Eat First

We Heart New York!

We could have eaten a hotdog, gyro or other "street meat.''

We could have eaten noodle dishes or Korean barbecue at Madangsui, a restaurant right next door to our hotel on West 35th Street in New York City.

We could have eaten mussels and frites and coq au vin at Brasserie Athenee, a French restaurant on West 46th Street, where we stopped in for a beer.

There is so much to see and do and eat in New York City. But we had a reservation at Becco to keep!

 

We really went to NYC for the Bauhaus show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The show, with more than 400 works to take in, did not disappoint.

But a girl and guy have to eat, and it's easy to get overwhelmed, even in doing research, by the thousands of restaurant choices in a city like New York. So we relied on the recommendation of John Wisniewski, an old friend who works in Manhattan and lives on Long Island, and made a reservation via Open Table (the online restaurant reservations system works like a charm) for dinner at his favorite restaurant. Becco, owned by Lidia Bastianich, host of public TV's "Lidia's Italian Table,'' takes its name from the Italian word "beccare,'' which means to peck, nibble or savor in a discriminating way.

It's best known for its fixed-price lunch ($17.95) and dinner ($22.95), which comes with a Caesar or house salad and includes unlimited, table-side servings of three house-made pastas and sauces.

At Becco: House-made linguine with fresh clam sauce and farfalle with tomato sauce.

That's a heckuva deal, especially in New York, where it's easy to drop well over $100 for dinner.

 

A tray of bread and plate of olives arrive the minute you sit down.

We went for the full Becco experience, munching on bread, antipasti and salad, ordering the pasta as a first plate, followed by "secondi'' of osso buco (a beautiful braised veal shank) for Robert and roasted whole fish special with crispy potatoes and leeks for me.

The restaurant also offers a wine list with dozens of $25 bottles, and we made a good choice with a bottle of Taurino Notarpanaro, a full-bodied red from Puglia, in southern Italy (the boot heel).
Times Square on a Friday night.

We were glad for a 15-block walk back to our hotel, and swore there would be no need to eat any time soon the next day. But the Hotel Metro serves a nice continental breakfast (coffee, juices, bagels and cream cheese, yogurt, hot and cold cereals) in a lovely setting, which fueled us for a 20-block walk up Fifth Avenue to MoMA on a brilliant, sunny morning.

Hungry for lunch after all that art viewing, we hopped in a cab and asked the driver to take us to Chelsea Market, a food lover's paradise in the former National Biscuit Co. complex on Ninth Avenue, between 15th and 16th Streets.

Customers line up for the choice seafood at The Lobster Place, in Chelsea Market.

The place is filled with restaurants (Buddakan, Morimoto), several bakeries (Ruthy's, Sarabeth's), seafood, wine, chocolate and produce emporiums, coffee and gelato stands, a kitchen supply store and more.

 
Anything and everything a cook needs is at Bowery Kitchen Supply, in Chelsea Market. 

We walked into a little sit-down restaurant called The Green Table, and thanks to good dining karma, scored a table for two with a view of the busy marketplace just like that.

No reservations, just good timing.

The Green Table is a cozy, casual restaurant, with menus built around organic produce and ingredients from local farms and purveyors.

Robert had a chicken dish served with Tuscan kale and cheesy mashed potatoes, while I had the soup of the day (curried lentil) and a wonderful salad of microgreens topped with sliced pears, candied pecans and bits of cheese, dressed in a nice, light vinaigrette.

 

That lunch was the healthiest thing we ate all weekend, until we decided to top it off with a trio of house-made ice creams: vanilla, chocolate and hazelnut.

Can you spell yum?

I mean Y-U-M!

We Heart New York!

Road food, Adirondack style

You don't go to the Adirondacks for fine food -- unless you're heading someplace spiffy, like Saratoga Springs or Lake Placid.

You go to the Adirondacks for fresh mountain air, fall foliage (a little past peak, but very golden just the same) and simple, hearty fare.

And spectacular scenery like this:

Near Big Moose Lake; photo by Robert Poormon

Blue Mountain Lake, from the Adirondack Museum.

We spent a weekend in the central Adirondacks earlier this month and were rewarded with three rain-free days, perfect for visiting Great Camp Sagamore, near Raquette Lake, and the Adirondack Museum, in Blue Mountain Lake. It was cold and crisp in the morning and at night, but the sunshine was downright brilliant at times.

Whatever your destination is, food is going to come into play. Here are some rules for the road: 1. Consider a hotel that includes a restaurant. In the Adirondacks, more places than not close for the season this time of year -- or close and reopen for snowmobile season. Our base of operations was the Van Aukens Inne, in Thendara, a couple miles from Old Forge. The rooms are comfortable, and the historic inn, across the street from the Thendara station of the Adirondack Railroad, has a tavern and restaurant, where we relaxed with dinner and a couple of drinks Friday night.

The food, a scallops special and a huge salad with beef and bleu cheese, wasn't any thing out of the ordinary, but it was decent. And generous. The best part of all was saying goodnight and heading upstairs, rather than getting in the car again.

2. Ask the locals where they like to eat. A bartender at Van Aukens recommended the Muffin Patch, on Route 28 in Old Forge, for breakfast, and we were not disappointed. The Muffin Patch is comfy and cozy, a little more upscale than your basic diner, with homemade muffins, breads and sweet rolls. The menu also offers breakfast sandwiches, mega omelets and more. 3. Never underestimate the power of the words "pancake house'' on a restaurant. Keyes Pancake House, in Old Forge, also came highly recommended. It was packed with families on Sunday morning and a line for tables snaked out two doors. Such is the scene every day, according to our waitress.

 

Pancake lovers pack Keyes Pancake House, Old Forge.

Try the blueberry pancakes, and spring for the pure New York maple syrup. 

4. Just because you don't see any cars, don't assume that a place isn't open for business. "Welcome to the Adirondack Park after Columbus Day,'' said our host, bartender and waitperson at the Hard Times Cafe, on Route 28 in Eagle Bay, eight miles north of Old Forge. We walked into an empty bar and restaurant about 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and asked if the place was open.

The response from behind the bar: "The door wasn't locked, was it?''

Nope.

The place, like most in this part of the Adirondacks, is casual as can be, with a small bar and a dining room off to the side. We downed beers and huge burgers, served with fresh-cut fries on the side. The specials that evening included lasagna and other pasta dishes, and the place filled quickly with the heady aroma of garlic and tables of diners.

5. Carry some trail mix in the car, just in case. In addition to dozens of exhibits dotting its landscape, The Adirondack Museum, in Blue Mountain Lake, has a Lakeview Cafe, with fine views of the lake and a casual menu of soups, salads, sandwiches and a few other things.

Our visit coincided with the museum's closing for the season, so it was a good thing we bulked up at breakfast. Pickings in the cafe were pretty slim.

End-of-season turkey chowder, Lakeview Cafe, Adirondack Museum.

In warmer weather, pack a cooler and picnic lunch and spread out a blanket on the museum grounds for lunch. 6. Don't worry if the road isn't paved: Even people who live in the most remote corners of the mountains need a place to eat and drink. The Stillwater Hotel, on the western shore of the Stillwater Reservoir, is a magnet for nature lovers, campers and vacationers during the warm weather months and for snowmobilers in the wintertime.

Stillwater Reservoir from the Stillwater Hotel; photo by Robert Poormon.

The place is operated by Marian and Joe Romano, who fell in love with the Adirondacks and moved there from New Jersey, and features house specialties such as steaks, seafood and Marian's signature lemon pepper chicken soup. We enjoyed a Saranac pale ale, chilled to perfection, and chatted with Joe the owner as he took care of two tables for lunch.

7. Don't assume a hardware store has nothing in store for food lovers. Old Forge Hardware, on Fulton Street, just off Route 28, is an authentic general store, in business since 1900. The store sells everything from canoes and camping gear to candles, clothing and rustic Adirondack furniture.

Among the foodie things you'll find:

Soup mixes to enjoy during your stay, or at home.

Enamelware in one of my favorite colors.

An abundance of cookware.

And bakeware, too.

Teapots in all colors, shapes and sizes.

Who could come away without a moose cookie cutter?

Not me!

What better reminder of our Adirondack adventure than gingerbread moose cookies at Christmastime?