It's been a slice!

First, see above for a chance to win a $1000 Cookware set. Enter now! This is only open to US residents.. Sorry but even I can`t enter.

Second, it's about time I shared with you the details of my weekend in NYC. It was awesome! The theme of the weekend quickly became "It's been a slice!" cause we ate a quite a bit of good real NY style pizza. The stuff I grew up on. Sigh.... good stuff. I may be ruined for life. But I'll get to that.

We had our first slice at Villa Pizza in the Bergen Town Center. Villa Pizza has restaurants in Italy! Holy crap, how good of a pizza joint do you have to be to have restaurants in Italy. (They have franchise opportunities...maybe that should be my next career... oo, they have a South Philly Steak and Fries brand... that would suit me! I digress) Granny Tan and I were a little overwhelmed at the selection. We both ended up with plain pepperoni. Nothing like sticking with a classic. We also split a tomato, mozza and basil salad that was huge and tasty!

Saturday night we went for Turkish food at Lisa's Turkish Kitchen. I didn't get a pic of my meal. It was huge, it was tasty, it was a good time. Ridgewood, NJ is a lovely spot to hit for dinner. It's BYOB which has it's charm... it's make for a cheaper meal overall but you do have to keep this in mind when heading out. Granny Tan and I after our meal (and a day of shopping... see our smiles?! and you can't even see my new shoes!)

Sunday morning we headed into the city for a food tour of the West Village. It was raining but we were prepared and eager to eat! (just a side note, I've been back for less than 2 weeks and I've had to do 3 loads of dog towels from wiping puppy paws.... i love spring....)

We started the tour with the most perfect slice of pizza. You have got to hit Joe's Pizza on Carmine St.

Perfection. I may be ruined for all pizzas in the future. And I've had some pretty damn good pizza in my life (best pizza overall.... in Sweden! yup, I swear but since the odds of most of you getting to Stockholm are probably slimmer than getting to NYC....) Seriously, I may not ever be satisfied in a pizza kind of way again. This tour rocks!

Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my chin. Talk amongst yourselves. I need a moment.

Okay, next we hit Bleecker Street and O&Co, an olive oil, vinegar and spreads shop. Note this link is Canadian! Yup, you can get this stuff delivered in Canada. But if you go to the .com site you see that there are locations in several different countries for you international readers. Ooooo, sweat nectar from the gods!

Olive oil is like wine. The quality varies. I have one less expensive olive oil for cooking with and a high quality French (that I picked up at O&Co) for salads and such. I also picked up a basil infused olive oil that is deadly tossed on tomatoes!

Next stop was Faiccos where the firemen were getting their lunch. We likey firemen!

We also ate a fried rice cheese ball. Yum! I wonder if I can make these at home without a deep fryer? These would be awesome appies for a cocktail party.
Our next stop was a 40 year old herb and spice shop called Aphrodisia, still on Bleecker Street.
We had a herbal tea tasting while there and sniffed some of the spices. Granny Tan went back for some paprika, I got some ground porcini mushroom powder! Cool.

Time to get off Bleecher street for a while. We headed over to 7th Avenue to Centro Vinoteca where the Head Chef Leah was on the show Top Chef!

It's a bit expensive but would make for a nice evening out. They have an extensive wine list.

We had a farro mushroom risotto. Alana and I aren't big mushroom fans but this was good. I gave my biggest mushroom pieces to Granny Tan but overall, yummy!

We also had the opportunity to enjoy a glass of wine. They sell wine by the quarter bottle which is a great way to sample wine with a friend! Our hosts with the mosts enjoying a glass! No really, Adam was enjoying the tour, I swear. And Alana is only blurry when she drinks wine.

We then roamed around the village and had a tour of some of the landmark areas. Beautiful. Then it was time for some cookies. I ate mine too fast to get a pic.

Then is was back to Bleecher Street. We started our tour at Murray`s Cheese Shop and then hit it again later for a cheese tasting.

We had a smoked goats milk cheese, a dutch cheese and a Parmesan. The meat was actually from Faicco`s. I could have spent the afternoon in this store. And I could have bought half the contents however, trying to cross the border with cheese is not recommended (I`ve tried and had my precious cheese taken from me... I`m still traumatized by the whole thing).

We ended the tour the way any good visit to NYC should end - with a cannoli. An awesome cannoli from Rocco`s Pastry shop.

After the tour we went back to a O&Co to buy some olive oil and to Aphrodisia to buy some spices. We had beers at the Blind Tiger then headed over for a great deal on oysters at Fish still on Bleecker. 6 oysters and a glass of wine for $8. Alana wasn`t sure about raw oysters so we recommended she get the clams, same deal. Never did we imagine that the clams would be raw! I must say, I`ll stick with the oysters!

We decided to hit NYC`s second oldest pizzaria for dinner, John`s Pizza. They`ve been around since 1929 and still use their original coal oven. And it`s cheap! But get there earlier or you`ll be lined up outside for a while.

We got a pitcher of beer for less than $20. (I had a glass of white wine, served in a juice glass!)
Note the decor on the table. This place had character! We got a salad to share. It was enough for 4 people who had spent the day eating...

And then we split a pie. Sigh... it was good.

I must say, one could spend a day just on Bleecher street. Check out this or some of the other tours they offer. Money well spent.

We also got a tour guide of the recommended restaurants in the area. The tour was $46 and worth every penny. I`ll be keeping my tour guide for my next visit (and for anyone heading down that way, just email me, I`ll share info!)

Now, I must go figure out what to eat for dinner! Hmmm could I make thin crust....