Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Hi Fiona - a fellow Aussie who lived in NY for 18 months.

- midtown is pertty bad for food choices (although www.midtownlunch.com would prove otherwise). If you are looking for something uniquely New York which isnt too far from your hotel - go to Ma Peche (and the milk bar next door) for some interesting food that we dont get much of in Australia.
- Joes art of coffee in grand central station does a fantastic coffee. A cortado is the most similar you will get to a flat white in NY.

Id agree with the above to go to Katz at some stage too. Just for the experience (and the pastrami is amazing).

Hi Ed

I would do an allover body workout. If you are looking to lose fat too, you need to make the weights session like a cardio session (so using the examples above, instead of doing one set of bicep curls then resting between each set you would do one set of biceps, one set of triceps, then rest).

I would also do more "olympic lift" type regimes as they use all types of muscles in your body in teh one movement. There are some excellent workouts on the web, in particular, a few on Mens Health that might be applicable.

You will notice an almost immediate difference if you have never done any weight training before.

Thanks for all the suggestions - this site is so helpful!

kati rolls from the biryani cart

I can't believe no one has mentioned Jacks Stir Brew in the West Village. Just sublime espresso

have you tasted it with the star anise?

It actually brings out the meatiness of the various pork/lamb/beef used in the bolognese. Of all the things that he does to this version of bolognese, I think it actually adds something to the flavour of the dish. However, it does make it taste slightly sweet.

Don't get me wrong, I love a traditional sauce but I don't think Heston's version is bad, its just a bit time consuming.