Don’t let the name fool you.  This was no food publicity stunt.  My parents rolled into town this past Friday for a quick 24 hour visit and we took ‘em on a little gastro-expedition around the city.  We were celebrating my Dad’s 60th birthday, a bit belatedly, but we definitely made up for lost time…and calories.  We hit up several NYC institutions like Katz’s Deli and Russ & Daughters, some places that tend to fly a bit under the radar like Desnuda, and even a couple of food carts.  After checking my parents in at their hotel (a massive 1,050 sq ft suite at the Loews Regency that they got for around $300…thank you Jetsetter.com), we were off…

BITE 1 – Veal Meatballs from Donatella’s Meatball Wagon (Mia Dona; E. 58th b/t 2nd and 3rd)

Earlier in the day I had heard that Mia Dona would be serving up some complimentary meatballs from its new food cart til 2pm.  We each got four meatballs in a cup, which they kicked up a notch with some housemade heirloom habenero hot sauce.  I have to say these were some damn fine meatballs.  What’s there not to like about soft, tender, velvet meatballs made from coarsely-ground veal braised in a bright marinara sauce.  I loved the kick that the habenero provided.  If you’re not a spicy food person they also have a mild tomato sauce.  The cart is now open daily from 12-2 pm and they’re serving meatball sandwiches on grilled focaccia for $6 or the meatballs on their own for $5.

BITE 2 — Spicy Pork Taco from El Rey del Sabor Taco Cart (E. 60th St nr 3rd Ave)

Next, we cruised a couple of blocks north where the El Rey Del Sabor cart parks right outside Bloomingdales.  The guy here used to be the cook over at now-shuttered Los Dados in the Meatpacking.  He’s the real deal.  We pretty much agree with Midtown Lunch that this is the best Mexican food from a cart in Midtown.  I wasn’t going to be able to convince my Dad to go for a tongue taco, so we decided to split a spicy pork taco w/ pineapples.  Everything they do here is authentic, down to the tortillas and ingredients like cotija cheese.  If you like heat, they can crank it up for you with some special green and red hot sauces.  I’ve tried all 3 El Rey del Sabor locations, and this one is the best in my opinion.

BITES 3 & 4 – $5 Big Eye Tuna Burger & Oysters at Fishtail by David Burke (135 E. 62nd St b/t Park & Lex)

I introduced my parents last year to the best deal in Midtown, if not all of NYC –the $5 Burgerfest Menu at Fishtail by David Burke.  It’s much more than just burgers (oysters, clams, soup of the day, beer, fries, beer, desserts & more all for just $5).  My parents go-to on the $5 menu is the Big Eye Tuna Burger with wasabi mayo.  They order it rare and I recommend you do the same if you’re gonna give it a try.  It’s hard to believe that this tuna burger goes for about the same price as a Big Mac.  It’s a beautiful heaping mass of sushi-grade ahi tuna served on a warm english muffin.  We also tried the 5 oysters for $5 deal, and my Dad and I ordered a $5 Sam Adams Seasonal.  David Burke was there and came by and chatted with us for a little bit.  What a great guy.  He told us a funny story about himself and also dropped a little hint about the location of his new NYC restaurant…he’s finally doing something below Houston.

BITES 4 & 5 — The Chang Dog & Tater Tots at PDT (113 St Marks Pl)

It was Jill’s idea to start the night with cocktails at PDT, a modern-day speakeasy hidden behind a phonebooth in an E. Village hot dog shop.  You can only get a table by make a reservation the day of starting at 3 pm (bar is first-come first-serve).  By now I have the reservations routine downpat.  I start dialing and re-dialing the reservations line at 2:59 pm and by about 3:03 pm or so I usually get through.  It helps to call from my office phone that has a lightning quick re-dial feature.  My parents got a kick out of the telephone both entrance, and we started with a round of cocktails.  Our favorite was by far the Mezcal Mule.  Mixologist Jim Meehan uses Mezcal as the base to which he introduces lime juice, passion fruit puree, agave syrup and muddled cucumbers. He finishes it off with a piece of candied ginger, a slice of cucumber and a pinch of ground chili. This cocktail has an amazing smoky, milky flavor to it.  To accompany our cocktails we ordered a Chang Dog and an order of Tater Tots.

The Chang Dog, the guest chef dog from Momofuku man David Chang, is a bacon wrapped, deep fried crif dog, topped with momofuku kimchi w/ sriracha sauce.  It is damn good, though you can’t much make out the bacon underneath the delicious sriracha-emboldened kimchi.  The Tater Tots come with cheese and jalapenos and are a must-try.  My Mom commented that these were hard to stop eating, even after they had cooled off to room temperature.  Dip a tot into the melted cheese and then use the melted cheese as adhesion for a couple of jalapenos.  Then, you got yourself some tot-chos.  FYI — for the seafood lovers, they now have a Choptank Dog with Old Bay seasoning and crab meat.

BITES 6, 7 & 8 – Truffled Popcorn, Lobster Ceviche & Octopus Ceviche at Desnuda (122 E 7th St)

We love sidling up to the bar at Desnuda Wine Bar & Cevicheria, which is located on one of the best food & wine blocks in the city (East 7th St b/t 1st Ave and Ave A).  As you peruse the wine list and ceviche offerings, they bring you over some freshly popped Popcorn that has been generously dusted with truffle oil.  This is our favorite complimentary bar snack in the city. I think my parents may agree.  We left our ceviche ordering in the hands of the chef behind the bar and he didn’t disappoint.  First he brought out a Lobster Ceviche that was brimming with citrus flavors.

Next up was a savory Octopus Ceviche with truffle oil, paprika and peppers.  This one had flavor components that you wouldn’t expect from ceviche.  It went beautifully with my glass of Touriga Nacional red from Portugal and my Dad’s Malbec.

BITES 9-16 — Birthday Dinner at Graffiti Food & Wine Bar (224 E 10th St.)

We were lucky to be able to score a table for 6 at Chef Jehangir Mehta’s charming and delicious restaurant in the E Village.  Chef Mehta wasn’t in that night, but the food was as good as we remembered.  We ordered an assortment of small plates and entrees which were perfect for sharing.  We tried the Green Chili Shrimp over Daikon, the Zucchini Hummus Pizza, Chili Pork Dumplings, Vegetable Dumplings, Braised Pork Buns with Apricot Chutney, Cumin Eggplant Buns with Thyme Fennel Relish, Chickpea Crusted Skate with Mint Yogurt Sauce and Pickled Ginger Scallops (our favorite scallops dish in NYC right now). The Cumin Eggplant Buns are a recent addition to the menu and they have an earthy deliciousness owing to the cumin.

The meal was capped off with Graffiti’s signature dessert of Pepper Ice Cream with Warm Truffle Almond Strawberries.  But we weren’t finished with dessert.

BITES 17 & 18 — Cereal Milk & Cream Cheese Frosting Soft Serve at Momofuku Milk Bar (207 2nd Ave)

After finishing up at Graffiti, we headed over a few blocks to Momofuku Milk Bar.  We got there right in time…they close down at midnight.  While they were out of Crack Pie for the night, we did get to try a couple of their signature soft serves (Cereal Milk & Cream Cheese Frosting) which were a hit with the group.  I love that you can also get OB beer and glasses of wine at Milk Bar.

BITES 19, 20 & 21 — Potato Knish, Mushroom Knish & Rugelach at Yonah Shimmel’s Knish Bakery (137 E Houston)

We got up early Saturday morning, with hangovers in tow, and headed down to Houston St.  Of all the times my parents have visited us over the past few years, we’ve yet to take them down to Houston St on the Lower East Side for the trifecta of Jewish food that is Yonah Shimmel (1910), Russ & Daughters (1914) and Katz’s Deli (1888).

Yonah Schimmel’s opened as a knishery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side 100 years ago, making it the oldest knishery in America.  While the standard knish is potato, they have varieties ranging from jalapeno and cheddar to spinach, blueberry cheese and mushroom.  We tried 2 knishes, a potato and mushroom one, and my Mom grabbed a few Rugelach (Jewish pastry in the form of a crescent) at the counter.  These knishes are a hefty round, baked mound of starchy goodness, not like the square, fried varieties served up by street vendors.  It was some of the best rugelach I’ve tried (other than my Nana Evelyn’s, of course).

BITES 22 & 23 — Sable & Whitefish Salad on Bagels at Russ & Daughters (179 E Houston)

It’s pretty well-accepted that Russ & Daughters Appetizing, which opened in 1914, has some of the highest quality smoked fish in the U.S.  When my parents are visiting, our go-to spot has become Ess-a-Bagel out of convenience, but after tasting the sable and whitefish salad at R&D this past weekend, I’m pretty sure we’ll be making the trek down to the Lower East Side from now on.  My Mom commented that it was the most delicious, non-greasy whitefish salad she’s tasted, and I would have to agree.  I didn’t get a great picture of our bagels and fish, but you have to check out this beauty from Serious Eats that Joe DiStefano refers to as the “Meshugge Sandwich.”  I know what I’m getting next time.

BITE 24 — Pastrami Sandwich at Katz’s Deli (205 E Houston)

Last but not least, we rolled ourselves over to Katz’s Deli .  There is nothing I like about the inside of Katz’s.  It reminds me of a huge, loud summer camp mess hall.  It didn’t help that a tour bus had just let a huge crew of people off right in front of us.  So make that a camp mess hall with loud kids and annoying tourists.  But once they brought out a plate of pickles and that succulent pastrami, our minds were at ease and all was good. 

BONUS BITES:  The lobster bisque at Fishtail,

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