Eating My Way Across New York

I was in New York over the holidays, unfortunately for only a few days. With only one day in Manhattan to myself, I indulged in one of my favorite pastimes: enjoying New York City's culinary pleasures. My day began with a trip down to the Lower East Side (my favorite part of town) and a trip to The Pickle Guys (www.nycpickleguys.com), where they still sell pickles out of barrels. This place is legendary and for good reason, the pickles are great (love the full sours—lots of garlic), and they pickle everything you can imagine. The place is tiny and noisy, just as it should be. I have not had good deli since I left L.A. For some reason, the Bay Area doesn't have a good deli, which is odd, considering what a culinary town San Francisco is (but that's another blog). Getting a pastrami fix when in NY was a high priority, so I walked a couple of blocks to Katz's Deli (www.katzdeli.com). This place exudes atmosphere, the odd ticket/billing set-up is interesting, and their pastrami has just the right ratio of fat to lean. After a side trip to Strand Books (www.strandbooks.com), the world's greatest used book store, and Forbidden Planet (www.fpnyc.com), a great comic book store right next door, I proceeded to my prime target. Unfortunately, the line outside of Zabar's (www.zabars.com) was a block long (it was Christmas Eve, something I didn't take into account. Fortunately, New York's best bagels, H&H (www.handhbagels.com) was right next door. Hopping on the subway, I proceeded to Times Square, with its plethora of hot dog and halal meat on a stick stands. I didn't partake, but my nephew and I had "we think it's chicken" on a stick a couple of days later, and it was great. It also lead to a discussion among the family about how everything tastes better on a stick (well, doesn't it?) I was on a search for hot chestnuts, but to my extreme disappointment, wasn't finding them. Finally, I found a stand by Rockefeller Center, now it felt like Christmas!

I finished the day with a half dozen oysters and beer at the Grand Central Oyster Bar (www.oysterbarny.com), and they were wonderful. The problem with oysters is the more I have the more I want. Everyone in my family are oyster eaters (I was fed them as a baby, really). We had heard there was an oyster bar in Manhattan that patterned itself after the legendary Swan Oyster Depot in San Francisco (a must if you're ever visiting San Francisco, I've been going there since the '70s). After some research, I found Pearl Oyster Bar (www.pearloysterbar.com), and we set out on Dec. 26, only to find it closed for the holidays. Better luck next time, and hopefully more time to eat on my next visit. The good news is that with all of this eating, as well as birthday and holiday feasts, I only gained four pounds!