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She live in Silver Spring and doesn't mention the Hell burger from Ray's the Classics? I wonder if she's never been, or if she just does not prefer it, but that would be nuts; best burger in MD.

That looks great! I just had Peruvian chicken for lunch today, a quarter chicken with two sides (fried yucca, my favorite too, and cuban-style black beans) for $5! But I live in Rockville, so it would be cheaper than NY. But every other Peruvian chicken place in the area is around $6-7, so this place is super cheap. And there is an indian market next door with $.65 samosas, of which I had to buy two. Huge lunch for around $6.50, awesome.

For some historical NY flavor, The Alienist and Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr. He write about many fictious meals at Delmonico's and other restaurants when, and the mutiple course meals are fabulous. Also, absolutely agree with the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, funny enough I read a few passages from Farmer boy almost every day, ahh, that Christmas dinner. The next best ones are By the Shores of Silver Lake and Little Town on the Prairie.

I just had a hellburger two days ago at his other restaurant, Ray's the Classics. It's my favorite burge ever, even better than the double stack I had at Shake Shack, which I loved. The burger is always spot-on for me, and I've had it dozens of times. I only wish they had french fries, but none of his restaurants have them, boo.

This sounds very similar to a Korean dessert, dukk, which in dessert form is can be dumpling shaped and filled with a sweet yellow bean paste, or a sesame seed syrup, though there are also many different shapes and varieties, with nuts, beans, and even pine needles. I love sweet dukk, but not as much as rice cakes used in savory dishes, like dukk booki or dukk kuk. Anyway, would love to try the Chinese version and see how it compares!

chocolate covered macademia nuts from Jacque Torres, amazing

Always porterhouse, medium rare