Suma Sushi, Amsterdam between 107th and 108th

A trip to Suma Sushi was Meryl's and my idea of a way to stanch our abrupt cessation of hormones (following a scary article in the New York Times) and our attempt to quell our interior saunas.  Our goal was an infusion of tofu -- which we know offers a decent dose of phytoestrogen.  We were not disappointed.

I ordered an appetizer of Agedashi tofu, which were a half dozen squares of silky tofu lightly fried with bonito flakes, ginger and scallion and served with a teriyaki dipping sauce and an order of Hijiki salad -- cooked black seaweed with chunks of tofu.  The tofu terriyaki Meryl ordered covered her plate with at least a dozen squares of tofu, flash fried and crisp.  A sweet teriyaki sauce covered the golden squares of tofu.  We each thought we'd be bringing half our meal home -- but finished every bite.

We both look forward to returning and trying other dishes on the menu!

Sura, Broadway just south of 101st Street

I met a friend for appetizers and warm winter drinks at Sura on a south of 30 degree day.  At 5:30 in the afternoon, the charming, postage stamp size restaurant was quiet and inviting.  Slate tiles line the floor and walls.  Candles glow on the tables.  A dozen or so tables are lined in front of a long banquette with opposite facing chairs.  A bar with seating lines the opposite wall.

I ordered the saki/plum wine drink -- expecting it to be served hot.  When it came over ice, the waiter obliged me by returning it to the kitchen, taking out the ice, and heating the concoction in a ceramic saki vessel with a brined plum (wonderfully sweet and salty) in the tiny saki cup.  Very nice way to warm up.  And Natasha ordered a wine/apple cider drink that was served hot in a wine glass.  We toasted to warmer days.

We ordered a fried chive pancake and chicken satae.  Both were delicious.  You dip the chive pancake into a chili-soy sauce and bite through the fried crust of the chive pancake into gelatinous rice flour shell that holds a pocket of chives.  The chicken satae served on a stick was moist and served with a yummy peanut sauce - good for sopping with the corners of toast served on the side.

We each took home a green papaya salad with peanuts -- crisp, pleasantly tangy.  And I also brought home a chicken pad thai -- the standard I order at a Thai restaurant.  This particular dish was full of rice noodles, ground peanuts, bits of scrambled egg, and chunks of chicken.  A hearty meal for two -- with leftovers for a third!

We look forward to returning and trying out more selections.

Smoke, Broadway @ 106th

In the summer we pass the open doors and windows of Smoke and often pause to listen to the music of trumpet and trombone and piano and drums and bass -- and if we're lucky, vocals.  I've longed to go in and take a seat at the bar or at a table, to sit inside rather than gazing in from the outside.  But that is one of the nice things about New York -- you can indeed listen to music from the sidewalk -- and the band is just 30 or 40 feet away -- closer than in most concert halls.  And what a concert it is!

Finally, we booked a table and sat with friends not 10 feet away from the small stage (where sometimes, up to 16 musicians play jazz!).  The menus are waiting on tables dressed in off white cloths, a candle burning in the center.  An old-time wooden bar lines one wall.

We ordered from the prix-fixe ($29) menu -- which is really the regular menu from which you can choose two courses -- either an appetizer and entree, or an entree and dessert.  Of course, you can order all three (and pay for the third course -- as we did).  Wonderful recorded jazz played as we sat and talked with our friends, before our orders arrived and before Eve Cornelious and Mosaic began playing their first set at a little after 7.

We started with an appetizer of seafood meatballs -- which was like a wonderful bouillabaisse of compressed shrimp, clams, and scallops in a white-wine parsley broth.  The reduced balsamic dressing perfectly coated the crisp, organic baby greens salad.  We ordered among the four of us one steak with spinach and mashed potatoes (an additional $10 charge to the $29 prix fixe) and three orders of barbecued baby back ribs with baked beans and bacon braised collard greens.  The ribs were tender and covered in a sweet-aromatic sauce.

Jeremy Pelt's trumpet harmonized with Dion Tucker's trombone, making that sound that makes you want to swoon for its beauty.  Eve Cornelious's voice has a range from deep mellow to craggy sass.  We were smitten by the music and that hour of listening (and eating) went by far faster than we would have wished.

We finished our meal with three desserts:  The apple tart (which tasted as good as the one I'd had in Paris at the Place des Vosges -- caramelly, light  appley -- with a side of butter-cream ice cream .  The wine-soaked pear with shortcake and vanilla ice cream.  The chocolate rich brownie sundae with hot fudge, walnuts, whipped cream, strawberries, and chocolate ice cream.  I felt sated -- and craving more.  At Smoke, sensory notions come at you from all directions -- fusing taste, texture and sound.

Max Soha, 123rd @ Amsterdam

A year ago, my daughter suggested Max Soha as a place to gather when my parents were in town -- and finally we've made our way up, through Columbia's campus, to 123rd and Amsterdam Avenue in South Harlem -- or Soha.  It was a balmy late, October night and we sat outside at a yellow cafe table.

Service was impeccable.  The waiter, the busboy, as well as the owner were all attentive.  When I asked for chianti, the waiter offered to bring me a taste of the wine.  I wasn't sure if I liked it. He brought me a taste of the pinot noir and the malbec, as well.  In the end, I preferred the chianti and he graciously collected the three tasting glasses and returned with a full glass of the deep, red wine.

A chalk board behind us offered several specials -- from a corn soup to a grilled sea bass to a black seafood ravioli.  We started with a misto salad (5.95) we shared -- a light basalmic vinaigrette mixed with greens, chopped endive, and tomato.  We ordered the duck with fettucini and pink sauce special (12.95) and the lamb with thin homemade pasta (11.95). Both were delicious.  And the pasta, homemade, fresh and perfectly al dente, was the best pasta I'd had outside of Italy.  The duck was chopped into bite size chunks and covered with a sweet pink sauce.  The ground lamb sauce was a tomato sauce that was bit rich for my palate -- but David finished it all.  We ordered the tiramisu (5.95) for dessert which was drenched in espresso and filled and covered with a rich mascarpone cheese.

Cash only.  About $25 per person.

The Columbia Farmers' Market

On Sundays and Thursdays a greenmarket arrives under white tents on the sidewalk north of 114th Street on Broadway.  In the fall, the best apple cider (no preservatives, not pasteruized) is available, as well as lots of varieties of apples.  You can buy eggplants, a variety of squash, fresh Amish eggs, lavender arrangements, flower arrangements, organic meats and poultry raised locally, fresh fish caught locally, fresh baked pies and breads, honey still in the comb, local flours and grains, as well as local organic wines.   It's always a delight to see the action and colors and shapes and textures and scents of a farmer's market -- and to imagine bringing it all home to your kitchen to display and to cook and to serve.

Deluxe, Broadway at 113th Street

It was a beautiful day and I went to Deluxe for a waffle, hoping for the kind of Belgian waffle that I craved when I didn't live in New York and would come to the city to eat to eat a waffle a day -- and sometimes two -- covered in strawberries or whatever fresh fruit was in season.

I sat at a cafe table on the sidewalk and ordered the Belgian waffle with strawberries that I ordered in 2001 when I'd come to Columbia to visit my daughter who was then a student.  We'd often go to Deluxe for the sandwiches or burgers (for her) and the waffles (for me).  The waffle I remembered was delicately crunchy on the outside and yeastily eggy like a crueler doughnut on the inside.

Alas, this visit nine years later brought disappointment.  The waffle was kind of tough -- like it had been cooked too long, so I sent it back, still hoping for the waffle of my dreams.  The second waffle was also tough -- just crisper and cooked longer, and it was then I surmised that the waffle they served during the week was likely a frozen waffle.  I could not eat it (why eat calories that are not worth it?).  The strawberries were good.

On another visit I longed for heartier, homier food and ordered the meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  I was not disappointed.  The "Made Like Mom's Meatloaf" with mushroom gravy was delicious -- a moist, aromatic mix of ground meats that satisfied that desire for comfort food.

Tom's Restaurant, Broadway at 112th

Made famous by the Seinfeld scenes shot there, Tom's is a basic, all around diner serving good burgers, omelets, fries, salads, and sandwiches -- all the stuff Elaine and Jerry and George liked to eat.  And me, too.  There are two or three things I like to order in a diner:  a burger with fries, a spinach and Swiss cheese omelet with fries, a Greek salad with feta, and sometimes, a grilled cheese sandwich with swiss cheese and spinach (my omelet insides on rye).  And Belgian waffles.  (Don't go to Tom's for Belgian waffles.  They don't make them.)

This week, after sitting in my car to assure a parking place in the alternate side of the street parking world that is New York, I went into Tom's hoping for a good Swiss cheese and spinach omelet.  Some diners make the omelets too runny, some don't have enough spinach, some use spinach leaves that tend to get caught in your teeth and don't taste as good as chopped (probably frozen spinach), and some over-cook their omelets making them rubbery and almost inedible.

Tom's spinach and swiss cheese omelet was delicious!!  The spinach lent a sweet taste to the eggs, the Swiss cheese perfectly melted and stretchy, and the eggs not too well done nor too under done.  Perfection!  And the fries were crisp and tasty -- perfectly crunchy on the outside and potato soft on the inside.  Yum!

The coffee was good -- the right sense of the bean's aroma permeating the brew.  And if I looked up from my seat at the counter,  I could see Kramer with his electric do staring down from a picture on the wall.  (You can buy your very own Seinfield memorabilia at Tom's:  t-shirts, mugs, baseball caps, magnets, and postcards.)

Taqueria y Fonda la Mexicana, Amsterdam Ave. between 107th and 108th

For authentic regional Mexican cooking, try Taqueria y Fonda.  This is not your gringo Tex-Mex place that glops sour cream and guacalomole on your cheese covered entree.  This place is the real thing -- with homemade burritos and enchiladas that don't have a just-out-of-the-bag chemical residue.  They are fresh and pull like fresh-baked bread.

You might think you're in Mexico, but for the open door and windows that look out on a Domino's Pizza across Amsterdam, parked cars, and parking meters with bikes locked to them.

The dining room is tiny -- seating maybe 16-20 people at a time.  The owner sat down at a table next to our to have his dinner around 9 pm, when things were slowing down.  I asked what he was having -- and had never heard of the dish before:  chicken covered cooked with avocado leaves and a paprika colored hot red sauce.  "It's my favorite!" he said as he sat down to dine.

We ordered more standard fare:  a giant steak burrito ($8.25) -- enough for 2 or 3 people -- that had really good steak -- not the shredded stuff you normally get, but real slices of flank steak grilled and mixed with rice, beans, tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream, cheese and salad.  I had the chicken mole enchilada ($8.95) which had chunks of chicken (again, not the shredded stuff you get at commercial places) -- and a brown, mildly spicy chocolate sauce made with peppers, sesame seeds, raisins and almonds in a homemade corn enchilada.   I was tempted by the chicken pipian that has a pumpkin seed sauce and cilantro and other herbs, but will have to save that for the next time.

We took home more than half of what we'd ordered (just 2 meals) and had them the next night for dinner, too.

East Dumpling House on 106th just east of Broadway

When you have a noodley yen, there's the East Dumpling House -- which serves a variety of dumplings with both hot and mild aromatic sauces.  We've tried the sampling of their dumplings:  pork with chives, pork with cabbage, chicken with green pepper, chicken with corn, vegetable, shrimp and pork, basil chicken with shitake mushroom (7 pieces for $6.50).  Our favorite is the shrimp and pork -- chopped pieces of tender, yet just cooked shrimp mixed with a green (chives?) and ground pork.  All are yummy -- wrapped in an al dente pocket made of rice flour and either steamed or pan fried.  We like both ways and can't decide which is better.  The pan fried are browned on one side allowing a crunch as you bite in.  The steamed dumplings make you feel a bit more righteous (fewer calories, no oil).  If you know which dumpling you prefer, you can order either 8 pieces of a single type  ($5.50) or 12 pieces ($6.95).

The cold noodles with sesame sauce ($5.95 were a bit bland, over-cooked and watery.  The Pan Fried Ugly Dumpling with vermicelli, celery, chives and egg felt a bit excessive.  The crust of the dumpling was rather thick -- and it felt a bit oily.  We enjoyed the potato pancake Korean style ($3.95) -- a fast fried mix of shredded potatoes, onion and green pepper -- tasting like a combination of flattened hash-browns and really good onion rings.  Service was friendly and prompt.

The small, paneled dining room was comfortably cool on a night so hot we were grateful of shade on the south side of 106th.  You can bring your own beer or wine -- and dine for well under $10 a person.

Hudson Beach Cafe, 105th in Riverside Park

To dine outside in New York with a view of the Hudson River and the Palisades and an occasional sailboat crossing through the sunset's reflection -- there's Hudson Beach Cafe, inside Riverside Park at 105th, just across from the dog run.  You can bring your dog and they will serve him his own cup of water.  You can come with your team in uniform and drink beer served in buckets of ice.  And you can order burgers with fries ($10.95) with beer ($5) -- as we did.

The burgers were served with lettuce, pickles and a tomato.  They were plump, and medium rare -- just as ordered.

Best of all -- you can sit on a terrace under green umbrellas above the beach volleyball courts and gymnastic equipment that's on the lower level of the park -- and gaze out at the Hudson River.  No need to go to the country.

Henry's: An American Bistro, Broadway and 105th

When we want a place to meet friends for conversation where we can have a good glass of wine or beer and a good meal, we choose Henry's.  Henry's is spacious enough -- with wood paneled walls and deco chandeliers -- to allow for some privacy, unlike so many bistros where the tables are squished side by side and others' conversations intrude into yours. 

Henry's tables, covered in blue checked tableclothes, are spaced comfortably.  Even the outside dining offers some quiet from the normal bustle of New York City restaurants -- aside from the occasional fire truck or ambulence racing down Broadway.  A couple doors north is Smoke, a jazz cafe, and if you're lucky enough to be sitting outside, you may hear the fusion of live musicians.

On one occasion, I ordered chicken with spinach and roasted fingerling potatoes, which I found a tad salty.  Another time I had a burger (you have a choice of two:  a standard, beef burger for $10 or a grassfed burger for $16).  I had the standard burger, which was thick and juicy and comes with crisp French fries served in a paper cone.  

Another time, I had the kale salad with grilled, herbed shrimp.  The kale salad is so good, I've tried to reproduce it with fresh kale from our garden in Connecticut -- to no avail.  Our kale, parboiled and squeezed in paper towels comes out soggy.  Their kale arrives slightly parboiled and crisp.  Roasted hazelnuts and fresh grapes, fennel strips and a flavorful citrus dressing -- not too oily, not too tart -- are mixed into the kale -- providing a wonderfully textured salad.  The grilled shrimp are done al dente -- covered in their shells, they crunch when you bite in and are char-grilled with herbs.

I've also tasted three of the four pastas on the menu.  The homemade pappardelle Bolognese, Parmasan, and parsley ($15) makes you think you are in a cafe on a street in Rome:  the pasta is both fluffy and al dente, the sauce rich and seductive.  The Gemelli, covered in a light sauce with asparagus, zucchini, yellow squash, arugula and tomato, was good, but left me a bit hungry ($18).  And the Fettucine with Hudson Valley rabbit, carrots, peas, kalamata olives and chives was once perfectly cooked, and a second time, the pasta was a tad undercooked.  The rabbit tasted more like a stewed chicken than anything else. ($20)

On another occasion, we split several appetizers, including three soft corn tacos:  one with shrimp, arugula, pico de gallo and avocado salsa, one with marinated hanger steak, romaine lettuce, cherry tomato and salsa verde, and the third with spinach, cremini mushrooms, queso fresco, and roast tomato salsa.  All were delicious.  (choice of 3:  $16, choice of 5: $21)  The tacos were fresh, the ingredients were fresh.  We also shared the mezza platter while waiting for friends to show up.  The hummus, babaganoush, beet tartar, and spicy carrot salad provided a variety of flavors for the toasted pita. ($13)

Desserts?  Who can resist desserts.  We tried them all -- the bread pudding (very rich), the apple tarte -- crisp and hot with homemade vanilla ice cream melting into it, the volcanic chocolate cake (a bit too much melt in the center) and the special last week:  perfectly cakey angel's food cake -- dark chocolate with a chocolate ganache filling sprinkled with chopped hazelnuts with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. (desserts run $6-12.)

Awash Ethiopian Restaurant, Amsterdam Ave. between 106th and 107th

When I ate the soury, spicy leftovers from Awash, an Ethiopian restaurant on Amsterdam Avenue, I thought of Abraham Verghese's characters in Cutting for Stone and how they longed for the taste of Ethiopia.  Verghese's narrator, after he's moved to America, finds himself entering an Ethiopian restaurant in Boston.  "The smell of fermenting honey elicited a Pavlovian response from [his] taste buds."  He eats as  if he had lived through a famine.   An Ethiopian restaurant in New York conjures up for the narrator "the sour taste of injera and a fiery wot" and his mouth begins watering.

I ate at Awash several months ago with my sister.  On the walls, painted in shades of lemon and lime, pictures of women and pastoral scenes hang.  The food we ordered was served on a big round tray, set in the middle of the table.  The yebeg wat, a lamb stew seasoned with berbere sauce contained tender chunks of meat in a rather thick brown soury-spicy sauce.  The gomen, collard greens, were cooked with onions and a hint of cardamon.  The yemesir kik wat, split red lentils cooked in berbere sauce were perfectly al dente -- a bit of a crunch as you chewed into the soft center.  All was served on a wonderful, spongy bread.  There is no silverware.  You pull a piece of the plentiful bread and scoop the sour-hot stew from the platter.  I imagine this is a taste you acquire.  But it is fun to tear off the bread, scoop up the food, and talk.  

Cafe du Soleil, Broadway between 104th and 105th

A late, light dinner for a Friday evening away from the bustle and noise of the city:  Cafe du Soleil.  The restaurant is light and cheerful -- a yellow-gold awning covering cafe tables on the sidewalk (too cold) and a warm, tiled interior with big mirrors on the walls, reflecting and opening up the space.  We arrived about 8 p.m. and were immediately seated at a table in front of the window -- and beside the host's lectern.

We could have been adventurous (well, as adventurous as one can be in a French bistro,) and ordered something other than the steak frites, but that is what we both like very much.  And I have a tendency to want to try out the French fries where ever I go.

We started by sharing the Frisee au Rocquefort Salad with thinly sliced apples, ground walnuts and a Dijon vinaigrette ($9.95).  Then we split the grilled, marinated hanger steak ($23.95), a generally tough cut, which was tender in portions and a bit chewy in others.  The steak was covered with a rich Bordelaise sauce suffused with fresh rosemary (in fact, a branch of rosemary lay across the layered steak portions.  The pomme frites, served in a paper cone, were superb:  buttery and crisp on the outside, soft and potatoey on the inside.  We ate every single one -- dipped either in ketchup or the wonderful reduced red wine sauce.


For dessert we shared a banana cream pie which was more a tiramisu with bananas in a vanilla wafer crust ($7.95).


Cafe du Soleil offers specials every day:  Monday, any steak is $12.95; Thursday any fish is $12.95; Wednesdays bottles of wine are half-priced.  They offer a pre-theater special (just hop on the #1 train at 104th and you'll arrive at Lincoln Center in about 5 minutes) for $21.95, a prix fixe menu on Sundays for $25.95.


                             

Mama Mexico, Broadway @ 101st Street

Mama Mexico has fun drinks, live music (a traveling guitar player with a fabulous voice who croons Happy Birthday in English and Spanish, as well as more traditional and modern songs), decent, higher end Mexican food, and lots of noise -- depending on where you're seated.  It so happened that a large party of men were in one room, we were seated in the glassed in "green house" decorated with colorful hanging lanterns and baskets of twining ivy.

Two at our table ordered festive margaritas that looked like a lava lamp as the layers of blue, pink, and yellow bled into each other.  There is also a full complement of Mexican (and American) beer, as well as an extensive wine menu.

Hot tortilla chips with a fresh salsa -- full of tomatoes and cilantro -- are served before you order.  Then the drinks came.  We ordered a guacamole which was prepared at our table -- a whole avacado scooped out and mixed with chopped tomatoes, onions, and spices.  Two at our table ordered the Tacos al Carbon ($16) -- soft corn tortillas rolled with grilled skirt steak with refried beans and pico de gallo,  and served with black beans and rice, lettuce and guacamole.  One of us ordered the cheese enchiladas ($15).  And I ordered pollo con mole poblano ($16) -- two tender boneless chicken breasts smothered in a spicy, (not sweet) chocolate sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds.  (Since reading Like Water for Chocolate, I've always ordered chicken mole when it's available).

We might have ordered dessert, but it took fifteen minutes for our waiter to return, and by then we asked for the check.  It took another half hour before the charged statement was brought back for our signature.

Dinner for 4 with two margaritas and one beer came to $104 and change.

Rack & Soul, 109th just east of Broadway

Stacked to the right of the entrance behind the window (where else do you stack wood in NY?) is a quarter cord of split wood for Rack & Soul's wood-smoked barbecue.  And what barbecue it is!  We passed through the charming, wooden bar area with its half dozen tables to the back room -- a paneled extension with planked floors and a few tables and booths.  Photographs of old New York (circa 1900) grace the walls.  There's even a photo of our building just after it was built!  The restaurant was quiet on a Sunday night around 8 pm.  Usually, it's far more crowded.

Right after we sat down, plates with two hot, just-baked biscuits were set down before us.  We ordered two Abita beers ($6 each) brewed from Louisiana spring water, and fried crawfish tails with a creamy smooth pink sauce faintly tasting of lemon juice, ketchup, mayo, and cayenne pepper.  The crawfish, brought almost immediately from the kitchen, were covered in a deep-fried film of batter.  We also ordered the combination platter (choose two entrees from ribs, pulled pork, BBQ chicken wings or fried chicken, and choose two sides from broccoli, asparagus, collard greens, string beans, black-eyed peas, lima beans, baked beans, cole slaw, stewed okra, macaroni and cheese, candied yams, white rice, mashed potatoes, french fries, potato salad, or a belgian waffle).  I would have liked a taste of everything.  Alas, something to save for another day.

The wood-smoked ribs were tender, not fatty, and so thick, it seems we'd ordered pork-roast with a little bone. A sweet barbecue sauce covered only the outer surface, though you could squeeze on more sauce (piquant or sweet) from a plastic bottle on the table.  Or, you could add tabasco sauce, also on the table.  The fried chicken was what I remembered from my childhood -- when Maggie, who sometimes cleaned and sometimes cooked for us -- whipped up her version of fried chicken: A crunchy, dry crust of batter around tender, moist chicken.

The collard greens were over-cooked as they have to be, dark green (making us feel righteous about our healthy choice of a side dish), with a hint of vinegar and butter.   The finely chopped cole slaw in a creamy, celery seeded sauce was among the best cole slaws I've ever had.  Yay, vegetables!

And then dessert.  We had to try the pecan pie and the banana pudding layered over sliced bananas and vanilla wafers, as if it were a trifle.  Both were very good.  The pecan pie was loaded with chopped nuts in a fairly dry (for pecan pie) pudding redolent of brown sugar, molasses and butter.  The banana pudding melted the vanilla wafers, making me feel like a kid again who liked to dip her vanilla wafers in milk.

Our bill came to $60.59.

Community, Broadway between 112 and 113

Despite the snow and the three inch thick ice blocks that traversed the sidewalk in front of stores that didn't shovel and the six inch puddles of slush you had to step into (or walk great distances to circumvent), we made our way up 4 blocks to Community, a restaurant we'd been meaning to get to since it reopened in October after a grease fire had closed it down for six months.

Community seats its guests at, well, communal tables.  Long tables fill the center of the main dining room where the acoustics verge on loud.  We found ourselves talking in more than hushed voices to be heard over the laughter and good stories told at nearby tables.  In fact, we found ourselves entering the conversations at the tables on either side of us -- eyeing and commenting on the butterscotch pudding topped with whipped cream two women shared, overhearing a discussion between a brother and sister of last year's production of Euripides off-Broadway and ogling the very attractive shrimp pot stickers and perfectly browned zucchini scallion pancakes .

Ordering wine was easy, once we'd decided against the $50 dollar bottle of pinot noir from France.  I ordered the malbec ($9) and David ordered a pinot ($12).  Then the hard part:  how to choose among the apparently healthful, organic beautifully prepared entrees.  We ordered the special salad:  arugula, toasted walnuts, bacon and blue cheese tossed in a pear vinagarette -- which we shared.  I judge a salad on the crispness of its vegetables and the smoothness of its dressing.  This was ambrosia -- the sweetness of the pear emulsified with olive oil and vinegar.

David ordered the Hudson Valley duck breast ($23) served with sheared and grilled brussel sprouts, whole wheat spaetzle, and a rich port sauce one would normally find on a steak.  In fact, the medium rare duck tasted like steak -- but more tender.  I ordered a hamburger ($14) medium rare (more for the fries than the hamburger!) -- but it came medium well, and our enthusiastic, charming waiter took it back to the kitchen and brought me back my fries.  Rather than another burger, I ordered the shrimp pot stickers ($8.50) -- which were delicious.  These pan-seared dumplings arrived perfectly browned.  Inside the al dente rice paper, chunks of shrimp mixed with ginger and something green I could not identify.  Suffice to say, it was as good as it looked -- and better.

For dessert we ordered the special which will soon be on the menu:  coconut-banana cream pie.  So creamy the dollop of whipped cream on top seemed redundant.

Our bill came to $75.32.

Silver Moon Bakery, Broadway @ 105th

On weekends, the line snakes out the door.  Weekdays, you see the odd couple or solo person sitting on the bench outside the bakery balancing a cup of coffee and a pastry.  I often walk by the steamy windows which signify just baked breads and cakes and pies.  And "real" doggie biscuits.  The fresh oven aroma wafts out to the street, like the genie from Aladdin's lamp luring you into a deal you're not sure you want just now.  I don't often allow myself to go in -- but when I do, I reward myself with golden brioche baked into jelly-filled doughnuts or swirling cinnamon buns topped with sugar frosting.  There's something irresistible  about pulling off fresh chunks of sweet, yeasty bread that melts in your mouth.  You want another and another, even though you vowed to yourself when you bought the highly caloric pre-dinner snack that you'd only take one bite and save the rest for later.  There never is a later.

about $4 per pastry.

Garden of Eden, Broadway south of 108

I should mention the Garden of Eden -- where we buy most of the food we bring home:  milk without antibiotics, fresh eggs, la Semeuse coffee, honey crisp apples, navel oranges, crisp and deep green Swiss chard, cheeses, pastries, Erica's rugalach (filled with nuts, raisins and apricot or raspberry filling), Lake Champlain dark chocolate from Vermont, roasted almonds, pasta, cakes, breads, fish, meat, and more.

Tonight I was could not pass by the Baba, a golden sponge cake soaked in rum.  It was true to its name -- wonderously fresh and rum-soaked.  Though I intended to leave some for tomorrow, I ate every bite.

Jerusalem Restaurant, Broadway south of 104th

This is a hole-in-the-wall with a window out to the street for fast service.  There is a counter that seats exactly four and two or three tables.  While waiting for my take-out order of lentil soup (yep, had to have another Middle Eastern fix) and salad, the cook put out a plate on the counter piled with what looked like French fries, but they were crisp, hot pita fries cut in length-wise strips and topped with herbs.  The cook offered me one.  I liked it.  He then filled a paper coffee cup and handed me far more than I would have wanted to eat.  But I ate every one -- before I got home.

The yellow broth thickened with lentils, diced carrots, and potatoes had a mild flavor.  It needed a squeeze of lemon to give it more life.  The salad was fresh and filled with my choice of tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese, olives and chopped parsley;  it came with a tahini dressing, which made me wish for falafels.

Salad and soup and free chips came to $8 and change.

Turkuaz, Broadway and 100th

Coming from Detroit where there is a plethora of wonderful Near Eastern eateries, I often hunger for a good hummus or baba ganoush, a good grilled lamb chop or kebob, a good lentil soup, and hot, freshly baked bread.

You enter Turkuaz and you are in a room redolent of the Middle East:  wooden floors covered by oriental rugs, banquets surrounding tables, a wooden bar.  You go through a blue velvet curtain to enter the back room where the ceiling is draped with silk upholstery fabric (that might cover a sultan's sofa) and the tables are covered in white tablecloths.  At about 8 on a Friday night, when we came in, the room was not terribly crowded.  By 9:15 when we left, the tables had mostly filled, and yet, the space was serenely quiet.  We could easily converse without shouting over loud music or a crowd's din.  At 9:30, a belly dancer was coming.

We started by ordering two glasses of red, Turkish wine and an appetizer sampler ($19.95) which included six cold appetizers:  Humus, babaganus (mashed eggplant salad), patican salatasi (eggplant salad), soslu patican (cubes of eggplant cooked in tomatoes and garlic), acili ezme (spicy, finely chopped vegetables), cacik (thick yogurt, cucumber, garlic and fresh dill), and imam bayildi (baby eggplant with onion, red and green peppers, pin nuts and garlic).  Each salad was divided by sweet, oblong slices of cucumber.  Freshly baked flat bread was served for dipping.  The sizable portions covered a large plate -- and all were unexpectedly delicious.  Our favorite were the sweet tasting chunks of eggplant cooked in tomatoes.  Our second choice?  All of them.  We loved the thick and smooth texture of the ground chickpeas in the humus; the garlicky, cucumbery yogurt, the smokey flavor of the babaganus, the unusual texture of the eggplant and vegetable salad -- ground with what tasted like pine nuts.

For our entree we ordered the grilled baby lamb chops ($26).  They were served with a mound of rice pilaf, and a mound of cut-up tomatoes mixed with chopped onion, parsley and dill.  The lamb chops, cooked medium-rare were extremely tender and tasty.  I relished every bite.

We almost left without dessert, until the charming hostess dressed in traditional Turkish garb suggested the kazandibi or milk pudding ($4.50).  It was a large, thin square of yumminess -- creamy, like a creme brulee, but not as rich -- covered with a dusting of cinnamon and ground walnuts.

We look forward to future visits when we can order the grilled fish, the chopped tomato, cucumber, and green pepper salad, kebaps and koftes and dolmas, and other delectable Turkish delights.

The bill came to $80.24.

Columbia Cottage, Amsterdam and 111th

Columbia Cottage is our local Chinese restaurant -- and it's good.  The corner dining room surrounded by windows (you can gaze across the street at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine if it's still light out) is usually crowded with Columbia students and professors who often hail from provinces represented by the menu's varied cuisines:  Szechuan, Hunan, and Shanghai.

We often order in (columbiacottagenyc.com/food-delivery/ConsumerMenuSelection.m?extVendorLocationId=2715), but prefer to sit in the restaurant and be served hot, steaming food straight from the kitchen.  The Chow Fun noodles with 10 ingredients were pleasantly smooth and sticky.  Chow Fun noodles, those thick rice noodles served in Chinese noodle shops, are often coated with a smokey, aromatic sauce and are wonderfully chewy.  Our dish came with slivers of beef, chicken, pork, and whole shrimp, as well as an assortment of vegetables.  We also ordered the chicken with eggplant which came aromatically spiced with big, tender chunks of eggplant and sizable slices of chicken.  

On other occasions we've had the okra with green string beans, Moo Shu Gai pan with chicken, corn and chicken soup, General Tso's shrimp, Lake Tung Ting Shrimp, and fresh roast duck.

To my palate, the food's a tad oily, but none-the-less, delicious.  And the range of options feels limitless.

Havana Central @ Broadway between 113th and 114th

Havana Central opens to a spacious room, half old-fashioned wooden bar, half tables and chairs. The floor is tiled. TVs silenced broadcast sports. A friendly hostess welcomes you.

The best was dessert, Tres Leches or three milks cake. It was moist and spongy, with a very sweet, almost marshmellowy frosting. I bypassed the frosting (as I tend to do) and dipped the drenched cake in the accompanying dollop of whipped cream. I always believe dessert should come first -- when you're really hungry for it. Alas, we waited through our meals before we could taste this confection.

We started with the Cuban Tasting Sampler that arrived on three tiered plates -- as if this were an English tea. The sampler came with our choice of empanadas; we chose the spinach goat cheese empanada -- a flakey envelope stuffed with chopped spinach and a thin layer of goat cheese. However, the best of the samples were the tostones -- fried mashed plaintain that came with salsa chimichurri -- a wonderful, green, aromatic dipping sauce tasting of chopped dill, cilantro, and parsley. The tostones were laid out beside slices of tasty chorizo. There was also an inch long chunk of "zesty" corn on the cob rolled in Parmesan cheese, two pieces of chicken (so dry the bite I took stuck in my throat), and wonderfully sweet and scrumptious fried plantains.

For our main course we shared the Paella de Mariscos -- the shrimp were crunchy and succulent, tasting of the sea, teeny-tiny scallops, little chunks of white fish, mussels, and clams. The dish came also with callamari -- which I cannot eat and which, at our request, the chef left out. The rice was a tad overcooked -- smothered in a tomato sauce with peas and pimentos.

We ordered two glasses of Yuengling beer ($5 a glass). Our bill came to $60.15.

106 Amsterdam @ 106th and Amsterdam

From David:

Thursday night was guy's night out. I've been eyeing up the bar around the corner with the Blue Point Brewery neon sign for months, waiting for a chance to grab a less than quiet dinner and a pint. (Beth never wants to go into the loud bars with flashing televisions.) From visits to friends in Davis Park, Fire Island (whose house was next to a brew master from Blue Point), I learned of craft beers often termed 'the elixir of gods'. I couldn't wait to have a swallow of Blue Point drawn from a tap here in New York City.

At 7:00 pm, the bar was packed--every stool was taken with drinkers and diners. Although most of the patrons were of student age, there were a few of my contemporaries. If it is a crowd and noise you want--this is the place. I caught the bartender's eye and asked if a stool at the bar would soon open. She hunted down a stool, moved a couple of people, and seated me at the end of the bar. I asked for a menu and ordered my Blue Point.

"Sorry, we're out."

Tempted as I was to say, sorry, I'm leavin', I looked over the selection of two dozen beers on tap. I asked about a PA Pilsner-type beer and was given an sample. Too light. "You prefer a hoppy flavor?" asked the bartender. A sampling of another PA brewery was right on target made me forget (to some extent) the Blue Point. Most pints were $6.00 and all were available in a 1/2 gallon take out "growler'" for $13.

The menu covered a lot of ground--from standard burger fare, wings. edamame, hummus, quesadillas, a number of jerk-spiced dishes, lots of salads, a lobster Mac & Cheese, pizza and a Shakshuka (Middle Eastern dish meaning 'all shook up.' This menu had something for everyone and it all looked pretty good coming out of the smallish kitchen. The Shrimp Po-Boy on a hero roll caught my eye @$12.

I sat next to the grill and saw the chef toss a handful of fresh shrimp on the grill. Seasoning was Caribbean spicy and had some fire--perfect with the beer to cool my palate. French fries were included and cut somewhere between regular size and bar cut. They were crisp, but not exceptional. As I left, some of the spaces at the tables were empty, but I sensed it was just a lull before the more hungry and thirsty patrons poured in. 106 is a great place to watch a game or just if you just want, to have a comfort meal of surrounded by a crowd enjoying themselves.

Appetizers range from $4 to $12 with most in the $6 range. Dinners/sandwiches were mostly $12 with some at $6 and most expensive, the Lobster Mac & Cheese ($14)

ANGELINA PIZZABAR, Broadway @104th

We were in the mood for pizza and wanted to try Angelina's. Yum. Probably the best pizza I've had anywhere -- and that includes the surprisingly crisp thin crust pizza from Pisa that set the standard for me years ago. Two other pizza places we really like in the New York area include Bohemian Pizza way up in Litchfield, CT and D'Amici's -- also in Litchfield. The other pizza we're fond of is Totonno's -- on 2nd Avenue at 81st -- with its thin crust, thin layer of tomato sauce, and melted buffalo mozzarella, but that we've found very salty.

The carafe of chianti ($16) and plate of spongy-fresh and crisp-crusted Italian bread arrived almost as quickly as we gave our order. The Angelina's salad -- full of fresh greens, tomatoes, and lots of red onions which we carefully picked out (enough to cover a bread plate) arrived within minutes. Then waited and waited. And waited. We watched boxed pizzas and bags of other goodies speed past our table in the arms of those ubiquitous bike riding delivery men. But not the Margherita pizza we'd ordered ($18 for a full, $12 for a "personal" size). With a kind smile, our waitress explained, "Kitchen's backed up. Lots of deliveries tonight."

Fifty minutes later (the bread, and wine nearly gone, the salad totally finished) white dinner plates and a chrome pizza stand were set before us. Then, finally, VOILA!! (I don't know the Italian for that wonderful French expression for something wonderful suddenly appearing before you.) Our pizza smelled and looked heavenly: a checkerboard of buffalo mozzarella set in a field of orangey-red -- on a crisp, thin, yeasty crust. The tomato sauce tasted of late August -- full flavored with the richness of tomatoes just off the vine; not salty, not acidic. Perfect.

And there was enough in our "full" pie to bring home half for another meal.

For wine and salad and pizza, our bill came to $42.55.

Terrace in the Sky, 119th between Amsterdam and Morningside

Wow. Restaurant week. We were able to go for $35 prix fixe for a 3 course meal to a restaurant that normally charges $41 for rack of lamb. We walked up the eleven blocks, through Columbia's campus, to Butler Hall -- a Columbia dorm with Terrace in the Sky, a 4 star restaurant, on the 16th floor. From the wrap around windows you can see the Triboro Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, Riverside Cathedral, St. John the Divine, Central Park and the lit up skyscrapers of midtown and downtown. And the food is really good.

This is elegant dining. Not your neighborhood ethnic restaurant or bistro. You ride the elevator up and up and step out into a foyer of mirrors. We handed over our coats and were given a choice of dining in the quieter, carpeted room with wrap-around two story high windows or the terrazzo tiled room where a harpist played and the views were reflected in black mirrors.

For an appetizer, I ordered the pasta, perfectly al dente, in a divinely smooth goat cheese sauce with porcini mushrooms. David ordered the sashimi with mounds of chopped mango, sprinkled with sesame seeds. We both ordered (at the suggestion of the waiter) the short ribs that were pink and butter tender. You could cut the meat with the side of your fork. The plentiful sliced beef was laid beside a pool of pureed parsnips and a mound of chopped garlicky, buttery kale. One of our friends ordered the chicken -- a breast of tender white meat under a crust of rosemary.

For dessert, two of us ordered the chocolate mousse sponge cake with cherries soaked in kirsh and a creme anglais, topped with vanilla ice cream with a zebra straw made of dark and white chocolate.. Almost too rich for me. Two ordered the smooth, custardy creme brulee with mixed berries.

Le Monde, Broadway just north of 113th

We needed comfort. David had just returned from a week of sitting shiva in Pittsburgh. It was our first meal together back in New York. We wanted something other than the chicken or pizza or pasta people brought over for us. We wanted a good glass of red wine. We wanted to sit and be served by a solicitous waiter.

At medium, the Le Monde's burger was perfectly cooked -- pink in the center, moist, grilled brown on the outside and served on a sesame egg bun. I didn't touch the tomatoes which looked smushed. The fries were heavenly -- buttery crisp on the outside. And yes, dipped in ketchup, sublime.

David ordered the duck confit -- and as often happens, I regretted not ordering what he ordered. His duck was cooked in aromatic spices -- tender and juicy, and served crispy, garlicky and parsleyed cottage fries that were incredibly delicious.

For dessert we ordered the tarte tartin. Freshly sliced apples in a bed of phyllo, topped with vanilla ice cream. We were indeed soothed.

The bill came to $72 for dinner, dessert and two glasses of red wine.

West Way Cafe, NE corner of 108th and Broadway

There are basically three things I order at a diner: a Belgian waffle, a spinach and swiss cheese omelette or a hamburger and fries. My expectation is high for each -- as there was always good fare on the east side at the two diners I frequented: Amity (Madison between 84th and 85th) and Nectar (on the SW corner of 82nd and Madison). Tonight I ordered a hamburger and fries. I asked for pickles -- which is somewhat Proustian for me -- reminding me of my childhood eating hamburgers with sliced pickles loaded with ketchup at the swimming pool's snack bar in Franklin, Michigan. Alas, West Way Cafe has no pickles. But they do serve their hamburgers with lettuce, sliced tomatoes and a side of cole slaw in a little plastic cup.

The hamburger was good. Ordered medium, it was juicy with just the right amount of pink in the center. The fries were well crisped on the outside and soft on the inside. And the slaw -- chopped cabbage in a milky sauce held a faint taste of horseradish.

The burger and fries came to $8.85.

107 West, Broadway north of 107th

We don't know quite how to categorize 107 West...Southern? Cajun? Barbecue? Comfort food? American? Bistro? Italian? A couple times we'd paused at the menu and were confused by the range of offerings and so we passed on entering and ordering. Last week, in search of a good burger, we went in and were not disappointed. Not at all.

But we didn't order burgers. David had the duck -- half of a big, succulent duck with crispy skin served with roasted rosemary potatoes -- crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside and steamed broccoli. I had marinated hanger steak served with mashed potatoes and grilled onions. David thought my steak was a bit vinegary, I liked it a lot. Perhaps too rare though I'd ordered it medium-medium-rare. I always specify "pink," not red -- and it was a tad too red.

The atmosphere was nice. 107 West had just redone their glassed in "porch" with gray vinyl banquets, huge white pillows, and scattered tables and chairs. The soft light of candles burning in votives made the space festive. Though it was freezing outside, we were practically dining on the sidewalk.

We each took half our meal home. The next night we pulled the duck meat from the bones, made a broth, boiled in some red wine, and added the duck meat, chopped rosemary potatoes and broccoli and beef -- and served it all over fresh pasta.

For two glasses of wine and two entrees (our take-out served another two meals) the bill came to $52.

Another night, last night to be exact (April 16), we ordered the duck and a pan seared brook trout.  The trout (the mango chutney remained on the side) with just a squeeze of of lemon, was perfect -- the fish's surface crisply browned.  As a side, I ordered spinach and the dish came with string beans.  Delicious.  All that remained on my plate was the skin.  David's duck was a bit dry -- but made good leftover soup today.