NYC

It made no sense to wind up at The Little Owl after attending the Mostly Mozart festival at Lincoln Center, but somehow we did. Diana’s youngest brother Brian was in town and we thought it would be fun to get rocked by Amadeus at Avery Fisher Hall. Our plan was to see the concert and…

Last night was supposed to be Fatty Crab night. There were six of us, and when Craig and I arrived we were informed by the rest that Fatty Crab wouldn’t seat all six of us together–they wanted to split us into three and three–and that the wait would be 1.5 hours. “1.5 hours!” everyone yelled.…

Way before Bill Buford wrote about “Room 4 Dessert” in last week’s New Yorker, Diana and I had been planning a visit there. “Let’s go to Room 4 Dessert,” we’d say to each other on a cold winter’s night. We’d both read about it in various publications and knew that the two of us, two…

Now that I’ve been bitten by the Chinatown bug, I make an effort to go there as much as possible. So on Friday night, when making plans with Diana, I said: “Let’s go to Chinatown!” and she agreed. We called a few more peeps from our posse and planned to meet on the corner of…

I recently finished reading Philip Roth’s “Operation Shylock” (a fun, if challenging, Roth read) and discovered, upon reaching the book’s final chapter, that the last scene occurs at a place I knew lots about but never visited: Barney Greengrass. What follows is a brilliant section that perfectly describes the scene and the role it plays…

Craig calls from work at 7 o’clock on Friday night and asks me what the plan is. “How do you feel about mutton?” I ask. There is a pause. “Mutton?” he replies. “Yes,” I say. “How do you feel about eating mutton?” Dating me requires patience, skill and tolerance for outlandish eating ideas. It took…

I am embarrassed. I have lived in New York for two years now and how often have I taken advantage of the cultural opportunities just outside my door? How often have I journeyed up to Queens for Greek food or to try the famous arepas from the mythical arepa lady? How many Indian supermarkets have…

Bene is a new Italian culture magazine that will be distributed in “150 of the best Italian restaurants in the United States, starting May 15th.” Why am I telling you this? Well Bene’s Editorial Director, Joanna Goddard, wrote me recently to see if I wanted to write for them. “Umm,” I wrote back, “You know…