Pongal

Yesterday I went to New York to write an exam and to do some last minute Christmas shopping with Maryn. We ate at Pongal, considered one of the best if not THE best Indian restaurant in the city. They specialize in, get this, South Indian Vegetarian Kosher meals.

We started with an iddly and vadas combo - iddly are steamed rice cakes and vadas are lentil donuts. I then had rasam - a traditional south Indian spicy lentil and tomato essence soup - which was tasty but also the second spiciest thing I've ever eaten in my life. By the end of it, my lips were tingling and cheeks were numb. Our waiter told us that this soup is often eaten for breakfast and also when people have colds. Who needs NyQuil when you have this stuff!

My main dish, called paper masala, was a sight to behold: a huge thin crepe with potato filling served with coconut chutney and sambar - hot Indian bean soup. It was so large it deserved to be immortalized in a photograph.

I've been to a lot of restaurants in New York since moving to the US but this is the first one we both unanimously agree to return to. It's highly recommended.

New York is for foodies

Taking the subway in New York has become second nature to me. The jargon, thank goodness, is no longer an alien language, I no longer color code the different lines like I do in Montreal (taking the green or orange line) but rather, for example, take the '7' and transfer to the '1' uptown to get to Columbia. I also feel quite comfortable going to places I've never been to before.

Yesterday I made my way to the Lower East Side and explored East Houston Street which divides the Lower East Side and the East Village. I passed by Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery, a fixture for more than ninety years and just down the block was the Sunshine Cinema, constructed in the 1840s and later used as a boxing arena and Yiddish vaudeville theatre. Today it shows indie films.

I couldn't stop for a movie or for mouth-watering knishes because I had one purpose: Katz's Delicatessen. Well past its 100th birthday and still packing 'em in for pastrami and corned beef sandwiches. Surrounded by photos of the famous: Al Gore, Jerry Lewis, and even (shudder) Pauly Shore, it seems like everyone's been here. One table in the middle of the dining room has a not-so inconspicuous sign hanging over it which says, "When Harry Met Sally... Hope you have what she had", commemorating Meg Ryan's fake big-o from the film, When Harry Met Sally.

I, however, couldn't eat a pastrami sandwich, not after experiencing Schwartz's world renowned smoked meat sandwiches in Montreal. That would just be wrong. Instead I was hankerin' for one of Katz's infamous spicy hot dogs, slathered in sauerkraut and hot mustard. Along with a Dr. Brown's Black Cherry Soda, steak fries, and a mountainous plate of cucumbers and pickles, I had my long-awaited spicy dog and scarfed it down with gusto. My pilgrimage is now complete.

The Last Escape

New Haven is home to some of the finest pizzas in North America and tonight Maryn and I tried a heavenly mashed potato pizza from Bar (Bru Room). While Bar is not as historic as Frank Pepe's or Sally's, it still serves a mean pie.

I'm not leaving until next week but tomorrow Maryn is flying home for the American Thanksgiving break. While she makes her way to Nova Scotia, I'll be staying in New York to attend Bruno Schulz's "The Last Escape" performed by The Wroclaw Puppet Theatre at The Jewish Community Center.

"The Last Escape" is the story of a pensioner trapped in his room, trying to break through his own loneliness and despair by recalling his past and conjuring up a new world where time exists on many levels. Schulz, Poland's preeminent Jewish writer, has been an inspiration for such writers as Cynthia Ozick, John Updike, and Philip Roth.