Living to Eat

I imagine we all have filters for sorting and categorizing the people in our lives. Some choose a political prism, while others rely on religion as a line of demarcation. My filter is unabashedly much more hedonistic: people either (1) live to eat or (2) eat to live.

I live to eat. The planning and anticipating of my next meal get me through long work days. Whenever I go on a vacation, my first task of order is to research the restaurants in the area and ensure that I maximize my eating opportunities. I knew early on that a relationship with a guy who didn't eat seafood would only degenerate into a lifetime of fried-appetizer horror and insipid chicken dinners. (He: "It upsets me how you act like I have a mental problem because I don't eat seafood." I: "You DO have a problem.")

My intention is to use this as a forum for restaurant reviews and recommendations, my personalized Citysearch, if you will. I am particularly interested in recommendations based on different sorts of dining companions and reviews of outstanding meals (including, but not limited to, seafood, of course).

To start, here is my current list of my top five favorite restaurants in NYC and some of my favorite dishes there:

1. Balthazar (brasserie): Excellent classic French brasserie fare, notably the French onion soup and moules frites. I can never pass up the profiteroles even though I know I will be uncomfortable at the end of the meal. On my last visit, I also tried the chocolate pot de creme and was almost sorry that I did because I will have a decidedly difficult time choosing between that and the profiterole on my next visit.

2. Pearl Oyster Bar (seafood): On my first visit, I couldn't help but balk at the $20 lobster roll. What is a lobster roll if not a sandwich, I thought, and how can they expect to charge $20 for a sandwich! This, my friends, is not a sandwich. Yes, it's on a roll, but that is merely a helpful and tasty vehicle for delivering the tender and sweet celery-and-mayonnaise-accented mounds of lobster tail into your mouth. Start with oysters on the half shell or the clam chowder and you will feel blissfully content when you leave Pearl.

3. Thai Son (Vietnamese): I always order the same three dishes here. I'm sure other items on the menu are good, but I come here specifically for the spring rolls, the crispy calamari, and the vermicelli with grilled shrimp. I have dreams about the crispy calamari appetizer, which usually results in my waking up hungry.

4. Great New York Noodletown (Cantonese): Great, cheap Chinese food. The wonton soup is addictive, as are the sliced fish congee and the yung chow fried rice and the seafood noodles . . . you get the idea.

5. Grimaldi's (pizza): Thin pizzas with slightly sweet sauce, topped with your choice of fresh toppings. I am partial to the fresh mozarella and basil.

Great, now I'm really hungry.