Big Apple Blog

Volume 1

I have been such a slacker blogger this week...a slogger, if you will, and have so much to catch up on! Have no fear, it is not because I have forgotten about my little niche on the web. My work days are busier than ever which is not always conducive to the midday login when I usually conjure up some peace and love in the form of the written word. Alas, I have had constant reminders all week from dear blog readers who have been begging for a recap of the perfect New York City weekend that I have spent the last month looking forward to! At times during out trip I wished I could whip out my laptop and write so that the words and the flavors would not escape me. There is so much to write that I figure it might be best to break up into parts...plus it will keep you all reading! Let me just preface this by saying that I have been lucky enough to enjoy many trips to the Big Apple but I can honestly say that last weekend was the best one yet.

Why I didn't take a picture of the sushi that we ate on our first night in the city, I don't know, but I do have documentation of my first sake bomb, which I will get to in a bit. After getting off at the wrong stop (Seriously, how were we supposed to know that there are TWO Newark stops on train route or whatever we messed up) and got settled into the city, we traveled to the East Village for quite the raw fish experience. Aisha's is seriously a hole in the wall and was packed to the brim when we walked in. I have never seen so much sushi in my life. Plates were literally piled as high as Mount Fuji with some of the most artistically crafted sushi rolls I have ever seen. From the moment you sit down at your table, you have approximately two hours to order and consume as much sushi and Japanese beverage of choice that your heart desires! A real sushi dream come true for people that love sushi as much as Mark and I do. I am still kicking myself for not taking a picture of our plate piled high but just picture the most gorgeous sushi you have ever seen, and play it up about a thousand times, and that is what this plate looked like. Fresh avocado slices are always a nice decorative touch and the fish was so fresh, as it should be. We had an outstanding variety of spicy salmon, tuna, shrimp and we even went a little outside of the

comfort zone to try some eel, which always surprises me because its rather sweet.

Now, let me just set this up for you... our dinner group was a party of about 8-10 and I was the ONLY GIRL at the table. Apparently I entertained them with my "southern accent" (I was NOT aware that I possessed one of these) and they were very curious about the south and raving about Southern Hospitality. I educated them about life in the Carolinas and while raving about southern BBQ, I was sure to note that in the south, BBQ is not a verb, but a noun. In return, I was shown Northern Hospitality, which was a lesson on how to take a Sake bomb. I can't say that I particularly enjoyed it but I can say that I was laughing so uncontrollably that Mark almost got Sake spewed in his face!

Our stomachs were too stuffed to end with anything sweet but I would consider dancing as dessert. Our dinner party walked out of the sushi dream and straight into another hidden hole in the wall...if only I had a video of Mark and I dancing.

This is just an appetizer of the flavors and fun that I savored in the city. More to come this weekend as I re-live (and taste) one of the best weekends ever!

Ciao!