America Runs on Dunkin'

Dunkin' Donuts is one of those East Coast/Midwest treats that I enjoy whenever my travels take me there. I had intended to get a little decaf something earlier in the week, but didn't have time until Thursday afternoon-rain has come to NYC and we are standing around the store looking for something to do.

We are just outside of Union Square, with a Dunkin' about 500 yards away. A quick dash over and across the street through the rain and I'm in! While waiting for my coffee treat (cream AND sugar, of course!), I noticed these orange donuts with the blue swoosh through the side.

I don't believe that I have ever seen this, but the NYC Marathon has an official donut! Admittedly, I don't usually pair donuts with marathon runners but hey, maybe that is the secret I have been missing all of these years!

I guess it makes sense, the tag line is...America runs on Dunkin'!

Cash Only

Wednesday took me to Flushing, NY, a neighborhood in the Queens borough with a heavy Asian population. Always one up for a challenge, I set out to find lunch that met the criteria of local, tasty and something I knew I could eat.

I landed at a super-busy Asian food cluster situated under the train tracks. Packed with plenty of locals, I figured the food and prices both to be good.

I found a sushi stand near the back of the market (think open-air market, something like a Fisherman's Wharf), complete with a sushi-chef hand rolling every order.

Thankfully, there was a menu printed with English prompts next to all of the Japanese characters, so I found a couple of rolls that sounded good and stepped up to order. I'm not going to lie. The small Japanese woman kind of scared me with her very aggressive "what do you want?"

I blurted my order, took out my ATM card and was again startled by this tiny-but-frightening little business owner. "Cash only!!". I dutifully fished out a $10 and a single. My scary friend then said, "Next time you call.." She even made the universal 'call-me' sign with her hand. I nodded, took my sushi and ran.

I did enjoy my made-to-order, hand-rolled spicy tuna and tempura shrimp rolls. I may be jumpy and a little on edge, but it was good sushi.

The Burger Joint

Monday was the first full day in the city. We started early, as in leaving our hotel at 6 am to get into the city and in position for the first training session at 8 am...whew, that is an early start on East Coast time!

We had some time in between sessions and had to cross from the west side to the east side, so we opted to visit a few stores, say hi and grab a bite to eat. Eric promised Pete the best burger that he has ever had for lunch , so off we went to The Burger Joint, located behind a giant orange curtain in the swanky Le Parker Meridien. The hotel staff there has GOT to hate this place, as it queues up in a giant line that snakes around the lobby. The only marker for the restaurant is a small neon sign on the wall, although that monster line of people is a big help.

This place to me is a study how to do everything possible to keep customers away...and then experience amazing success as a result. Cash only. If you don't know your order when you get to the front of the line, go to the end. Bossy, hand-written signs stating that if it isn't on the menu, they don't have it. Impatient, rude employees who would as soon hit you then give you a receipt...in my world that would be called a customer complaint, here it is considered part of the experience.

Not being a burger eater, I was thinking that I was going to end up eating fries for lunch because there was NO WAY that I dared to ask for a custom item. Thankfully, there was a piece of notebook paper taped to the back of the register that displayed a menu, including a grilled cheese sandwich, whew!

I ordered quickly, pissed off the cashier by asking for a receipt for my $10 grilled cheese and fries, and got lucky by finding a booth that opened up just as we were looking to sit down. We spent the entire meal marveling at how the owner (we assumed, anyway by the way he was yelling at everyone) gets to do whatever the heck he wants, advertise nowhere and sit back to count the money as people line up each day to throw their cash at him.

We SERIOUSLY need to figure out how to make this magic happen for ourselves!

Eating Good in the Big Apple

Work has brought me to NYC for the week; it has been a while since I have been here, so I am enjoying the little discoveries as I travel through the city between stores.

Sunday was a travel day. I probably could have done a red-eye Sunday night to make it into the city for an 8 am Monday class, but have grown wiser in my years and am not going to subject myself to that kind of crazy torture...I've done it twice before and the last time I did it I think that I was groggy for 3 days trying to catch up!

The Sunday arrival meant that there was a little bit of time to catch up with some friends and enjoy dinner at Rosa Mexicano in a location I have not yet visited...Hackensack, NJ.

Rosa did not disappoint, even going so far as dessert because it was a featured item that the waiter did such a nice job describing, I couldn't pass it up. The simple name is chocolate cupcake, but it was sooooooooooo much more! I could only manage to eat 1/2 myself, but once pushed to the center of the table, it was quickly consumed by the rest of the group.

There is a lot of work on the docket this week and this is not a luxury trip, but I have to admit that we have planned out at least six of our next meals to make sure we hit some old favorites as well as some new places that promise to be great.

I ran on the treadmill yesterday in anticipation of the Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon next weekend, but the truth of the matter is I was really trying to get ahead of the fact that I am going to be eating my way through the city this week!

YUM

I was in Venice on Friday (as in the little bohemian community in Los Angeles, not Italy) for work and was instructed to try a pizza place called Abott's Pizza Co. if I wanted a good slice of NY style pizza.

After asking around (and then looking out the front door), I realized that it was right across the street, so I popped over for lunch.

I am not even sure that words can explain the deliciousness of my slice of goat cheese with sesame seeds on the bagel crust. There is also some kind of spicy dipping sauce that makes that tasty crust even tastier. I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch so much that I brought back a menu in anticipation of ordering some to take home for dinner.

I couldn't decide between the salad pizza (imagine a fully dressed Greek salad loaded with avocado on top of a cheese pizza) or the mushroom, because both were so heavily recommended by the people I asked for an opinion.

I ended up getting a small of both. YUM!

One of Those Weeks

A friend from church sent me this cartoon today.

Given the fact that I spent the first 1/2 of the day thinking that it was Tuesday (it is Thursday), it speaks volumes to the pace and intensity of the week.

I do not, however, consider myself to be a dinosaur!!

Apparently Very Memorable

Schnoogs and I had a quick bite of yogurt this evening; I had to swing by our favorite place in Northridge for a cup of "chilly bliss" because I left my apron and nametag there when I was working in the store on Friday (quite the fancy get-up when I have an apron, nametag, hat AND shirt). Since I had to go over to the store, I thought that I would give my girl a call and have her visit with me for an hour or so.

During our debrief session (a lot has happened in the 24 hours or so since we last saw one another), Holly was talking about some people that she has met in several of her classes, many of whom have recognized her from a class, event or gathering of some kind. An interesting fact, punctuated by the very confident statement of, "Apparently, I am very memorable."

And very humble, too.

Dapper Dan

David is not big on dressing up. In fact, when we went to France last year, I didn't check in with his packing and assumed that when I said, "don't forget to bring a nice outfit for dinner on Christmas and New Years" he would know that would mean slacks, a shirt, coat and shoes.

What he showed up with was a flannel shirt, jeans and hiking boots. When I questioned how dressy a flannel shirt really was, his reply was, "this is my GOOD flannel shirt." I didn't realize that there was such a distinction.

Saturday night was a fancy event with the crowd at HART, including a dinner, some guest speakers and even an appearance by LA's Mayor Villaraigosa and one of the HART dogs...quite the celebrity A-list. I tease only because it is a pretty rare thing for David to want to get dressed up and go out, especially since I wasn't invited!

I remembered to ask this morning what he was going to wear, as I saw that the invitation said cocktail attire. I am glad that I asked, as the plan was a pair of black dockers (I will bet that they are at least 10 years old), a white short sleeved shirt (I thought that I gave that thing away, he must have dug it out of the pile) and a khaki jacket (still a bit rumpled looking after he left it in his truck from wearing it to Holly's graduation back in June). He did, however, plan to wear his dress shoes.

I tried to be gentle at first, but when the protests began, I took over and pulled together the ensemble you see here. I tried to be sly and just leave the tie on top of the jacket, but he wasn't going for it.

No worries, he looks pretty darn nice if you ask me!

Gale's

Schnoogs and I have started a Wednesday tradition. We meet for dinner to catch-up on the midweek activities, and to allow me to make sure she isn't wasting away to nothing in her starving student era.

We decided to do things a little differently in choosing our dinner locations. No chains or "standard" restaurants. We are Yelping our way through the area, visiting places that catch our eye for food, ambiance or great reviews from fellow Yelpers. We have had success with every visit so far, this week being no exception at Gale's in Pasadena.

We had to venture outside of Northridge a bit because I am doing some field training for the next few weeks, making it tough to get back to Northridge by 7 or so. Schnoogs, not being one to miss a free meal, gladly offered to drive out and meet me, which worked out rather nicely.

This restaurant was a bit fancier than a few of the others that we have been to thus far, but it was extremely tasty (both the pumpkin ravioli and the gnocchi fell into the "would order again" category AND they were portioned generously enough to provide the starving student with lunch on Thursday), with a nice ambiance as well. Yelp is a great little tool for finding those places that we might otherwise completely miss.

Most importantly, Holly and I get some fine eating AND chatting time in together. Two of our favorite things!

Fred Fairbanks the 4th

We have a new member of the Newton clan. A little over 40 pounds, white hair, blue eyes and cute little tufts of hair sticking up from his ears, Fred has joined the pack.

Fred has a sad little story. He was left in the backyard of his home with water but no food or contact for about 2 weeks. The home had been foreclosed and the family did not take their dog with them when they left. Fred is from San Diego, but HART picked him up because he is a little older (about 7-8 years)...that is how David came to learn of Fred and his plight.

Fred is actually Fairbanks (we aren't sure if this is a new name, as he doesn't answer to it but he doesn't seem to have the best hearing either, so who knows!), but I threw in the Fred because it fits in with our Scooby theme...Shadow technically should be Shaggy, but we will ignore that for now! We were also calling him #4 because, crazy as it sounds, he is the 4th dog in the house.

David was tricky with this one. He came over under the premise that he is being fostered. I can easily get behind that, but when I hear David using phrases such as, "if things work out" and "he seems to be acclimating well", I can bet that this will be the longest fostering EVER.

Lucky for us, Fred is a cutie!