I just got back from NYC and had a few stellar meals in between all the to-ing and fro-ing that takes up way too much time whenever I am back home. Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain really impressed me. I had lunch there and the steak tartare couldn’t have been better. The potato chips with a hot blue cheese fondue for dipping was comfort food heaven. Flay came by the table and we chatted for a while. I couldn’t help but be impressed by his kindness and the extraordinary way he took care of all his guests in the restaurant that day as he bounced between tables and kitchen. He has matured into a really cool human being and a savvy operator.

I went to the Loa Easide for dinner with my wife and checked out Luke’s, a three-week-old lobster roll stand occupying the 200sf space next to the tiny Caracas arepa counter on East 7th street just off 1st Avenue. Luke’s is awesome, the guy that owns it is from Portland, ME and his dad runs a fish company there, so all the seafood comes from the harbor docks every day and winds up on Luke’s menu. Lobster, crab or shrimp rolls, chowder and bisque, are all that Luke's serves, but if you want something quick and fresh you cant go wrong here, especially late at night coming out of a club.

Caracas is a NYC stalwart of the street dining movement, a little counter indented off the street where you can order any of a dozen or more types of Venzuelan arepas and empanadas. I adore this place and making a meal with friends out of offerings from both of these little stalls is a blast. Its uber-casual and all about the food.