I was just in New York, celebrating both my birthday which I like to consider a national holiday and my anniversary, that I tend to consider a miracle.

The first great restaurant involved some intrigue. I’m reading the restaurant critic Frank Bruni’s book right now and one night he was being interviewed by Charlie Rose. Charlie Rose asked him what I thought was a great question. “ What are your few favorite restaurants here in New York?” There I was on the edge of my seat, couldn’t wait to hear the answer to that and suddenly Charlie Rose talks over the answer of the favorite Italian in all of Manhattan, but you couldn’t hear the answer!

When I spoke to my husband about it the next day he said not to worry that he had the interviewed tivo’d. I said you don’t understand Charlie Rose starts speaking over the answer. So my husband became a detective and played the interview over and over and actually finally read Frank Bruni’s lips to decipher what was said and he promptly made us a reservation at Convivio. Thank you to my husband and to Frank Bruni for this amazing find.

I tend to love my chicken livers and I ordered fried one served over a soft polenta.

Spectacular, perfect in that it was not too rich and polenta is sometimes over kill with the Parmesan, not this time. My husband ordered the most amazing part of the meal which were sardines and peppers served over a light mozzarella. Though the restaurant is clearly fancy, it’s not overly snooty, in fact not the least bit snooty.

Our waiter was so real and lovely and I will go back to Convivio Restaurant anytime.

Convivio Restaurant, 45 Tudor City Place. Oh and the area around here is so charming, it’s called Tudor City and I had never been there. Quite magical.

Next meal was really just catching a bite before a movie and I really like this place for the convenience and price. It is right across from Lincoln Center and called Sushi a Go-Go. Okay, it will not be your best Japanese restaurant in Manhattan but order the edamame served slightly spicy and there are many dishes on the menu to make everyone happy or healthy. They also have a good wine list for such a casual dining experience. Sushi a Go-Go 1900 Broadway

Cesca could be my new favorite restaurant in New York. I have now gone a few times and have never been let down. It’s a southern Italian on the upper west side, has charm but elegance. It’s also homey enough to just be your neighborhood restaurant which I think is great. The food is superb. My husband ordered clams linguine and it was the best I have ever tasted. I always order this chicken liver pate served on toasted bread. It’s a bit rich so share it with others and eat a small amount. I had a soup that was drizzled with molasses which could have been the best soup certainly in years for me. Cesca 164 West 75’th street

Next stop was the best, at least for me. It was just a lunch but with people that I love and that should be enough. My best friend Stacey, my huband’s writing partner Jim and me at Morandi in the west village. You can pretty much put me anywhere in the west village and I’m happy. It’s my favorite area of Manhattan, I feel like I can see the time when horse drawn carriages strewn these streets. Buildings are covered in ivy, just so much charm. I came across Morandi in a sort of cheesy way in that I was watching TV. very late one night and some show did a small piece on this restaurant. They showed a dish that had a flat bread but it was thicker, more like pizza bread with poached eggs served on top and I thought I needed to try that. Of course as it turns out it’s a morning dish and I’m not a morning person so I found something on the menu that I hoped might take it’s place. Grilled salmon served over the pizza bread, it was really called a salmon salad so it had a salad also and a lemon olive oil dressing and it was so friggin good I need to go back for that again very soon. Everyone was happy with what they ordered but I was so happy I never looked at their meals in that longing way I can when I haven’t ordered the right dish.

If you need to try the egg dish, go for breakfast or brunch. Morandi 211 Waverly Place

Last great restaurant of the week was the night we were celebrating our anniversary. We were sort of copy cats in that when we heard about Obama taking Michelle to this restaurant in where else? The west village, we had to try it. The look is great, one large room, very comfortable with impeccable service but not pretentious. At first the menu scared me but it also excited me. It said things like baby pig from some farm in the Berkshire or something like that. I eat everything but when it’s called baby pig, I see the baby pig and just can’t do it. I did love however all the local farms that all the ingredients in the menu came from. Maybe their motto is know thy farmer which really is quite genius and appeals to all of us.

I had the best dish ever and something I had never even heard of. Grilled Cobia (a fish) sliced thinly over a medley of zucchini, pine nuts, preserved lemon and concord grapes. Oh my God is all I have to say. It was too much food for me and so my husband happily shared it and he ordered a few appetizers. One of his appetizers was, and I’m being serious, it’s called Rabbi Bob’s calf’s liver. It was too rich or undercooked for me and I’m a calf’s liver nut. The food here is so worth a trip and we will go back for another special occasion or not so special, just to eat some amazing food. Blue hill new york, 75 Washington Place

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 25th, 2009 at 11:10 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.