The New York City Traveler

New York and Boston aren’t that far apart.  But the culinary scene of these cities couldn’t be more different.  Case in point: lobster rolls and the definition of a “fish shack.”   
My regular fish shack is in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the Charles River.  It’s a true shack meaning that it’s a fish shop that happens to sell a $12 lobster roll.  No tables, so you have to sit on the curb under a big oak tree to enjoy the finest lobster roll that Sully, the fish monger, whips up.    
A few weeks ago I was bent on having a …read more

2 Comments

A few years ago a collective gasp could be heard from Manhattan.  BLT Burger (the BLT stands for Bistro Laurent Tourondel) had just opened and given birth to a real gourmet burger– a $62 Japanese Kobe beef burger.  Manhattan was left to ponder “Where does Chef Tourondel think he is?  Los Angeles?”    
Since then, the hype has died down and I decided to head up to West Village to have my first BLT Burger.  When I first walked in I thought I was in the wrong place.  The restaurant looked like it was in the midst of an identity …read more

2 Comments

Having been featured in Sex and the City, Saturday Night Live, and The Devil Wears Prada, Magnolia Bakery has officially achieved cult status.  On any given day you can walk down Bleecker Steet in the West Village and see a line of people on the corner of West 11th Street.  Hordes of people, mostly non-New Yorkers, patiently waiting up to an hour for their moment at the case to pick out their “limit 12″ (as per Magnolia’s policy) cupcakes.
Word on the street is that after receiving so much press, Magnolia Bakery is starting to believe its own hype.  …read more

1 Comment