A report from New York

A family trip, while primarly to see friends and relatives, got in some pretty good eats:

Babbo: We went for the pasta tasting menu, which is 5 courses of pasta and three rounds of dessert for $69. It was excellent. There was nothing innovative or really even very creative. Rather, the intent was to present simple dishes executed perfectly. Each dish had only a few ingredients, and we about licked our plates clean each round. One dish was pasta and wild mushrooms, and that was what was in the dish, with a simple butter sauce and grated aged goat cheese. The flavors, however, were deep, well balanced and distinct.

Bagels: We had both Tal and Essa, which are two excellent examples of true bagels. You can't go wrong with either.

Flex: This upper east side (82nd and Lexington) casual branch of a Canadian restaurant serves just about nothing but mussels (now you get the pun). All mussels are served steamed atop a pot of broth, and only the broth varies. They have about 15 kinds of broth, ranging from asian (ginger and lemon grass) to New England (bacon, corn and lobster). The mussels were great, but if you like bread dunking, this place is heaven. The 5 of us ordered four dishes, so we had four pots of broth and good bread to dunk away. The desserts were also surprisingly good.

Russ and Daughters: This lower east side deli is a shrine to traditional Jewish deli food. There is no place to sit except a bench or two outside. Of course, the bagels with 8 or 9 types of hand cut lox were great. But what really warmed my heart was the creamed herring. It's been 20 or more years since I've seen it served right: herring filets in one bin, sweet onion in another, and cream sauce in another. The server hand cuts the filets into strips, puts some onion on top, and then ladles on the cream sauce. Mild herring, sweet onion and luscious cream sauce put me in an altered state.

Cafe Falai: Friends took up to this Soho Italian cafe. It has a very Eurpoean feel with simple dishes well prepared. Service was very relaxed and friendly. This may not be one of the top foodie destinations in New York, but it's terrific place for a casual high quality and authentic Italian mea.

Ippudo. This East Village place is, I believe, the New York outlet of a Japanese ramen joint. It's large, and churns out about 15 different kind of ramen soup. There are communal tables and booths. It was up to par with the fine ramen I had a few years ago in Vancouver. Deeply flavored broths (I think three types are offered) made these soups go. Someday perhaps Chicago will support a place like this. It was packed in the middle of a Friday afternoon.

If I did nothing but eat and listen to jazz in New York, each trip would be worthwhile. I can also highly recommend Big Onion walking tours for those interested in that kind of thing.

Jonah