A Knife, a Fork, a Bottle and a Cork...

...That's The Way You Spell New York
After a weekend in Philadelphia I took the train up to Manhattan. We were eating within an hour of my arrival.
We started with Momofuku Ssäm, the trendy Korean burrito joint. We waited for a server as numerous employees walked back and forth passed our table. It took about ten minutes for someone to tell us that during lunch your order at the counter at the rear of the restaurant.Never have I experienced such an awkward tension between the servers behind the counter. It was as if we walked into to someone's apartment unannounced and demanded that they make us lunch. The only difference was we were in a restaurant and about to be $16 for a football sized burrito.This proved to be the healthiest thing I ate all week: tofu, cucumbers, mushrooms and rice.Drinking commenced at TV on the Radio at McCarren Pool. The hipsters were out in full force, with some prize-winning costumes. One of the hipster offspring peed in the pool. Drinking continued at Clems. Late into the night BBQ was consumed at Fette Sau. I love New York because you can get a delicious plate of bar-b-que at 10pm on a Sunday and it looks like a typical LA restaurant at 7pm on a Thursday.Slab of baby backs, baked beans with huge chunks of meat in it, fresh pickles and two rolls. A terrific meal, with good flavor in the two accompanying sauces.
Drinking followed at Larry Lawrence where the hipsterism continued. The conversation I walked in on included "what Coltrane was doing in his time was so far superior to what any contemporary band is doing now." The night went on...
By noon the next morning I was at Minka Ramen enjoying a bowl full of fantastic broth, noodles, pork and an egg.
Wasting no time, I tried to grab a bahn-mi before heading to Shake Shack, but Nicky's is closed on Mondays. Checked out the Ikea-sized Whole Foods then on to the meal I'd most been looking forward to... Shake Shack.
It was 2:30 so the line wasn't that long. They have an efficient system for ordering and within twenty minutes I was standing over this box of goodness:
That's the Shackburger, Chicago Dog (tomato, pepper, pickle, onion, relish, cucumber, celery salt, mustard) and Shack Attack (chocolate custard, hot fudge, chocolate truffle cookie dough, valrhona chocolate chunks and chocolate sprinkles). Yes I ate it all and, yes, I'm surprised I didn't keel over and die immediately upon consumption. The burger's flavor was rich, the dog was too small for its toppings, but the shake was phenomenal.
That's a squirrel enjoying a shake shack fry:We met up with a bunch of friends at Loreley where we drank huge liter steins of German beer and had brats with mustard, sauerkraut and potatoes.
I only sampled the food because I didn't want to spoil dinner at Little Owl. I didn't take pictures. The veal meatball sliders, scallops and whole pompano were fantastic.
The next day I had a lobster roll from Mary's Fish Camp and a chocolate chip cookie, three pieces of chocolate (peanut butter & jelly, milk chocolate and a spicy one) and frozen hot chocolate from Jacques Torres.
It's probably a good thing that I don't live in New York, but I really wish I did.