NYC
Man I love visiting New York. That town has always been a part of my life. As a kid, I used to visit my grandmother on the Upper West Side every summer. I would go to places like the Museum of Natural History and the Bronx Zoo, as well as other places like the Empire State Building, Bloomingdales, Macy's, Coney Island, and yes, the World Trade Center. And I would visit my relatives that were scattered everywhere around there. An aunt in Brooklyn, cousins in Hastings-on-Hudson, great aunt and her family in Port Washington, and yet more cousins out in Massapequa. It was a different New York back then. There were so many places that were off limits back then. Subways were all covered in graffiti. I remember being in a cab in Little Italy and someone in the car ahead of us was getting mugged at the red light.

Nowadays, a lot is different. It's a much safer place. It is still a place that showcases the melting pot. The culture there is still second to none. And the food, it can't be beat. And it is still expensive as hell. I felt like I was peeling off a $20 bill every five minutes when I was there. If we stayed another week, I don't know if I could have gotten back home. My mom put it best when she said that New York has the best and the worst of everything.

We went back to Bobby Flay's Bar Americain for dinner on Saturday. What is amazing about Bobby Flay is that he can use ingredients that I hate and I'll love the creation. People have all these opinions about what makes a great chef, but to me, it has to be the ultimate compliment to say that about a chef.

The reason we went was for Ira Freehof's Big Apple Showdown at his Comfort Diner in Chelsea. For me, it is likely my last tourney for awhile, as I begin my MBA program next week. I was generally happy with how I played. Nearly every game I played was a hard fought game. It had to be one of the lowest spread totals I have ever had for an event that I won. I was 12-4, but only +315. I'm not sure what to make of that record. In my past experience a low spread has often been a red flag of sorts. It is also my experience that this is a crazy game, and a lot of things can happen in a 16 game sample. I would have to look more closely to figure out which of those is more correct here.

Anybody who has a chance to play in one of Ira's tourneys really should jump at the chance to do so. It's one hell of an experience. And the pear and gorgonzola salad is outstanding. I wanted to try some of the more adventurous breakfast items, but I also know that bacon and eggs has usually served me well. The creative French toast dish will have to wait for a time when I don't have anything on the line in a tourney. (I learned early on not to eat French toast before playing, as much as I enjoy it.) It's funny that this tourney started as an April Fool's joke post on CGP. Sometimes, great ideas have very unlikely geneses.

Afterwards, on Sunday, we headed to Alfama, a Portugese restaurant on the corner of Hudson and Perry. I am willing to bet that there is better somewhere in Newark, where there is a sizable Portugese community. I have to say that this was pretty damn good, though. We went to Portugal last year for a vacation, and it was fun reconnecting with the food and drink we remembered enjoying. My wife remembered what pastries we had before, and we had them again that night. The port list is so extensive there, also. And my wife also had a glass of amarguinha, which is a Portugese version of amaretto. We wanted to try the ginja (a Portugese cherry liqueur), but decided that we had had enough drinks for the night already. We can't get this experience in Chicago, that's for sure. Whenever we're elsewhere, we try to have something good that we can't easily have in Chicago.