Food, glorious food

By the time this article makes it to print, my little family will be back in Manila after our brief vacation in New York and Los Angeles.

I, along with friend and fellow “The Voice” coach Bamboo, will be performing at the Grand Countdown to usher in a brand new year. We’ll be at the Marriott Grand Ballroom, ResortsWorld. Comedian Jon Santos will be with us, too.

Whenever we’re in full vacation mode, all bets are off when it comes to food. New York is a foodie’s paradise, with so many good restaurants just about everywhere.

Sure, I’ve had a few less-than-fantastic experiences as well, but on the whole, it’s tough to have a bad meal in the city. Even that random hole-in-the-wall will serve amazing food. On the cold days and nights that we were there, having a delicious meal was a comfort.

We do attempt to try different eateries, and on this trip, I think we were successful. Here’s a sampling of what we had:

Route 66 Deli

On nights when it’s just too cold to go out (and we had a couple of those), we call a favorite place that delivers. The Seamless app recommends restaurants that deliver to our part of town, and this deli was one of them. We were fighting serious jet lag, so we were up late.

They had bison burgers, pasta, thick cut french fries, and my favorite thing on their menu thus far, chocolate peanut butter coffee. Yummy!

Bouley

Thanks to a recommendation by Myron’s owner Ramon Eugenio, we headed to Duane Street to have lunch at Bouley. We heard that this restaurant would be closing early next year, so this would be our only opportunity to dine there.

Rob and I chose the prix fixe lunch menu, while Nic opted for roast duck. The big surprise for this place was the price.

For the quality of the food we ate, as well as the relatively generous serving sizes, what we paid was a bargain compared to similar restaurants. So we shall be thanking Ramon for a good long while for this one.

Maialino

This would be our second visit to this wonderful restaurant; thanks to my attorney Bob Perlstein and his lovely wife Marianita Garucho-Perlstein, and my agent Josh Pultz and his partner Ted Malawer. It would be our Christmas get-together before everyone headed his/her separate ways for other holiday destinations.

Yes, its food is fantastic (the pork belly is their go-to signature dish, but their salads and pastas are also delicious), but the main reason we wanted to go was their amaro flight. It was the topic of many emails exchanged between all of us.

Amaro is a digestif, an after-meal bitter liqueur that has the aroma of herbs and spice. One sip, and it feels like Christmas.

We were served three kinds, each with their distinct flavor profile and intensity, the first one being the mildest and the third having a more interesting taste.

Since my first taste of amaro several months ago, I wonder now where in Metro Manila one can have this. So far, we’ve been unsuccessful finding it here.

Nougatine at Jean-Georges

This was where we had our little Christmas Eve dinner. Nic tried its lobster tempura, Rob had their beef tenderloin, and I had tuna tartare and butternut squash soup. We shared an apple pie and chocolate lava cake for dessert. This Columbus Circle restaurant also offers a great view of Central Park.

Well, during the day it does; since it was past nightfall by the time we sat down and got settled, all we could see were the headlights of the cars passing by, and the Christmas lights adorning the trees outside.

Quality Italian

My previous visit to this steakhouse was for dinner last winter with good friends, Aga and Charlene Muhlach, who recommended it.

Now it was my turn to advise our party to lunch there, and so we did with good friend Tita Girlie Rodis. The restaurant has a different feel at 1 p.m. than at 7 p.m., and I’m glad that I got to see both.

Nic remarked that she loved the wait staff in New York because they have such personality. And our server was no exception. Yes, it goes without saying that the food is wonderful, but the waiters!

Just hearing them recite recommendations is like watching a little play. There’s heart in the delivery, and a naughty twinkle in their eyes. I swear it made the food taste better!

The Smith

This is one place we’ve visited on several occasions. Members of the cast of “The King and I” at Lincoln Center took me here the night “Allegiance” announced its closing (I was well taken care of with a great cocktail and a pot of mussels).

Since then, we’ve sampled other fare: fresh oysters, an incredible mac and cheese, its version of sushi and salads.

Our waiter made other amazing recommendations for beer (for Rob) and a ginger cocktail (for me), and recommended yet another place for mussels. We shall pay that place a visit the next time we’re back in New York