Megan Blocker

Thanks, Monavano! You know, Miz Ducky, you can always come visit us! Yes, Abra - the whole thing was on foot! Except for the bus and the subway, of course...I tried to cab it from Jacques Torres to my hair appointment, but none came up Hudson, so I had to hoof it across Houston...I am tired, but it's probably a good thing, considering all the food I ate. This is for all of you out there who are curious about Magnolia Bakery...Lisa and I passed it on our way from Chocolate Bar to Jacques Torres, and I took the opportunity to shoot a pic of the line for you. It was out the door and snaking back around the corner - at 3:00 on a Thursday afternoon. My guess? It was a Sex and the City tour group. They stop there and also visit the block used for Carrie's apartment, which is just two blocks from the bakery. Also, for Sandy, who requested a view of my fridge. I haven't done a big produce shopping in over a week, since with my mom here I ate out for four days straight. The lower shelves are usually filled with lettuce and fresh herbs, and whatever meat I've bought or am defrosting for dinner. As you can see from the door and top shelf, I am a condiment fiend!!! And now, it's off to bed. I'm going to try and get some actual work (yes, WORK ) done tomorrow morning, so I need some good, honest rest. Till tomorrow, then!

Haagen Dazs coffee ice cream with Oreo cookies. Heaven.

Rebecca, I'm so sorry! You can bet on my consuming loads of solid foods, but I also hope you get better and back to the solid stuff yourself sooner rather than later! Dinner tonight was, per Karen's request, spaghetti carbonara. Well, farfalle carbonara, because I am out of spaghetti. I made my first carbonara sometime late last fall, and promptly became addicted. This incredibly fast meal is made even faster by the fact that Schaller and Weber, a German market just down the street, sells bacon cut into 1-inch lardons. From start of cooking to the washing of dishes, this dinner took less than an hour. SWEET. Here's the aforementioned bacon (drool, bacon), first in the bag, then crisping in the pan: I mix the cheese and egg together first, put the crisped bacon in the bottom of a medium mixing bowl, and wait for the pasta to be ready... I mix the whole lot together, add loads and loads of black pepper, some more cheese, and serve that baby up in a bowl. After my pasta, I have a small salad of cucumber, tomato and red onion, dressed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. I'm just happy to be able to taste...I don't need anything fancy tonight! Phew. Now it's time to watch the figure skating!!!!

So...back to the rest of my day downtown. After leaving Chelsea Market, Lisa and I headed south on 8th Avenue to Chocolate Bar, a great chocolate shop between Horatio and Jane Streets. I first tried their chocolate at the Chocolate Show last year, and fell in love with their dark chocolate bar filled with raspberry jam, one of the items that is part of their "Retro" line. You can bet your butt that I bought one of those today. It was all I could do not to buy the whole shelf-ful. Lisa bought one of these, the Milk Salty Pretzel bar. Chocolate Bar is known for their delicious hot chocolate (they call it "Liquid Chocolate"), and it definitely didn't disappoint. I ordered a small, thinking there was no way I could down a larger cup if it turned out to be as rich and sinful as promised. It was divine. With a consistency somewhere between your usual watery hot cocoa and pure melted chocolate, it was velvety and slightly frothy, and not overly sweet or rich. I will definitely be back for more, and soon. Leaving Chocolate Bar, we turned southwest to head for Hudson Street, and decided to stop in at Li-Lac Chocolates, where the ambience is decidedly more old-fashioned and flowery than the hip, modern Chocolate Bar. The treats looked good, though, and I've never been able to resist marshmallow, so I grabbed a couple of fluff bars - marshmallow covered in dark chocolate. Finally, after a bit of a walk down Hudson Street, Lisa and I arrived at the final destination of our chocolate pilgrimage: Jacques Torres' Chocolate Haven. At this point, we were running out of time - I had a hair appointment at four, halfway across SoHo. But, we dashed in to do a bit of reconnaissance for all of you! The bar and retail area is surrounded on all sides by the chocolate-making magic - Lisa said it was like walking into Willy Wonka's!! On our way in, we spotted these molds: Inside, there's a retail counter with loads of truffles - they also sell the chocolate bark here that we saw at the Chocolate Show. There's a beautiful bar where you can get hot chocolate and coffee, and lots of little tables at which you can sit and enjoy...this guy decided to stay at the counter. After our quick stop in Jacques' shop, Lisa and I parted ways...I headed to Mercer Street to have my hair done, and Lisa headed uptown to get some work done. However, after my hair appointment, I could not resist a quick peek into Sur La Table, which was on the way back to the subway in any case! I managed to avoid a lot of pricey stuff, but got really psyched over these creme brulee dishes, which were less than $2.00 each - I bought six, and also picked up a Microplane zester, something I can't believe I don't already own. SoHo is very pretty, with mostly low-rise buildings graced with huge, loft-like windows. Anyone who's fought their way down Broadway between Prince and Spring knows how ridiculously crowded the neighborhood can be, but it was pretty calm tonight. Here's a view down Broadway, looking toward Chinatown and the Financial District beyond. Finally, one last peek into a food spot before hopping on the subway. I still have half a loaf of my Eli's bread to get through, but I couldn't resist a little window shopping at Balthazar. Finally, it was back to the subway and up to 86th Street and home...

Good questions, Chufi! Things I like to cook for myself...generally, I prefer to cook foods that adapt well to a home kitchen - I'm a big fan of Italian home cooking for its overall simplicity and breadth of ingredients. I love the way it highlights the flavors of its main elements with the other ingredients, and I love the robust, rustic flavors traditionally associated with Italian food. Obviously, Italian food can also be quite subtle, but one of the things I love about its bolder flavors is how easy they are to replicate at home. Along those same lines, I also love a lot of the classic French dishes, especially the stews and the stew-like...cassoulet, boeuf bourgignon, coq au vin, and so on. These are especially good for a single gal like myself, as one big pot made on Sunday can last for three or four dinners during the week. Since I work fairly long hours and pretty much deprive myself of any convenience options by not having a microwave (a conscious decision which really does help me eat better), I have to plan my meals in advance. An easy way to do this on a week-to-week basis is to prepare meals based on similar ideas, and to supplement my weekly shopping with an occasional return to the store to buy a special vegetable or cut of meat. This is one reason you see me make a lot of green salads on the Dinner thread - I don't get tired of them, and I buy the same ingredients for them each week. Inspiration I get everywhere - a lot of inspiration for my pasta dishes has come from my experiences at Paola's, a little Italian place around the corner that I love for its pastas and its salads. I read Gourmet each month, and will regularly return to my cookbook collection for ideas or when I know I want something with X, but have no idea where to start. Sometimes, though, the idea for a meal just comes from seeing something in the market - a glorious piece of meat or a beautiful vegetable...especially in the summer and fall, I try to cook as much as possible from what I can find in the farmers' markets, which in these parts leads to a lot of tomato salads, apple pies and corn risottos. And, like all of us, I gain inspiration from what I see in the eGullet forums - I've made your butter-braised chicken and Susan's champagne vinegar chicken, and have been spurred to make my first puff pastry and carbonara by what I've read here. As for your second question - I have a few places like that! One is Saigon Grill, a Vietnamese place that I order delivery from once or twice a week, at least. Their food always hits the spot and kills my cravings, plus it's cheap! Another place like that is somewhere I'm planning to bring you all sometime this week...Java Girl, a little coffee place on 66th Street. It's warm and cozy, and they make an incredibly good cup of coffee. You can sit in one of the tattered chairs and read a book for hours. I love it there.

Sorry to have abandoned you all this afternoon, but I hope the trip I'm about to share with you will make up for my negligence! I think doing a foodblog must be good karma, because I had excellent train and bus luck today - they came quickly each time I needed them, and I got a seat every time - even on the Lexington Avenue line at rush hour! I started out this morning by stopping in at Two Little Red Hens, a bakery based in Park Slope that has a small outpost here on the UES (85th and 2nd). When I popped in around 11:45, there were a few customers in the shop, and when I asked permission to take some photos, the staff was very excited about it, and had me write down eG's address to check it out themselves. So, if they're reading this - thanks, guys! As Pan mentioned above, the bakery specializes in traditional American treats. Here's a look at their display case: It being (sort of) breakfast time, I steered clear of the very tempting cupcakes and went for a maple wheat scone. It was delicious! I ate the scone while waiting for the 86th Street crosstown bus, which I took over to the West Side to meet my friend Lisa. We then headed down to 14th Street to check out Chelsea Market... The Chelsea Market building houses several shops and bakeries as well as the Food Network and New York 1 (our local cable news channel) studios. The shops range from clothing mixed with food to a produce market to a branch of Bowery Restaurant Supply. It can be crammed at lunchtime with local office workers, but we put the actual lunch bit off to about 2 PM and managed to avoid any ridiculous crowds. In the meantime, we explored. First up, Eleni's Cookies! These cookies are famous in New York for actually having tasty icing, and for being the socialite's favorite gift not to eat. I've gotten a few boxes of these for work-related thank you's, and they're quite good. Their current display is all about the Oscars: After that, we stopped in at FatWitch, where they sell delicious brownies. Knowing we were headed for loads of chocolate later in the day, I decided to sample and then buy a blondie - Lisa went for the traditional, fudgy brownie. From there we went to Amy's Bread. Walking into that shop made me so thankful to have some semblance of a sense of smell back. It was like walking into the middle of a warm loaf of bread - the scent was warm and just sort of enveloped you in its arms. So good. Some of the merchandise in the shop at Amy's Bread: And some biscuits doing their thing in the attached, windowed bakery: Next up, finally, was lunch. Hallelujah! Lisa is a big fan of all things Asian-food-related, and I was looking for something to blast open my sinuses, so we decided on Thai. Chelsea Thai has a tiny counter where you order, and a few shelves of Asian groceries (including Pocky!). I bought some rice fettucine and sriracha in addition to my lunch. That's my lunch in the foreground and Lisa's in the back. I got the Pad gra prow (chicken with chili paste, basil, red and green pepper, scallions and onions), and Lisa got the Pa kee mow, a fried noodle dish with garlic chili, basil, onion, peppers and tomatoes. Both were delicious, and mine definitely took care of my sinuses. The next spot we passed was a bakery called French Oven - we didn't go in, but their display case was too gorgeous not to photograph. The fruit tarts in particular looked unbelievable. Across the hall from the Thai place was an Italian market full of goodies. Cheeses, meats, prepared foods, and all sorts of Italian biscuits and sweets. The oil section is huge: The cheese section takes up two walls (this is the smaller one!), and they also have quail eggs (for 50 cents apiece): Lisa's favorite here was the display stacked with 3 kg jars of Nutella. That is a HUGE amount of chocolate and hazelnut spread, my friends. My favorite was the assortment of meticulously crafted marazapane - a whole platter of fish and shellfish. Weird, and amazing. From the Italian market, we paid a visit to the Manhattan Fruit Exchange. It went on and on, full of beautiful and reasonably priced produce, but it was so cold in there that we both got headaches, so we only managed to snap a picture of the colorful heaps of peppers before turning tail and running out. Our last stop at Chelsea Market was the Bowery Restaurant Supply, where I flirted briefly with purchasing a stick blender. They have shelf after shelf of cutlery and glassware, like these standard wine goblets. Finally, we emerged, victorious and sated, into semi-sunlight (the eG foodblog karma also extended to the weather, which behaved itself and did not rain on us). We then turned southward...where did we go? More on that shortly!

Thanks, Kouign! To give credit where it's due, I think that photo benefits from the ridiculously beautiful bread, but I'll take my compliments where I can get 'em! Sorry to hear that you're feeling homesick, Alana...the blizzard was pretty great, but things are all back to normal now. Northern California is a pretty excellent place, too - but I can understand why you'd miss NYC!

Marlene and Smithy, I am thinking about recommendations for both of you! I will keep you in mind today and see what I can come up with. I'd also like to solicit the help of my fellow New Yorkers with this one...anything they can contribute will be very welcome, I know!

Woke up this morning to a rather gray, gloomy day outside of my window. However, that doesn't change the fact that I am headed out for a day o' fun. I woke up this morning and gradually realized that my entire apartment REEKS of garlic. Most days, this would be an unpleasant revelation, but today, it just means that I can smell again! I also realized that I have not done the ritual bowing at the altar of caffeine. There are two reasons for this. The first is that I rarely make coffee at home - I'm not much of a morning person, and so I don't leave extra time in my routine for a cup of coffee. Mostly, I grab a cup at a coffee cart on the way to the office. For those of you who may never have seen one, the coffee carts in New York look like this: Even when I'm on vacation, I'm more likely to run across the street for a cup of coffee from a cafe than I am to make a pot at home. The second reason is that I try to stay away from coffee and alcohol (and if you know me, you know that ain't easy - I love my java and my vino) when I'm sick. However, I feel on the mend, and feel safe saying that tomorrow morning will definitely include at least one coffee run. Prasantrin, you also asked about pets! Sadly, my building does not allow pets. I'm very attached to my family's dog, Buster, who now lives in California with my mom and is approaching 17 (!) years of age. I am a huge dog person, and a cat person when the right cat is involved, but I don't have a furry friend at present. I will be out and about for most of the day, collecting experiences and photos for your viewing enjoyment. I'll be going uptown, downtown, all around the town - Upper East Side, SoHo, Chelsea, Greenwich Village, maybe even a bit of Little Italy. So, sit tight, and I'll be back late this afternoon with a fresh installment!

Don't know about kitchen tours, but I'll do my best! As for a little Italian market - there certainly are places like this in the city! My neighborhood is historically German/Austrian/Hungarian, so we don't have a whole lot of Italian spots. But an ethnic market is definitely on the schedule. As for Serendipity, yeah, it's pretty touristy. The lines can get absolutely ridiculous. While the sandwiches are pretty good, and the frozen hot chocolate is tasty, it's just not worth the hour's wait, most of the time. I'm sensing a groundswell of support for a visit to Jacques Torres, my dears.

So, tonight I went to the Metropolitan Opera to see Camille Saint-Saens' Samson et Dalila. The tickets were a very generous Christmas gift from my friend Louisa and her husband Nick, and I had a wonderful time. I brought my little (ok, he's 23) brother with me - he'd never been to the opera before, so it was really fun to see his reactions. He's in grad school, getting his MFA in theatre management, so he's no stranger to various kinds of performance - but this was his first full-on opera. We were originally going to meet up for dinner, but since our mom was here over the weekend, we were both a little restaurant-ed out, and decided to eat at our respective apartments before meeting up at Lincoln Center. I wasn't that hungry, so I decided to go for a cup of tea (Celestial Seasonings' Sleepytime) and a thick slice of that bread I bought this morning. I spread half the slice with blueberry preserves and the other half with raspberry. I could just barely taste them both, and they tasted gooood. Now, it's off to bed. See you all in the morning - sleep tight!

I'll second that recommendation! I know, it looks scary, but the feeling of getting the gunk out is just wonderful and it helps increase circulation and healing in the sinuses. And, to keep this food related, a clear nose means you can actually taste what you're eating . ← I'll third the neti pot recommendation - you will instantly be able to smell, taste (and even hear) better. And, it uses salt - keeping it food related. ← Hmmmm...we shall see, ladies. I can actually see how it would be really cool. I have a history of ear troubles, so I'll need to run this one by my ENT doc before proceeding. I love anything that involves salt!!! Thanks for the healthy vibes, Pan! There really are some nasty bugs going around...this is the second bad cold I've had in a month, and I rarely get sick. As for Little Red Hens - again, you people are reading my mind! I really like it there - it's a cute little place, and the sweets are pretty good. I sampled something ridiculously good there the other day, some sort of tea cake with a maple frosting. I was planning on stopping there for a VERY healthy snack or breakfast treat tomorrow morning. I'll do my best to snap a few photos - it shouldn't be too busy on a Thursday morning, so we may be in the clear! Well, for both good and ill, the New York I live in is a very different one from the place I visited as a child. I don't know how old you are, but this is pretty much the case for anyone over the age of 20, I would suspect. Though I doubt you were in much danger in the hotel room , there was a time when being mugged on the street in NYC was a rite of passage for all New Yorkers, something they just expected to happen at least once. These days, the city has an incredibly low crime rate (we're ranked something like 220 for crime per capita in American cities), which makes things feel more comfortable, but also somewhat sanitized.

Prepare to snore, Jake! I work in vendor management for a management consulting firm. Basically, my job is to help manage the firm's relationship with the vendors they use to outsourse their IT development work, both here in the U.S. and abroad (India and Europe). I have nothing whatsoever to do with the technical stuff, but am pretty involved in all the management, legal and financial stuff. Boring, I know. I'll be back at work on Monday, so we'll have two days of my normal life (bad midtown lunches and all) before this is done with! As for where I picked up my cooking skills - mostly, from my mother and my au pair, Lori (who came for a summer and stayed for 11 years, so "au pair" doesn't really do her justice). My mom has always been an excellent cook, but didn't have a lot of time to use her skills when I was little. I saw her cook on weekends (when I wasn't at my dad's house) and holidays, but Lori did the cooking most weeknights. She taught me to bake, which was what really got me interested in cooking. It seemed almost like alchemy to me - why do the cookies come out better when I do this instead of this? I loved it, and I couldn't get enough. From there, I just watched and listened and learned. About six or seven years ago, I spent a day with my grandmother, learning to make pie crust. Nonie is not a big cook - everything she makes is good, but her repetoire is pretty limited. Her apple pie, though, is out of this world. When my grandparents sold their Connecticut house this fall, I took the rolling pin I learned on with me. That afternoon was most certainly definitive for me. And someone asked about Artisanal - I think it was Lady T! I am not a huge cheese eater, and so have never made a visit to Artisanal. However, I have heard mixed reviews in recent days, whereas a couple of years ago the feedback was almost universally positive.

Karen, it's like you can read my mind! I will definitely be hitting Kitchen Arts and Letters at some point this week. As for Central Park Conservancy - yes, I have been, but only once! : Almost two years ago we had a gorgeous early summer day, and my friend Miles and I walked from 77th and 3rd up to 105th and 5th - and ran into a high school friend of mine on the bridle path in Central Park! The Conservancy was beautiful, and I can't believe I haven't been back. It was relatively crowded, since it was the first really nice day that year, and since it was a Sunday, but I can imagine how peaceful it might be on a day like today... Hey, Beanie! Yes, there are still some Hunagrian and German spots around. Andre's Cafe, a Hungarian bakery and restaurant, just opened in my block last year, and Heidelberg is a few blocks away at 86th and 2nd, still going strong. Then, of course, there's the venerable Schaller and Weber, where I buy my bacon and have been known to eye the tins of goose fat. Not sure about Orwasher's, as I don't walk down 78th Street very often, but I'll try to take a peek sometime this week and let you know!

Good ideas, both! While I was washing the dishes from my late lunch, I thought I felt the decongestant kick in a tiny bit, and I could smell the leftover soup...so, hope remains! I'll be taking a shower before I gussy myself up for the opera, so hopefully that will help, too. And bruschetta will be a great way to use up some of that leftover bread. Thanks for looking after me, guys! Glad you enjoyed the pics o' bread, Ling! And, I have to admit, I already have a few activities in mind that make me think of you...however, to address your requests: - I do like Payard - especially if you want a sort of full-service, upscale bakery experience. It's not the sort of place I bring something home from, but I do love to go with a friend and have a cappuccino and a chocolate something. - As for Magnolia, I'm sort of "eh" about it. You can get decent cupcakes all over the city, and there are plenty of places far closer to me (Magnolia is kiddy-corner across the island from my apartment, far south and west) where you can get one. The frosting doesn't bother me (with cupcakes I often find myself licking the frosting off first no matter how much there is, anyway), but I do know it bothers some of my friends. My friends Miles and Hall, who live in the West Village and therefore are close to Magnolia, are very divided over this issue. I'll see if I can get them to weigh in for your edification! - Buttercup is a lot like Magnolia - they did, however, do a great cake for me last summer. I ordered a big sheet cake from them for a colleague's wedding shower, and they did a good job. Chocolate cake with mocha buttercream - it was delicious, and I did not find the buttercream too sugary. - Lunch at Nougatine (the more casual room at Jean-Georges) is indeed a bargain. However, the last time I ate there (admittedly, for dinner, and for a far higher price) I was really underwhelmed, so it's not on the agenda right now. That could change, though! - Blue Ribbon is fantastic. It's not often that I find myself there, but when I do, it's usually late at night, and it's always fun.

OK, one last post before I head off for a much-needed nap...I know, I know, poor me! Here's the mis en place for the garlic soup: From left to right, you can just see the flour canister (wasn't going to dirty a prep bowl with one tablespoon!!!), 2 medium onions, finely chopped, red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup thinly sliced garlic, chicken stock, and schmalz. Yum, schmalz. Here's the onion and garlic, just added to the pot with the schmalz: And here's the soup, after simmering for 30 minutes: You then add in two eggs, separated - the yolks are mixed with vinegar, the whites with some reserved stock. However, before doing this, I spooned off about two bowls' worth, knowing that I probably can't enjoy this soup to its fullest right now. I'll save those servings for later in the week. Here's the final product, with a hunk of that bread! As predicted, I could not taste a thing, even when I added loads of salt and pepper. The texture of the soup was lovely and velvety, though, and the bread was great. I can't remember the last time I had such a huge head cold! Hopefully this symptom will pass...I may be forced to pour chiles on everything... All right, off to bed for some healing rest...and tonight, it's to Samson et Dalila at the Met!

And, for those of you who really want to see where the magic happens ( ), here are some shots of my kitchen. It's small on an overall scale, but for your average Manhattan kitchen (and especially in a studio), this is pretty big. It's about 15 by 10 feet, so there's plenty of space for my table and chairs. The one downside is that there is, quite literally, no counterspace. The sliver of it that exists next to the sink is used to hold my dishrack (no dishwasher ). However, my little kitchen cart, together with my table, are more than sufficient for me - it does make collaboration in the kitchen tough, though. This is the view of the stove, sink and fridge, as seen from the entrance from the living area. This is the kitchen cart, which sits on a wall at a 90-degree angle from the stove and fridge...I do all of my chopping and dicing and slicing here, and it's also where I put my mixer and food processor when I use them. That pepper mill on the left is an heirloom, handed down to me from my grandmother. My kitchen table (you'll see that later when it's not covered in papers!) is also from her, an early American farmhouse table with (my favorite part) a drawer underneath one leaf!

Thank you all so much for all of your good wishes! This is one of the reasons I love eGullet so much - people are so supportive and encouraging! OK, cheezeball moment is over for now! Hey, Smithy! My mom currently lives in Fresno, and has been there for a little more than six years now. She moved during my senior year of college. I was born and raised in Connecticut (Greenwich) and went to boarding school in New Hampshire and college outside Philly. I'm definitely a born and bred Northeaster, and much more a New Englander than anything else. However, NYC always had a special sort of allure for me when I was growing up nearby, and I always pictured myself living here as an adult. Eventually I'd like to try some other cities on for size, but I really do love it here. On a side note, the garlic soup (from the new Cooking of Soutwest France) is simmering on the stove. I just chopped two onions and half a head of garlic, and didn't smell any of it. WEIRD! Stupid head cold.

Hey, Abra! I'm psyched for Babbo, too! Pegu is pronounced "Peg-oo." Weird? Perhaps. But freakin' good, too! Sounds like a trip to Pegu is in my future...I am a slave to popular demand. Likewise, I will definitely make a batch of madeleines at some point! Now, Fabulous Food Babe, I would never tell Mario that you had a dream about him...though I'm curious to know what it was about, myself! As for pics of the bartenders at Pegu, you can count on it, if they're not too camera-shy. Maybe it's time for my ultra-zoom spygirl lens? I think this is probably true - I've been lucky to have decent-sized kitchens during my tenure in New York, but I've also sought out apartments with that feature. Most people who live in studios (like I do) have kitchens that are essentially a couple of appliances in the corner of the main living area. I have a separate, eat-in kitchen, and though it's not big on counter space, it's big on room to move - which is nice, especially when people feel the urge to help you out in the kitchen! As for the abundant, affordable food making up for the lack of entertaining space, I do think that's true. You can eat better for less in New York than in most places, I suspect. Of course, you can also spend more for complete crap.

Well, this morning went pretty much as planned...I met my mom for breakfast around 9:30 at a spot called E.J.'s Luncheonette. E.J.'s has three outposts in Manhattan - one on Amsterdam in the West 80's, one in Greenwich Village, and one near me, at 73rd and 3rd. This is the one Mom and I visited today. E.J.'s is known for large portions of good, solid comfort food - nothing fancy, but plenty of hangover cures to be had, which may explain why they're packed to the gills on weekend mornings. This morning was pretty quiet, about half full. Mom had eggs overeasy, bacon and challah toast with raspberry jam. I had "crispy french toast," which is challah coated in egg, cornflakes and crushed almonds, then fried up in butter. Served with syrup and more butter. It was good - my cold is preventing me from tasting a whole lot, so it seemed bland, but it could just have been my impaired taste buds doing their thing - or not, as the case may be. Sorry for the small picture! ImageGullet and I were having a bit of a tiff...we've made up for now, but that picture was the collateral damage, I fear. After saying goodbye to my mom, I walked uptown to Eli's, a market owned by Zabar's founder Eli Zabar. Eli's can be expensive - their produce in particular seems pricey to me - but they're great for cheeses, prepared foods and breads. Also, unlike Zabar's across town, Eli's is relatively sane, even on a Saturday morning. I needed to grab garlic, onions and bread for the garlic soup I'm making this afternoon, and also needed to pick up some stock - I don't have much in the freezer right now, so I figure theirs is the next-best thing to homemade. Here's a photo tour of what I found! Eli's entrance on Third Avenue, looking northeast: When you enter Eli's, you walk through a small florist's area, and then you hop on the escalator that will take you down to the market's main floor... The escalator dumps you into the produce section - I thought the citrus looked particularly good! After you pass through the produce section (where I ended up grabbing the aforementioned onions and garlic as well as a lemon for the endless cups of tea I'm drinking to combat my cold), you enter the prepared foods section. There's a small cooler with sandwiches (brisket with roasted onions on health bread is a typical offering), the requisite sushi, and then shelf upon shelf of soups, stocks, dips, dressings, and the like. This is where I picked up my chicken stock - I noticed that they are also carrying schmalz these days, though I prefer to buy that at the kosher butcher in my block. Close to the prepared foods are the olive and pickle bar and the cheese section. The photo I took does not do the cheese section justice - the service here is great, as are the descriptions of each cheese offered on the placards. I am not a huge cheese-easter, but usually serve some to guests, and the folks at Eli's are great about letting me know what will go well with my favorite olives and cornichons. I didn't get a chance to document them, but the meat and fish counters are great here, too - recently, the NY Times did an expose on "wild" salmon being sold at counters around NYC, and only Eli's was found to be carrying the real thing. Before you make it to the escalator that will take you into the baked goods section, you pass through the dry goods area - nuts, dried fruits, coffee, vinegar and oils...all good, though, as noted above, slightly pricey. And, here's the view on the up escalator! The baked goods at Eli's are awesome - they have the most delicious mini-toasts that are great for parties, and their breads are amazing and relatively cheap. They also always have samples of at least one baked good available for tasting. Today it was some sort of coffee cake, and the gentleman whose hand is in the picture was really enjoying his third taste! I was very taken by these muffins... But I was a good girl. I reminded myself that I was there for bread, and set myself to the task of choosing just one! At first I thought I might go with this one... And this is one of my favorites... But then I decided on this one: On my way toward the checkout counter, I passed the salad bar. This is one of my favorite take-away spots. I'll stop by after work and grab a piece of chicken or a cornish game hen, slap some green beans with garlic in there, and head home. I hit the dairy section briefly to pick up some eggs, and saw this gorgeous L'Escure butter. Yum. I resisted temptation, though. Finally, I made it out. And now I'm home, and will soon start on the garlic soup!!!

Hey, Lori! Not a dumb question at all. Mt. Sinai is indeed on the Upper East Side - it's on the western border of the neighborhood (5th Avenue), and is about 10 blocks north of where I live. The area of the Upper East Side I live in is also called Yorkville. Here's a link to an interactive map of Manhattan neighborhoods - hope it helps! The Upper East Side is a big place, extending from 5th Avenue and 59th Street to 110th Street and the East River, by some definitions. ETA: Just saw Cleo's contribution - thanks!!!

Good morning, all! I'm really excited about doing my first foodblog, and I can't wait to show you around New York City, my adopted hometown. This week we'll be hitting the opera (pre-theatre dinner and during-intermission Champagne make it food-related!), Babbo, a couple of markets, and loads of other fun spots. I'll also be cooking a whole bunch, and giving it my all to make something I've never made before...but more on that later. I've lived in Manhattan since graduating from college in 2001, and have loved it from day one. At first, my forays into the New York food scene were exclusively restaurant-based - milking my California-based mom for dinner at all the new places I wanted to try when she was in town, while eating Kraft dinner or Ramen at home when she wasn't. At some point, I realized how much money I could save and how much better I could treat myself if I actually started cooking for myself. I always had the skills (I used to throw brunches and cocktail parties), but just never cooked for myself on a regular basis. Well, that's changed, and if I'm still not the most accomplished home cook I know (and certainly not anywhere close to it here on eGullet), I am one of the happiest. I live on the Upper East Side, a neighborhood known for its museums, its palatial Park Avenue apartments, and its (clothes) shopping. I'm hoping to show you my version of the Upper East Side, filled with tiny coffee shops and tinier produce shops, fantastic bakeries and even the occasional decent restaurant. But not to worry - we'll also be making visits to SoHo, Chelsea, and Greenwich Village, at the very least. I am off from work this week, since my mom is here from California, and am leaving right now to meet her for breakfast before she has to catch a plane home. But, I'll be back with a full report on breakfast and any adventures undertaken on the way home. In the meantime, I'd love to hear from all of you - is there anything you'd like to see me do this week? Any place you'd like me to visit and photograph to death for you? Anything you think I should make? I have a bit of a head cold, and am pondering garlic soup for dinner tonight. Recommendations are VERY welcome! See you soon!

Hey, Spiro! Like Mike, I'm excited to be getting a Starwich in my neighborhood (UES) in the (near?) future. I have a question to add to his - will the uptown joints differ in any way from the ambience you've worked to create further downtown? As you know, the UES is pretty residential, and I would imagine that most of your weekday traffic would be stay-at-home parents with kids in tow and self-employed, freelancer types (much like what I already find at, say, DTUT on 2nd Avenue). In light of this, do you have any plans to tweak the design of the shops to accomodate a higher volume of stroller traffic and loads of laptops? Any plans for mid-afternoon story hour type activities?

Not a lot of fun for under-the-table hanky panky. Or for hiding food in your napkin. Not that I participate in either - I am the consummate guest.

This.