Last week, my friend and fellow blogger Joon paid a brief visit to New York in celebration/escape from the end of his first year at law school. You should know that Joon and I are kindred spirits in our inability to curb excess eating. You should also know that as the result of a hangover induced by afternoon drinking, I won’t have the luxury of writing a full fledged column this week. That said, here’s a rundown of what we ate during the food crawl following Joon’s arrival.

Dinner at Lomzynianka

We began with two bottles of wine and a delicious Polish meal in Greenpoint. A bowl of zurek, my favorite soup in the world, to start. Lomzynianka’s fresh, crisp, tart and tangy pickled salad to further whet our appetites. Impeccably fried pierogi, stuffed with sauerkraut and spiced with a pinch of clove to follow. A giant potato pancake, fried and folded over a small hill of goulash, to finish. Still my favorite restaurant in New York.

Breakfast at Kati Roll Company

The next morning, we headed out to the village to meet a friend of Joon’s from NYU Law. We got things going with a stop at the Kati Roll Company, which not only serves tasty Indian finger food, but also has a Sholay poster hanging amongst other Bollywood classics on its walls. Note to the uninitiated: Sholay is one of India’s (and by extension the world’s) greatest cinematic achievements, a four hour Western-styled epic musical traversing the courses of crime, corruption, love, loyalty, redemption and armless beatdowns that maintained blockbuster status in Indian theaters for over five years of screening. You owe it, to yourself and to Amitabh, to watch it.

Lunch at Artichoke Pizza

Taking advantage of the glorious spring weather, we took a stroll to the East Village for a slice at Artichoke. This relative newcomer to the New York pizza scene has received a number of accolades upon its opening, and deserves all of the praise. Artichoke’s Sicilian slice in particular blows everything I’ve known about Sicilian slices out of the water with its powerhouse crust, merciless tomato sauce and slightly burnt everything. The crisp, beefy, gargantuan Margherita and hyper-rich, alfredo-powered Artichoke and Spinach slices are less up my alley, but also sure fire wins for anyone looking for a slice with personality. There’s a true diversity of pizza in this city, and Artichoke only adds to the proof.

Pints at McSorley’s

McSorley’s, full of piss and vinegar in more ways than one, will always be one of my favorite bars. On a lazy afternoon food crawl there are few better places to stop off for a pint. Joon and I like our McSorley’s dark: soft bodied, slightly roasted, slight hoppy and plenty smooth, they make a great session brew. Keep your IPA’s and Belgian triples. I’ll take a misogyny tainted Irish ale over the next over-hopped revelation in beer extremism any day of the week.

Cupcakes from Billy’s Bakery

These cupcakes actually have nothing to do with Joon’s visit, but I ate one of them last week, and it was delicious.

Cookie, I Think You’re TAIM

After a brief intermission for coffee and errands, we walked back to Greenwich for falafel sandwiches from Taim. I’m a die-hard Mamoun’s rationalizer, but for true flavor I haven’t had anything that beat’s Taim (a visit to Azuri is in the works). $5 gets you your choice of Israeli falafel carefully and elegantly arranged amongst Israeli salad, tahini, cabbage, hot sauce- do not forget the hot sauce- and other delights in a toasted pita. We picked up some fries from Papaya Dog and took our food to the NYU Law dorm terrace, where Joon opened a bottle of straightforward rose. We made quick work of the spread and realized that we were still hungry.

Second Dinner From 53rd and 6th

We caught the B train uptown to Rockefeller Center, where we sauntered over to the southeast corner of 53rd and 6th for chicken, lamb and rice. We brought home the mixed plate, Joon opened a final bottle of wine, we put on a classic episode of Star Trek: TNG, and called it a success. Next time, fried chicken will be involved.

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This entry was posted on Monday, May 11th, 2009 at 1:08 am and is filed under New York.