American Food Porn

I plan to post a few in-depth reviews of restaurants I visited while in the US of A in the coming week, but I thought it would be worth posting some food and drink related photos from the trip in order to share some of the nice and interesting things I ate and experienced over the 9 days. I hope you enjoy them :).

I don't know if you've had it, but I really do like Pinkberry frozen yogurt, which began in Los Angeles and is now in many cities across the US - this one was their plain yogurt flavor with some strawberries & mangos on top

This iteration had almonds & raspberries

On our first weekend in the New York Area, we were invited to a barbecue at the house of my brother's good friend...amazingly fresh asparagus & corn-on-the-cob (it has taken me a few years to get Mrs. LF to admit that un-tinned corn is not just food for cows!)

There were also marinated pork chops and vegetable kebabs...mmm...

But the thing that took the cake was the lamb, which had been marinated in an Indian marinade for looong time - succulent. It was so good, I nearly ate it all before I remembered to take a photo! BTW - his wife had also made a delicious Japanese noodle dish, which was perfectly refreshing for the summer weather

We went for brunch one day at my Aunt's favorite diner in her town of Great Neck (Long Island). It has been around for ages, and despite its looks, it has good service and the food is a safe bet

Proper waffles with bacon, maple syrup & a poached egg on the side - what can go wrong with that?

I know, I know...more bagels, but hey, when you're in Rome...Anyhow, the more interesting thing about this one is that it is 'scooped'. In the US, you can now ask for them to scoop out the dough-ey bits in the middle, leaving mostly the crisp outside crust, which is a very good option - in the words of Borat: "I liike, is niice"

I just like this image because it is so American

This is the facade of Carnegie Deli, one of the true NYC institutions, with sandwiches that will cause an on-the-spot heart attack (they actually have one called the 'heart attack sandwich'). But even with their schtick of rude service and their branching out to Las Vegasit, is still a decent deli. Didn't get to go on this visit though

I found this invitation to taste wine in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California quite amusing

This was some really good French onion soup we had at a great little restaurant in Carmel-by-the-Sea called Bouchee

Bouchee also served up a mean salad nicoise during our lunch, just the way it should be

We also went to a great place called Fandango for dinner one night in Pacific Grove, California (another town on the Monterey Peninsula) - you can Google it for more information on the interesting way the restaurant came into being...it is kind of a fusion of Italian, French and Spanish cuisine

Their version of Veal Picatta was truly exceptional...extremely thin and tender veal with an amazing tangy sauce with citrus accents and capers - absolutely loved it

A starter of yellow and red tomato salad, with mozzarella, olive oil & balsamic was perfect too - such fresh produce

My mom really liked her fresh seafood paella, but I guess it just isn't my thing...

Fandango also had a few shelves of very nice mangums and jeroboams - would have liked to have gotten some of this but didn't have the $10,000+ it probably would have cost for the privilege...not a bad dream to end the post on though

Reviews of Le Bernardin (3 Michelin stars) and maze at The London NYC (a Ramsay Empire outpost) to follow as soon as I can find the time.

Until then, have a great weekend – over & out.