Megan Blocker

I know - tell me about it! I wasn't sure if I'd be able to motivate - thought I might just have my friends for cocktails and then go out somewhere for dinner, but I really wanted to try cooking the sweetbreads. It's been an interesting day (I mean, those things are REALLY gushy.), and I can't wait to show you guys all the stuff that I did. I"m very proud of the hour I spent removing the membranes. Yeah, I didn't know about the East Side Citarella till I moved over here about three years ago. It's not as big as the West Side outpost, but the meat and seafood counters are just as good. Yes, I did go to El Malecon on occasion...though those were the days (directly post-college) when most of my food and drink budget was going to, um, liquid sustenance. I have since been back to eat at Regional, and have been to Indus Valley a few times - it is REALLY good. I'm not normally a huge Indian food person, but I do like that place.

Matt, I just have to tell you - the diva in me is loving this compliment. Thank you.

Megan, Cute Feet! SB ← Thanks, Steve! Cute feet are one of the few good things about being 5'3". That and not having to duck under low-hanging branches. And, Rebecca, I always believed you were a woman of impeccable tastes, and my suspicions have now been confirmed.

Klary, I've been thinking about you, too! As I prepare dinner for three, I keep thinking...oh my god, stop freaking out, Klary is cooking for EIGHT TIMES THAT!!! I'm sure it went swimmingly, and I can't wait to read and see all about it. Sweet dreams. Hope your husband knows how lucky he is.

So, this morning I went out to do the shopping. Normally I would just walk down to Citarella, which is about ten blocks south of my apartment (20 blocks to a mile, approximately, so about half a mile's walk). However, I could not face the idea of the walk this morning (though I am feeling well-recovered now!), so I took the bus. Arrived at Citarella, and, of course, it was really freakin' crowded, with everyone bumping into everyone else and giving each other dirty looks. Ah, yes, the dark side of the UES. I, of course, was in sweatpants, a hooded sweater, and sneakers. Meanwhile, all of the UES matrons were out in full gear - pressed slacks, smart scarves, patent leather flats. At least I remembered to throw some blush on so I didn't look like the walking dead (I am naturally very fair, even more so when...tired.). Here's the view of Citarella from the outside, looking northeast. I didn't buy anything from this section, but thought you all would get a kick out of it. It's a whole cooler chock full of pre-prepped fresh veggies. I mean, how lazy do you have to be not to chop up a red onion? I've never understood this kind of convenience food, probably because I find slicing and dicing so therapeutic. I picked up some shallots (which I mistakenly left off my shopping list but remembered while on the bus, thank God) and then headed for the meat counter. They didn't have sweetbreads, which kicked off a mild panic attack. However, they did have gorgeous loin lamb chops, and I bought six (two for each of us). When I got them home, I trimmed the fat off, put that in the freezer, and am now marinating the chops in a little smashed garlic, some bruised rosemary, and some olive oil. I'll do them on the grill pan just before dinner. So, now I was nervous - I needed sweetbreads, but I didn't have time to go gallavanting all over town. What to do? First, I stopped in at Gristedes to get some of the more mundane things I needed (sugar, etc.), and as I was walking up Third Avenue hoping against hope that Eli's might have something, I passed Leonard's, a small butcher and seafood shop. Score! The adorable old man behind the counter told me he did have sweetbreads, but only frozen. No probs, I said, I can defrost them. He brought me two big 'uns and sent me on my way. Here's what the frozen ones looked like when I got home: Got those working under some lukewarm water (remember, no microwave) and decided it was time for lunch. I called up a Chinese place and ordered a lunch special ($5.00 total, my friends) of sesame chicken for delivery. It came fifteen minutes later, and I sat down to this: I started making myself eat brown rice about two years ago, and now I prefer it to the white, most of the time. I also got a very kind fortune:

Hey, Pan! I don't carry a tripod...for night pictures, I usually try to light the food with a three-headed lamp I have from my college dorm days. It's not stylish (though it's not a huge eyesore, either), but it's really good for spotlighting food. It helps avoid the glare from the flash... As for my camera, it's a hand-me-down from my mother, who just uses her new husband's camera these days. It's about five years old, I think, and was top of the line when she bought it back then. It takes short home movies as well, which is really fun. I've just read the name off of it: Sony CyberShot 3.2. As for Patsy's, no, I've never been! I have to admit, other than going to visit my brother (he's at 110th and Amsterdam) I don't get much farther north than 96th Street on a regular basis...which is odd, because I used to live at 99th and Amsterdam myself!

Thanks, Rehovot! I'm now taking a quick break...I think you're thinking of East Sixth Street, which has tons and tons of Indian restaurants between 1st and 2nd Avenues... Click here for some picks from the NY Times!

Am currently in the midst of cooking up a storm...the madeleines are cooling, the creme brulees, too. The sweetbreads are soaking. Those things are gushy, man. Next up...marinate the lamb, make the salad dressing, caramelize the shallots, and prep the potatoes. Also, make the creamy garlic sauce. Then, clean apartment. Set table. Clean self. All before 7 PM. Whew!

Mostly, I carry things back myself. If the store is within walking distance (which, when carrying a heavy load, is for me about ten blocks), then I walk. Otherwise, I might take the bus or subway...if I'm feeling ultra-luxurious, I'll take a cab. When I do my monthly big grocery shopping (stocking up on basic meat, which I freeze, plus flour, sugar, soda, oils, vinegars, and other heavy items), I usually have the groceries delivered, which costs $3.00 extra (plus I tip the delivery man, usually $1 per bag, or so). It's worth it - I live in a walk up, no doorman, and getting in the door (actually, two doors, plus the door to my apartment) with all the bags is a nightmare. Off to do some baking now...will be back soon!

So, Babbo was great. But then there's the morning after. I woke up at 5 AM from a dream that someone was force feeding me pasta. Lisa called me to check in, and it turns out she had the same experience!!! And despite the five glasses of water and two ibuprofen I took last night before retiring, I'm feeling a wee bit shaky this morning. Solution? Run across the street (in my overcoat thrown on over my PJ's) to grab a liter of Diet Coke, nectar of the gods. When I worked in investment banking, we used to drink like fish every night and show up hungover (or worse) almost every morning. On Friday mornings, if you didn't RACE to the soda machine first thing, the Diet Coke would be gone. This stuff is the best cure for what ails ya. Ever. Now that I've had about half the liter, it's time to head out to the grocery store. My friends Miles and Hall have just returned from an extended trip abroad, and I am having them over for dinner tonight. The menu is (for now): - Crispy sweetbreads with garlicky capellini - Garlic and rosemary lamb chops and fingerling potatoes roasted in schmaltz - Baby spinach salad with caramelized shallots and a sherry vinaigrette - Orange madeleines - Creme brulee Shopping list is: - Flour - Sugar - Cream - Eggs - Lamb - Sweetbreads - Rosemary - Sherry vinegar And with that, I'm off to collect what I need - back with a full report and pictures soon! I'll also answer all the posts that came in last night and this morning when I get back...sorry to run off on you like this!!!!

Well, first off, let me just say...wow. What a great night. The drinks and the food were excellent, but the company was just out of this world. Yesterday, as I was standing outside of Lady M (see above ), my friend Cristin called me to ask me to have a drink with her. Since I already had plans to meet Lisa (of Chelsea Market and chocolate pilgrimage fame, again, see above) for drinks at the Pegu Club and dinner at Babbo, I invited Cristin to come along for the fun. I called Babbo, added one to our party, and prepared myself for a rockin' night. Since I hadn't seen Cristin in a while, I arranged to meet up with her a bit earlier, around 8, and Lisa came to Pegu around 9. Cristin and I lurked near the bar and were able to grab seats on the corner before we'd finished our first drinks - a Last Word (gin, maraschino liqueur, green chartreuse, lime juice) for me, and a Jamaican Firefly (lime juice, ginger beer, dark rum, simple syrup) for Cristin. Later drinks included an Old Cuban (for me), which is a sort of Champagne mojito, a Tantris Sidecar (for Lisa), which is a variation on a Sidecar and includes pineapple juice, and a Ritz cocktail (for Cristin), another Champagne cocktail. However, as is the way in bars, as the evening wore on the light got dimmer, so the pics of those didn't come out! Trust me when I tell you they were beautiful - and potent. A few minutes after 10, we bundled ourselves out onto West Houston Street and walked northwest to Babbo, which is on Waverly Place just west of Washington Square Park. (Click here for a map of Greenwich Village, where our evening took place.) I'm not gonna lie, people - it was f-ing cold last night, but it was worth the walk. We were seated immediately at an upstairs table. Ordering was easy - we knew we wanted to go with the pasta tasting menu and the wine pairings. Cristin and I both started off with a glass of something bubbly - for me, a Brut from Lombardia, and for Cristin, a Prosecco from the Veneto. We drank these with our amuse, which was a chickpea bruschetta: This was very tasty - someone on the Babbo thread said that the flavors at Babbo don't whisper, they shout. This amuse was a good example, as were many of the dishes in this meal. It was garlicky and had a slow, low burn - I didn't notice that it was spicy until the plate with the few lonely chickpeas on it had been taken away to make room for our first course. First up was a black tagliatelle with parsnips, pancetta and chives. This was, by far and away, my favorite dish of the night. It was sweet and salty and just slightly rich, all at the same time. The textures were lovely - the slightly chewy pasta, the firm, verdant chives, the soft cubes of parsnip and the small, meaty pieces of pancetta each brought their own mouthfeel...oh, I loved this one. And it was so pretty! It was paired with a 2004 Pecorino, which had a light flavor but was acidic enough to cut through the fattiness of the pancetta. Swoon. The second course were two ravioli (termed "lune" on the menu) filled with roasted fennel and herbs, and topped with a green sauce (more chives, I think) and some wilted kale. I am not normally a fennel lover, but this dish won me over - it was intensely aromatic and, of course, the pasta was fresh and delicious. This one was paired with a Bastianich wine, a Tocai Friulano from 2004. Next up was garganelli with mushrooms...again, very good. The dish tasted of mushrooms touched with butter and was slightly richer than the dishes preceding it. This was paired with a Langhe Nebbiolo from 2003, which, apparently, means that it came from a very warm year and is therefore a slightly richer wine than the 2002 or 2004. I trust them when they tell me this, as I know nothing about it. Me likey the wine, though, and by this point, I'd had quite a bit to drink. Fourth course. This is a marathon, people, not a sprint. "Pyramids" (little pasta pouches) filled with braised meat (God forgive me, I can't remember what kind of meat - maybe beef cheeks?) and served with a light tomato sauce. The fourth course was my least favorite - possibly because it was slightly more acidic than any of the others, and did not agree with my (by then very full of booze, wine AND food) stomach. It was good, but I did not love it. This was paired with a lovely red wine - a Nero D'Avola from 2000. You will note that this is about the time we'd had enough wine and girl talk to begin forgetting to photograph the food before digging in - hence the forks. The fifth course, and last of the pastas, was the famous pappardelle bolognese. This was easily the best bolognese I've ever had outside of a home kitchen. It was meaty and slightly sweet, and clung to the wide, flat pasta beautifully. It was paired with another lovely, full-bodied red, a Montefalco Rosso from that hot summer of '03. Finally, it was on to the desserts. The first two were really dessert amuses, and they were goooood. First up was an espresso panna cotta garnished with a cherry and served with Recioto della Valpolicella (2002), a red dessert wine. Yum. I am a sweet wine addict (ice wine, Sauternes, you name it), and this one was delish. Just like with a real espresso, there were tiny little grounds in the bottom of the panna cotta. Next up was a chocolate "salami" filled with nuts served with a moscato zabaione. This was also good, though not as much to my liking as the panna cotta. It was served with a slightly herbal, minty dessert wine, a Barolo Chinato. Finally, to finish things off with a bang, a flight of three full-sized desserts, served with a Malvisia Passito from, again, 2003. I loved this wine, and all three of the desserts were really delicious. The first was a goat cheese cheesecake, which was very light and was served with chunks of pineapple: Um, sorry for the blurry picture on that one. The second was a ricotta cake laced with just a touch of chocolate. Also very, very good. Last up, and my favorite, was a date and walnut cake, served with vanilla gelato. I LOVED this. It was like the ultimate version of a tea cake. Not too sweet, very moist, but not heavy. When we finally clattered back out onto Waverly at 1:30 AM, we were the last people to leave the restaurant. We had a marvelous time - the waitstaff were accomodating, kind, and knowledgable, and easy to engage in conversation or with questions. We had the best kind of dinner three single girls can have - amazing food, fantastic wine, and great conversation ranging from politics to shoes and everything in between. What a great night.

Good evening/morning, all. Just home from drinks at Pegu and dinner at Babbo - both were wonderful, in their infinitely gorgeous ways, and I cannot wait to share them with you. However, it's pretty late here (about 2:10 AM as I write this), and I need to hit the sack in order to rise at a reasonable hour. So, I'll check in with y'all in the (real) morning, with much to report. Cheers!

I have a favor to ask of all of you...tomorrow night will be a dinner party chez Meg, and I'll be serving sweetbreads to start. I think I'm going to try and adapt a dish I've had and loved at Ouest, which has crispy sweetbreads served on top of garlicky, creamy capellini. Here's my question - what's the best wine (at a reasonable price - no more than $10-20/bottle) to serve with a course like this? Would love your input, as I am a wine neophyte. I know the basics, and I know a good wine when I meet one, but I'm no expert at pairing... And I leave you with that question. I'm now off to get dressed for drinks and dinner! TGIF!

Go Klary - you can do it! I'm sure tomorrow night will be a raging success, and I can't wait to hear all about it.

Okee-dokee, folks. My friend Miles has just weighed in with his opinion on Magnolia. Without further ado, for your reading pleasure... And there you have it. Now hurry the f*** up and tell me what you think.

There is a pantry, but it's pretty crowded, so into the fridge goes the Sriracha! As for SoHa, yes, Daniel, it is annoying as hell. I think it's really more a subneighborhood of the UE and UW sides, like Carnegie Hill or Yorkville. Don't know if it has set borders...if pressed, I'd say 100th to 110th...teeny tiny. After I got home, I realized that I'd only had sweets to eat today, and also that my dinner reservation tonight is a late one. Soooo, I made myself a sandwich. I took some tomato, red onion, Eli's bread and some leftover steak from one of my dinners out with Mom and slapped it all together. On the bread, some mustard a friend brought me from Napa. No pics of the finished sandwich, because I was just too hungry.

Hey, Mike! I don't find it offensive at all. I would say that I live on a fairly average-for-NYC salary for my age (26) and education level (bachelor's degree). I have friends (working mostly in front-office banking jobs or as lawyers) who make more, and many (who work in publishing, etc.) who make far less than I do. I eat out (meaning, go to a restaurant, not ordering take out) about once a week, and I do buy my lunch almost every day, unless it's provided at work for some reason or another, like a training class or all-day meeting. That said, it is an expensive place to live, especially when it comes to rent. It's not unusual for people to pay half of their income or more in rent, especially in my age group. It's easy to spend way too much money on things, especially if you don't do a good job of searching out places where you can get quality for lower prices. The big names (Zabar's, Eli's, Fairway, Citarella) don't always have the best bang for the buck, but are truly excellent for certain items. Similarly, places like Gristedes might have the right price, but the quality may be lower. The best way I've found to stick to a budget is to shop in a way that seems more European than American - visiting several shops, each for a specific thing, rather than one big store for everything. It takes a little more time, but it's worth it in the end. The hardest part about New York is looking around at the people who have enough money not to worry about anything, who can take cabs everywhere, eat wherever they like at any time, etc. I cure my jealousy by making my home as inviting as possible, so that I don't mind spending time there , and by reminding myself that I'm only 26 - I'm not supposed to be spending money like a 40-year-old, because there's no reason I should be making the same kind of money. So, yes, I think it's possible to live here on a budget, and salaries are at least somewhat proportionately higher here, so that offsets some of the cost. But it's not always the easiest thing to do.

Good afternoon, all! I'm back from a good afternoon of fooding and walking, and have lots to share with you all. First, let me show you two pieces of equipment integral to long walks in New York: Playing today on my iPod was Rufus Wainwright, who wrote and sings one of my favorite food-related songs, "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk." These are just a couple of my cravings/Everything I seem to like's a little bit sweeter, a little bit fatter, a little bit harmful for me... LOVE him. Another fave of mine for long walks is the Amelie soundtrack - it makes even the most mundane errands seem romantically cinematic. First stop on leaving the house was the dry cleaners (SNORE), and then I walked west to Madison Avenue. After a brief bout with my demons (who won), I bought a pair of shoes at Banana Republic and then walked south. My ultimate goal will be revealed in a moment, but first I stopped in at E.A.T., another branch on the Zabar tree. Next door to the cafe is a little gift shop, full of trinkets ranging from Lulu Guinness umbrellas to useless keychain doodads. I spotted this huge assortment of baby dishes toward the back. They also had some cute bibs, for anyone who's in the market. Continuing south on Madison, I turned east on 78th Street and reached my goal: Lady M Confections, a bakery and cafe (they call it a "tasting salon"). I love this place. It's aesthetic is clean and modern, but luxurious - everything is white or silver, the tables are that lovely crackled enamel, and there are crystal chandeliers. The tea is served in fine porcelain cups and the flatware is sterling, and the cakes are divine. They are notoriously guarded when it comes to press, so I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside, but here are some shots from the street: I had a pot of the Lady M Gray tea and a slice of my favorite, the mille crepes cake. This is a cake made of twenty crepes stacked with alternating layers of pastry cream "lightened" with whipped cream. The topmost crepe is covered with a fine layer of bruleed sugar. I LOVE this cake. The offerings at Lady M make me think of Patrick S' creations - decadent but restrained and clean in appearance. What a lovely combination. After leaving Lady M, I caught the bus on Madison (give those tired feet a break) and headed up to 93rd Street, eager to pay a visit to Kitchen Arts and Letters, a food and wine bookstore at 93rd and Lex. This section of the UES (heh heh, acronyms rock!) is called Carnegie Hill, and it is indeed quite hilly, and very pretty - full of grand old apartment buildings and beautiful little townhouses. Here's a shot of a clapboard townhouse (unusual in Manhattan) and its brick neighbor on 93rd between Lex and Park: After ogling the real estate for a bit, I headed across Lex to the bookstore, whose front window housed a display of books on - what else - chocolate! Unlike Lady M (harumph), the folks at KA&L were really nice about letting me take loads of pictures, so here's a mini-tour! The place is crammed floor-to-ceiling with books on food and wine...drool. Some of the things that caught my eye...out of print selections, a section on medieval eating habits, and some smaller volumes of primary source material dating from the 17th century. Also available is a biography of Mrs. Beeton! I did make a purchase there, but it's a gift for someone who may be reading this, so I'll have to wait to reveal what it was! After leaving KA&L I walked down Lexington to Likitsakos' Nature's Gifts, a tiny little market where I do most of my produce shopping. It's tiny, but the prices and variety are pretty good - quality is about as good as what you find at Eli's (though not always as exotic), and the prices are about half that. I bought tomatoes, a couple of oranges, romaine, baby spinach, some fingerling potatoes, parsley and some rosemary, and the total came to about $14.00, which is about half what I would have paid for the same stuff at Eli's. Here's the entrance to the market, on Lex between 87th and 88th: And here are the fruit, veggie and dairy sections. The yogurts are homemade! I also stopped at Gristedes, one of the New York supermarket chains. I usually go there for my basics, like pasta, flour, sugar, and so on. Their prices, I find, are way better than Food Emporium, which is the other large supermarket within easy walking distance of my apartment. To give you an idea of scale, here's a shot of one of the aisles at Gristedes - all I bought there today was a box of capellini, which I'll be using for dinner tomorrow... And that was my afternoon, folks! It was nice and leisurely...I rarely get to spend this kind of time just walking around and enjoying the city, so thanks for the opportunity (and the excuse)!

All righty-roo, folks. I'm off for a long walk around the 'hood, and will be back after lunch time. Clearly, based on the fact that I am now using phrases like "all righty-roo," it's time to get out of the apartment. Talk to you soon!

Indeed - NoHo ("North of Houston"), NoLIta ("North of Little Italy"), and so on. You also often see acronyms used for other neighborhoods, though you would read these as the entire name, rather than pronounce the acronym: LES (Lower East Side), UES (Upper East Side), UWS (Upper West Side), and so on. ETA: And how could I forget the (relatively) freshly-coined SoHa ("South of Harlem")?

Hey, Smithy! Yes, I've eaten at Balthazar several times, though not in the past year or so. It's great fun - very active and bustling, true to its nature as a brasserie. The best meal I had there was Christmas Eve dinner back in 2002 - the cold seafood tower with cocktail sauce and mignonette, steak frites, and tarte tatin for dessert. To drink, Champagne and a Chateauneuf du Pape. Thanks, Mom! It's known as a breakfast and lunch spot for the media folks in town, and is a good place to spot celebrities, from time to time. WHICH REMINDS ME!!!! I completely forgot to include this yesterday...Lisa and I had a celebrity sighting (alert, alert!) at Chelsea Market yesterday! While we were eating lunch on folding metal chairs at Chelsea Thai, Sandra Bernhard walked past us. It was one of Lisa's first NYC celeb sightings. Yay!!! Back to Smithy's questions! SoHo stands for "South of Houston Street," and encompasses the neighborhood ranging from Houston Street on the north to Canal Street on the south, and from Lafayette Street on the east to the Hudson River on the west (Click here for a detailed map.). Historically, it's famous for its iron-fronted buildings, plethora of galleries, and, now, for its huge volume of shopping, from the high-end big-name designers (like Chanel and Cartier) and tiny boutiques to the lower-end mall places, like Old Navy and H&M. As a result, it has long been associated with glamour, first via its avant-garde arty types, and now via its stick-thin fashionistas. On weekends, no matter what the weather, SoHo is pure hell to navigate. The sidewalks are ridiculously crowded, especially on Broadway, the main thoroughfare for the neighborhood. I have literally had to fight my way through crowds to get into stores at times, and try to avoid it on weekends at all costs. My hairdresser is in SoHo, though, so I find myself there pretty often. My favorite parts of the neighborhood are west of Broadway, where you can find tiny little sandwich shops (Olive's is one of my favorites) and a lot of small, boutique-y stores. I'm trying to stick to a budget (to fund a trip to France this fall), so I decided to steer clear of those spots yesterday! As for my fridge, yes, it's usually that empty. To be fair, the drawer is currently full of onions (red and yellow), and the freezer is stocked with meat, ice cubes, butter and batches of puff pastry. But, yes, I tend to be pretty good about only buying what I need...it's a good way to stop myself from buying things that don't get used, and helps me stick to a relatively small food budget - I don't limit myself from buying what I want, but I don't buy it unless I know I'm going to use it in the next couple of days (things that freeze well being the exception!).

So, hunger reared its ugly head, and I defeated it by eating the FatWitch "Blonde Witch" I bought yesterday. It was goooooood. And, you know, made with just a touch of butter. Yeah, just a touch. There go all the benefits of that walking.

Woo-hoo!!! That's good news, indeed. Any plans to expand to LGA or JFK? Those are my usual ports of call, so I sure hope so!

Thanks, Karen! I'm glad you enjoyed the carbonara...I know I sure did. Wasn't that marzipan ridiculous? I wish I had some reason to buy it, but I really can't think of a good one. As for the coffee/subway rule - I have to admit, I haven't seen it enforced. The stricter rule and harsher fine went into effect toward the end of last year, along with similar changes to the rules for taking more than one seat and walking between cars while the train is moving. However, better safe than sorry, I guess, and I'd really rather use my free-not-hanging-onto-the-pole hand to read a book in any case. Most mornings, anyway.

Sometimes, yes! I've had drinks a few times with SLKinsey, M.X.Hassett and Johnder (at Pegu, mais oui )...I know there are a lot of people who see each other more often, and who either met via eGullet or know each other through different avenues and then happened to both join eG. It is nice to be surrounded by so many eG'ers. This morning I woke up a bit later than intended...not till about 8:45 or so. I then leapt out of bed and turned on my work laptop (blech) and did some emailing and damage control on that end. Then I realized that today is the day I get to have COFFEE!!!! I threw on my overcoat, raced down the stairs, and sprinted to DTUT, a coffee bar on 2nd Avenue between 84th and 85th Streets. DTUT serves coffee all day and late into the night, and also serves wine and beer after five...a very popular spot for first dates, since you can get a coffee OR an alcoholic beverage. It's full of broken-in couches and armchairs...it has a sort of Central Perk-ish vibe. Here's the outside, a view of the counter (blocked by a plant, sorry) from just inside the front door, and quick look at one of the seating areas. I wasn't hungry this morning, so I just got a cafe au lait made with their house coffee, called "Broadway Blend." I add a bit of raw sugar to this and slurp it all up - this is my usual weekend cup of coffee; since you now can't take coffee on the subways, I don't stop here on weekday mornings - there's no way I could choke down a whole one of these on the three-block walk to the subway. The plan for this afternoon is still pretty open...my reservation at Babbo isn't till late, so I think we may try to sneak in a pre-dinner drink at Pegu. Grocery shopping should probably go on the menu...any other requests?