S'MAC (Sarita's Macaroni & Cheese), 345 E 12th St., Manhattan

Pat's sister Kathleen and her fiancé Paul came to New York on Sunday to partake of its Christmasy feel. We saw the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, the window displays at Macy's and Lord & Taylor, and the trimmings at the New York Public Library. But perhaps most importantly, we visited S'MAC, in the East Village, which serves only macaroni and cheese! God bless New York for nurturing this sort of culinary eccentricity.

All the offerings are served in cast-iron skillets straight from the oven. Pat and I shared a Parisienne, with brie, roasted figs and shiitake mushrooms, and rosemary. Delicious? Check. Delicious as leftovers the next day? Check. Artery-clogging? Check. I also sampled some of Kathleen and Paul's Cheeseburger skillet and Buffalo Chicken skillet; also both good. The latter was surprisingly spicy.

A couple of mild complaints: not enough tables to really meet demand, and no TP or paper towels in the restroom. Also the staff was a little on the surly side. But no complaints about the food. I have noted before that it is hard to go wrong with mac and cheese but I loved the devotion to the product demonstrated here.

Side note: I have heard there is a restaurant in New York entirely devoted to tiramisu. Please excuse me while I go conduct a Google search.

Midtown on a budget

Excerpted from The New York Times

December 13, 2011, 1:26 PM

Can It Be Done? Midtown on a Budget

By SETH KUGEL

...Food and Drinks

New Yorkers often fight the urge to physically block tourists’ entry to Times Square spots like the Hard Rock Cafe and Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, which are not cheap and about as New York as an Idaho potato. That’s obvious to many tourists. But even savvy ones can get confused by the generic delis that litter the neighborhood. And anyone can get so overwhelmed with choices that Subway and McDonald’s can seem like oases. But remember the Frugal strategy: if you’re not supposed to pay for anything you could do anywhere else in the world, you certainly can’t eat at a restaurant common at highway rest stops.

It’s so cheap, you say! But lunch for under $10 at an only-in-New York spot is within a few blocks of just about anywhere in Midtown. My go-to has long been Margon (136 West 46th Street), a cheap, plain Cuban spot just off Times Square. Just about everything — from the pressed-to-order Cuban sandwich (which comes with a renegade slice of salami) to a plate heaped with rice, beans and meat — is under $10.

Still too pricey? How about Ming Du (273 West 38th Street), a tiny Chinese place that could be more of a hole-in-the-wall only by being an actual hole in a wall. On offer: your choice of three steam-table dishes, served over rice, for $5. It may not be the prettiest spot, but a tray of roast duck, pork with pickled vegetables, and bok choy, served over rice, looks strikingly similar to what the owner’s family is eating at your neighborhood Chinese restaurant (always a good sign). Need to go cheaper still? Make a meal of fresh pork buns for 80 cents and fresh breads for 70 cents.

For something a tad more upscale try Bann Next Door (350 West 50th Street), the cheap lunch nook in Bann, a sleek Korean spot, for bulgogi tacos with five-grain rice and guacamole salsa for $9. Too L.A.? How about Vic’s Bagel Bar (544 Third Avenue, between 35th and 36th Streets) for the Tokyo Tel Aviv Express (cream cheese, wasabi, lox, scallions and edamame on a bagel; $7.50). If that’s too breakfasty for lunch, there’s the Peruvian chicken lunch special at Pio Pio for $9.50, which is right next to Talent Thai Kitchen’s $7.95 lunches (appetizer; entree, like delicious curried noodle soup with meat; and bottled water), both on 34th Street just east of Third Avenue.

Those are mostly lunchtime spots, but if you’re willing to (barely) break the $10 rule for dinner, try the tiny, cute pasta place Radicchio Pasta & Risotto Company (253 East 53rd Street), with several entrees for $11. I took cheapo hometown friends there for pre-marathon carbo-loading when more standard spots were booked, and we loved the homey service and freshly made pasta.

And if you need a drink after browsing for items you can’t afford at Bloomingdale’s or Williams-Sonoma, there’s the recently renovated Subway Inn bar (143 East 60th Street), where a bottle of beer will run you just $4.

Let’s even toss in a dining recommendation near the Javits Convention Center, so you can avoid the awful food inside: Bis.Co.Latte (667 10th Avenue), a cozy cafe with $8.75 risottos and $1.10 biscotti in flavors like triple ginger and coconut chocolate chip. It’s also within walking distance from the Hard Rock, so no excuses, O.K.?

Balthazar, 80 Spring St., Manhattan

On Thursday morning, I met another of the moms-to-be on the Herpes Mamas list (I know, I shouldn't call it that, but I'm gonna - see my earlier post). We had breakfast at Balthazar, in Soho. I had hazelnut waffles with fruit sauce and it was eminently satisfying. Pat has heard this restaurant is very good and I would like to try it again for lunch or dinner.

Mary Beth is really cool, just like the other pregnant chicks I met last weekend, and she too is due in March. I am ecstatic about meeting these fun women, and I really hope we will all get to know each other better not just in the next few months but after we have our kids, when I'm sure I'll crave their company all the more. The Herpes Mama list was a great find. I was initially a little put off that there is a $55 fee and they make you meet one of the organizers, to prove you're legitimately a downtown mom (or mom-to-be), before they'll add you to the list, but already this has been worth that and much more. I met a fourth cool woman named Jazz for coffee yesterday too, and will be meeting another named Lori (plus reuniting with Katherine from last weekend) on Sunday. I also got three free pairs of maternity pants from a mom on the list!

I went to Dumbo after breakfast to hunt down a particular Christmas gift and ended up getting there before the store opened, so I stopped for a bit for a hot chocolate at the bar at Al Mar, 111 Front St. My hot chocolate was good and frothy and the space was airy yet cozy, so I note it for further exploration.

Al Di La Trattoria, 248 5th Ave., Brooklyn

In the course of my endless, if somewhat hopeless, networking to look for work, I had lunch with a very pleasant and interesting independent consultant, Sarah, in Park Slope this week. We may have the chance to work on some projects together so it was both fruitful and enjoyable.

My food was terrific, and perfect for the day of heavy rain. I had a steaming bowl of cheesy polenta topped with mushrooms, braised greens, and a little broth. I loved it. Sarah had tagliatelle with ragu that also looked truly delicious. She told me that it is really hard to get into Al Di La for dinner but we got seats at lunch no problem and stayed for probably almost a couple hours.

Restaurant recommendations in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

These are from someone I don't even know on a listserv to which I subscribe!

Cafe Bakeri - Great coffee, pastries and baguettes
http://www.bakeribrooklyn.com/

Zenchiki - japanese super cool, hidden 
http://www.zenkichi.com/

Miss Favela (brazilian - super fun, same owers as Felix)
http://missfavela.com/bkny/

Dumont Burger
http://www.dumontburger.com/

La Superior (Authentic and cool Mexican)
http://www.lasuperiornyc.com/

Pies and Thighs (Cute, all american Southern food)
http://piesnthighs.tumblr.com/

Radegasthall and Beer Garden (escucha la musica, es genial)
http://www.radegasthall.com/index.php

Caracas Arepas Bar - cheap and tasty!
http://www.caracasarepabar.com/index_2.php

Fette Sau (BBQ)
http://www.fettesaubbq.com/

Marlowe and Sons (our favorite seasonal fare)
http://marlowandsons.com/

Rye
http://www.ryerestaurant.com/

Walter Foods
http://walterfoods.com/

Aurora - amazing italian, rustic setting
http://www.auroraristorante.com/

Fiore - yummy italian, afforadable, great brunch too!
http://www.fiorebk.com/

St Anselm
http://menupages.com/restaurants/st-anselm/

Cafe Colette
http://cafe-colette.com/

Cafe de la Esquina (same family as la Esquina in Manhattan)
http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/06/plans_revelaed_for_cafe_de_la.html

Cantina Royal
http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/cantina-royal/

1 or 8 - Fancy Japanese, if you ever need to impress!
http://www.oneoreightbk.com/

Cadaques - Awesome Tapas
http://www.cadaquesny.com/cadaquesny.com/Welcome.html

Samurai Mama
http://www.samuraimama.com/

Meatball Shop
http://www.themeatballshop.com/#http://www.themeatballshop.com/index.php/specials/view

ISA
http://www.yelp.com/biz/isa-brooklyn-2

Dressler
http://www.dresslernyc.com/website/

Vanessa's Dumpling House
http://www.hereswilliamsburg.com/home/2011/12/1/open-for-business-vanessas-dumpling-house-310-bedford-avenue.html

DRINKS
Berry Park (amazing views of Manhattan)
http://www.berryparkbk.com/
Hotel Delmano
http://www.hoteldelmano.com/

Amish Market Tribeca, 53 Park Pl., Manhattan

We ordered last night from Seamless and went with Amish Market Tribeca. Pat got a massive, heavy wrap with good ingredients, although he found it a little too moist. I had a brick-oven sandwich with roast beef, onions, tomato and cheese that was great. The prices were very reasonable, and you could also get groceries delivered, which is good to know! The list of options was very long and we plan on ordering from them again.

François Payard Bakery, 210 Murray St., Manhattan

I don't have enough friends in New York, as regular readers of this blog (i.e. my husband) are aware. I pine for friends. And I realized a couple months ago that what I really need, going forward, is friends with kids, which is not a type of friend I have actively sought in the past. It's a whole new, friendless world. Or at least it was until today!

Our friend Anne (yes, we have SOME friends here) helpfully alerted me to a listserv for Upper West Side new parents, and I have learned a ton from their postings, but there aren't really any good opportunities to interact with any of them directly unless you already have kids, and even then, I don't live on the UWS! But someone posted about a downtown listserv, so I joined that too. It is the Hudson River Park Mamas, aka  HRP Mamas. If this makes you think "Herpes Mamas" every time you see the abbreviation, well, you are not alone.

Anyway the beauty of the Herpes Mamas is that they have subgroups of people with kids (and expecting kids!) by date - so I am in a subgroup of women due Jan-Mar 2012, which has 29 members so far! All living close to me!! I sent out an introductory message to say hello and several of them wrote back and offered to get together, so I met two of them today. And I loved them! They are Katherine and Lucy, both due in March like me. They were so nice and interesting and we were all so relieved to share things with people going through the exact same experience as us. I had the best time.

We met at Francois Payard Bakery, which is new (at least new at this location in Battery Park City). I had a tomato/pesto/mozzarella sandwich that was good, if pricey ($8), and the most luscious, huge cup of thick, dark hot chocolate ($5). But I just have to say how nice the staff was. When they noticed I was pregnant they pointed out that they have decaf coffee, and they made sure that my hot chocolate wasn't too strong, and they cleaned around our table for us, and were just generally very pleasant.

Doughnut Plant, 220 West 23rd St., Manhattan

We got together with a friend of Pat's from grad school, Katie, and her husband Anand last night. They proposed a Thai place close to their apartment in Chelsea and to our surprise it turned out to be another location of Room Service, a restaurant we hold in very high esteem in another location in Hell's Kitchen. This Chelsea location of Room Service is probably better because a) we had no wait at 7:30 on a Friday night - the other location seemed busier, and 2) the downside of the other location is that it's quite loud; this place wasn't exactly quiet, but quietER. Yes, I'm slightly deaf. I have auditory neuropathy (seriously). I like quiet places.

Anyway I strayed from the winning Spicy Basil Noodles of my last two Room Service visits, and got red curry with beef. It was plenty good, but I should have stuck with Spicy Basil Noodles.

Afterward we went to the Doughnut Plant. This is a very appealing space, with a doughnut motif everywhere. But three of us were disappointed by our doughnuts - the yeast dough was kind of dryish and uninspiring, even though the fillings were good. Anand was very pleased with the coffee, for what it's worth.

Crepes du Nord, 17 South William St., Manhattan

Aiming for something off the beaten path last night as we scanned Seamless, Pat and I went with crepes from Crepes du Nord. I got the eponymous Crepe du Nord (and let this mark the first time, I am certain, that I have ever actually used the word eponymous....how marvelous!). It had scrambled egg inside the buckwheat crepe, and smoked salmon draped on top (it also came with a little salad, which I of course ignored). It was really good, if not that hot by the time it got to me. Would try this place again, perhaps in person in the Financial District.

Stella, 213 Front St., Manhattan

It is always a danger to visit a place where you know a bunch of people and only tell some of them that you'll be there. This is what happened to our friend Marc, who made the mistake of posting on Facebook something about being in New York for a work trip, prompting others to be annoyed that he had not made an effort to see them.

But Pat and I are the golden friends whom Marc DID alert to his visit, so we got to have dinner with him at Stella, in the Financial District. I am feeling pretty superior about this favoritism.

I had fish and chips. It was fine, but maybe I should have chosen something less altogether fried. I don't know. The fried battered fish and the french fries really just left me with an impression of "fried." On the other hand, we ordered a mac and cheese side that was phenomenal. I know, I know, it is hard to go wrong with a mac and cheese side; one is rarely disappointed, but still this was really good even beyond the obviousness of it.

One note about the ambiance: it was late when we got there (close to 9:00), on a Tuesday, and there were not a lot patrons. It was nice because it was so quiet. But later a few people were kind of whooping it up at the bar and they turned the music up quite a bit and I was that stodgy annoyed person who must be like 75 years old.

Hundred Acres, 38 MacDougal St., Manhattan

Pat and I joined his coworker Caroline and her husband Kurt for dinner at Hundred Acres, in the West Village. We noticed there are actually several appealing-looking restaurants on that block.

I liked that when I ordered a Coke, it came in a big glass with lots of ice and was readily refilled. That is what I look for in a Coke, even though I am supposed to limit my pregnant self to no more than a 12-ounce caffeinated soda per day (I tried not to drink too much of the refill!). Coke is my substitute for alcohol, so it needs to be offered in an expansive way. There is nothing worse than getting it in a tiny bottle (fountain Coke is so superior) or small glass. And speaking of alcohol, despite being unable to enjoy it, I was nonetheless impressed that the one-sheet menu included not only one whole side devoted to wine, but two columns on the other side devoted to cocktails, beer, and whiskey.

And then what little (okay, I'm joking) space was left on the front had a very mouth-watering selection of food. I was trying to decide between the shrimp and grits, and the duck leg confit, and when Caroline ordered the former, I went for the latter, hoping for a bite of hers too, which she provided. It was fine, but to be frank, I made the right choice with the duck leg!

The duck leg was great. It came with two meaty-tasting sausages and pieces of acorn squash, which paired nicely with the meats. I was very, very pleased.

I polished it off and was stuffed, but could not be totally dissuaded from dessert. We collectively dove into a brioche bread pudding and a pear/raison cobbler. The cobbler was fine but not as exciting as it had sounded. The sweet potato ice cream on top was impressive, but I could have used more than just that little scoop of it. The bread pudding was really excellent - very butterscotchy.

Bobby Van's, 25 Broad St., Manhattan

Pat got a coupon for 20% off at Seamless on "cyber Monday," so we decided to splurge with Bobby Van's, in the Financial District.  I got lobster ravioli. They were okay, nothing remarkable. They came with a pile of spinach and a solitary rock shrimp, both of which were nice touches.

Pat got seared sesame tuna and said it was good. We also got a combo plate of deep-fried potato chips, zucchini sticks, and onion rings. The chips were the best.

Carnegie Deli, 854 7th Ave., Manhattan

At some point after college, Christmas ceased being fun and turned into a yearly stress. It is a bummer. Maybe having a kid will help bring back what I used to love about it when I was little. I still remember what that was - to sum it all up, it was listening rapturously to Christmas carols alone in our living room, which was lit only by the lights on the tree, eating gingerbread cookies and eyeballing all the sparkly wrapped presents underneath in giddy anticipation.

Guided by nostalgia, I guess, I still long to recapture some elements of that vision at Christmastime, which is why I pounced on a Groupon for the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. It is not a show, people: it is a Spectacular, with a capital S. It might be hopelessly cheesy, I was aware, but there was only one way to find out. And the movie "Annie" was a large force in my childhood, so I have always been predisposed to appreciate the Rockettes.

My friend Erin accepted an offer to go with me, and we went first to Carnegie Deli in Midtown, as if the Rockettes weren't enough touristy cliche for one evening (I had been to the Deli once before, in 2000 - as a tourist!). I had a pastrami sandwich and it was awesome. It was simply a gigantic pile o'pastrami with a sort of an afterthought of rye bread on either side, not enough to even come close to covering the meat. Mustard on the side was its only accoutrement, which is fine by this carnivore. I ate half of it, somehow (baby must have been pulling her weight), and got the other half to go. We were stuffed. And then we ordered a massive slab of cheesecake, incomprehensibly. And we made a good dent in that too. And then I got the rest of that slab boxed to go as well.

I should mention here that despite it being a tourist destination, the experience at Carnegie was very pleasant. We were seated immediately (at 6:30 or so), and our waiter was uncommonly nice. They put multiple parties together at the same table but we had no one next to us for most of our meal, and even after some tourists were seated there, it didn't feel intrusive.

Erin heroically hid my leftovers in her large bag when we went to the theater, for which I am even more grateful having just polished off said leftovers for lunch. To leave them behind would have been a tragedy.

The show was as anticipated: a mix of glitzy fun and schmaltzy boring. The numbers with the Rockettes were mostly great. I particularly enjoyed their "12 Days of Christmas" routine, and "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers," which is apparently a staple from the original 1933 show and features them wonderfully falling down like dominoes in slow motion. The 3D movie bits didn't add anything (and hello, isn't it already 3D when you see a show live?). A story about a mother looking for a gift for her daughter was at the same time deeply annoying, yawn-inducingly boring, and appallingly syrupy. Dancing Santas were fun; one Santa making transitions between songs was awkward. I liked the splendor of the nativity scene at the end, which also dates to 1933 as I understand it.

Bleecker Street Pizza, 69 7th Ave. S., Manhattan

Many moons ago, when Pat and I were zipping around Manhattan with a broker named Greg, looking for a place to live, we went past Bleecker Street Pizza, in the West Village, and Greg opined that it was the best slice in New York. I have always been meaning to check it out, but never did until this very day.

I had a piece with mushrooms and pepperoni. and was indeed mightily impressed by the very thin and crispy-delicious crust. The crust is really what it's all about with this pizza. They got it just right. The place is very small but with a few tables, and we got one. "We" was not just me and Pat, but also one of Pat's former colleagues from back in the day, Ben, visiting us from Chicago. Ben is very funny. We have been having a good time with him.

We wandered around the West Village and SoHo after lunch. We had dessert at Grandaisy Bakery (73 Sullivan St.): Ben had a tart/pie sort of thing; Pat had bread pudding in slice form, and I had a chocolate cookie sandwich with cream cheese filling. All were good old-fashioned bakery treats, meaning they were not showy nor overly rich but they were solidly yummy. After a bit of shopping we went for hot chocolate to Allessi (130 Greene St.), which is a store with its own Tarallucci Cafe. I had been here before, during a day of shopping with friends very early into my NYC experience, and it is very cool. The hot chocolate is thick and intense, and not too sweet. The place is very modern and artistically chic, sort of Euro-futuristic.

We have now reached a stage, 8 months in, where we don't check out new places as rabidly as we did when we first got here. We now have some tried-and-true favorites, both for delivery and eating out. Also it is getting colder, which I hate, and pregnancy doesn't really make a person want to get out and hit the town.

Also, I have more of a sense these days that I have things to get done. I have lined up some very short-term consulting while I continue to look, albeit more hopelessly with each day of ballooning bigger, for a job. I am participating in NaNoWriMo. Pat bugs me frequently about making a slipcover for our loveseat. I've been working from afar on finding a new home for my mom and figuring things out for her future. We are hosting Pat's family for Thanksgiving next week. Pat has been very busy with the end of the year approaching at work. And I like to keep the apartment in tip-top shape for our many visitors.

Some things aren't as fun as when we got here and everything was new, but other things are just as good or better. Our apartment is now just about perfectly how we wanted it. I think all the time about how happy and lucky I am to be with Pat.

Karahi, 118 Christopher St., Manhattan

Karahi was not actually the intended destination when Pat and I had dinner with friends Lindy and Jess. We'd headed to the West Village planning to eat elsewhere (I can't actually remember where) but that place was fully booked, so we went a few blocks away and found ourselves at tiny Karahi.

As appetizers, we had shrimp in a fried batter, which I thought were kind of bland but Pat liked, and samosas, which were very delicious. My entree was chicken tikka masala and I was very happy with it.

I appreciated that we were there for a long time (watching many others come and go!), sharing stories and laughs, and that didn't seem to bother the staff a bit. They were all-around very accommodating.

Del Posto, 85 10th Ave., Manhattan

Pat and I love high-end restaurants, but we don't splurge all that often. One of the things we love about New York is the endless low- to mid-priced restaurant options. Last weekend, however, some foodie friends visited and we were delighted to make our first visit to one of NYC's best restaurants, Del Posto, in the Meatpacking District. It was a hell of a great evening, lasting almost 4 hours! The menu has five- and seven-course price fixe options and we chose the former. Some of the courses you choose individually and some as a table. Literally all of it was marvelous.

I had a lobster and seaweed appetizer that featured a veritable mound of lobster meat chunks. Our collective first course of a pasta filled with oozing taleggio was perhaps a little one-note but at the same time so divine, I could have stopped there and been content. It was followed by more pasta and by the time I got to my main course, a seafood soup, I was dismayed to find I was already full! I couldn't finish it, and barely touched its interesting accompaniment, a toast with shrimp. Man, just the thought of seeing all those succulent shrimp come and go, uneaten, makes me grieve a little.

Our waiter was quite charming, an older gentleman whose ability to deliver exactly what we needed was gracefully natural. There were calls to take him home with us.

Obviously I was not drinking so I will have to blame the very late hour, and the fact that my stomach was no doubt diverting blood from my brain, for my inability to remember what exactly I ate for dessert. I do remember that I finished it and it was great. Also we were treated to a little cheese grater drawer filled with miniature sweets inside and on top, and I ate those too, goshdarnit. Make no mistake, Del Posto is expensive. But for a special occasion, it was worth it.

Asian Fusion on Stone St., 11 Stone St., Manhattan

You learned from my last post that Pat and I have been on a fruitless hunt for top-notch Thai within delivery distance. I was once again underwhelmed by our delivery from Asian Fusion, in the Financial District, but Pat thought it was pretty good, and suggested that perhaps my tastebuds remain warped by pregnancy. It is possible.

In any case, I was looking for more of a sweet/sour taste from the pad thai with shrimp, although in all other respects in was fine. As far as the Pad See Eue with chicken, this hit the spot because it was ridiculously greasy, and the flavor was good. I (or the fetus?) was in the mood for grease. It is not something I look for frequently. I'm not sure where that leaves us.

22 Thai Cuisine, 22 Maiden Lane, Manhattan

The Financial District's 22 Thai Cuisine slide a menu under our door one day and we fell for the ploy, ordering from them via Seamless. We're always in search of that elusive, superior Thai restaurant. 22 Thai Cuisine is not it.

The Pad See Ew had an overpowering sauce flavored like soy sauce. The panang curry with chicken was blah.

I despair of ever finding that perfect Thai restaurant within delivery distance.

Supper, 156 East 2nd St., Manhattan

When I left PSI, my lovely colleagues got me a great going-away present: a gift certificate to Supper, in the East Village. It was a generous amount so we had waited to herd some friends along before we redeemed it.

Brian and Becca were those lucky friends. Pat and I had an appetizer and drinks (me Coke, him wine) at the bar while we waited for them to arrive. The veal meatballs were great, and there was plenty for two. Pat was tickled by their entry on the menu: "baby veal meatballs." It meant, of course, that they were small, but he liked to picture the meatballs coming from "baby veals," which put us in mind of particularly youthful calves.

Supper has an interesting and marvelous policy with wine: you can order as little of a half-glass of any of the (mostly very expensive) wines on their menu, and they're happy to open a bottle, and when you leave they will charge you for just whatever portion of the bottle you drank. But Pat and Brian managed to just about polish off a whole bottle!

My entree was pappardelle with mushrooms (very good - I just finished the leftovers!) and I had tiramisu for dessert, which I'd call excellent. The entrees were very reasonably priced - really good value. I have to say I was not delighted with the physical space. I was on a bench that didn't offer much of a cushion (covered in plastic, no less!) on the seat, and no cushion at all on the back - by the end of the night I was squirming in discomfort. And it was quite loud, which probably wouldn't have bothered me before I became so darned old and crotchety.

The bar is actually 2 doors down from the restaurant, and I liked it better in there, really. You can order from the full menu there, too.

The Bagel Basket, 618 Amsterdam Ave., Manhattan

I was on the Upper West Side yesterday for a haircut, for which I had a Groupon. It was at a salon called Bodre. Don't go there. Enough said. Happily, a haircut is not forever.

The Bagel Basket was not my intended bagel destination after that; I had been heading for Barney Greengrass, recommended by NFT. Alas, Barney Greengrass was closed. So I found myself at the Bagel Basket, a couple blocks north. It was not so great. The bagel was ordinary, and the salmon & scallion cream cheese had too-big chunks of salmon and scallions. I will say that the woman who served me was very nice, and you don't see that very often, so bonus points are due.

Yorganic, 275 Greenwich St., Manhattan

It was actually a couple of weeks ago that I ordered from Yorganic, in Tribeca, via the Seamless website. I felt kind of sick (pregnancy....ugh) and only a smoothie sounded palatable for dinner. I chose the Tropical Bliss Smoothie and a juice that I threw in just to meet the dollar minimum for delivery. The smoothie was good, although nothing special, but the real story here is that it arrived just 18 minutes after I placed the order! Honestly, you cannot do better than wanting something and having it show up at your door 18 minutes later. Instant gratification.

Kitchenette, 1272 Amsterdam Ave., Manhattan

I am looking for a job, and I've been doing a lot of networking. I was in Morningside Heights one afternoon last week talking to the head of AVAC, an HIV prevention advocacy organization, and turned to my trusty NFT afterward for a recommendation for an early dinner. Kitchenette was just a couple blocks away.

When I walked in, my eyes seized upon three cakes in domes on the counter. They looked moist and naughty and I hungered for them. But I'm eating for two and it would be wrong to forsake some genuine nutrients for a piece of cake, so I did the sensible thing and ordered real food: a biscuit with eggs and cheese. I'm not saying it was healthy or anything like that. But at least I got, you know, protein and calcium and whatnot. Also, it was unholy delicious. That biscuit was decadent, and a perfect complement to the copious scrambled eggs with cheddar melted in.

And then, having checked the "real meal" box and feeling pretty full, I nonetheless ordered a piece of cake, naturally. It was the right move. I chose the lemon cake. The crumb was spectacular, the taste angelic, the frosting tart and somewhat jelly-like. Baby would not have wanted me to miss it, I'm sure.

Ellen's Stardust Diner, 1650 Broadway, Manhattan

Last weekend Pat's college friend J.D., his wife Michelle, and their 8-year-old son Trey came to stay with us from Baltimore. This was Trey's big New York debut.

We took an amusing trip to the Central Park Zoo, a place Trey has long wanted to visit because of the movie "Madagascar" (Trey also wants to visit Rio de Janiero, because he has seen the movie "Rio," obviously). I was impressed by the tropics building, and, despite its atrocious smell, the penguin building.

We went to FAO Schwartz after that; it was my first visit. That place rocks. You could literally get lost in it. A parent would have to be pretty brave to take their kid there and not expect to drop some serious cash on all the fun stuff.

Soon it was dinnertime, but lunchtime had taught us that one must choose wisely for Trey, who had rejected two brunch menus earlier that day, innocently exclaiming, "isn't there ANYWHERE to get lunch in New York?" To find a dinner winner, J.D. googled "fun restaurants" on his iPhone and thus it was that we found ourselves at Ellen's Stardust Diner, in Midtown, a place where I might not otherwise have been caught dead. Ellen's, it turns out, is where aspiring actors wait tables and serenade dining tourists while hoping for their big break on Broadway. Some of them were quite talented, actually. Our favorite was a waiter who hammed up a cheesy Brian Adams song. You could picture some of these folks on the Great White Way (others, not so much).

However spirited the atmosphere, the food was dismal, and absurdly overpriced even had it not been dismal (which, to reemphasize, it WAS). I had a milkshake that passable at best, and a hamburger that was like a sawdust patty. But we were not there for me! I believe Trey enjoyed himself very much, and even liked whatever it was he ate. Mission accomplished.

South Brooklyn Pizza, 122 1st Ave., Manhattan

Pat and I stumbled on South Brooklyn Pizza (no name on the outside! a delicious secret!) in the East Village many moons ago, when we were already stuffed with Luke's Lobster, and he gazed dreamily into the window and told himself he'd be back. Today was the day.

We were in the East Village because we went to see hordes of dogs dressed up for Halloween in a nearby park. I like dogs. I don't necessarily like them better when they are wearing lobster or cowboy or Dorothy costumes, but it doesn't hurt. We found ourselves a railing to lean against right where the dogs were coming and going from the costume contest, so it was prime viewing territory. It was fun.

Afterward, we partook of margarita slices at South Brooklyn Pizza, nearby. I felt that the crust was incredible. It was crispy and flavorful. The single vacant-looking employee overdid it a bit with the olive oil on top, but that crust! Pat, who is a frequent consumer of slices, was surprised at the high $4 pricetag on these babies. But have I mentioned their delicious crust?

Unrelatedly, here is a picture of me with minus-five-months-old Baby Girl Aylward. She likes pizza too.

SouthWest NY, 2 World Financial Center, Manhattan

Pat and I still haven't exhausted our supply of Foodie Registry gift certificates that we reaped when we got hitched, and now's the time to use them, before an infant makes dining out more of a circus (or, indeed, altogether inadvisable or impractical. Not really sure what to expect.). So a couple weeks ago I phoned Pat at work at the end of the day and informed him that not only had I changed out of my pajamas into real clothes (hey, I'm unemployed, remember? You secretly wish you could spend all day in your PJs if you want!), but I also did not feel like puking, so we should sieze the day and go out for dinner.

We went to SouthWest NY, in Battery Park City. This certificate was courtesy of my college roommate Sarah and her husband Chuck. It is right by Pat's office, and we sat outside next to the harbor on the Hudson and had a very pleasant time. My SWNY sliders were surprisingly good - basically one big ol' patty in a perfect soft bun, cut into four pieces, a little spicy, with some crispy onion thingies. Delicious.

Amelia's Bistro, 187 Warren St., Jersey City

I still have alarmingly few friends in New York, so it is with sadness that Pat and I had a sort of a goodbye dinner for his fun coworkers Jen and Brian last night. They are moving to London. Which means there will still be opportunities for us to see them, but they will not be part of our small crowd of New York friends any longer. I sigh wistfully, but obviously we wish them the best, and they deserve it.

For this dinner I made my first ferry crossing of the Hudson River, to Jersey City. It was cool. Much cooler than a subway ride. The ferry ride back, after dark, was particularly cool because we got to admire the lit-up New York skyline for 8 whole minutes. Quite romantic for Pat and I and the ferry's one other passenger at 9:40ish PM.

Amelia's Bistro is a neighborhood favorite of Jen and Brian. It was Monday Lobster Fest, which meant a $20 whole lobster for Pat (normally $25). I wanted lobster but also wanted pasta (still feeling nauseous at 16 weeks of pregnancy, which is not the way it's supposed to work....grrrrr), so I got the lobster fettucine. It was satisfying, although I wish the sauce had had more flavor. Brian and Jen both had the fried chicken, a previous winner for them, and we all enjoyed an appetizer of funky mozzarella sticks with some sort of meat wrapped in a kind of an eggroll wrapper, sort of.

The Capital Grille, 120 Broadway, Manhattan

Armed with a gift certificate, Pat and I roused ourselves from the couch on one of our laziest Saturdays ever, last weekend, and travelled the couple blocks east to the Capital Grille, in the Financial District. This is an outpost of a Washington restaurant so it had the ring of the familiar to us.

I was delighted with my lobster- and crab-stuffed shrimp. The leftovers were equally satisfying the next day. Pat was not thrilled that his steak and lobster had a creamy sauce on it, but he did finish the whole plate, so evidently it didn't slow him down. We had a side of creamed spinach that was plenty creamy (and also functioned as a nice next-day leftover).

It has gotten a little more difficult to maneuver around the FiDi since the protesters took up residence, a few weeks ago already.  I have spent weeks being unclear on their message, and then someone pointed me to their laughable list of "demands." I am predisposed to loathe any and all protesters, because I feel like my own sanity and schedule are always collateral damage when they get a bee in their bonnet that has nothing to do with me. Years spent in Washington meant years being annoyed by protesters. So maybe it's not saying much that I find these particular protesters to be clueless, but I wanted to put it out there anyway.

Rice Thai, 311 7th Ave, Brooklyn

Some time ago I joined the Prospect Park Track Club. I ran a few of their races and the people are always so friendly, and I like them. They have regular (monthly?) meetings that I haven't attended before, but since I have stopped running for the winter, I decided to go to last night's meeting just to stay current and maybe get some human interaction. Such is the life of a new, unemployed New Yorker: I will go all the way to Brooklyn, in the rain, for human interaction.

The meeting was quite short and I didn't see anyone I knew there, so I didn't have a conversation with anyone, but that's okay. On the way home I stopped randomly for dinner at Park Slope's Rice Thai. I had a Thai iced tea and red curry with tofu. I have decided it's time to start trying to observe Meatless Mondays again, in the interests of saving the planet. Back when I did this "regularly" I was never very good at remembering it was Meatless Monday before getting halfway through, say, a roast beef sandwich, but at least I was trying, and I intend to start trying again.

The curry was good, but nothing special. Rice was a dollar extra, which I always find kind of annoying. The steamed tofu in the curry was perfectly fine, and it had the requisite bamboo shoots and basil (although why were eggplants added?). I wish the green bell peppers had been red instead.

Community Food and Juice, 2893 Broadway, Manhattan

It has been a while since we saw our friends Anne and Eric and their son Julian, but Pat and I joined them for an enjoyable brunch in Morningside, at Community Food and Juice, whose sister restaurant (in the East Village?) apparently always has lines out the door. We were seated right away at CFJ, and Pat and I both enjoyed pancakes (banana walnut and blueberry, respectively) with the most divine maple butter syrup. It was like peace and love in syrup form (or is all my recent yoga having an effect on me?).

Eric and Anne had told us at our last get-together that they knew of a bakery with cookies that would change our lives, and I insisted I was not leaving the Upper West Side without one today. And thus it was that we found ourselves at Levain Bakery, 167 W. 74th St. Pat and I got three of the hulking, $4 cookies and shared them at home. They are browned and slightly crispy on the outside, and the mounded innards are barely cooked and gooey. My life has been changed; what can I say?

2 West Restaurant, 2 West St., Manhattan

Pat has dinner occasionally with a consultant with whom he works, Dan, and Dan was kind enough to invite me to join them this week. 2 West is in the Ritz-Carlton where Dan stays in Battery Park City. I have run and walked past this Ritz-Carlton a million times, and never realized it was a hotel. This struck me as interesting at the time, although as I think about it now, it seems sort of irrelevant, since who do I know who can afford to stay in the Ritz, even when they're traveling on their company's dime? Maybe someday I'll run in those circles!

I had a good lobster bisque, but was less pleased by my entree, which was salmon with caramelized red onions and roasted fingerling potatoes. The salmon needed something to cut its richness, but the onions and potatoes weren't really appealing. I put the leftover salmon and onions in wrap the next day with spinach and cream cheese, however, and it was nice.

Cookshop, 156 10th Ave., Manhattan

I think this blog has exactly one reader, my husband Pat (thanks for your loyal following, sweetie!). So I'm not really worried that anyone who should hear this sort of thing from me in person will find out from the blog that I am 14 weeks pregnant.

It really needed to be said on the blog, because it is a big reason that the writer of a blog that is primarily about restaurants has visited so few restaurants lately. Food and I have developed a new, frequently contentious relationship since early August. I have to think about food all day long, because an empty stomach is a trigger to throw up. Planning and eating food all day is very tiresome. And while it's starting to get better with the end of the first trimester, a lot of foods are/were no longer appealing. For a while I was subsisting on starches, desserts, and some seafood, and hoping my embryo/fetus was getting by on the vitamins I've been taking to compensate.

All this to say, eating became a chore, and hence the lack of posts in the last couple months (additionally, I have traveled a lot, which I also don't recommend doing while under the influence of a fetus).

Anyway, I still manage to throw on the one pair of jeans that still zips up and get out every now and then, and so Pat and I went to Cookshop in Chelsea with our friends Stephanie and Graham one night a week or so ago. We had a mushroom pizza appetizer that was remarkably good, and I had a steak (flank? I can't remember) that was not so good - too many unchewable strings that are awkward to deal with in public (I enjoyed the leftovers better the next day, when no one was around to watch me wrestling with them).

Num Pang Sandwich Shop, 140 East 41st St., Manhattan

I have started taking yoga classes for the first time ever. I got a Groupon for $39 for unlimited classes 7 days a week, and for an unemployed person, this is a hell of a bargain. In the first five days I have been to four classes! I like it. I have always liked stretching and it is very stretching-focused. Probably if I was doing it right, it would be more strength-focused, too. And it is more spiritual than anything I have attempted since religion. There are several minutes at the end of every class where you're just supposed to lie there in the dark (they dim the lights) and think about your connectedness to the earth and the energy in your body and whatnot. Even better, the instructor goes around with lavender-scented oil on her hands and gives your temples and forehead a micro-massage during this quiet time...that is ecstasy. Anyway I am sure the rest of the 60 minutes I look like an idiot because I am swiveling my head around to see how everyone else does the poses, and then I am probably doing the poses wrong. But who cares?

The yoga studio is in east midtown, close to the East River. I get off the subway at Grand Central and between there and the studio I spotted Num Pang Sandwich Shop, with a promising line of customers. It is a to-go place. I went after class last night, and ordered the coconut shrimp sandwich. It was wonderful! It was similar to what I got from Bao Noodles a while back, albeit more expensive ($7.75). I think this is Vietnamese food, yes? I want more of these sandwiches.

Four Seasons Thai Restaurant, 612 Amsterdam Ave., Manhattan

I spent so much time away from New York in the latter half of the summer that it seems like a million years between popping into Four Seasons, on the Upper West Side, and whatever my last new restaurant experience was (I don't even remember, although of course you can just scroll down!). It is nice to be back. Pat's and my honeymoon in California and Hawaii was wonderful, and I loved seeing all my old friends in Washington, but my day-to-day life since coming to New York is like most people's idea of a vacation, so no regrets about returning to "ordinary."

I was in the UWS for a doctor's appointment and was super-hungry, and Four Seasons was right there, and next thing you know I was ordering the lunch special (soup, salad, and an entree) for $6.95, and next thing you know after THAT, I was deliriously shoveling forkful after forkful of red curry into my mouth. It didn't even look good, when it arrived on my table. But it WAS good, really really good, and a big portion to boot. For $7! That is what I'm talkin' about, yaknowwhatumsane?

Haru Sushi, 1 Wall Street Ct., Manhattan

Pat and I were on our way to Suteishi last night when we passed Haru Sushi, in the Financial District, and were drawn in out of curiosity and laziness (why walk the extra blocks to Suteishi?).

My tuna/avocado roll and Philadelphia roll were as hoped for, and rich enough that I couldn't even finish the last two pieces of the latter. Pat has been reading a book by Anthony Bourdain that inspired him to order a piece of toro sushi, but he wasn't impressed by it, and was unsure whether it was a bad example of toro sushi or toro sushi is just not what Anthony intimated it would be. However, his hatsu yume roll was delicious.

Side note: we have a question about chopsticks. We are adequately dexterous at getting bite-sized pieces of food into our mouths with them, but what happens when the pieces are too big to eat in one bite? Seems like they fall apart between your sticks if you just take a bite out of those pieces. Then we're lost, and ashamed, and unfulfilled. Probably there is a YouTube instructional video on this somewhere, for which I have no intention of searching.

Back to the matter at hand, the waiter was nice but the service was slow.

We still prefer Suteishi but I wouldn't mind going back to Haru.

Bagelry, 1324 Lexington Ave., Manhattan

You already know how I feel about bagels: I like them, and I'm not picky. Since arriving in New York I have happily consumed many a bagel and been wowed only once. I was not wowed by my toasted sesame bagel with lox spread at Bagelry, on the Upper East Side, and you know what? That's okay. It was nice enough.

I had nothing urgent to do today so I just walked down Lexington for a spell, and in the park a little bit, and savored being back in New York after a trip away for two weeks. The weather was perfect. The people passing by were wildly varied and frequently cliches (the tough-looking kids with the thick New York accents; the teensy old lady dressed to the nines; the slutty-looking girl walking her poodle and complaining to someone on her phone). It is heaven to have free time to enjoy the people-watching. I am so lucky.

Liberatos Pizza, 17 Cedar St., Manhattan

Lest anyone out there should be worried that I haven't eaten for three weeks, or get the crazy idea that I have been cooking rather than eating out, let me set you straight: I have been traveling. Food was procured and consumed, just not in New York. Some of it quite marvelous. I had tandoori chicken from the hotel room service in New Delhi, India, that tasted like the best thing I'd had in a long time (it is unclear whether I was just super hungry and disoriented from jet lag), and I had fish and chips that totally hit the spot from a couple places in Warrington, Cheshire, England. There was also a good Thai spot, with a charming and unexpected garden, in the neighborhood where my sister lives, in southeast London.

I got back on Monday. It was an odd sensation to finally fly back to New York and get off the plane and still feel like I was kind of a visitor. I guess five months here is not enough to be really convinced it's home yet, but it doesn't bother me. This is an absorbing place to be a visitor.

Unfortunately, all the planes, trains and automobiles over 2 weeks were not good for my stomach, and I've been taking it easy, gastronomically, since I got back. I was seeking bland comfort food when I turned to SeamlessWeb (now just "Seamless," apparently) a couple nights ago for baked ziti with meat ragu from Liberatos Pizza, in the Financial District. The order was huge and slathered in gooey, delicious cheese, and cream, and tomato sauce. It was so wrong, yet just right.

Thalia, 828 8th Ave., Manhattan

We have my dear college roomie Becky and her husband Nate to thank for a great dinner last night at Thalia, in midtown. They provided a gift certificate as a wedding present. We greatly enjoyed our meals. It turns out it is actually still Restaurant Week (make that "Weeks") and Pat ordered pork tenderloin off that menu. He also got what was practically a vat of soup and dessert (chocolate/peanut profiteroles - very decadent). I got beef spareribs with asparagus, beets, and a parsnip puree. Does the puree sound kind of weird? Because it was. It was good, though. All of it was delicious and two thumbs up for the clever arrangement of the white asparagus under the meat, as if it were the bones. Cute!

I am compelled to note that New York (well, half the country, actually) has become an oven, and the subway has become that part of the oven from which the blue flames emanate to heat the whole thing. I am surprised there are not train breakdowns because of the heat, but bless those trains, they just keep humming along with nary a wait of more than a few sweaty minutes. I guess it is not strictly necessary for me to point out that Washington trains seemed to break down all the time in the heat and cause massive delays and backups, even though that system is actually air-conditioned, so let's just pretend I didn't point it out in a superior manner the way I just did.

George's, 89 Greenwich St., Manhattan

Today was actually the third time I have been to George's, in the Financial District. I think perhaps the reason I did not log it earlier was that it has been a mediocre experience every time! I have partaken of the pancakes, a mushroom omelet, and a tomato/basil/mozzarella wrap. All very ordinary. And they are always kind of slow with the bill. I have only been going there at the whim of others.

Portions are very large, diner-style; I'll give 'em that.

Caracas Arepa Bar, Beach 106th St., Queens

Pat and I have made a cool new friend, Erin. I was e-introduced to her by our mutual friend Shimon. She came to our party last weekend, and this weekend she invited us to join her and other friends for a day at Rockaway Beach in Queens. In June, the New York Times had an article on how the hipsters are all flocking to Rockaway, and I wondered whether we were cool enough, but when we got there it turned out you had to look hard for that sort of thing. Sure, a couple Manhattan hotspots have outposts on the boardwalk, and yes, a few bearded, fedora-wearing twenty-somethings were among the crowds on the sand. But other than that, we could have been at Virginia Beach or the Outer Banks, when we were down by the water. And once you are away from the water, Rockaway is downright ugly.

Being on the beach was really, really pleasant though. When I'm not at a beach, I find it hard to believe that I can really feel so relaxed as when I'm on the sand, taunting the sun with my sunscreen-slathered bright-white body, feeling the ocean breeze, hearing the waves, gazing at the dazzling blue of the sky. But it's real. Ahhhhhhh. Erin's friends were all fun and we spent a happy few hours. We also enjoyed really excellent arepas from Caracas Arepa Bar. Mine was beef. Pat's had avocado, queso, and plantains.

Last night I participated in Improv Everywhere's latest stunt. All I knew beforehand was that I had to wear a black t-shirt, bring various items that light up or glow, and be at a certain part of Battery Park City at 8:30 PM, with a downloaded recording of instructions, not to be played before precisely 8:30. I would say there were maybe a thousand participants. It turned out that the premise was that there were two tribes (black t-shirts and white t-shirts) and we were to meet and greet each other, then celebrate a festival of lights. It was a riot! For about 45 minutes, we performed silly bows and handshakes with strangers, danced with glowsticks and masks, had light-sabre battles, played freezetag, high-fived mystified onlookers, and took pictures on cue - all this and more according to the directions on our mp3 players. I loved it because of 1) the silliness, 2) the mystery, and 3) being part of a massive event. It was also a perfect summer night.

Bunrasa, 109 Washington St., Manhattan

We walked a couple blocks to Bunrasa, in the Financial District, to give it a whirl for takeout on Friday night. We were the only people there. It was sad. We were also sad to see that the pub a couple doors down, the one about which we had long said "we should check that place out," closed earlier this month. As Pat pointed out, it must be so much more of a struggle for businesses down there since the end of the twin towers, but then we also wondered how that pub survived these ten years only to close its doors now. Tough times.

Anyway, we gave Bunrasa our business on Friday. We were going to order panang curry and green curry, but the lady behind the counter was a little distressed that we didn't want her pad thai, which she informed us was "five stars." So we went with green curry and pad thai. The curry was very spicy in a "hurts so good," take-a-bite-blow-your-nose kind of way. Good flavor, juicy shrimp, healthy vegetables. It was enough for two meals for me. The pad thai was really not five stars, in our humble opinions. Its flavor was not terribly compelling and Pat thought the chicken was a little dry.

I would go back to this place and try a few more options, especially given the proximity to our apartment and the pluckiness of the woman behind the counter.

Park Avenue Summer, 100 E. 63rd St., Manhattan

Park Avenue Summer was our Restaurant Week finale. It is on the Upper East Side and apparently every season it changes decor, menu, and even name ("Park Avenue Winter," etc.).

This was the best of our three Restaurant Week experiences. The food was a delight before we even got what we'd ordered - we were treated to cheddar rolls and sweet corn rolls, plus cubes of yellow watermelon sitting sweetly atop skewers in a little container of fake grass. I had a very pretty little beet salad to start and Pat got decadent gnocchi. He then paid extra for the filet mignon which he thought was great, and I had scallops. That dish had a couple little missteps - the scallops were a little on the chewy side, and there were these unfortunate seeds that would sneak up on you with a disturbing crunch just as you were enjoying a bite. The desserts were great. Pat had a pistacchio cake thing and I had peach panna cotta that had a very potent basil foam (who knew foam could pack so much punch?) and a layer of light gelatin and a very pure-tasting creamy base. It also came with lovely lemon cake fingers, which it didn't need.

Unrelatedly, I had a New York rite of passage today when I spent an hour and forty-five minutes at the DMV, trading in my Washington license for a New York one. I'm now not only a real New Yorker in the eyes of the state, but also one step closer to leaving my maiden name behind, which is cool.

Cipriani, 55 Wall St., Manhattan

One of my favorite movies is "The Thomas Crown Affair" (the remake), and when Pat booked us at Cipriani for our second Restaurant Week outing, I flashed back to the detectives being caught by surprise when Pierce Brosnan took Renee Russo to Cipriani after their first date at the Met, "and with no reservation." I am pretty sure they were not in the Financial District location that we went to, but still. We're living like we're in a movie. I should take this opportunity to point out that I was wearing very fabulous new shoes, like a movie star.

We sat on the balcony, and even got a little damp when there was a quick hard rain, but it was refreshing. The service was a little slow, but the food was very good. Pat's entree was a veal loaf wrapped in cabbage, and mine (not on the restaurant week menu) was grilled chilean sea bass, which was just wonderful. I also ordered a side of grilled veggies that was surprisingly delicious (I had only ordered them to be healthy!). Pat's dessert was a mocha cake that was, as he noted, reminiscent of tiramisu, only with more coffee flavor (coffee-er?).

Mr. Chow, 121 Hudson St., Manhattan

It is Restaurant Week in New York! When we learned this, Pat dropped everything and immediately made three reservations. The first was Monday, at Mr. Chow, in Tribeca. The decor is cool (although WHAT is with the odd series of huge close-ups of what appears to be Tarzan on one wall?), but it was a little loud - really the opposite of intimate. Also I felt a little too waited on. Lots of different guys coming around all the time, then scurrying ever so fleetly away.

Our 2 appetizers (we had a choice among four) were okay - a chicken satay with an unexpectedly rich sauce, and Mr. Chow's noodles, which were a little bland. Then we got one entree of Beijing chicken and one of green shrimp (again out of a choice of four), both of which were delicious, and accompanied by great fried rice. Both the entrees were slightly spicy. We did not get a choice on vegetables, but were happy with the green beans that showed up. Dessert was kind of a bust though - we had assumed we'd get a choice among ice cream and sorbet, but instead one (one!!) plate with a scoop of each and two spoons was deposited like lightning on our table by a waiter who then zoomed away, literally before I had even gotten my mouth open to question him. That was not cool. The flavors were nothing interesting, either.

Nam, 110 Reade St., Manhattan

Last night was the 6th rendition of my annual birthday party for Kevin Bacon. This year's theme, reflecting our recent move, was "Bacon in the Big Apple." Bacon parties in previous years have been attended by as many as 60 people but we just have not amassed legions of friends yet in New York, so we had about 15 people, who compensated in quality for what they lacked in quantity. Pat made his debut as a mixer of traditional cocktails and became an instant victim of his own success, spending the first half of the party in the kitchen with shakers and bitters and the like, until Matt P. took pity and relieved him as bartender. I had made bacon-chocolate cupcakes that were truly magnificent, but so rich that even I had trouble finishing one, plus the frosting contained enough butter and bacon fat (yes, you read that right) to kill a weak-hearted person at a single lick. Is that so wrong? Yet another highlight was the dance party that erupted late in the evening. The bacon-fueled joy could not be contained.

The day following a Bacon party is inevitably marked by sloth and half-hearted clean-up, so Pat and I didn't get out of the apartment until dinnertime. It was a lovely summer day (we have had so very many lovely summer days, incidentally; it has been a blissful couple of months) so we took a leisurely walk to Tribeca and had dinner at Nam. Pat had seafood dumplings in soup and shrimp rolls, and found them good. I was very happy with my lemongrass beef vermicelli with onions, carrot shavings, and lettuce. Well, I wasn't happy about the lettuce, but I picked it out. There were only 2 other pairs of people in the place while we were there, leading me to hope they do better business outside of Sundays. The decor is pleasing.

Just a little note to myself: the choice of Nam was the outcome of some research into walking-distance, highly-rated places, and other such options that we may explore in the future are Gigino Trattoria (323 Greenwich St) and Taj Tribeca (18 Murray St).

More restaurant & bar suggestions from Daily Candy

Daily Candy has offered some more potentially appealing suggestions.

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Although we like to party all the time, a proper workweek sendoff is best accomplished without a cab or subway ride. Since it’s Friday, we asked five more of our editors to divulge the neighborhood haunts they hold near and dear.

Bowery
Jillian K., editorial assistant
Warm Up: Beer. Option one, Swift (unpretentious, literary-themed bar with long benches in back) and two, McSorley’s (the only place guys get bumped from their chairs for girls).
Main Course: Ippudo doesn’t have a sign. Simply look for the ramen-crazed crowd, put your name in, and hop around the corner to Black & White to drink while you wait (86 East 10th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues; 212-253-0246).
Next Level: Madam Geneva’s secret, Clue-like entrance and gin with homemade preserves make you feel cool. The late-night DJ at teensy, subterranean Kings Cross is always on point — and Hecho en Dumbo is right above when you need a dance break/snack.

Greenpoint
Holley S., editor, DailyCandy Deals
Warm Up: Berry Park on the Williamsburg border. Make a beeline for the rooftop on sunny days. If it’s raining (or when a game is on), there’s a massive TV inside.
Main Course: Five Leaves. You can order off the menu with your eyes closed, and it’ll be exactly what you’re in the mood for. Bonus: The cocktails-only lounge recently opened across the street.
Next Level: Join an impromptu pickup card game and perhaps do a magic trick or two (watch this craft beer disappear) at Spritzenhaus’s outdoor picnic tables (33 Nassau Avenue, between Dobbin and Guernsey Streets; 347-987-4632).

Lincoln SquareDeAnna J., copy editor
Warm Up: Eat Jalapeño’s addictive avocado fries. Debate movie options over a fully loaded DBGB dog at Epicerie Boulud, then fill pockets with from-scratch salty caramels before moving on.
Main Course: Head underground to indie Lincoln Plaza Cinema for a bucket of popcorn and the best muffin case in town (yes, muffin case).
Next Level: Nightcap with a gingery El Diablo and a festival short film at XVI’s baroque living room in the sky, complete with fancy big screen.

LES/Alphabet City
Danielle B., market director
Warm Up: Never wait in line for a crummy cocktail. Skip the crowds of faux-speakeasy posers and head to Elsa’s for a Sazerac or old-fashioned.
Main Course: Share plates of high-spice Northern Thai at Zabb Elee. Informed diners know to order the larb kai, som tum kortmuar, and kana moo korb.
Next Level: Make a pit stop at Edi & the Wolf’s outdoor patio, and resist rubbing the moose head at Bedlam.


Williamsburg (East)Janelle J., photo editor
Warm up: Pretend to be rich (without being poor afterward) at Le Barricou, where you’ll feel fancy with great French wine and garlicky escargot.
Main Course: Order cavatelli with broccoli rabe and sausage at the large yet charming Fiore, or anything — really, anything — from the grill at Qoo Robata.
Next Level: Hit The Commodore (366 Metropolitan Avenue, at Havemeyer Street; 718-218-7632) for frozen mojitos, crunchy fried chicken, and hours of dancing to music piped from an old re-rigged jukebox.

Adrienne's Pizzabar, 54 Stone St., Manhattan

It is important to me to see fireworks on the 4th of July, but apparently not THAT important, since I have not gone 2 years in a row (and 3 years ago we tried but failed, because NPR gave us the wrong start time, about which I am still bitter, it seems). This year we were daunted by hints that finding a good spot along the Hudson would be a hassle, plus my breadwinning husband had to get up extra early the next morning.

Rather than battling crowds, we went out for dinner at Adrienne's Pizzabar in the Financial District, sitting outside on Stone Street, which was very pleasant. Pat had manicotti which he found to be a great bargain, and I had a quattro formaggi pizza that was delicious, and I only made it through half of it, providing my beloved leftovers. This place is very close to us; it is well worth returning.

Then we moseyed home and watched the fireworks on TV, which plain sucked. The station had this large "lit fireworks" graphic on the top right of the screen that drew your eye away from anything they were showing, plus the fireworks looked so lackluster on the screen, plus some of the music was nauseating. I rather loathe myself for settling for this and pledge to see them in person next year, although odds are good I pledged the same thing last year (I think we thought it would rain last year, which is why we stayed home). But this year it is in writing. Someone hold me to it, please!

Il Corallo Trattoria, 172-176 Prince St., Manhattan

Pat said to me this morning, "remember when we used to do nothing all day?" He was referring to the first six or so months of our relationship. We really did live suspended in time for a while, luxuriating in languor, accomplishing nothing productive (at least on weekends!). Ah, it was good.

So today I placed aside any ambitions I had harbored (my resume, my name-change paperwork, the thank-you notes) and relived it. We did motivate ourselves to leave the house around 4:00 - we did some shopping in NoHo and SoHo, fully in line with self-indulgence. I wanted to check out a shoe store I had walked past in a hurry a few days prior, called United Nude. The shoes are mesmerizing. I covet them. Then while Pat was in the Apple store, I cruelly led on the salespeople in the Glory Chen shoe store, trying on $525 pairs of shoes and acting as if I might seriously purchase them. I am sure I do not need to explain that they were strictly fabulous, but it may come as a surprise (it surprised me) that they were also very comfortable.

We wandered at random in search of dinner, and landed on Il Corallo Trattoria, in SoHo. It has an enormous menu of pastas and some pizzas too. Scarcely had we placed our pasta orders (black seafood ravioli for me, with a tomato cream sauce) when they appeared before us all steaming and hearty. And it was plenty good for the very cheap prices.

Dessert was a bust, however. We spied delicious-looking cookies in the window of a bakery called Birdbath (160 Prince St.). I got a coconut one which turned out to be way too fibrous, and Pat's chocolate chip cookie had a weird taste. How could such great-looking cookies be so disappointing when consumed? Ugh.

Izzy & Nat's, 311 S. End Ave., Manhattan

I wrote about this Battery Park City place before, but then it was called Dizzy Izzy's. The name change combined with the fact that I had a splendid bagel today prompted me to give it a new entry.

I have noted before that I am no bagel connoisseur. Today, however, my toasted sesame bagel with cheddar-jalapeno cream cheese seemed way above and beyond your standard bagel. The divine textures, the flavors (not spicy, BTW)....could it be that New York is making a bagelophile out of me?

And afterward I went back to another scene of previous culinary enjoyment, the Shake Shack, for a chocolate shake. The caramel shake of a previous visit was better, in my judgment. But I LOVED being the only person, at lunchtime, to take the C-Line (cold foods only) option, thereby bypassing a line around the block, and absconding with my shake in a mere few minutes. Well, in truth, I felt guilty about it. Probably there were people in the long line who would have assaulted me if I'd lingered long enough to catch their eye. But that is why the C-Line was set up. I was merely following the game plan. I need to get over the guilt.

I learned some very sad news today. The wife of a former co-worker of mine died, at age 39. I did not know her well but spent time with her while watching company softball games and at other social events, and I am weighed down by the consciousness that the world lost someone who truly improved it. It is a smothering sadness.