another eat yourself tucson weekend!

the new york times recently reported that some restaurants are now banning patrons from photographing their dishes.  the logic is that picture-taking not only disrupts the staff and other diners, it can also paint the restaurant in an awfully bad light.  in fact, a number of other restaurants are trying to accommodate photo foodies by either allowing them to photograph their food in the kitchen or by emailing professionally taken photographs to diners before their meal is over.

i get this -- i understand why some places are cracking down on photo foodies. it can definitely be annoying to have flashes going off while you're trying to eat. and, even worse, are those that make their dinner companions wait to eat because they have to photograph the food first. 

i admit, i have certainly taken my fair share of food photos, and i've made people wait to eat, but never with a flash, and i always feel awful about it. that's why, traditionally, i have very few pictures of food at restaurants (or from my own kitchen table). i just hate being that punk who makes everyone wait to eat. or the jerk who has to stand up to take the perfect angled shot. it makes me nervous. 

frankly, more often than not, i totally forget to take the pictures by the time the food arrives -- i'm either mesmerized by the deliciousness of the meal and can't wait to eat it or i'm too engrossed in conversation and forget to capture the meal's beauty. plus, like the article states, my photos never do the food any justice; if you aren't there, you just can't really tell how awesome the food looks, smells, or tastes.

it is because of this that i have very few photos of the food i eat (or make) sometimes making writing restaurant reviews very difficult. that being said, i have three restaurants to recommend if you're ever in tucson -- the grill at hacienda del sol, the b line, and cup cafe at hotel congress.

the grill at hacienda del sol: a fancy restaurant set against the backdrop of the santa catalina foothills that is a hotel, restaurant, spa complex built in the old spanish hacienda style. the menu boasts some awesome appetizers, like the green eggs & ham and the steak tartare, while the main entrees are nice big pieces of meat or fish cooked very well. they have an extensive wine list and spicy chocolate truffles at the end of the meal! however, it is not the most youth oriented place with the average patron's age being somewhere north of 1700 years old.

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cup cafe at hotel congress: a busy little cafe located in the famous hotel congress, in the heart of downtown tucson, is a great people watching place with a live band in the hotel lobby and a little patio for dining or drinks. on the weekends they have an amazing bloody mary bar where you have the option to choose what goes in your drink: avocado, roasted garlic, cilantro, blue cheese, among many other things. highly recommended is the cherise sandwich, a beef and chimichurri sauce deliciousness. 

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the b line: a sunny bistro in the iron horse neighborhood of tucson, it specializes in desserts and was even picked as best dessert place in tucson in 2012. the food is americana with a southwest twist, and both their breakfast and lunch menus are great. some highly recommended dishes are "the works" bagel, chorizo and egg breakfast burrito, and homemade breakfast biscuits. and the pie, of course! the b line has tons of it and it's delicious.

can you recommend an awesome eatery that i should try?

good eats in nyc

when you live in one place for long enough, you get to know it pretty well -- you figure out the best way to get from place to place, where to stand on the subway platforms so that you don't have to walk as far when getting off the train, and where your favorite places to eat are.

so when we went to new york for new year's eve i already knew where i wanted to eat. the places below are just a few of my favorite places to drink and eat at. unfortunately, i don't have pictures for most of the places (read: all of them, but one), but that just means we'll have to go back to nyc soon so we can eat and drink there again!

manhattan:

vol de nuit: a dimly lit belgian bar in greenwich village. they have great belgian beers on tap, including my favorite, lindeman's framboise. they also have rockstar mussels and frites. the frites come in three sizes and i recommend them with mayo. (near west 4th street station, ABCDEFM)

mermaid oyster bar: a cute seafood restaurant with some awesome specials: $1 oysters during happy hour (mondays, 5:30-7:00 tuesdays to thursdays, 5:00 -7:00 fridays to sunday) and a lobster boil for $24 on sundays. they also have some seafood staples, like hush puppies and po' boys, that are delicious as well. an added bonus: every meals ends with a cup of chocolate mousse and a fortune fish. (near west 4th street station, ABCDEFM)

momofuku noodle bar: a packed little restaurant in the east village that is only a couple of blocks from another momofuku location, the ssam bar. this particular momofuku specializes in david chang's ramen, and often has a killer wait. but once you're seated, the food comes out fast and delicious. i recommend an order of the pork buns as well as ramen. (near first avenue, L)

brooklyn:

roberta's: a small farm to table restaurant in bushwick, brooklyn. they don't take reservations and sometimes the wait can be pretty extreme, especially since this review, but the food is totally worth it. i recommend getting a pizza and then something else (a salad or a main dish depending on how hungry you are) because their pizza is not to be missed and their other food is so pretty and delicious you just shouldn't say no. (near morgan avenue, L)

noorman's kil: a dark whiskey bar in williamsburg, brooklyn, with only a small sign on the door indicating you're in the right spot.they have tons of different kinds of whiskey, as well as fun drinks for the non-whiskey lovers out there. they also have grilled cheese if you want a snack with your drink. (near lorimer street, L)

where are your favorite places to eat in new york?

a last minute new york city vacation

over the past year we've fallen into a bad habit, that we love -- the last minute trip. it's kind of a disaster and a little stressful, but it's worked for us so far. plus, we've found that if you buy your plane tickets only a couple of days before your trip, they've dropped down in price and are fairly reasonable.

our latest last minute trip was to nyc over new year's weekend. not because we wanted to stand in the freezing cold for hours with thousands of people and very little prospect of peeing, only to watch a crystal ball drop at midnight. but because we finally had the time and i wanted rcg to meet my friends and to see my nyc. 

and we wanted to eat.

 when we travel, we like to eat delicious food, rather than go see all of the "tourist attractions". we like to eat our way through a city. so that's what we did. unfortunately, i didn't take any pictures of the food -- there were too many friends to see!

but we did stumble on some touristy things while we were gallivanting through the city:

rockefeller center with the ice skating rink and giant christmas tree

st. patrick's cathedral

 

 and the empire state building on new year's eve.