Lisa’s Must Eat Now NY Favs

When I land in Newark, I get my bag, call Telaviv car service, move to Waiting Area No. 3,  and immediately start building my NYC dining strategy.

And with a lot of new places on my research list (DBGB — loved it but more later), Mayahuel tequila Bar (wow), Ten Bells Natural wine bar, etc. I find that my first half of the to-dine list is always the things I crave.  AND, because I love sharing things that are worth every calorie, I am serving up my favs.

1. Must have me some Norma.  This is my favorite local pasta dish.  I had the pleasure of seeing Mario with 5 young kids (two in matching orange clogs, as I walked into Otto, very focused on having a few great contorni (we loved the sweet peas and ham, graced with a bit of heat and mint) and then a delicious dish of penne with perfectly chewy, crunchy roasted eggplant morsels, tossed with tomato sauce, fresh basil and buffalo ricotta.

2. Then, it’s time to have delivery — a meatloaf sammy from ‘WichCraft. This is my favorite lunch when working at my desk.  Ciabatta, great, flavorful meatloaf, a tad of sauce, good hard cheddar (nicely melted into the bread) and that’s heaven.

3. The world’s best pancakes.  Mitchell London (who, btw, also blows Magnolia Bakery away with his vanilla cupcakes) is in charge of the Café at Fairway.  His concept is to create a stack of as much golden brown texture as possible, basically quadruppling the carmelization in a traditional stack. Yowza!

4. It’s time for some pork buns.  Momofuko  Noodle Bar, his first and the one closest to my apartment is my favorite spot.  I always start with salty, sweet pork buns that ooze with umami and would probably be on my death row last meal list.

5. The Francophile in me must have at least one poached egg, lardon friseé salad at Balthazar within my first week.  (Although the one I had yesterday was not perfect, it still hit the spot).  Must go after 2:30, get a table in the back, always finish with the tarte du jour.  We had a lovely combination of peaches and plums with a few tart blackberries perched on the crunchy crust.

Now, I can begin to enjoy New New York.  My check-list is happily complete.