Our agenda for the day was primarily focused on Central Park. We decided to take the subway up Lexington to the east side and roam around. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of restaurants on the Upper East Side and had we known that there were lots of restaurants to choose from on the other side of the park, we would have hoofed over to the west side. Instead, we took the train down to Grand Central Terminal where there was a huge food court called the "Dining Concourse." I got a little overwhelmed (the area is very busy at lunchtime) and settled on the first place that looked good. Turns out it was Zaro's, a local chain that served really healthy, tasty and inexpensive food. I got a roasted vegetable panini, potato knish and a sparkling lemonade for under $10.After lunch, we headed back to the park and explored a while until we decided it was time to grab a frozen treat. My friend had read about Grom gelato in a magazine recently. The New York store is the only one outside Italy and all the ingredients are mixed before they arrive in the states (according to the guys working in the store). It was certainly delicious. I had a cup with two flavors: the Crema di Grom and Gianduja. Heavenly. Sorry--no pictures; too hungry and hot at the time.
After getting our gelato, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the evening. We had dinner reservations for 11pm, so I proposed to my friends that I'd go and get us a pizza. There was just no way I was going to leave the city without having had good pizza. A friend recommended John's of Bleecker Street Pizzeria (can't find their website now, though I saw it last week). They don't deliver, so I rode the subway to pick it up--yes, that's how much I wanted this pizza. And though there's some argument over the best pizza in the city, I'll say that I passed a dozen or so pizza places on the way there and only John's had a line of people outside waiting for a seat. I grabbed my large cheese pizza (only $15) and headed back to the subway. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the uptown subway at Bleecker and 7th, so I went all the way up to 14th. That's quite a walk with a hot pizza, but at least it didn't get cold. By the time I finally made it back to the hotel, it was really only warm-ish, but still the best pizza I've ever had in my life. It was worth the trip. And my friends were quite happy to see it. Which is why there aren't any pictures of the actual pizza--it didn't last long. It was beautiful, though--a thin crust with lightly charred edges and just the right amount of cheese.
After I got my fill of New York pizza, I had to shower (I worked up a real sweat on my pizza excursion) and get ready for our late dinner at Tao. When we arrived, there was a crowd of people outside waiting to get a table, but it was nothing like the line across the street to get into what was once Au Bar and Club 58 and is apparently now The Grand. After waiting about 30 minutes (with martini in hand), we were seated upstairs where the thumping bass of the music was still loud enough to prevent real conversation. There was also a roaming sax player who didn't care for the fact that I was talking on my phone while waiting to place my order. He took the opportunity to get in some playful harrassment as did I, but it was all in good fun. After that, it was time to order. Since I'd already had pizza, I wasn't too hungry, but I couldn't resist getting two small plates: the Bamboo Steamed Vegetable Dumplings with Crunchy Cucumbers and Buddha's Harmonized Vegetable Feast for the Minor Gods. Our very intuitive server picked up on the fact that I'm vegetarian and advised that he'd have the chef substitute the chicken broth in the Feast and add tofu. I was certainly grateful as it had not occurred to me that it wouldn't be vegetarian. Both dishes were sublimely excellent. There's no good dim sum for a vegetarian in Nashville (that I'm aware of), so the dumplings really gave me my fix. And the portion was generous so I could share with my friends. And the vegetable feast was also amazingly tasty. I wish I could prepare a meal like this at home. And sadly, there was simply no room left in my for dessert but if there had been I would have ordered the Fuji Apple Springroll with Tahitian Vanilla Bean ice cream or perhaps the Giant Fortune Cookie filled with White and Dark Chocolate Mousse. If you're ever in New York, I recommend both John's and Tao, but definitely do takeout for the pizza and call far in advance for reservations at Tao.
You know, I hear there are other things to do in New York besides eat...
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