New York. Not now, but soon.

A few reasons it will be bad to move to New York:
I will miss ordering "lager" and getting a Yuengling Lager.
I will miss real cheese steaks.
I won't be able to get a good dinner out for less than $15.
No more BYOB restaurants.
I can't easily pick up Amish family-yard-raised chickens.

A few reasons it will be awesome:
More restaurants than I could ever eat in, ever.
Trendy/ new food will be easier to get. ie: grass fed beef? no biggie.
Best shrimp and grits ever at The Redhead.
My plan to travel to every single ethnic neighborhood and eat every kind of food, ever.
No more stupid Pennsylvania BEER AND LIQUOR LAWS!

It's still a long way off, but I'm getting mentally ready.

Little Fish again

I love Little Fish. It's probably my favorite restaurant in the city. We used to live next door to it a couple of years ago, back before the world found out about how great they are. Then came the Bon Appetit article, the buzz about the Sunday chef's tastings (which are now booked 3 months in advance), and the eventual stardom (well, local stardom) of the place. Then we moved away and haven't been back for two whole years.

We went back for my birthday this year and found the charm of the place still in tact, the food still excellent, and the staff still personable as ever.

I had: halibut over gnocchi with truffles, favas, and chantarelles.
Wil had: white bass in tomato broth with little neck clams

We shared oysters mignonette to start, and finished with your standard flourless chocolate raspberry dessert.

Naan

My worlds are colliding.
I love to make homemade pizza dough. It's so easy and the pizzas are so good! And you can make crazy pizzas (last Monday: Jamaican chicken with red peppers and fresh thai basil). But I also love naan pizzas- for their incredible convenience. Take a piece of naan, smear it with tomato sauce, top, bake, and eat. Easy. 15 minutes.

This weekend I made homemade naan dough from a recipe recommended to me by a fellow Chowhounder.
These dough balls were originally intended for the grill, but our cookout was rained out, so I fried them up in an omelet pan. I'm not saying these would make good pizzas or anything, but man, they were good. And easy.

We had them with spicy meatballs and tzaziki sauce.

well everyone has their vices

Oh Paesano's.

Wil loves sandwiches. He eats a sandwich everyday for lunch and on Saturdays, when we could eat anywhere, he wants a sandwich. On Sundays we often end up at Whole Foods, and grab lunch there: sandwich. So, a few months ago when Amanda sent me a link to the menu for Paesano's with the subject line "you should take Wil here!!", I was excited. But then I forgot about it for a while. And then, I remembered.

Since then, we have been to Paesano's 3 times. This is a big deal since the place is exactly 22 blocks away from us and we don't have a car. Behold: the reasons why.

The Paesano. Signature sandwich. Roasted beef, hot peppers, pickled cabbage, and provolone.

The Arista. This is what they will become famous for. They've elevated the traditional Philly sandwich of roast pork, rabe, and provolone to an entirely new level. We're talkin' roast suckling pig baby, sliced, and piled on with tons of rabe and sharp sharp cheese. Lovely.

Wil had the Italian hoagie, known as the Daddy Wad. This recently was voted the best Italian hoagie in Philadelphia, a tall award with high stakes. Wil is unsure, and says he must eat the hoagie multiple times before deciding if it does, indeed, beat out Salumeria and Sarcones.

Finally, I had the Gustano, a lamb sausage on flatbread with sour cherries, arugala, and gorgonzola sauce. THis is my favorite so far, the most interesting, and yet, I didn't snap a photo. I was too busy wolfing it down I guess.

Anyway, go there. Eat sandwiches. They're nice, the place is cute (and tiny), and the sandwiches are worth any drive/ bike/ walk you may have. They're in the 100 block of Girard Ave, on the south side of the street.

HIghlights of New Orleans Part II

We capped off our Memorial Day weekend with the mother of all New Orleans specialties: the po' boy. And, as if fried shrimp, remoulade, fried oysters, and sweet potato fries weren't good enough, we had them as a picnic, in the perfectly southern and perfectly lovely City Park.I had the shrimp, and I gotta say, who eats these things not "dressed"? The pickles and remoulade absolutely MAKE the thing. Particularly the pickles. And look at those fries! I have had sweet potato fries many a time, but nothing like these. They're big and fat like steak fries, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.
Wil had the traditional oyster po'boy. He also had the "large", which I should note is twice the size of the shrimp above. Huge. These po'boys came from the highly recommended and very popular Parkway Bakery. It's a bit of a drive from the French Quarter and the rest of the high tourism areas, but very close to the park and to the museum. I should mention that in Parkway Bakery, we saw a guy we had just met 2 months before at our friends' wedding in New York City. Small world. Anyway, Parkway Bakery is adorable, packed, and has great service.

The absolute richest thing I've ever made.

Possibly the richest thing I've ever eaten. And I am NOT one to call things "too rich"

Pietro Gangemi's Torta di Carciofi

I actually made it square, with homemade puff pastry rolled into a thin rectangle, placed on a baking sheet, filled, and with edges folded over galette-style.
It was delicious. But I could only eat approximately 1/16th of what I thought I would!

Check out the rest of Luisa's blog while you're there. Great writing and really great recipes.