Corner Shop Cafe, 643 Broadway, Manhattan

Our broker Greg showed Pat and I more apartments yesterday, and we were dazzled by two of them.

The first was in Brooklyn Heights, on Willow Place. It is the English basement of a house renovated by an architect after it was vacant and fallen to ruins for 40 years. It has a cool two-pronged layout, with a large living/dining/kitchen area going back to two small bedrooms, each of which has a door onto a tiny yet appealing patio. The apartment has the original (operational) fireplace, and while the kitchen is small, it is very modern and slick. There is a washer and dryer.

The second was totally different, in the Financial District. It is the corner unit on the second floor of a 235-unit, 23-floor building at Broadway and Reston. It has unbelievable ceilings, with molded beams way, way up. "High ceilings" is an understatement. There are accompanying soaring windows with views up Broadway and onto the old cemetary where Alexander Hamilton is buried. There is a stone eagle outside one of the windows. The place is big (another 2-bedroom, with 2 bathrooms) with parquet floors and modern, though uninteresting kitchen. There is laundry in the building and a gym and very swell roof deck.

The Brooklyn Heights place is within what we imagined as our budget (really a great value for the money, in my opinion). The Financial District place is slightly over that budget, but we know we can afford it.

The Brooklyn Heights place is up to 15 minutes' walk from the subway, on a quiet street. There are lots of trees in Brooklyn Heights. The Financial District place is steps from myriad subway stops and lines, and an eleven-minute walk from Pat's office.

We are heavily leaning toward this second option, though it is not easy to picture giving up what I see as the comfortableness of the first option. The Brooklyn Heights place reminded us a little of Capitol Hill. In Washington, I would have loved to live on Capitol Hill. But now we're in New York! Can we resist the thrill of Manhattan? Can we ever forgive ourselves if we don't make the bold move?

These are questions we pondered as we ate at the Corner Shop Cafe, in the Washington Square/NoHo neighborhood. We were quite impressed with this place. I took the plunge and reacquainted myself with vegetables after a long hiatus, having a spinach salad and a little tub of the most marvelous, buttery Gorgonzola mashed potatoes. I also had a nice Cotes du Rhone to go with it. Pat had an ear of corn, a tub of truffle mac and cheese, and an apple cobbler dessert. All the food was great and we liked the atmosphere.

Mendy's, 61 E 34th St., Manhattan

After last night's overeatathon, Pat and I had no appetite for anything more than a hot dog at lunch, so we each got one from a vendor on 34th St. in front of Macy's, in the Lower Midtown neighborhood. They were flavorless, the buns were stale, and the pricetag - $2.50 each - was disgraceful. I can't believe I lost my NYC street hot dog virginity that way.

By 4:30, then, we were really hungry, so we stopped by Mendy's, right by our apartment in Murray Hill, on our way home. Pat got matzo ball soup (above average) and a corned beef sandwich on rye, which I split with him. The sandwich was fine, and he like the coleslaw accompaniment.

We spent the afternoon with a broker, Greg, seeing apartments. I found I was at least as pleased with the Upper West Side as the first time I saw it. We saw a couple places that were just too small, but my favorite of the day was overlooking Broadway Ave., and quite large - 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It had large windows and even (slight intake of breath) a washer and dryer. The kitchen had ugly cabinets but it was big. The views were very good - quite a cityscape. The building had lots of character. We took a cab from the Upper West Side to the West Village, and it was interesting to feel the connectedness of the different neighborhoods, which you don't get on the subway. It's all New York, is how it feels in a cab.

We ended up not being able to see a couple places in the West Village, and the ones (both in one building) that we saw were uninteresting. Although we would practically be neighbors with Sarah Jessica Parker. Not to mention Carrie Bradshaw. Ha ha. Greg pointed out to us many gastronomical destinations on Bleecker Street to which we must return. There was also a cute street that he encouraged us to explore - I believe it was Morton St.

We took a cab to Brooklyn Heights and saw two places, the first being a cool, quirky converted carriage house. It had lots of space and we were charmed by things like a big mirror with heavy federal-style framing around it, skylights, odd angles and interesting molding. But it did feel very old to me and I worried a little about how well it would retain heat (the radiators were off, so it was hard to tell). Then we saw another quirky place, on the ground/basement floor of a building facing the promenade. The main room was large and impressive but the rest of it was small and unimpressive. We liked the shared back yard but it was below the level of the promenade, kind of defeating the interest of being on the promenade. Incidentally, the promenade looked shorter than I had envisioned it yesterday. There would need to be some back and forth for the running, not that that's so bad.

Luke's Lobster, 93 E 7th St., Manhattan

I almost don't really know where to begin about our lobster rolls at Luke's in the East Village. They were simply divine. They each arrived in a 3-sided tray perfect for eating out of the open end, and the chunks of colorful lobster were cool and glistening, barely yet tantalizingly seasoned, cradled in a hot, buttered, toasted piece of soft delicious bread. We did not care for the East Village, but sitting on that stool, consuming that divinity, I thought about how we could move in upstairs or at the very least, I could apply to become a Luke's employee. It's all about the access to the lobster rolls. Mmmmmmmmm.

Afterward, we went to Dumbo so Pat could check it out too. He liked the brick streets with the disused railroad tracks cutting through them. I slurped a thick hot chocolate from Jacques Torres Chocolates at 66 Water St. Pat asked at one point whether we are hip enough to live there, and I answered that I believed we are, or at least, we could be!

We checked out Brooklyn Heights, too, on the recommendation of our broker. It was nice. Along the East River, there is what appears to be a long promenade where a person could run - easing my fears that Brooklyn Heights (and Dumbo too) lacked a good running option.

Smiling Pizzeria, 323 7th Ave., Brooklyn

I had a slice of mushroom pizza at the Smiling Pizzeria in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood, and it was delicious. I got that crisp-to-the-tip crust I craved. It could have been a little hotter, but I was happy.

People kept telling me I want to live in Park Slope. They raved about it. I was disappointed. It was pretty boring. It has some great features - wide streets, block after block of pretty housing, Prospect Park looks great for running - but there wasn't much about it that said "New York" to me. And the Atlantic Avenue subway stop is in a pretty dodgy place (though there are other stops in the neighborhood).

So I wasn't expecting much when I took the train a few stops away to the York St. stop in Dumbo, but I was immediately pleased when I emerged from the subway. It just feels cool. Cool shops (Trunk, Zakka Corp) and cool-looking restaurants and clubs. Someone was filming actors in period costumes. Someone else was doing a photo shoot with a fat, skanky-looking model. I walked to the waterfront and the view of Manhattan was spectacular. The buildings look like cool places to live.

I walked back through Brooklyn Heights to get to the subway, and while not cool, Brooklyn Heights is darned close to Dumbo, which made me like Brookyn Heights too. The park there (Cadman Plaza) is too small for great running, though. It seems like after they finish work on the waterfront (supposedly this summer), that could be a good place to run, but I couldn't tell for sure.