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.