Shake Shack

Although there are now 3 locations, the original Shake Shack is situated in Madison Square Park. It is, as its name implies, a burger stand, serving the best milk shakes around. The shack is surrounded by small, rickety tables and that's pretty much all there is to it. I hear the burgers are pretty awesome, but as a non-beef eater I always get either the chicken hot dog or portabella mushroom sandwich. None of the food here is very good for you, but it all tastes pretty darn great. Amazingly, the line here is usually an hour long or more, but somehow I never seem to mind. This place is usually so busy that they have a "shack cam" on their website that lets you preview the line situation before you go. It's a great place to spend a lazy afternoon basking in a sunny day and the food is always solid. I highly recommend the french fries (Ankur votes them as the best he's ever eaten!) and, of course, the milkshakes. Go only when you have time to spare and you are with someone you wouldn't mind spending a few hours with. After lunch at the shack, we wandered around, did a little shopping, and enjoyed the Fall colors in Union Square as you can see above.

If you look really hard at the picture at right, you can see Ankur waving. He's happy because he's almost made it to the front of the line :)

BBQ Chicken and Potato Salad

We finally got a new TV! Our old clunker broke down about two weeks ago. The sound was fine but the picture was a complete blur. At first, Ankur wanted to investigate repair options, but when we found out it would probably cost more to fix our old TV than what it was worth, I, along with our families, were able to convince him it was time to enter the 21st century and get a flat panel. So he, Suraj, and Sridhar picked out a 46" 10 ADP HDTV (I have no idea what any of that means) and it was delivered this past Saturday. Our first thoughts were "It's too big and it's too clear". Everyone thinks we're crazy but the pretty people just aren't pretty anymore on such a crystal clear screen. People say we'll get used to it but the jury's still out on that one. So what does all this have to do with BBQ chicken and potato salad? After spending an obscene amount of money on a new TV, Ankur decided we could no longer afford to go out to eat, AT ALL. So we proceeded to go through all our old recipes and settled on one last summer meal of BBQ chicken and my mom's famous potato salad for our Saturday night in to semi-enjoy watching Hindi film songs on our new TV. Although I rarely cook these days, I'm not half bad!

Clinton Street Baking Co. & Restaurant

My cousin Geeta, Ankur, and I have long been planning (for 2.5 years been planning) a visit to Clinton St. for brunch. Their pancakes have reached the stuff of legend in New York. You can imagine their dismay when I had to break it to them that I went with my sister, Bindu. I hadn't meant for it happen, I don't know how it did, but Bindu can be SO convincing, AND bossy! Well, to be honest, it wasn't that hard to convince me. On any given Sunday, you can see the line winding out of the restaurant down Clinton St. usually indicating a minimum of a one hour wait. On this Sunday, Bindu and I didn't mind at all. We'd been blessed with a gloriously beautiful fall New York day and we took the waiting time as an opportunity to scope out our LES shopping plan for the afternoon and to taste test cannoli's at a new LES shop specializing in them called Stuffed Artisan Cannolis (Imagine a restaurant with 30 different kinds of cannolis and nothing else. It's awesome - go there). We were seated after about an 80 minute wait and I have to say I actually think it might have been worth the wait - and we didn't even get pancakes!). I had the Southern breakfast consisting of 2 eggs over easy, sugar cured bacon, cheese grits, friend green tomatoes, and a biscuit. The fried green tomatoes didn't come anywhere close to the ones my mom makes, and any true Southerner knows that grits should be a little lumpier than that ones at Clinton St., but the rest of the elements were just right, particularly the sugar cured bacon - genius! A highly satisfying savory breakfast well complemented by Bindu's Belgian vanilla waffle with roasted pineapple and toasted coconut. There were so many things on the menu we wanted to try that I didn't even make it to the pancakes on this visit, SO Ankur and Geeta we will go back, I promise!

Po

I first tried this charming West Village Italian spot in 2005 while visiting Bindu and Suraj with my parents and Ankur. The evening always stands out in my mind because it was the last family dinner before the birth of my eldest nephew, Kiran. I remember it as a night filled with laughter, excitement, and anticipation for the arrival of our newest family member. Mario Batali was still chef/owner at that time and while I know I enjoyed the food, it was almost secondary to the vibe of the evening. I returned several months later with a group of my college girlfriends while we were in town to celebrate New Year's Eve and we had an equally boisterous time. I came back on this occasion with Bindu, my oldest friend in the world Laura Conn, and her sister (who has just moved to NYC!!) Katie. Chef Lee McGrath has taken over the reigns at Po, but it can still be counted on for affordable, interesting Italian. The pastas are all homemade and the sauces and accompaniments are never boring. There are always enough dishes promising bacon and spice to keep me happy. While the food is not as sublime as at my favorite Italian eateries - Lupa and Babbo, it definitely hits the spot without breaking the bank. The true standout for me was probably dessert - the panna cotta with amarena cherries. The consistency was perfect and the cherries were sweet yet tangy. The end of this night was made even sweeter by a celebrity sighting that I dare say changed Bindu's life. As I was walking out of the restaurant, I saw Keri Russell (aka Felicity) out of the corner of my eye. Knowing that Bindu had a Felicity obsession for several years, I calmly walked back inside, pulled her aside and said "I think Keri Russell is standing outside, please be cool." Bindu was able to not make a scene but I think she's still pretty disappointed we didn't ask her for a picture. It was a great night for sisters and for old friends.
Sorry I don't have any pictures of Keri Russell, but here's a shot of me and my mom at that "last supper" before baby Kiran changed all of our lives forever! We actually sat at the same table (note the comfy leather booth) on this visit too.

Po revisited - 12/21/09
My dad was in town over the weekend for his annual visit to watch Duke play at MSG. This year, we got to see an awful Duke team kill an even worse Gonzaga and then fortunately for me, and unfortunately for my dad, a blizzard prolonged his stay by two days. He found plenty to do while I was on call, and then treated me to dinner at Po before he headed back home. We decided Alleia has better food but the desserts at Po win out in the end. We shared the porcini crusted cod with sweet pepper sauce and the butternut squash ravioli with brown butter (very similar to Alleia's but a little more doughy).

The panna cotta with amarena cherries...it really is just about the perfect dessert! And a not very good picture of dad enjoying the cod.

Jean Georges

After visiting chef Jean Georges flagship Manhattan restaurant, I can firmly say he deserves every one of those three Michelin stars. Located in Trump Tower on Central Park West, I was expecting the restaurant to be pretentious and stiff. I couldn't have been more wrong. The dining room was actually quite cozy and the waitstaff always pleasant and helpful despite the fact that we were clearly newbies. There are two rooms at Jean-Georges: the front room, which is a separate (less expensive) restaurant, where there seemed to be a lot of regulars hanging around, and the back room which is Jean-Georges proper. The room is a giant rectangle, so every table can be seen and no table is a bad one. What made this dining experience especially memorable was that I got to share it with one of my favorite couples, my original foodies, Bindu and Suraj. Few people relish a good meal the way Suraj does, and watching him have a love affair with his food is highly entertaining. I was a bit apprehensive before the meal because I am usually not a huge fan of fine French dining, but Bindu assured me that the food would have enough Asian inspired flavors to keep my palate satisfied. We started our three course prix fixe with hamachi sashimi, peekytoe crab, caramelized sea scallops, and goat cheese gnocchi. Each dish was so well balanced, it was hard to pick a favorite, but the pillowy, melt in your mouth gnocchi was certainly one of the best I've ever had. For our second course, we shared the charred corn ravioli, arctic char, gulf shrimp with smoked bacon, and chili glazed maine halibut. Everything was cooked to perfection and each dish really did have an extra kick or hidden ingredient to make the flavors stand out. We're not talking your typical French bechamel's and buttery sauces, this was creative, surprising, fantastic food! Many of the sauces had hints of mustard or wasabi or horseradish and they were adventurous with their use of spice and peppers. Our third course (what we thought would be our last) consisted of a black sea bass crusted with nuts, rack of lamb with chili glaze, and maine lobster with basil butter and jalapeno. While lamb is usually my runaway favorite dish, I have to say Ankur ordered best when he picked the black sea bass. The sweet and sour jus combined with the grainy, crunchy crust was out of this world. As we began to debate how much we were willing to spend on our dessert, we were informed it was actually included in the prix fixe. I don't think I have ever seen Bindu or Ankur look happier. Ohhhh dessert. My wish for each and every one of you reading this is: that at some point in your lives, you get to dine at Jean-Georges and then, at the end of your meal, when you are already swimming in ecstasy, you have the experience of a Jean Georges signature dessert platter (four desserts - all for you - based on a category of your choosing), our choices were: chocolate, autumn, strawberry, and harvest. We got one of each, thus creating a sixteen course dessert tasting. At the end of night, I was not only deeply satisfied by the food, but by the entire experience. Jean Georges proved to me that cooking is about so much more than the food, it's an art, and chef Jean Georges is a true master of his art. I felt not even an ounce of guilt at the price (which was actually less than I had anticipated) because, on this night, we ate (and felt) like royalty. Move over Gari, there is a new king of my heart.

Here we are with our amazing desserts (don't we look happy!)


The Arctic Char covered in chili-lime foam (above), Suraj enjoying his lamb (below)And last, but not least, the after dessert desserts including homemade marshmallows, chocolates, and candied fruits.

Saigon Bakery/Chinatown Ice Cream Factory

One thing I know always holds true: when Bindu and Suraj come to town there will be lots of eating. On this particular visit, we weaved our way through the city doing some truly marathon level eating. Having enjoyed a rich meal the night before at Pearl Oyster Bar, I wanted to introduce my sister and brother-in-law to some truly authentic "fast food" in Chinatown. My friend Mabel first told me about Saigon Bakery and I must say I've found no better Banh Mi in the city. The entrance to the restaurant is actually a jewelry store, but if you make your way to the back, you will find a small counter where you can order any of about ten different types of Banh Mi. What makes these sandwiches so excellent is how well all the individual ingredients work together. From the flaky, chewy bread to the sweet glazed pork to the pickled, julienned vegetables all topped off with fresh cilantro and jalapenos. The $3.75 price tag for a sandwich that feeds two only sweetens the deal.
Never one to be satisfied without dessert, Bindu suggested a trip down the street to the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. This little shop always manages to make it's way on to NYC top ten lists but I've never been overly impressed. We all shared two scoops - lychee and green tea. While I enjoyed the chunks of fresh lychee, I found the green tea a little too creamy for my taste.