On the road again...

Here I was, trying to be a good food blogger -- took pictures of my meal from SFO to JFK and everything.

And guess what? My camera is sitting in seat 10A of a United Premium Service flight. Damn.

Meanwhile, I can fill you in on the first couple hours of my stay in The City.

I met some colleages at Virgil's Barbecue just off Times Square. And I'll tell you what -- though I may be spoiled by the plethora of excellent 'que in the Bay Area, I got totally hooked on Virgil's BBQ Nachos. They have the perfect balance of fat, savory, spicy and sweet, these were some damn good chips, with huge chunks of BBQ beef, oozy cheese, and crisp, nearly buttery, chips. Mmmm...

Their cornbread is one of the best I've ever had -- lots of chives, lots of butter, and whole kernels of corn (to which I can attest, as I had one stuck in my tooth for 20 minutes!). Really delicious, not too eggy.

After Virgil's, we headed over to Jack's on 40th to end the evening with a few nightcaps. Liam made me two utterly perfect Manhattan's, and some pleasant small talk as well (can I even tell you ho wmuch I love barkeeps who know how to talk up patrons? When you're on the road 10 days out of the month, they're a lifesaver, and a welcome breath of fresh air).

More to come tomorrow - we're headed to wd-50 for dinner (as reco'd by Derrick & Melissa), followed by 'za dinner. Saturday brings us Bouley and dinner, perhaps at Artisanal (if I can't get us last-minute tickets to SpamAlot, about which my colleagues RAVED tonight).

Sunday, Lenn is giving us a tour of the LI Wine Country, after I show C the house where I grew up, then Babbo for C's birthday dinner. Finally, we wrap up with lunch at Gramercy, for which I can hardly wait!

Oh, btw, one of C's best friends is the sous at Pod in Philly, and he ate there tonight. If you're lucky, you might get a guest post from him this week sometime. (Let me tell you how bummed I was not to make it to JFK until it was too late to join them!)

Technorati Tags: Food | Food & Drink | Manhattan | San Francisco | New York

Comments

[David]

I love Virgil's too!

[Tana]

If you crave Indian food, and I mean some of the best Indian food in the country, if not the world, by all means go to Dévi in Union Square. (Full disclosure: I am friends with one of the chefs, Suvir Saran, but still. I rave because it's raveworthy.)

I visited for lunch last year: some photos are here.

The food is simply fabulous. And the chai panna cotta, made with Earl Grey, is one of the best desserts I've ever had.

I can't wait to go back.

[shuna fish lydon]

please pleeze puleese save room for dessert and dessert menus to take home at babbo and Gramercy!! please, pretty please with pistachios on top?!

ps-- I got to WF in Berkeley but no Persian IC... which WF will carry this elusive rose water yum?

[Fatemeh]

Shuna - I have pastry menus for you from Babbo and wd-50, but we actually ended up canceling Gramercy. We didn't get back to our hotel until after 1am from Babbo on Sunday, and just weren't ready to eat by lunchtime Monday.

I don't think the Mashti is available until May - I will get you some when I go to the Persian market for Nowruz shopping!