The Bourgeois Pig, 111 E. 7th St., Manhattan

New Year's in NYC? Forget Times Square - our friends Marc, Yulia, Alex and James drove four hours up here to ring in 2012 at our apartment, while playing Rock Band. It was a great time!

The night prior, with no room at the inn at our intended East Village destination (Cienfuegos), we settled instead for the Bourgeois Pig, which as it turns out is a fondue spot. We got the rarebit fondue (excellent) and the mushroom fondue (good) and had a good night lounging on the couches, bathed in the red light of the place. It was a fine experience.

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.

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.

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.

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?

Cienfuegos, 95 Avenue A, Manhattan

I knew I had to go to Cienfuegos after Pat and I had been to one of the two bars downstairs, Amor Y Amargo, with which it shares a kitchen. For one thing, there was the delicious flan we had tasted earlier; for another thing, the Yelp reviews spoke of rum punchbowls that would knock your socks off. I was like a moth to a flame.

And so it was that we found ourselves ensconced in dramatic chairs at Cienfuegos, in the East Village, admiring the brilliant turquoise walls and chandeliers, a re-creation of Cuba at, presumably, its best.

The waitstaff was funny and helpful and personable. The food was very good - we really liked the croque cangrejo appetizers (fried balls of crabmeat), and we got to sample all the sandwiches, all of which were appealing. We obviously ordered the flan but this time the syrup on top was slightly burned and that was a disappointment.

The punch was great! There were many many options, but we settled on the North Mississippi variety, in a bowl to serve two. It was delicious - not too sweet - and plenty alcoholic, leaving us tipsy but still highly functional. Perfection.

The next destination for our tipsy selves that night was the Lakeside Lounge, where the Ks were playing. The Ks are my new friend Dan's band. I loved that the Lakeside Lounge is a dive, and we enjoyed the band. As a facsimile of a musician myself, I like seeing other reasonably ordinary - even geeky! - people exercising their right to be rock stars. The Ks take it to a higher level than my own band, of course, in the sense that they actually sound good and someone has condoned them playing in a bar, but our kinship is nonetheless there.

Txikito, 240 9th Ave., Manhattan

Pat and I ventured last to Txikito, just two doors down from Company in Chelsea, where we dined the night before. We were totally and completely unaccompanied. You just have to believe me on this.

For two people by themselves, we ordered a hell of a lot of tapas, and it was all quite marvelous. We enjoyed foie gras, mushroom carpaccios, croquettes of cod, fried cippolini onions, some sort of crab stuff, and more. None of it was disappointing. My favorite was the veal jowl terrine. Cow cheeks! So decadently excellent!

Afterward, totally by ourselves, we hankered for some cocktails, and we took a cab to the East Village. We were gently turned away at Death & Co., but Amor Y Amargo, a couple doors down (443 E 6th St.) caught our eye and we squeezed in to the little space and were treated to some great cocktails. This place bills itself as a bitters tasting room. You wouldn't think two people could drink so much, but we sampled the house gin & tonic, a couple different versions of Negronis, a Manhattan with house-made vermouth, an a'l'ancienne, vermouth on draft, and other alcoholic treats. Before we departed, apparently because it was our two-week wedding anniversary, the friendly bartenders treated us to the most awesome flan, with a very brown-sugary quality. It was seriously wonderful.

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.