When You Don't Know What To Eat, Eat The Pizza "I Dunno"

This beautiful creation above is called the Mezzaluna and thanks to the wonderful people over at New York Magazine I must now go run out and try it. It is a Pizza and Calzone hybrid that is sure to make me drool...oops it already has...anyone have a kleenex? Anyway you can find this at Olio Pizza e Piu at 3 Greenwich Ave near 6th Avenue. However Peppino's in Brooklyn claims that it created a similar concoction many moons ago when a customer could decide if he wanted a pizza or a calzone. Apparently the owner, Joe Mancino, told the guy to hold on a sec while he put something together. He called it the Pizza I Dunno and now he sells a ton of them each week. Man, you know what that means? I gotta go to both places to try them out, what a shame.

Five Guys Voted Best Fast Food Burger In NY And USA

Actually they tied with my personal fave, IN-N-OUT, accross the country as the best burgers in the country, in a survey by Consumer Reports and published here in the NY Post. Not surprisingly of course, MacDonalds was rated to have the worst even though they outsell all the others by a ton, I mean what do you expect for a buck fifty? Second in the big NYC was Fuddruckers which I can honestly say I have never been mostly because of the stupid name. IN-N-OUT is currently only available out West so there is no comapring for those of us here on the East Coast, however I was lucky enough to have lived out there for a few years and have fond memories of ordering my Animal Style burgers and Fries. Oh, don't know what that is? Sorry can't tell you, it's a secret. You see IN-N-OUT has a secret menu that only the regulars know about and I'm not about to share it with you! Only kidding. Actually it's just a special way of ordering the food really but you gotta be there to experience it. Here is the link to the story in the Post,  http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/america_hail_to_the_beef_GrJhlyrYxVfFx9QGZ2DvYM. Personally I also love Five Guys and appreciate their high quality and standards, so I say why not love them both?

Grimaldi's Coming To The Bowery? I Don't Think So

Landmark pizzeria Gramaldi's in Brooklyn will probably be closing the location sometime next fall when their landlord will refuse to let them re-up due to a rental dispute. What are we to do? Well there's good news and bad news. This past May, Grimaldi's opened up a spot inside the Limelight Marketplace on 6th Avenue which gives fans an option in Manhattan. However Community Board 2 has just recently turned down Pat and Carol Grimaldi's request to open up a new pizzeria at 352 Bowery due to the fact that it would be a disturbance to the area...like the drug dealers aren't. The fate of the Brooklyn location is up to it's new owner, Frank Ciolli, to find a new spot, perhaps somewhere in Brooklyn, but only time will tell. The old location will most likely be rented again to house a pizzeria due to the fact that it has a coal oven inside it which is none too easy to take out, plus it is also outlawed in the city and can no longer be built elsewhere. Stay tuned...

Wearing Fast Food Can Be Fashionable

Now I don't mean that ketchup stain on from lunch is going to make you look more stylish, that just looks bad, I'm talking about this rockin' t-shirt from http://www.threadless.com/. If you are looking for attention or just a simple laugh, Threadless offers up lots and lots of great t-shirt designs submitted mostly by it's followers. Of course being a food lover I am certainly attracted to amusing images involving cuisines and these two certainly fill the bill.

Actually I own this one, it's an attention getter, I just wish it was a scratch and sniff.

Fast, Cheap Lo Mein...Oh And Did I Say Cheap?

Fast and cheap are words that are becoming taboo in the food service industry. Those two words have always been associated with food that is really terrible for us and probably in the long run makes us ill. As much as I agree with that statement I also know that there can still be fast and cheap food that is high quality. Now no one would associate high quality with a fast food Chinese restaurant which of course I also agree, but really it's all about what you order. The other day, a little light in the wallet and hungry for some Chinese, I walked in to Lin's Chinese Restaurant, if you can really call it that. It is the typical take out Chinese shop that you can find all over the city and usually the food isn't that great...but it's cheap and fast! Anyway the key at these places is to stay away from all the Fried foods that they specialize in. Stick to the basics. White or Brown Rice (Sometimes you have to ask for the Brown if it's not on the menu) with Vegetables and Chicken. Noodle dishes are simple and often good. Steer clear of the Soups and the Fried Rice, too much salt and often not very good. So I decided on the Roast Pork Lo Mein which for a small order was $4.75 and well within my budget for the day. In and outta there in under 15 minutes. When I got it back to work I was surprised by the amount of food that I received and immediately knew it would fill me up. It was actually pretty good too and I almost couldn't finish it all either. If you must, Lin's Chinese Restaurant is at 32 East 23rd Street, I don't necessarily recommend it.

Fashion's Night Out Was A Filling One At Work

Last Friday, September 10th, New York City was abuzz with fashion as everyone was out late shopping for clothes. What did that mean for me? Other than having trouble navigating the streets of SoHo because there were too many damn people, not really much accept for a lovely dinner at my jobs downtown location. Now I don't work in fashion, I work for a furniture company, but we decided to participate in the festivities and kept the store open until 11pm. So to reward ourselves we ordered out for dinner and we ordered from one of my favorites, La Esquina. After looking at all the delicious choices I finally narrowed it down to Pork or Chicken, finally deciding on the Pollo Asado or Roasted Chicken. The dish came with White Rice, Black Beans, Cooked Onions, Tomato Salsa, Avocado with some White Cheese crumbled on top. Thinking I needed a side I ordered the Yucca Fritas or Yucca Fries which I thought would be a nice crunch with my meal. We also got a couple Elotes Callejeros which is Grilled Corn on a stick, mucho delicioso! So with much anticipation we sat in the showroom and waited for the delivery man who we assumed would be slowed by all the throngs of fashionistas littering the streets...so I had some beer. And then I had another one, let's just say it was a long wait. Anyway he finally showed up and it was time to eat. However once we spread everything out on the table it seemed as if something was missing. My Yucca Fritas! I was so looking forward to them. The fact was that when we placed the order over the phone the girl taking the order wasn't exactly totally fluent in English and probably didn't understand. Now I know it's a Mexican restaurant in a city that has a lot of Spanish speaking residents, but the last time I checked it was still the U.S. and English is our first language. This is not my rallying cry for or against immigration laws, that is not my issue. My concern here is for my stomach and how it would be unfulfilled without the delectable Yucca Fritas. Actually in all seriousness you gotta have a competent person answering your phones, and when I say competent I mean someone who fully understands the orders coming in, that means that they understand English first. It's really not that hard. Oh well, I digress. Saddled with an empty feeling in my belly I started in on the rest of my meal. As always it was extremely delicious as I couldn't have been more satisfied with the Pollo Asado. I polished off an Elotes Callejeros (Ear of Corn) in between forkfuls of Chicken, Rice and Beans, but I still felt like I needed something more. Luckily my colleague had asked for an order of Maduros (Sweet Plantains) and had actually gotten them...lucky bastard, so I scooped up a couple and man were they good. Overall I was very happy with all the food...that I received, it's always good at La Esquina and I will forgive their hapless phone order taker. Next time I will just have to ask her to repeat what I asked for. La Esquina is located at 114 Kenmare Street, just a block and a half from Spring Street.

Vanessa's Dumplings: I'm Addicted, It's A Problem

Of course I am not serious, it's never a problem to be addicted to amazingly good dumplings! They are just so good, and cheap to boot. It's not too often that I can be satisfied only eating an appetizer and I certainly  could have eaten a whole bunch more food but that simply isn't practical. I have to watch my figure you know. What else can I say? They were filled with Pork and Chives. They were steamed and then fried. There is something that I must mention and it has to do with the sauce. The one thing you can't have enough of is Dumpling sauce. Too little and you are just eating a bunch of dry Dumplings, good as they may be, they still need the lubricant (appropriate word?...whateva). At Vanessa's they gave me two of their cups of sauce and I was plenty happy. I poured one over the top and then used the other for dipping, pure freakin' Dumpling bliss. I know I have mentioned it before but Vanessa's Dumplings is located on 14th Street between 2nd and 3rd, closer to 3rd. Go, right now!