Le Parker Meridien is a fancy hotel. With a fancy restaurant called Norma’s that supposedly has a fabulous brunch that I will hopefully be lucky enough one day to try for myself.

But Le Parker Meridien also has a secret divey hamburger joint inside it as well. And it’s called Burger Joint. Also, it’s not so secret anymore. The first time I tried to go it was at lunch time during the week and I walked in with my coworker and we walked right back out because the line in the lobby was HUGE.

*Also, Anthony Bourdain recently blew up the spot even more on his NYC episode of The Layover, my new favorite show.

But, when I had my family in town we wake up super early and get out the door super early which makes us the first in line for a lot of things. In fact, Burger Joint wasn’t even open yet. But eventually it was and we got inside and snagged a booth first thing.

The menu is not so huge, obviously. You’re there for the burger. The messy, messy burger:

Oh, yes. I love hamburgers. The fries were good too.

The only bummer was that they currently weren’t making shakes when we were in.

Dang, guess I’ll have to go back.

I am so trendy. First The Standard and now The Dutch. Okay, then. Actually this post has been a long time coming.

I finally, finally went to The Dutch a few weeks ago when my roommate’s brother was in town. We tried a million things. Oysters to start, obviously. I am SO glad that I like oysters. Seriously.

Broccolli rabe and mashed potatoes. I enjoy mashed potatoes.

And now with Asian White Boy Ribs (what?). I enjoy ribs.

And the chicken that is no longer on the menu. Now there’s chicken stroganaff which I would not mind trying. This particular chicken (sorry about the color, btw) had foam with it and foam just doesn’t impress me. But the chicken itself was very good. This was one of those meals where you’re like, “Ok, I’m full now” and then you keep eating. I guess that means it was good!

I am really good at weekending. At least lately. This past weekend I spent Friday night watching movies with my best boy (If you haven’t seen the Conan documentary yet, it’s worth seeing) and Saturday I had cupcakes with Kelly, bought some flannel sheets (life changing) and then met up with Kelly again to watch the most awesome MSU football game ever. We even made random friends. And then Sunday started with this. Drinks and brunch at The Standard with my homegirl Leeann.

The Standard is a happening place. It’s actually pretty cute. It’s in Meatpacking, an area I typically avoid, but sometimes you do want to see and be seen and there were LOTS of people to see at The Standard on Sunday, let me tell you. Such interesting, interesting folks.

Btw the drinks at the top are a Bloody Mary (left) and The Standard 69 (right). Like really? You couldn’t just call it “The Standard”? Sigh… I hate the way people name cocktails sometimes.

Anyway… Leeann’s friend met up with us and it was probably one of the last beautiful days to sit outside, so we did.

I’m sure everyone can guess what I had…

Well, unless you live under a rock in the middle of Timbuktu, you probably are aware there was this thing called “Hurricane Irene” everyone in New York City was preparing for this past weekend. It ended up slowing down to just a tropical storm, but when we thought it was going to destroy the city, Mayor Bloomberg shut down the subway system and instructed people to prepare for the worst. And people did. Stocked up on flashlights, batteries, candles and nonperishable food items, filled bathtubs with water, etc. I went to Trader Joes Saturday morning before they closed early and picked up some things myself – just in case.

The subway being shut down was the worst part of it. Restaurants and stores had to close simply because their staff couldn’t get in or they wouldn’t be able to get home. You couldn’t travel anywhere because you weren’t sure if you could get back. You were grounded to your neighborhood. But luckily, there were a few places still open for brunch –like Bar Tabac in Cobble Hill. I’ve been there before for the hamburger, but this time I got myself some french toast when I met up with my friend Donny. Life was all good.

Afterward, I made sure to stock up on wine and chocolate chip cookies on my way home. I mean, I had to be prepared.

Consider this a Public Service Announcement: Tomorrow is the last Saturday of Summer Streets, when Manhattan shuts down a HUGE BLOCK OF STREETS for bikers, runners, walkers alike to do as they please in them. It’s kind of awesome. And I wasn’t even on a bike. (Word to the wise, if you want a free bike rental, get there when it starts at 7 a.m.). There are a few “pit stops” set up along the way, the one at Broadway and Spring had a really cool set up from REI. Here you can see Sarah rock climbing in the middle of Soho. Because that happens. So that was awesome.

At Astor Place there was a Crunch Fitness pit stop and people were doing a dance/aerobics class on the pavement with an instructor from Dancing with The Stars. Further up at 25th st was a Whole Foods pit stops and there were tons of free samples. We got popsicles, as you do.

Summer Streets goes from the Brooklyn Bridge all the way up to 72nd st. So who knows what we didn’t even see. Take advantage before it’s over! And wake up early because it only goes til 1 p.m.

When Jessica and I walked back downtown, this man on a Segway was next to us and we started talking about it and he asked me, “Would you like to try?” Um… yeah? So I rode a Segway! And I almost ran over a baby in a stroller. It was fun! I mean, they are so incredibly dorky looking but they are FUN to be on. It’s so bizarre how they work. I really don’t get it.

Happy Summer Streets!

I am only going to say this once: Social Eatz is a terrible restaurant name. Nothing about it says “American-Asian” and everything about it says “Food-related mobile app” or “random sports bar.” At least to me.

But the food is good. I’ve seen a thousand of my friends check in on @foursquare and say how good the Bibimbap Burger is (mini version above) and I got some positive comments myself when it was my turn to check in. So people obviously like it. It probably helps that the chef was on Top Chef and is very nice to look at. Also, he appeared to be extremely friendly.

So let me back up. My dear friend Missy Kayko, who is awesome at living in NYC, won this photo and caption contest with Taste of Korea, a company promoting Korean food in New York. She was then invited to “Angelo Sosa goes Korean Party” at Social Eatz with a plus one and I was lucky enough to be it.

(Sidenote: I recently won a food-related item in a contest that I’m pretty sure I DID NOT ENTER. And Missy was my plus one for that. Ha.)

So we went to Social Eatz and tried some drinks featuring Soju (a Korean liquor similar to vodka) and those were delicious. We also got to try some sweet and spicy tomato soup, some meatballs, some pork belly, and of course the mini Bibimbap Burger above. It’s ground beef with a slow cooked egg, lettuce and pickled carrot and cucumber. It’s good. I think I had one or five.

The best part of the event though was they blew up Missy’s winning picture and gave it to her to take home. And the picture was of herself. So there I was standing in this restaurant holding an almost life-size picture of my friend while I was standing next to her in the flesh, too. I also took it upon myself to make the Missy picture “dance” to the music that was playing and then get a picture of Missy feeding a meatball to herself in photograph form. It was hysterical. To us anyway.

So thanks, Missy for taking me to Social Eatz and letting me dance with the picture of you!

Ha. This event was like a month ago and I never got around to writing about it but I’m glad I did now.

Well, hey there. Busting out the big guns today. Maple and bacon doughnut at Northern Spy Food Co. I know my mom and my sister in Michigan might see that and think, “Ew, gross” but let me be the one to educate you. Savory and sweet together can sometimes be amazing. If you’ve never tried chocolate covered bacon, you should. It’s the same idea here and this maple bacon doughnut was a-mazing.

I went to Northern Spy Food Co for brunch with my homegirl Melissa this weekend. Once we were both there we didn’t have to wait at ALL which was awesome and unusual for a Saturday brunch in the East Village. I will be back.

Melissa had a Cucumber Mint Cooler (Gruner Veltliner, cucumber, mint, lime) and I had a watermelon and basil mimosa.

For eats, Melissa had eggs and polenta:

Kind of looks like a smiley face to me. Also, I like polenta.

Here’s our table from my end. I chose the kale salad with baked eggs:

What a beautiful table and friend.

And then there is me:

Hello.

One more thing you should know: not only is Northern Spy Food Co good at food, they are also good at Twitter. Go forth accordingly.

I have a new favorite place. It’s called The Lot on Tap and we went there twice this weekend. Above is Norabear mowing on a burrito from Korilla BBQ, one of my favorite (if not top favorite) food trucks in this city. They visit my current work neighborhood every Tuesday and I get Korilla BBQ almost every Tuesday. Even turned my coworker “Dad” onto them, which is exciting. So if you’re not lucky enough to have them cruise over to your office once a week, check out the Lot on Tap schedule and see when they’re there. Kimchi bacon fried rice. That is all.

Lot on Tap is just awesome. It’s under the High Line and you can drink beer. We did. Brooklyn High Line Elevated Wheat, to be exact. Delicious.

And also there was pizza.

Eddie’s Pizza. I ordered a cheese pizza with meatballs. Kelly and Nora made fun of me. They were sorry. It was good! Eddie’s is also often by my current work neighborhood but this was my first time trying it. Good stuff.

Another thing to know: there is now a roller rink in the space across from the beer garden!

Awesome! I think I was maybe five the last time I had on *actual* roller skates, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t wear them again! Also it’s really fun just standing there watching everyone, too. This one dude was going around and around playing with his flip phone the entire time like WHAT are you doing? Surprised he didn’t run into anyone. There was maybe one person with skillz and everyone else was a beginner or worse, so don’t be scared if you’re not very good. I promise you’ll have a good time. Also, there’s dessert trucks if you want to reward yourself afterward.

Well hello there, ladies and gents. This week I had the honor of trying out Flex Mussels on 13th street for my first time with The Oyster Blog and two other ladies. They’ve got a happy hour deal that’s unlimited mussels, fries, and a draft beer for $20. It’s only available at the bar, but we have a hook up so we got to take advantage of the deal at the table. Fancy! They have tons and tons of different kinds of mussels, but for the happy hour deal, you only get to pick between three: classic, dijon, or fra diavolo. I think the four of us were unanimous in dijon as the favorite.

Looking over the list of other mussels, though – I need to go back and get the maine mussels with lobster, smoked bacon, corn, white chowder and parsley. Yeah, that’s got my name written all over it.

Also, I had a blueberry wheat beer. Actually, two. They were delicious. Happy Thursday.

Hello. I am obsessed with this glassware. Sadly, these glasses not available for purchase on the interwebs. And I need them in my kitchen. Sheep Station, if I were you, I’d keep a close eye on those pint glasses of yours…

And now, it is story time.

I went to Sheep Station last week with my homegirl Jordan (basically the only person I’m talking about lately, I promise you I do have other friends) and her friend Kelly who was in town. One of the first things we noticed when we went inside was a giant stroller just hanging out. No biggie. I’ve seen strollers before. We sat down at a table and next to us was a group of about 4-5 adults with three kids, all age 2 or under. No biggie. We talk to our server, order our food, everything comes out. Normal dinner. We’re in the middle of an interesting conversation and all of a sudden we hear an “AHHHHHHHHHH!” coming from the 2-year old’s mouth about four feet away from us. I look over and jokingly send a dirty look in that direction (I mean, you can’t really give a 2-year-old a dirty look) and then us girls laugh to ourselves and think, “Wow, that baby is crazy.”

60 seconds later. “AHHHHHHHHHHH!” This kid is screaming at the top of his/her lungs. Again our conversation comes to a halt. The baby does not stop. The mom and dad keep saying to it things along the lines of, “You can’t do that Name of Baby. You’re distracting those around you Name of Baby.” Name of Baby does not care. Keeps yelling and yelling. By this point us three are bewildered that one of the parents has not taken the child outside to calm him/her down. They’re just sitting there ignoring its screams. I mean, I’m all down for ignoring kids when they’re acting up, but when you’re out in public, such as in a restaurant, you’ve got to do something. I’m sure it’s embarrassing for you, but take the dang kid outside. So the kid is still yelling. Also, mind you – the family has paid their bill. WHAT are they doing there? Anyway, staff comes over to talk to them two times and finally the OWNER comes out and tells them that they understand the baby is a baby but they have a full dining room right now and it’s distracting for everyone trying to enjoy their meals and would you please do something? Mom’s response is as follows: “She’s two, what do you want me to do?” OH REALLY? The owner then asks them to leave.

SNAP!

I mean it’s the same thing if you’re in a crowded movie theatre or church, you take the kid outside and calm him/her down and then you bring the baby back in. Hello!

So once they finally left (while taking their sweet time and passive-aggressively telling Name of Baby quite loudly that she really needs to calm down because they’re getting kicked out of the restaurant now) the owner came over and apologized to us (we were the table closest to the baby, FYI) and we all commiserated together about what just went down and laughed it all off as we were all on Team No More Baby Yelling. I jappreciated that they did something, ya know?

So that’s my story about Sheep Station and why I love it. Besides the food. Also I don’t mean to sound anti-baby or anything because the fact is I actually do like kids! They are cute! I make faces to them all the time on the train. It’s just that I just like to be able to have a conversation with my friends at a restaurant, too. So please do not be offended if you are a parent of a child, I have more respect for you then you will ever know and I hope to one day join the ranks and get kicked out of a restaurant myself when the kid is acting up.

And, for good measure, a photo of the seafood pasta special they had that evening, which was fantastic:

The end!