Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

skirt steak, burgers, veg kabobs

agree on the Fernet Branca not being overly sweet, syrupy or heavy on the aftertaste (there is some, but it doesn't linger as much).

is eau de vie considered a digestif? bc sometimes i like that too. i eat too much.
i am a human goldfish (if it's good and in front of me, i'll keep eating).

i hope these aren't library books! i'm a little stymied as to how eating and reading works but then i'm a two handed reader. maybe i'm the outlier? i would say tacos + books are a "recipe" for disaster. had to be said, try the veal, tip your waittress. but seriously, anything that is messy even with full attention and two hands isn't going to work with a book. my guesses would be something like a fully enclosed sandwich in a pita, chips, etc. i would stay away from anything that requires finger wiping though, because then you're going to get it all over the book pages.

had a smashburger last night at the BK location and it was very good! the shop is clean, the staff is friendly, and the burger was a sloppy, salty, delight. yum!

an excellent challenge! seriously, restaurants have gotten so noisy and i have pretty bad hearing loss in one ear so i totally get this problem. bc of the nooks and side areas,

rosa mexicana in union square has tables that are much quieter than others.

there's a great space in chelsea, the restaurant used to be called alley's end that is now mexican food, starts with an S maybe? hopefully someone else will know.

paris commune downstairs, rouge bar is usually quieter and can handle a group.

hmmm quiet is quite a challenge, eh? would you consider brooklyn or does it have to be in manhattan?

ah, maybe the garden at aoc on bedford. it's an enclosed garden so no street noise and the tables are set reasonably apart for nyc so it generally isn't crazy loud and is a charming spot!

sweet timing, i have an hour to kill in fort greene tomorrow. smashburger it is!

ah, the subway. i think the bigger problem than people eating on the subway (which does stink, seriously, what is up with people picking the most odiferous foods for their subway dining), is the trash issue. because of budget cuts, the trains don't get cleaned as often, so if some doofus leaves their container of spaghetti or spills a giant iced coffee all over the floor then it is going to stay there for a few train cycles. to be honest, though it doesn't smell, it ticks me off more to see people drinking on the trains because it is more likely to make a giant mess with the inevitable spillage.

but in all seriousness for you non-new yorkers, our subways are a hotbed of disgusting daily nightmares ranging from public PDA, body odor, subway fights, projectile vomiting (once someone must have drank a gatorade just before, because her vomit was neon green), random unleashed animals (chickens, ferrets, tarantuals, snakes), and finally at the end of the list, train eating.

sarge has the best reuben ev-ah, so i would imagine that their corned beef hash would be pretty good. if i recall, i had a really good corned beef hash at the second avenue deli many moons ago. i wonder if katz's does cb hash

i squeeze lemon juice over after tossing the kale with olive oil and sea salt and it really brightens things up. i saute kale with soy and a splash of sesame oil, so i bet that would work well with the chips too. i'm thinking some dried chili would be pretty awesome too. i love kale chips.

eating this right now, whole wheat couscous with asparagus and feta. yum!

this bag of hair feeds off your attention. like someone else pointed out, famiglia was a sponsor of his tv show. don't fall for his desparate ploys for free publicity.

my mom was the queen of the overcooked pork chop but if i had to pick a chinese comfort food, i'd say wonton soup or soup dumplings. or scallion pancakes. or any kind of noodles. or if we venture into guilty pleasures, sesame chicken extra crispy! oh, or egg rolls, those are comforting. snarf a couple of those bad boys with a beer and the world will seem a better place.

if you want to have a nice steakhouse celebration, i really like BLT steak. partly because the pre-meal popovers are to die for. ooooh it is so hard not to fill up before the meal gets going but those things are really freakin good. if you want to do a more raucous meatfest (don't know how celebration went to meatfest but ah well), then plataforma churrascaria (either midtown or tribeca) is fun and lively.