OK so I am a big food person, I grew up in New York City so I am going to lay down a few of my places that I love to go for different foods. New York is a cornucopia of foods, you can get just about any kind of food known to man here, from Vietnamese to Chinese, Italian to Greek and anywhere in between. That is one of the things I love most about New York.
Pizza: The City has, in my opinion, the best Pizza in the world and definitely in the United States, this is due to our superior water that we get from the reservoirs in upstate New York. Here's my top three spots for Pizza.
1- Sal and Carmine's (2671 Broadway Between 101st and 102nd Streets)
This to me is the epiphany of pizza, a small pizza place run by two Italians Sal and Carmine, from the old school. They do it right and they do a slice the way it's supposed to be done, thin crust, plenty of creamy cheese and every pie cooked to perfection. Either Sal or Carmine is always there, you know Sal is there if he says "Pizza Time!" As he pulls a perfect pie out of the oven.
2- Original Ray's Pizza (At least in my mind it is) (11th street and Sixth Avenue)
In my mind this is the classic Ray's and the original, super cheesed out slices and always a fresh pie made, it gets crowded here sometimes but it's worth the wait, this is what pizza is supposed to be. Super doughy slice with more cheese than you should eat. Total artery clogging goodness and worth it.
3- Koronet Pizzeria 2848 Broadway (Between 110th and 11th Streets) This is home to the City's largest slice or the "Wagon Wheel Pie." One of these monsters will have you loosening your belt up for sure. I can never eat two of them. They also have regular size slices but one of the giants is a meal in and of itself, truly huge and worth the money. You have to be in the right mindset to attack one of there giant slices and it is worth it to try at least once to say you concquered the largest slice in the city.
Chinese Food: The city is known for it's Chinatown Neighborhood, one of the few areas of the city that hasn't fully gentrified yet. I only go to one restaurant here because it is simply the best I have had.
1- 69 Bayard: (69 Bayard Street at Mott St.) You will know you are in the right spot when you see the red neon lit "69" sign out front and the money plastered all over the walls. This place is a Chinatown Institution, the best dumplings I have ever had period and I've tried many. They also make a mean Chow Fun as well as great sliced pork, this place is priced very well, you can eat like a king for under 15 bucks and that's with two people eating. The sauce they use for the dumplings is a secret dark sauce that truly makes this place epic. They are open until very late or even 24 hours, I am not sure about this so call ahead. It is a great spot to go late at night when your drunk and needing that pig out food. I have spent many a night in this place chowing down on dumplings and chow fun, which is a broad noodle dish. This place is worth a visit.
2- Wo Hop (15 Mott Street) Wo hop is a close second, great food but I am more of a fan of 69 Bayard and not for the name alone.
Steak : There are many great steak houses in New York City, I will skip the obvious choices like Smith and Wollensky's and go with a couple you may not have heard of.
1- BLT Prime (111 E. 22nd Street) I had one of the best steaks of my life in this place, thank god I was taken here for my birthday though and didn't have to pay the tab, this place will suck the cash out of your wallet and in a big way. When I got there I ordered a beer at the bar while waiting for my friend to arrive who was paying and was charged 9 bucks for a bottle of beer! After my sticker shock subsided, we got the porterhouse steak for two, which was one of the best I have had in my life and cost over 80 dollars. They serve the steaks in cast iron skillets and the meat is aged for weeks making it so tender you can almost cut it with your spoon. Truly amazing steaks but you have to really have some major coin to enjoy this place. The service is very attentive, almost too attentive for my taste. I don't need a waiter cruising by my table every five minutes to see if my plate is empty and ready to be taken away, let a guy eat in peace. If you can help it and not drink it will save you quite a bit of cash. This is a once in a while treat for sure due to the prices. If your rich then you won't care but if your on a budget shop around for some cheaper alternatives I felt the steaks were superior however and worth the cash.
2- Churrascaria Plataforma: (316 W. 49th Street) Can you say pig out? If that's your aim this is the spot for you. This place is pig out central. You pay a set price which entitles you to all you can eat meat. I am not just talking steak but meat in every form imaginable. Skirt steaks, Filet Mignon, chicken of all kinds, pork, almost every meat you can imagine, including sausage and more. They also have a full buffet as if the meat isn't enough. Sushi, salad, pasta and all the trimmings. This place will have you feeling like a gluttonous Roman ready to hit the vomitorioum. You are given a card with a red and green side. Red means you don't want any more food and are eating. Once you turn the card over to the green side, magically a man appears with a skewer full of meat and starts to offer you peaces cut right at your table, they keep coming until you turn your card over again to the red side. I would suggest fasting a full day before going to this place. It is also an amazing experience to sit and watch in awe as some truly large people come in and get busy pigging out on enough meats and appetizers to feed a small village for a month in one sitting. If you like meat of all kinds and love to gorge on good food this is the spot to go. Warning, this place is also not very cheap, you can easily drop 150 plus dollars on two or three people especially if you're drinking.
Sushi: New York has more sushi spots than probably any major city besides Tokyo and there are many good ones. Here are two of my favorites.
1- Nobu Next Door (105 Hudson Street Between Franklin and North Moore Streets)
This is right next door to the famous Nobu restaurant, it is a bit cheaper and I think the decor is much nicer. I have eaten in both restaurants and Nobu Next door is just as good as Nobu. Amazingly fresh sushi, with some South American flare. They offer a great saki menu as well and the decor is nice. If your drinking, you can easily drop major bucks up in here too but its worth it if you want to impress a date or just get some great sushi and watch the "beautiful people" chow down. You might catch a star or two eating here, although they tend to want to go to Nobu more for the name recognition. Nobu next door however is easier to get into and you can sometimes get in without a reservation.
2- Takahachi (145 Duane Street) I know I am being partial to the Tribeca area, which I am familiar with, but these are quality spots and all worth a try. This is a new restaurant that just opened up within the past few months. It is very tradtional and everyone working here is Japanese. All the sushi chefs bow to you as you leave which is also very cool. They have some excellent sushi rolls, I reccommend the "Philadelphia Experiment" featuring philadelphia cream cheese and something else I can't recall, which might have been due to the three giant Asahi beers I had while consuming the meal. A bit cheaper than Nobu Next door and the service is excellent, presentation is also amazing as well. Worth a try. Sushi can be found all over the city however and there are many many other amazing spots I have not listed. So check out sites like city search and others for reccomendations.
I think this is enough for now. I might do another "best of" blog later on with some other types of food and other things and where to find them. I hope this gives you some good advice on where to go for some interesting culinary adventures however. More to come.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Why Guatanamo Bay and Iraq were wrong for the U.S.
I have several friends who aren't nearly as left leaning as I am. I am probably the most liberal person in my family and among the circle of friends I have. I recently got into a knockdowwn, drag out fight with a friend of mine about what we were doing in Guatanamo Bay and the Iraq war in general. While he agreed with me that Bush was horrible as a president, and he hurt our standing in the world by his decision to go into Iraq under false pretenses and creating Guatanamo Bay; he wasn't completely convinced that there was no need for a prison like Guatanamo Bay in Cuba. The point I made was to ask him how he might feel if one day, while walking down the street, a van pulled up and men jumped out of said van, put a hood over his head, grabbed him and put flexi-cuffs on him and pushed him into a van. This has been done to certain people it is called "Rendition". 20 Something hours later said person would have been flown to another unknown destination and his questioning and torture would begin. Just imagine if you will that you were an innocent person and had never contemplated a terrorist act or even disliked the United States? By holding many of these prisoners, some for over 5 years with no access to a lawyer or their families, aren't we in a sense creating more radicals? The same idea is true for the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Israel refuese to let Palestinians have any real economic or personal freedom. So they breed a hate amongst many Palestinians for all Israeli's, they build walls to keep them in and restrict their movement outside of that wall. This tactic never works and what we are doing in Guatanamo bay won't work either. It just creates more hatred. While my friend agreed with this premise, he still wasn't convinced. He felt that there were some bad people in Guatanamo Bay, and it was necessary. I agree that there probably are some bad people in there, but the point is, what about those that are their under false pretenses? Why is it ok for the United States to hold a person with no access to a lawyer or their families, simply because we have classified them as a terrorist and not part of an army. By saying that these people are not wearing a uniform and thus can't be treated as enemy combatants, we are basically giving our government carte blanche to arrest anyone we deem a threat with or without proof. I don't like to get political, I think as a country and people we have gone past that. But just the other day, Dick Cheney made public comments that closing down Gutanamo bay he feared might leave us open to another attack. It is this type of rhetoric of fear and propaganda that we don't need anymore. Even after their presidency, Bush and Cheney still try to put their hands into the pot and pull something out.
For anyone who still believes that Iraq was a noble cause and one we had to fight. I urge you to read the Rolling Stone article entitled "The Great Iraq Swindle by Matt Taibbi. It came out in Rolling stone in 2004 and blew the lid off of what was really occurring in Iraq . By the way, Rolling Stone magazine has long been known for excellent and fair investigative journalism which can't be said for many other magazines or newspapers in this country anymore. Of course, this article didn't do much good and didn't raise much rancor with the public. We as a people continued to shell out over 8 billion dollars a month to fund this fiasco not to mention over 4000 American lives lost so far. This article goes into specific detail of how graft and corruption made their way into how we did business in Iraq and who got rich off of it.
The Great Iraq Swindle By Matt Taibbi Rolling Stone 2004
Since I suck at putting links into my blog posts here is the link so you can copy and paste into your browser if this link doesn't work.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/16076312/the_great_iraq_swindle
The full force and brunt of this war and our practices is yet to be felt both emotionally and economically, but the reality is, it has scarred a generation of Americans just as the Vietnam war did. That it was the wrong war is now obvious and has been for some time, but hindsight is 20/20 and we can't go back and undo what we have done, we can only move forward. We also fail to mention how many innocent people we have killed in our bombing campaigns both in Iraq and Afghanistan. A teacher in a class I once took made a good point. That the American press seems to be obsessed with U.S. casualties, how many die each day in Iraq or Afghanistan, but why is an Iraqi or Afghani life worth any less? I make this point not to diminish anyone's life because all life is precious but we seem to be in an age where some feel that American lives are more valuable somehow. That we are this noble country doing good in the world. The reality is something much different in my opinion. While we might have noble goals and in the past might have fought wars for the good of the world (World War Two for example), we also have a lot of blood on our hands throughout history and have done some pretty heinous things. Go to any American Indian reservation sometime and have a look around, we have decimated their culture all in the name of progress and gold. Weren't these the guys that helped our starving pilgrims when they first arrived? Nice payback for that kindness. I digress. I don't like to speak about politics but it must be spoken about. We must examine what we do and how we are viewed in the world because of it. With great power comes great responsibility. Hopefully we won't forget that.
More to come in my next post and no it won't be political I promise. Thanks for reading.
For anyone who still believes that Iraq was a noble cause and one we had to fight. I urge you to read the Rolling Stone article entitled "The Great Iraq Swindle by Matt Taibbi. It came out in Rolling stone in 2004 and blew the lid off of what was really occurring in Iraq . By the way, Rolling Stone magazine has long been known for excellent and fair investigative journalism which can't be said for many other magazines or newspapers in this country anymore. Of course, this article didn't do much good and didn't raise much rancor with the public. We as a people continued to shell out over 8 billion dollars a month to fund this fiasco not to mention over 4000 American lives lost so far. This article goes into specific detail of how graft and corruption made their way into how we did business in Iraq and who got rich off of it.
The Great Iraq Swindle By Matt Taibbi Rolling Stone 2004
Since I suck at putting links into my blog posts here is the link so you can copy and paste into your browser if this link doesn't work.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/16076312/the_great_iraq_swindle
The full force and brunt of this war and our practices is yet to be felt both emotionally and economically, but the reality is, it has scarred a generation of Americans just as the Vietnam war did. That it was the wrong war is now obvious and has been for some time, but hindsight is 20/20 and we can't go back and undo what we have done, we can only move forward. We also fail to mention how many innocent people we have killed in our bombing campaigns both in Iraq and Afghanistan. A teacher in a class I once took made a good point. That the American press seems to be obsessed with U.S. casualties, how many die each day in Iraq or Afghanistan, but why is an Iraqi or Afghani life worth any less? I make this point not to diminish anyone's life because all life is precious but we seem to be in an age where some feel that American lives are more valuable somehow. That we are this noble country doing good in the world. The reality is something much different in my opinion. While we might have noble goals and in the past might have fought wars for the good of the world (World War Two for example), we also have a lot of blood on our hands throughout history and have done some pretty heinous things. Go to any American Indian reservation sometime and have a look around, we have decimated their culture all in the name of progress and gold. Weren't these the guys that helped our starving pilgrims when they first arrived? Nice payback for that kindness. I digress. I don't like to speak about politics but it must be spoken about. We must examine what we do and how we are viewed in the world because of it. With great power comes great responsibility. Hopefully we won't forget that.
More to come in my next post and no it won't be political I promise. Thanks for reading.
Friday, February 6, 2009
The Mysterious syrup smell
First off, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Asher, I grew up in New York. I was born in the Bronx New York, or "Da Bronx" as some locals like to refer to it as. I moved to Manhattan when I was 5 years old. I love everything about New York City. I have never lived anywhere else and I like to comment on the city in general, its denziens and the general happenings and vibe of the place. This blog will hopefully be fun to read, with some funny, interesting and sometimes horrifying glimpses into life in the big Apple.
I am not sure if anyone has noticed, but there is a mysterious syrupy smell that has enveloped the city at times over the past few years. I have smelled the odor myself a few times and had no idea what was causing it. Is there a mysterious plant somewhere exuding some kind of noxious gas? Are so many waffles and pancakes being eaten that the syrup smell is wafting all over the city? Are there more maple trees in Manhattan and the outer boroughs than was previously thought? No. The answer to this mystery has finally been discovered. After many citizens expressed alarm over the mysterious odor since 2006, the city's department of Environmental Protection dispatched agents to figure out what was causing the odor once and for all. They found that the mysterious odor was coming from the seeds of a plant called the Fenugreek plant. A clover like plant, which apparently, is being used in a factory in North Bergen New Jersey which produces fragrances, thus the smell wafting over the city. If interested in reading the full article please clink the link below.
Aromatic Mystery in New York City Solved
With all the smells that New York City emanates, it is a wonder that so many people were frightened and upset at the smell of syrup. I personally have smelled many more vile smells in the city that no one seemed to get upset about. Not to mention the pollution and haze that hangs over the city as well. Have you ever walked through midtown Manhattan on a sweltering summer day? Not a fun atmosphere to try and breathe in. I sometimes see joggers that run through the city streets and I wonder how they breathe with all that pollution in the air.
New York City is unique in so many ways. You can walk down any block and hear five different languages being spoken. You can see people of almost every nationality as well. You might be walking and smell the most delicious aromatic food, only to have it replaced by the most vile smelling thing you can imagine. All within the space of half a block or so. I have personally smelled the syrup smell several times over the past few years, I always found it comforting and it made me want to eat pancakes. I would rather smell the syrup smell than some of the other odors that I have had the unfortunate luck to smell. Our sense of smell is a sensitive thing, while some of our other senses are stronger and more dominant, smells can often trigger memories of our past. Personally, I have a great sense of smell and many smells can trigger memories for me, especially foods and perfumes. I have been on dates where the woman's perfume was so repulsive and overwhelming to me that I did not want another date after. I think most people are this way especially with perfume or cologne. Men are guilty of this too, slathering on way too much cologne and thinking women like it, they don't guys, get a clue, less is more. I tend to like scents that are less cloying and more subtle. If your interested to know more about how smells can trigger memories click the link below.
Smell and Memory
My blog is not going to be about smells or senses in general, I just found it fascinating that a syrupy smell could evoke such a response from the public. What I enjoy, is New York City and all the characters and experiences that come along with it. There are many people in this city that are disturbed in many ways, weird characters, interesting ones and those that have a message to get out. The way they that some seem to get this message out, (the disturbed ones that is) is sometimes by riding the subway's and "preaching". I use the term loosely. If you ride the subway long enough you will no doubt encounter one of these people. The thing I find interesting and strange about them is that almost to a person, they are always preaching about God and usually with a biblical/Christian Slant. I have never seen a person talking about the "end time" or "judgment day" on the subway who was a Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, Taoist or some other religion. Why are all the these subway preachers always narrating from the bible? I would almost feel comforted if a Jewish guy with a Yarmulke on, or a Tibetan Monk would get on the train and tell me how I have sinned and how we are all going to hell. There would be some comfort in the fact that this phenomenon somehow stretches across religious boundaries. Alas It is not to be, at least so far. I really don't mind if these people want to come on the train and preach; as long as they keep their voices low. Unfortunately they usually are loud and off their medication and a bit scary in their demeanor and tone. This isn't conducive to people listening to or accepting your message. Have you ever tried to read your book or magazine with someone shouting at you that you are going to hell and that you're a sinner? Not easy. I used to see a man who would stand on the same street corner and at the top of his lungs yell "Hallelujah" over and over and then follow it with a bellowing "Jesus!" People would scream at him and I even witnessed a person throw something at him to try and shut him up but he never would. He had the spirit in him as they say. Ahh New York City, where every street corner is a stage and the show is free.
More on interesting New York Stories and phenomenon in my next posting, if anyone out there is reading that is.
I am not sure if anyone has noticed, but there is a mysterious syrupy smell that has enveloped the city at times over the past few years. I have smelled the odor myself a few times and had no idea what was causing it. Is there a mysterious plant somewhere exuding some kind of noxious gas? Are so many waffles and pancakes being eaten that the syrup smell is wafting all over the city? Are there more maple trees in Manhattan and the outer boroughs than was previously thought? No. The answer to this mystery has finally been discovered. After many citizens expressed alarm over the mysterious odor since 2006, the city's department of Environmental Protection dispatched agents to figure out what was causing the odor once and for all. They found that the mysterious odor was coming from the seeds of a plant called the Fenugreek plant. A clover like plant, which apparently, is being used in a factory in North Bergen New Jersey which produces fragrances, thus the smell wafting over the city. If interested in reading the full article please clink the link below.
Aromatic Mystery in New York City Solved
With all the smells that New York City emanates, it is a wonder that so many people were frightened and upset at the smell of syrup. I personally have smelled many more vile smells in the city that no one seemed to get upset about. Not to mention the pollution and haze that hangs over the city as well. Have you ever walked through midtown Manhattan on a sweltering summer day? Not a fun atmosphere to try and breathe in. I sometimes see joggers that run through the city streets and I wonder how they breathe with all that pollution in the air.
New York City is unique in so many ways. You can walk down any block and hear five different languages being spoken. You can see people of almost every nationality as well. You might be walking and smell the most delicious aromatic food, only to have it replaced by the most vile smelling thing you can imagine. All within the space of half a block or so. I have personally smelled the syrup smell several times over the past few years, I always found it comforting and it made me want to eat pancakes. I would rather smell the syrup smell than some of the other odors that I have had the unfortunate luck to smell. Our sense of smell is a sensitive thing, while some of our other senses are stronger and more dominant, smells can often trigger memories of our past. Personally, I have a great sense of smell and many smells can trigger memories for me, especially foods and perfumes. I have been on dates where the woman's perfume was so repulsive and overwhelming to me that I did not want another date after. I think most people are this way especially with perfume or cologne. Men are guilty of this too, slathering on way too much cologne and thinking women like it, they don't guys, get a clue, less is more. I tend to like scents that are less cloying and more subtle. If your interested to know more about how smells can trigger memories click the link below.
Smell and Memory
My blog is not going to be about smells or senses in general, I just found it fascinating that a syrupy smell could evoke such a response from the public. What I enjoy, is New York City and all the characters and experiences that come along with it. There are many people in this city that are disturbed in many ways, weird characters, interesting ones and those that have a message to get out. The way they that some seem to get this message out, (the disturbed ones that is) is sometimes by riding the subway's and "preaching". I use the term loosely. If you ride the subway long enough you will no doubt encounter one of these people. The thing I find interesting and strange about them is that almost to a person, they are always preaching about God and usually with a biblical/Christian Slant. I have never seen a person talking about the "end time" or "judgment day" on the subway who was a Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, Taoist or some other religion. Why are all the these subway preachers always narrating from the bible? I would almost feel comforted if a Jewish guy with a Yarmulke on, or a Tibetan Monk would get on the train and tell me how I have sinned and how we are all going to hell. There would be some comfort in the fact that this phenomenon somehow stretches across religious boundaries. Alas It is not to be, at least so far. I really don't mind if these people want to come on the train and preach; as long as they keep their voices low. Unfortunately they usually are loud and off their medication and a bit scary in their demeanor and tone. This isn't conducive to people listening to or accepting your message. Have you ever tried to read your book or magazine with someone shouting at you that you are going to hell and that you're a sinner? Not easy. I used to see a man who would stand on the same street corner and at the top of his lungs yell "Hallelujah" over and over and then follow it with a bellowing "Jesus!" People would scream at him and I even witnessed a person throw something at him to try and shut him up but he never would. He had the spirit in him as they say. Ahh New York City, where every street corner is a stage and the show is free.
More on interesting New York Stories and phenomenon in my next posting, if anyone out there is reading that is.
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