we went, we ate

after a seven hour drive in holiday traffic katie and i made our way across the manhattan bridge into brooklyn at 10pm thursday night. there were reports of major delays on i-95 so we stuck to alternate routes from virginia, past baltimore. some parts of the drive were lovely - farm land and small towns - until we hit the strip-mall armpit of southern maryland, la plata and waldorf. at least traffic was moving.

what can i say, we hit the ground eating. our first stop was chez oskar; a small french bistro and long time establishment of fort greene, brooklyn. it was late enough that we had no problem getting a table outside. katie had a burger, i had a crab cake and we both had a stella artois to wash it down. that was just beginning.

friday morning we stuck to our plan: my homemade muffins for breakfast. after a stroll through the old neighborhood we headed to red hook for petanque. red hook isn't your typical tourist destination, it's gritty and industrial, but it's got some gems and pit stop is one of them. the restaurant itself is tiny, seats maybe 25, but the garden is where it's at: sheltered outdoor seating and 4 petanque courts. i've been there a couple times before but i never tried the food, just the hoegaarden. this time i tried the hanger steak sandwich (they were out of merguez). it came on a brioche roll with an incredible remoulade sauce. the whole thing just melts in your mouth, if you order it rare like i did. katie and i then proceeded to kick some butt in petanque.

believe it or not we had room in our bellies for a friendly back yard bbq: savory pasteries, blue cheese, walnut and cranberry salad, thyme burgers and all-american hot dogs.

on saturday we headed to manhattan for some chinatown/ little italy/ soho action. my first idea was to grab a couple vietnamese sandwishes to-go, but the weather wasn't conducive to eating in the park so we went for vietnamese, dine-in. pho bang on mott street is where to go. i ordered vermicelli noodles with grilled shrimp and katie got the classic pho ga, chicken noodle soup. the first time i went to bang was well before i had moved to nyc, and i've been going ever since. it's cheap and unpretentious; just what you need after a long walk through the glut and glamour of soho.

later we happened upon a delicious plum tart at once upon a tart, and for dinner, coal oven pizza at arturo's. typically i'd take visitors to the famous lombardi's but in my opinion arturo's coal oven pies are outstanding and the ambiance is more enjoyable. the front room is dark but has bright charming windows that face houston street. and in the back of the room, live jazz to top it off. lombardi's is just too crowded even after the recent expansion.

with just two full days to explore new york, i'd say we did pretty well for ourselves, i mean our stomaches. i was totally prepared to head uptown - stroll around central park and through times square - but it didn't happen. in the end it was a stroll through my culinary paradise. new york taught me how to eat and the meaning of good food. i think katie got the full lesson.