A Great Vacation Was Had By All

Even Ruby.  First she had a full week barking at Running W Camp.  She was exhausted on the ride to the beach (which is, as every dog owner knows, a good thing).

The Humans also had a wonderful vacation, full of incredible meals, delicious wine, inspiring sights and consuming reads. 

Our trip to Manhattan was focused on food.  We only did two things outside the realm of eating and drinking, one of which was a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Here we are in the cafe on the edge of the sculpture garden, to prove it. 

For some reason, Kevin considered this picture of Saint Barbara getting her head chopped off by her father to be photo-worthy.

The other non-food event was our annual trek to Ground Zero - which I suppose will not be called that much longer.  Seeing the process over the past 10 years at the site of the Twin Towers has been humbling and inspiring.  This year we signed on to see the memorial before it actually officially opens from the street, and as you can imagine the security was quite tight.

 We were on line at 10AM and it snaked back and forth like this.

 The two memorials, on the footprints of the Twin Towers, is just as it should be - strong and peaceful.

 Construction will be on-going for the foreseeable future.

 But of course, the real reason to spend time in NYC is to eat all the kinds of food that we can't find close to home.  That being said, I can't resist a trip to Times Square for that TV experience it offers, especially when I find it too is food centric.

We are dim sum fans, and here is a shot of the crowd at Jim Fong, where we managed to satisfy our craving for chicken feet and dumplings amongst the hordes of our compatriots in the huge dining room.

A trip to Manhattan also must include a trip to Korin, the epitome of a knife store to chefs around the world.  I am very patient while Kevin handles as many of the beautiful blades as he can, and even more patient when he decides which one he needs for his work.  Or which two.  What ever.

We had some truly amazing dishes on our rampage of New York - some very (very) high end and some not so much.  Both ends had their "wow" moments, from the dumplings at Dumpling House (5 for $1) to the foie gras treatment at Jungsik - where we dined the night before Pete Wells' two star review of the restaurant was to appear in the New York Times.  (After our stunning experience there, we told the Manager to look out, the crowds were going to discover them sooner or later, only to have her reveal to us the fact of the upcoming review.  The review, by the way, does not do the place justice.  It is better than that.)  Perhaps our best overall experience was our final dining destination - lunch at Del Posto.  First off, an exemplary "deal" for a meal of this caliber in a setting to rival any in the city.  And secondly, the butterscotch semifreddo was among the best desserts of the entire three week period (although desserts were low on our priorities this trip, strangely enough).

Anyway, more on the Food of Vacation on another post.  Suffice to say it is 5:45 on March 13 and my staff is due in 15 minutes...so I've gotta run.

We will be back open tomorrow!  See you soon!