There is some amazing food in the village, and I had always wanted to try the Belgian fries place that always has a line running out the door, Pomme Frites. What better person to try it with than my mom, who loves french fries. I've always been more of a mashed potatoes kind of girl. Call me a food snob, but, I really didn't think they were that amazing. I know they have tons of different sauces, which could be the appeal to the place, but we went with plain ketchup and some malt vinegar. I don't think they were that special. I've had better fries at Pop Burger. They put them in a cone and you can walk around the village with it like an ice cream. That's kind of cool, I suppose, but I'd rather be eating ice cream. Anyway, here is evidence that my mom and I tasted the fries at Pomme Frites.

There is a cute, funky, little lounge around the corner from me that I would like to call my neighborhood hangout except I wish the prices were cheaper. While my mom was in the city, we went there for happy hour and free tapas and ended up buying a couple appetizers off the menu, thus killing any plans for dinner. Albeit expensive, the baked camembert and the "billionaire's bacon" were quite good. The only reason I can think it's called "billionaire's bacon" is that 4 slices cost $6. Once we devoured it, I was glad I took the photo for documentation that it once existed.

I use the Yelp application on my iPhone A LOT. It's such a helpful tool when you are in a neighborhood and you have no idea where to eat. I found Ruby's Cafe in Soho through this app. after much argument with a friend over what type of food we should eat. She wanted something hearty, and I wanted a salad. I picked this place partially because of the reviews and partially because my dog's name is Ruby. I ordered a spinach salad with goats cheese, pine nuts, roasted pumpkin and caramelized balsamic dressing. I didn't know you could caramelize balsamic. It tastes a lot richer and has more depth of flavor. I'm definitely going to figure out how to make that correctly. The salad was delightful and hit the spot, although I could have eaten some more of it. Perhaps, a crusty piece of fresh bread would have complimented it nicely. The pumpkin was nice. I'm really getting into dishes with pumpkin...must be the changing of the seasons affecting my taste buds.

The lighting is dim in my kitchen, so the picture didn't do this burger's taste justice. While the illumination of the burger in the snapshot is rather lackluster, my taste-buds needed no flashlight. This is honestly one of the best burgers I have ever had...and I made it. Maybe it was the harmonious quartet of the grass fed beef combined with aged new york cheddar, local zucchini and caramelized onion, or maybe, by the time I had cried over slicing the onions and had seasoned my beef patty , I was salivating so much that anything would have tasted divine. I do have a knack for making things taste "the best I've ever had" (song lyrics pop into mind) the first time I experiment with the ingredients. I guess I'll never know the true answer to why my burger was so appetizing, but my belly says it doesn't matter.