I love missions – mainly when they involve food. Please don’t come to me with a proposition to track down an international spy or something. I’m sorry, I’m just not your guy for that.
I also love lists. When I was little, I would publish my top ten films every year. Granted, I would publish them to my bedroom wall, so nobody really saw them. But the list-itis has been in my blood since I was a lad.
So when a publication puts out a list of the best this or that, I don’t just read and enjoy and take mental notes like most normal people. No, I set out on a mission to experience the entire list.
Time Out New York (TONY) is one of my favorite magazines because it deals with hip, fun happenings and art events in my favorite American city. And also, because they put out an annual list of the 100 best food and drink from the previous year. Last year, I decided to take them up on the challenge and travelled all over the boroughs trying their picks.
There were many roadblocks in last year’s journey. Some of their picks were on the expensive side ($175 for a Wagyu beef shabu shabu). Some restaurants closed before I made it (RIP, Isabella’s). Some of the dishes (and cocktails) were seasonal and had disappeared before I got to them (Autumn Fizz? Who’d-a thought?)
So as of this writing, I have only managed to try 76 of the 100 dishes (10 of those were no longer available) from the 2008 list. That’s still a B. I’ll take the grade.
But this year, I’m not gonna be so easy on myself. I have a full year. And I have learned from my previous mistakes and am strategizing and saving my money early. Join me as I seek out somebody else’s choices for the best food (and drink) in NY and determine whether or not they were right on. I’m gonna step back for a bit and let somebody else tell me to… Eat This!