Everyone will be talking about Book Expo America and Book Blogger Convention, but I wanted to start off my discussion with food.  I love food!  I love eating in new places, and I am growing to like trying new things.  Hot & Crusty is a great place for breakfast with yummy pastry and so-so coffee, though the hot chocolate rocked!

One of my goals last week was to eat from a street vendor’s truck, and I accomplished it by eating a hot dog, though I think that I was less thrilled with the actual hot dog than I thought I would be.  Rather, I would recommend eating at Gray’s Papaya in NYC, in which patrons can get 2 hot dogs and a smoothie for a mere $5.  I really loved the hot dog and the pina colada.

Here’s a couple photos of us (Anna and The Girl from Diary of an Eccentric and me) outside the great standing-room only place:

Junior’s was another great restaurant we tried, though I didn’t get to have any of their highly recommended cheesecake.  We couldn’t find the location in Times Square, but we did find a little version in Grand Central Station.  I had a great chicken Caesar salad, but the appetizers of pickled beets and pickles made my day!  They were delicious.  I’ve always loved beets for some reason, probably brings me back to my nana’s garden when I was younger.  Check out the beets and the cool chair with the silverware . . .

There are only two other meals I want to talk about and show you, bear with me.

Ted’s Montana Grill was one of the best places we ate in NYC, and it is the place I ventured farther from my norm — I had a bison burger.  I was so hungry that I forgot to take a photo of my burger and any of the other meals, but I did take a photo of the yummy homemade pickles and the dessert.

Another great thing about this restaurant is the care taken to remain earth-friendly from the recycled paper products to the differing flush control for liquid versus solid wastes.

We only got one dessert, a strawberry shortcake with homemade biscuits and freshly made vanilla ice cream that was smooth and very cold.  Can I just tell you that it was to die for.  Yes, we finished off the entire thing.

Finally, we had a great family-style dinner at Tony’s DiNapoli with a bunch of bloggers, including our table with Amanda from The Zen Leaf, Amy of Amy Reads, Natalie from In Spring it is the Dawn.  Talk about getting to know one another over dinner — what foods do you like to eat and more importantly what foods are you willing to share?!  LOL  We opted for an appetizer of fried zucchini and two pasta dishes — Alfredo Tortellini and Ravioli Bolognese.  All were delicious, and I really loved the white wine sangria.

I’ll leave you with these photos from dinner:

What kind of food did you eat in NYC? Or what kind of food is outside of your normal comfort zone?