After our roast beef journey, we met up with the rest of the group outside of Peter Luger's where they exchanged some of their leftovers for our extra pizza from DiFara's. Not a bad trade-off! Next up was Sicilian slices and spumoni at
L & B Spumoni Gardens in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn. I never, ever tire of this pizza. Ever. An that spumoni is a perfect way to end a meal there. So glad I was able to spend a couple of days with all of these wonderful people! Love that "old fashioned" condiment tray outside!
A short drive away was
Nathan's Famous to munch on some of those classic hot dogs and crinkle-cut fries. Another winner and they really don't taste the same at any other Nathan's location.
The group split up for a bit to get some rest and we reconvened in the dining concourse of Grand Central terminal to dine at the
Oyster Bar. This marked my first time trying a fried "whole belly" style clam and it was pretty good. Now I'm amped up to try some in New England! The signature pan roast (mine was shrimp) was outstanding. Heavy with cream and vividly spiced, this definitely needs to be savored slowly, preferably with a LOT of bread! I'm not one for oysters but most of the gang seemed to really enjoy them. And RFer
Lexi was named "Miss Roadfood" for the night! ;)
Naturally, after all of that rich heavy food, we needed something light to balance it out. I can think of nothing more appropriate than heading across the hall to
Junior's for some cheesecake and egg creams! The carrot cake cheesecake and Red Velvet cake were outstanding. I tried to get a shot of the classic slice but by the time I had the camera ready they had made short work of it! That chocolate egg cream was mighty fine too. I was just eating at Junior's last week and I still am wowed by that cheesecake!
I called it a night as I had a race the next morning but a few brave souls marched on to the Shake Shack for some concretes to cap off the night. The next morning I met up with Chris, Amy and Cliff at
Pommes Frites. We split a small order and it was still daunting to eat. Those frites are a perfect balance of crispy and creamy and they make most of their own sauces in-house and they really are bursting with flavor. I've tried most of their sauces but the Sweet Mango Chutney mayo keeps calling my name.
Chris & Amy had some plans that afternoon so we said our goodbyes then Cliff and I walked over to
Crif Dogs on St. Mark's Place in the East Village for some deep fried tube steaks. If you're not sure where it is, just look for the sign below. The classic Crif Dog and the Tsunami Dog were both decadent and exactly what we needed. The baked beans may not have been homemade but certainly reminded me of ones from my childhood.
Cliff and I were making our way to the Doughnut Plant, Kossar's Bialys, The Pickle Guys and Economy Candy when
The Travelin' Man called and he had just gotten out of work so we cut our journey short and met up with him. They invited me to join them at Harold's Deli in NJ but I had to decline as I didn't think I was up to the task of handling that much food! However, walking back home I passed the new location of the
Doughnut Plant on 23rd Street and popped in to try three of their new flavors. I love the atmosphere of this place from the doughnut shaped pillows on the wall, the doughnut chairs and the big screen TV on the wall showing doughnuts being made. NOTE: When they first opened they weren't actually making the doughnuts on-site but getting them from the original LES location. They were still great as the place was always packed and there was high turnover. From top to bottom: Chocolate Chip Cookie doughnut, Salted Peanut doughnut, Oatmeal doughnut. And uh, by the way, they were real AND they were spectacular!
Not even halfway done with 2011, don't change that dial!!
