Thank you to all those who helped make this a great food trip.

The first half of my trip was business, but I flew in early to hit the Flatiron District and East Village.

Maialino- beautiful restaurant that overlooks Gramercy Park. I wanted Cacio e Pepe and I got it. It was excellent....so simple, but such a good dish. I kind of screwed up and ordered the Carbonara as well....while it was a great version (a little too al dente maybe)...it was just too much pasta for lunch. I left ridiculously full. I asked the sommelier to pair some glasses for my two courses....the pairing were perfect. Overall, the restaurant was great....my fault for ordering two very heavy dished at lunch. The waiter helped after Katrina, and was really interested to learn of our progress. He now has 6 NYC friends living down here! When I asked a bout a cocktail to start...he said...just know, they are not as good in this city as yours...

Walked down to Alphabet City....amazingly safe now...unreal. I worked my way over to McSorley's for an ale....ended up drinking a dozen of those glasses before leaving. The bartender was great and there were some locals there on an early happy hour. As usual, New Yorkers love New Orleans...everyone had been, and, of course, cochon was the one they all raved about.

Hit a Russian bar in SoHo...had a damn good Russian pilsner along with a couple of shots of vodka I had never seen before. I can not say no to a hot Russian girl offering me anything.

Then sobered up with an amazing coffee (which was a theme of this trip...they have better coffee than we do...by far).

Molyvos- Had to meet up for a business dinner...I am not thrilled by Midtown eating generally, but this place was good. My client and I started with a bottle of champagne to celebrated this new deal. I had a cold scallop and cucumber salad to start which was good...not great and then the grilled octopus, which was delicious. We then proceeded to raid their cognac selection until it was time to pass out. The cognac more than doubled the price of the dinner. Good restaurant....convenient to a lot of plays.

We closed the deal in the morning near Grand Central and went to Bryant Park Grill because it was a beautiful day. The view was incredible....the American Radiator building and the park. THe food was meh. I won;t even go into the meal....great place for a drink and a view, but skip the food.

We drank all over Times Square and Hells Kitchen until he had to go see some friends for dinner. I decided to keep it casual because...I was drunk on Irish Whiskey.

Room Service- a trendy Thai place in Hell's Kitchen my parents have been suggesting I go to for a while. It was a really fun place. Spring rolls were good to start and then I had shrimp and calamari noodles with a squid ink sauce...very good! I strolled Times Square a bit...its an impressive place but not for me.

Next morning my wife flew in and we took m client to Bouchon Bakery....food was great but it really lacks that Yountville feel. We strolled the park until it was time to do lunch.

Le Bernadin- incredible...the service and the sommelier were perfect. We did the lunch tasting menu for $75...I started with the best thing I ate all trip...tuna sliced thin over a foie gras cracker with a little olive oil. THe tuna and the foie went together so perfectly...one of the single best dished of my life. It was so good I forgot what she started with. I had the lobster in this intense aromatic broth....no doubt the best lobster I have ever had. She had black sea bass prepared in an asian broth/sauce..the fish was great...when paired with this Hudson Valley Merlot, the fish dish actually outshined the lobster. The desserts were wonderful as well. I felt this was right there with Joel Roubichon...but Eleven Madison is still far and away my favorite meal (though EMP was a dinner to be fair).

We then transitioned to our Tribeca hotel....next review I will pickup on the Brooklyn and ethnic- heavy part of the trip.