Eilat, and trying to write about some of the things that I ate.

We seem to have spent most of this trip eating Schwarma or falafel, and I thought I would write about the place that I enjoyed the most of this list (although I really didn’t have a bad one, and have discovered a new, if fattening, taste for laffah, the large flat bread that these products are rolled instead of the smaller, healthier pita.

Sammy’s in Jerusalem is located right near the Mahane Yehuda Market. It is kosher. Sammy’s, which half looks like it belongs in Jerusalem and half in the old Lower East Side, has a full menu of falafel, schwarma, schnitzel and chicken liver. But they also have “baby chicken,” which I think is Cornish hen, as well as goose liver, which is foie (except that is served in bulk on a plate). All is good. The mezze are excellent as well. I even liked the kebob’s, which I have usually find somewhat dry in Israel. The only weak spot is the chips, which are soggy fries at best.

So, even if you’ve never wondered why people prefer hamburgers to schwarma, its worth trying out Sammy’s in Jerusalem. A worthwhile trip!

addendum: clearly i mispelled Sami's name as Sammy.  My bad.  I wondered why I couldn't get the address and phone number in this most connected country...here it is.
Sami
Agrippas St. 8
Machane Yehuda/Nachlaot
02-625-0985
Sunday to Thursday, 11:00 to 2:00

Greetings From Israel: Cavalier Restaurant, Jerusalem

Greetings!  Its Friday morning here as I type away, reasonably not jet lagged for my first full day here.  Last night we took a walk from our hotel to the Cavalier Restaurant, which is located at 1 Ben-Sira Street, Jerusalem (02/624-2945). I admit to being a little worried at first, as it was billed as a "French" restaurant and the last thing that I wanted after a 10 hour flight was fancy French Food with Two Children. I should not have been worried. The place, although very attractive as a place to eat, was not precious in any way and we were quite comfortable eating there with our well behaved (and, yes they were) children. The food was surprisingly good as well.

Stand-outs amongst the appetizers included a shaved artichoke dish (pictured), goose-foie (which was extremely good), and a tuna-carpaccio with sesame seeds and soy.  Salads were good if you are in a healthy feeling mode.

As for dishes, I really liked the drum fish, although it is quite dense.  The lamb chops were good, as was the lamb and cous-cous.  The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the pounded veal, which tasted a bit too much like schniztel for my liking.  Desserts were also good also, particularly the tarte-tatin.  And Israeli wine in Israel, so far, is good!

Where to Eat in Quebec City: Oh! Pino

Happy New Year. Although firmly back in NYC, thanks to a delayed, joyless flight on Continental (the sir-Charge airline), I still have more restaurants in Quebec to write about: Oh! Pino (1019, avenue Cartier, Quebec, QC, G1R 2S3: 418-525-3535). The restaurant is near the intersection of avenue Rene Levesque, which, from our point of view, seems to be the best area to eat and hang out in Quebec City. Oh! Pino was certainly the most airy restaurant ate at: it is an inviting space with comfortable seats, mirrored walls featuring lots of wine choices and no creton. Like almost everywhere in Quebec (the friendly taxi driver city), the servers were extremely nice and made great effort to overcome our French and their English.

The food was more typically French Bistro than any other place we had eaten in Quebec City. Boy 1 had Coq au Vin and I had the Cassoulet: both were quite tasty. The lovely wife and "bottomless" mussels: the "non bottomless portion" would have been sufficient it was so large. Boy 2 had the duck leg confit: it was a success as well. They also have good fries. Appetizers were tasty, but not as good as the main courses (how often do you write that!). Dessert was fine. They have a large selection of beers and wines b y the glass. I tried a Montreal beer called belle geule, which is a tasty amber lager.

The neighborhood around Oh! Pino looked to be quite livable, as opposed to the touristy old city where we were staying. There were lots of restaurants, including ethnic ones and, of course, another branch of le Cochon Dingue. If you do go to Quebec City, this area would be the one I would defintely explore to eat.

Where to eat (breakfast) in Quebec City: Le Cochon Dingue

Eating at the Chateau Frontenac isn't great: expensive and tortured (and with long lines during the holidays!). So, with the weather being pretty good, we set out down the "Breakneck Stairs" to Le Cochon Dingue, which our friend Lisa recommended to us (46 blvd Champlain, QC). We left our names, came back about a half hour later (we later found out that you can make reservations (418-692-2013), which I strongly recommend) and sat.

Le Cochon Dingue is one of four restaurants of the same name scattered throughout Quebec City. It is part of a larger group of four other restaurants, including the Petit Le Cochon Dingue, a bakery down the block from the restaurant in the lower city. I wouldn't eat anything but breakfast at Le Cochon Dingue, but breakfast is definetly worth eating if you want lots of pork, eggs and, of course creton, the Quebec spread of pork butt, onions and spices (it beats scrapple). They have ok french toast and ok crepes as well. "Light" is not really on the menu. I would stick with the eggs, personally. The service is friendly but uneven. I would also add that boy #1 did not like the scrambled eggs as we think they were mixed in with cheese: stick to fried, poached or omelettes. If you have small children, they have an excellent bargain of a kids menu. The lovely wife really like the jam they serve, FYI.

Where to Eat in Quebec City: La Girolle

Greetings from the Great White North. One of the things we have noted in our brief time here is that the food, while good, reminds us more of eating in a French restaurant in New York circa the 1970s. This seems particularly true in the walled old city area, where our hotel and many others are. We were looking for a restaurant that 1) you could bring boy 1 and boy 2, 2) had good food that was not tortured, and 3) wasn't ethnic (there seem to be a lot of good ethnic places up here, but its not why we came from NYC). Last night, after a bit of a cab ride, we found it.

La Girolle (1383 Chemin Ste-Foy, Quebec, G1S 2N6: 418-527-4141) is a 10 minute cab ride from the Chateau Frontenac. They have a BYOB policy, and our cab driver was nice enough to take a pit stop so I could pick up some wine (did I mention that everyone in Quebec is scarily nice?). The restaurant is in a residential part of Quebec: we were the only English speakers in the place. There are two large rooms, and there is a lot of space between the tables. We were not the only ones with children (thankfully) and because the place is so spacious, you don't mind your own or the others around you.

The menu is written on a blackboard, and is changed daily. Each entree comes with soup or salad. The soup was a favorite of all four of us: it was exceptionally good. The salad, made with zuchhini, was good as well. I had the assiette d'jour, which was tasty, although I probably don't want to know what meat products I ate. The lovely wife had warm goat cheese, which is the one thing I would avoid. It wasn' bad, but it wasn't great. The entrees were quite good. We had a pork dish, a lamb dish, a steak and shrimp and scallops (everyone in Quebec sells this combination, it seems). It was clearly the best food we had eaten in Quebec to date, and I would clearly recommend the cab ride or short drive to anyone coming in from out of town.

Greetings From Quebec! Bistro Sous le Fort

Greetings from Quebec, where its cold and its French.  Its hard to get worried about the recession when you are worried about your toes having adequate circulation, and Quebec is extremely close, and exotic, in a I see McDonald's but don't have to deal with existence kind of way.  We are staying at the Chateau Frontenac, where we have a commanding view of the St. Lawrence River.  There is also pretty much non-stop hockey in both French and English: the boys and I are happy.

One of the things that excited us about Quebec was the food: although the reality has been a bit spotty to date.  The hotel itself has a crowded dining room, and the food, even for a hotel, is nothing to write home about.  Given the cold, especially at breakfast, this can be a problem.  But there are places to eat, many within quick walking distance.  The first of these is Bisto Sous le Fort, which is located at 48, rue Sous-le-Fort, Quebec, G1K 4G8 (418-694-0852).

The place is quite small, with about 30 seats.  I do not believe they take reservations.  The service is good, and the food was quite good.  I had an elk burger (they also had caribou sausage and venison), which was good and distinctly different from beef (but not too much!).  The kids head steak frites, which was good as were the fries.  The lovely wife had "La assiette tout canard" which was pretty much that: lots of duck done lots of ways.  Each way was good, as were the little roasted potatoes that were served with it.  We also had cider wine, which tasted more like white wine than cider and was therefore quite good.  The service was reasonable, and the location, right near the funicular, making getting up easy even after you eat and drink a bit too much (not that we did, but you never know!)

JB's Barbeque in Brewster: The Best Barbeque I Have Eaten in NY State

Do not be fooled by the ugly picture of JBs Bar-B-Q above. JBs is located at 3867 Danbury Road in Brewster, NY 10509 (845-278-3600), about 5o miles from New York City. Its worth the journey. I am not saying this lightly: this place has great barbecue. Although the usual yenta's at Chowhound seemed to like some other places in the area, and I will be sure to try them when I get back to Brewster (which thanks to the great world of youth hockey, I will), JBs has almost everything one could want in a barbecue place: great ribs, pulled pork and brisket. The brisket, a combination of first and second cut, was the most tender I have had outside of Texas. Well smoked, it, like all of meats that I had, is served smothered with barbecue sauce. The pork is sweet, but not cloyingly so. And the ribs were literally gadempt, not usually a word associated with pork. Sides were OK, with excellent fries and good collard greens. I would avoid the Mac and Cheese. They also sell fried chicken, which we did not partake of this time.

A big surprise was dessert. We had apple cobbler, which was good. But the banana pudding (a special?) was divine: the single best banana pudding I have ever had. I don't even like the stuff and I wanted more.

The only thing I would do diffrently next time is to not get the meat smothered with sauce: its good, but the somewhat different sauce they put on the table, which is much less tomatoey, is better. Oh, and its inexpensive, too.

Other people's thoughts

Well Fed on the Town

The Omega Diner in North Brunswick NJ: On the Way to Princeton!

Actually, the Omega Diner, at 1337 Route 1 South, North Brunswick, NJ, 08902 (732- 745-2628) is on the way from Princeton, NJ, where boy # 2 had a hockey game at 7 AM (!) this morning. After surviving the game, we headed back to NY. Last year, after a non-game in Princeton (a long, ugly story), we stopped at the Omega Diner. It may have been the dissapointment of not having a game after a long drive, or the driving snow, but both boy #2 and I had quite fond memories of the food. So back we went, with five others. From a pure location point of view, its not bad if you are heading from Princeton to NY...its close enough but still beyond the heck that is traveling on route 1 back to the Turnpike. The place is huge, and, for a NJ diner, rather bright and airy. If you can sit on the left side as you walk in: its nicer looking.

The food is fine. Tons, and cheap, of course. I had eggs with bacon, the boy pancakes. Worked fine. Friends tried a "smoked salmon" omelette and a bagel (plain only, and clearly diner bagel and not bagel store bagel) with smoked salmon: this was a mistake. The home fries were fine, and the bacon plentiful and good. The service was good, and we were in and out of there in a timely manner. The only weird thing, and we blamed the economy, is that the place was less busy at 10 AM on a sunny Sunday than it was during the snow last December.

So, if life takes you away from Princeton, the Omega diner, while not the "end," is clearly fine. Just stick to the basics!

Greetings From Miami Beach: Nemos

The lovely wife and I had a brief, child free trip to Miami Beach... Thank you Lovely Mother and Father in Law!!!  And I love Miami!  So much so that I was having too good a time to write about it while we were there.. so here goes.

We ate at a variety of places.  One of my favorites was Nemo's, which is located at 100 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33139 (305-532-4559).  We went on a Wednesday, and, like much of Miami Beach, it was pretty empty.  I was assured by everyone that I spoke with that, while it was maybe a bit slower than last year, that Miami Beach was NOT feeling the recession yet.  I will say that by Thursday, more people were strolling on Collins at night, although not in huge numbers.  The Victoria's Secret fashion show is being taped at the Fountainebleu this weekend, so it did seem that all of earth was descending as we were leaving.  .

Back to Nemo's.  First of all, although not usually a fan of "Martini Menus" Nemo's signature Martini is good for those of us who like an occasional "real" martini: it has a nice citrus flavor without being sweet.  We had the squid salad and mussels for appetizers.  The appetizers are expensive, but, compared to NYC, have twice as much food.  The Lovely Wife had two appetizers for her meal and it was more than enough!  I had the grouper for dinner, which I thought was quite tasty.  The lovely wife had the spicy Thai beef salad, which was also a winner.  We were too stuffed to eat dessert!  

My only concern was that, in a rather large restaurant with multiple rooms, there were only about 10 people eating.  This may be due to the "shoulder" nature of our trip and the fact that it was mid-week.  If you have eaten at Nemo's recently, please give a post as to how you thought the food was and whether anybody was there (or anywhere) in South Beach.

Thai Food in the East Village

Monday's can be rather relaxing for me. Well, that's a total lie, but I sometimes finish an extremely stress filled day early. I was done by 2:30 PM today, and decided to head down to the East Village on the Vespa for something to eat. It was a beautiful day, and the ride down the FDR cleared my head from the stresses of the radio and procedures. As if drawn by some primal memory of my youth, I headed over to 6th Street and Second Avenue. The Indian restaurants are not what they used to be, and anyway, many of them were closed for lunch.

Spice Thai (1-4 Second Avenue, on the Northeast corner of 6th Street-->104 Second Ave, NY NY 10003--212-533-8900) has been around for a few months, but its part of a chainlet of three other Spices, Eat=, Peep and Sea (all of these are Thai or Thai based restaurants). Spice is inexpensive, hip looking (even by East Village standards. I don't know what we'd do if we saw something so cool on the Upper West Side), and has pretty good food. You sit either at a table, the bar, or low benches on long tables. I had Tum Yum Soup and a Pad Thai: both are a wee bit sweet but otherwise quite tasty. They have a complete Thai menu and feature a "tea bar." Service was fast.

I will remember the chainlet of Spice, Eat=, Peep and Sea and would certainly recommend it as a quick place to get a little Thai food if you are downtown.

In Larchmont? Eat at the Globe Bar and Grill

There is a lot of travel hockey this year, and its clearly placing a bit of crimp in my time. I am actually writing this at Chelsea Piers, where it is my turn to car pool the future stars of tomorrow to and from practice. The lovely wife are trying to make the best of it, and we certainly did a successful job on Saturday night, when, after a game in Mamoroneck, we had dinner at the Globe Bar and Grill in Larchmont (879 Palmer Ave. (Chatsworth Ave.) Larchmont, NY 10538, 914-833-8600). The Globe is an inviting space in Downtown Larchmont. Its divided into a bar, a rather nice restaurant area up from where we ate, and a TV filled large room in the back, which appears to be a rather fine place to have a drink and watch the game.

The food was good. We had a pizza, which was quite tasty. I also had the pasta fagiole, which was excellent. A Cesar salad was quite tasty. For main dishes, the pasta bolonese was excellent, as was a pasta with eggplant that the lovely wife had. Boy 1 had chicken parm, which comes with incredibly unhealthy and tasty mashed potatoes. They have an extensive wine list, including wines by the glass. There is a kids menu for those under 10.

The service was phenomenal, with both the waitress and the captain being exceptionally gracious.

I have lots of hockey left, and I will have no problems heading to the Globe after any game in Lower Westchester!

Rangers Go To 6 and 1: I find a new Felafel Place!

So I've gone to a lot of Ranger games recently. Some readers have told me that they don't love reading about the Rangers: they just want to hear about the food. Tonight, I have decided to combine my two passions into one evening.

First, the hockey. The game was great! The Rangers couldn't score, but certainly tried. Their power play needs work. But Steve Valiquette, the back-up goalie made 21 saves during 65 minutes of play, including a two minute power play during overtime where he was pounded. He then made two saves during the shootout, allowing the Rangers to win that 2-1 and the game 0(1)-0. It was exciting to watch, and I am always happy when the back up players save the team.

Now for the food. After the game we had to pick up boy 1 and we ended up at 71st and Amsterdam, near Pinkberry. We saw a new store called "Maoz Vegetarian." The lovely wife asked: its been there for about one month. Maoz sells Felafel, Salad, Belgian French Fries and drinks. You pay for a pita or salad bowl, which they fill with felafel balls, lettuce, and other toppings such as hummus for an extra price. You then get to fill the Felafel with things from a toppings bar. It reminded me of the felafel stand in Beer Sheva, although a much nicer and cleaner one than the one I remember from my youth. The felafel is good, the toppings were fresh, and the fries were OK. Its worth a quick bite if you are in the area and the thought of more Gray's Papaya makes you a bit green.

Maoz Vegetarian is located at 2047 Broadway (between 70th and 71 St.) 212-362-2622

There's a New Pig Coming to Town

Just when you feel the world is going to collapse, things start to turn the corner. No, I'm not talking about the stock market. I'm talking about ham! Anyway, the lovely wife passed by the very soon to open Salumeria Rosi at 283 Amsterdam Avenue, New York NY 10023 tonight on our way home from a lovely anniversary dinner at Bar Bouloud, and saw that they were pretty close to opening. Workmen were finishing up the interior, and some very impressive looking hams were already hanging from racks on the ceiling. Salumeria Rosi is from the Tuscan impresario Cesare Casella and will be a combination of an Italian Grocery and 35 seat restaurant. I am very excited about this.