In the warm golden light of the Alexandra Tavern, raggedy pub cat Tommy curled on a stool, and I warmed my chilled body against the grated wood fire in the front bar room. Two things were notably missing but not at all missed: TV screens and music.
Read MoreOne thing I have always loved about England is the ubiquitous tea houses in the middle of parks—how eminently civilized. Eaton Park Café is housed in the side of a rather ugly circular building surrounding the green domed gazebo in the middle of a park that sports a model train, “crazy golf” and tennis courts.
Read MoreI think the true measure of whether you’re staying long enough in a foreign destination is having the luxury of returning again and again to the same restaurant, as I returned this week to No. 33 Café in Norwich, England to eat yogisha soup and will do before we leave.
Read MoreA round up of eight under $10 snack sightings in Manhattan and Brooklyn--from Apulian Panzerotti bites to salted buttermilk biscuits, yet another cheese puff and a Korean pancake that inspired great hope, and then despair.
Read MoreRamen Thukpa in Greenwich Village is one of those rarities: a restaurant or café that serves inexpensive, delicious food in a high rent neighborhood. It’s the kind of place you fear is always on the brink of closing, because it’s just too good to be true.
Read MoreIt seems ironic that the best croissant I’ve had in recent memory comes from a British chain sporting a French name. Pret a Manger (Ready to Eat) or “Pret” as the Brits call it is a 350-store chain that opened a franchise in our Morningside Heights neighbourhood, much to my chagrin, at first.
Read MoreIt’s the end of February and thank goodness. Cold, bleak, February is the “hump month” of winter. All the more reason to find occasions for joy during it, as we did when, once again, we embarked on an ethnic snack journey to celebrate my sister Carol’s birthday--this time to Indonesian Elmhurst.
Read MoreThis past Friday I’d had a productive writing session at the green table, swam forty laps at my health club, and I felt I deserved to treat myself to a take-in dinner for a date night with myself. I decided on Mama's Too the new Sicilian pizza spot everyone on the upper Upper West Side (above 96th st.) has been raving about.
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