What do you mean, "There's no chips and salsa"?

Filet mignon and diners were never a combination I might have imagined had I not seen it and experienced it myself.

Lansky’s (http://www.lanskysnyc.com/) is a Jewish diner in the Upper West Side that serves coleslaw and pickles in place of the traditional chips and salsa Phoenicians are used to being served. I remember the first time servers brought coleslaw and pickles to our table last summer when we ate there. I didn’t understand why they brought it to our table, and Philip and I kindly explained, “We didn’t order this.” Apparently we didn’t need to.

We returned to the diner today and were again thrown off by the Jewish diner’s version of chips and salsa and respectfully declined because we’re not coleslaw or kosher pickle eaters. We did, however, return to the restaurant for burgers, mac ‘n cheese, and strawberry cheesecake, so we made sure to order all the right foods.

Half the 10 oz burger and mac 'n cheese

Anyone who knows Philip knows that pizza, burgers, and mac ‘n cheese would be the staples of his diet were they healthy enough to sustain him. But they’re not. They are, however, still a part of his diet, and Lansky’s has some of the biggest burgers in town and the best macaroni and cheese Philip’s ever had.

The smallest burgers on the menu? 10 oz. Yep, over half a pound! Don’t worry, Philip only ate half the burger.

Filet mignon, fries, caesar salad from a diner (only $14.95!)

I, on the other hand, tried filet mignon. It wasn’t the best filet mignon I’ve ever had, but then again, I wasn’t at a high end steakhouse and I wasn’t paying a high end price either. It was cooked more than I wanted, and it was too chewy and tough for my taste. For what it’s worth, though, it wasn’t bad, and I might even order it again the next time we go.

Indulging in the Unplanned Day

There’s always something to do in the City. Even when plans don’t work out as planned, the City is defaulted to provide unplanned backups to anyone who needs them.

Philip, knowing that when possible, I try to be “green,” decided to take me to Chinatown/Little Italy for a major street exhibition event. The way he described it to me, it was a 4-day event during which time vendors set up street exhibitions demonstrating different ways to live green in the City. Or something along those lines.

We hopped onto the subway, changed trains at Columbus Circle, and popped up to the street in Chinatown. We walked. And we walked. And we walked. Until Philip took another look at his phone to see if perhaps we had gone to the wrong part of town. No, we were exactly where we should have been. Apparently, the exhibitors decided to make their exhibitions very green today - so green we had to be there yesterday to see them.

Yes, we were a day late for the street exhibitions. Other aspects of the event were happening today, but not the street exhibitions. Oh, well. One of the benefits to living in NYC is that our day wasn’t wasted. We simply walked a few blocks to an Italian restaurant in Little Italy for lunch before indulging in some yummy gelato at Ferrara Bakery & Cafe.

Ferrara's in Little Italy

Ferrara Bakery & Cafe (http://www.ferraracafe.com) is an Italian bakery over 100 years old with an Old World feel to it. We figured it must be really good to have not only survived that long, but to have thrived. The main bakery and cafe is indoors, but there was line out the door. The store was selling gelato on the street right outside its main doors, and there was a line of about 10 customers waiting for their sweet indulgence of the day. 

The gelato really was good. Philip stayed with the tried and true chocolate while I ventured out with a flavor I’ve never before tried, hazelnut. 

Yum, yum. I can’t wait to go back!

The NYC Yield Sign: It's No Longer Yellow

The quintessential meal in the Big Apple is a slice of pizza with your choice of Snapple. If a pizza place doesn’t have both, walk out. Okay, so maybe it’s not quite like that for everyone, but I’ve been taught by Philip that in NYC, you drink Snapple while you eat your pizza.

NYC is littered with pizzerias. Every couple of stores, you’re likely to find some sort of pizza shop, whether it’s one of the many Famous Ray’s Pizzas (Original Famous Ray’s, Famous Ray’s Original, Famous Ray’s, etc...they all think they’re the original, but the eternal question is - was there ever an original?), a mom and pop joint, or some NYC or nationwide chain. Pizza joints really are everywhere. You might pay $.99 a slice or $5 a slice, all depending on which one you end up walking into.

With so many pizzerias in the City, how do you know which you should choose? This may be NYC, and it may have more pizza joints than any other place in the world, but they are not all worth visiting.

Your pizza destination: What are you looking for in a pizza?

Yield Sign Pepperoni Pizza

a. The best pizza in town. Grimaldi’s Pizzeria (Don’t let the AZ locations fool you...They’re good, but the Brooklyn location is best.)

b. The biggest pizza in town. Koronet Pizzeria

c. A pizza made just for me. Can’t help you there (Unless you sit down at a restaurant, pizzas are generally sold by the slice. They’re pre-made cheese pizzas, they add your desired toppings, and they throw it in the oven to warm it up for you.)
d. I don't know what I'm looking for. Grimaldi's Pizzeria or Koronet Pizzeria.

Okay, so there are many more than two good pizzerias to choose from in NYC, but these are the two that Philip and I have become particularly attached and drawn to during the times we’ve come to the CIty.

Today’s visit was to Koronet Pizzeria on 110th Street and Broadway. What makes this pizzeria so good is the sheer size of its pizza slices. Although yield signs are typically yellow and black, we’ve dubbed Kornet’s pizzas “Yield Sign Pizzas” because that’s how big the slices are. Notice in the picture above that the slice is as big as the plastic tray, and the plastic tray is the typical size you would find in any fast food restaurant. 1 yield sign pepperoni pizza, 1 regular cheese pizza, and 2 snapples: $11.25.

As Philip and I at our pizzas, I noticed someone ordered two yield sign pizza slices to go - they just barely fit inside a whole pizza box.