Thoughts While Walking in the City: Eating Out

About halfway walking through the city, my friend thought about going in some diner and eating lunch. I am a lifelong resident of NYC and there are two three reasons why I am disinclined to eat out.

Reason #1: Cost-- Lets face it. NYC is expensive. A slice of pizza is now $2.50 (although I cant understand why since the price of commodities i.e. oil and flour has dropped ALOT!!). I usually make it a habit of bringing my lunch with my in my nap sack. A sandwich, a powerade and some Fiberone to munch on. Health and nutritious. And it comes out to about $2.00. If I purchased it in the street, it would be about $8-9 for the meal. So that's a nice sizable savings if you ask me...

Reason #2: Freshness of Food-- Recently I read an article that some restaurants, in order to cut on the cost of food supplies are "recycling" the prior day's entrees, sauces, salads... Not good. I don't know what the City's Health Department is doing about this but it certainly made me less inclined to eat out. I am very nervous when it comes to food poisoning and I think that if you are paying for a fresh meal, that is what you should get. Right ow, it seems that is only guaranteed at home.

Reason #3: Sanitary Consideration-- About a year ago, a camera man caught on video a Taco Bell Restaurant that was closed for the night... OVERRUN BY RATS! It made national news and it was a publicity disaster for the food chain. I have a phobia of rats and mice as is... I am no longer a Taco Bell fan. On another occasion, I was in a restaurant in Brooklyn about three years ago picking up some takeout and as I waited, I say a rodent run across the back counter. I got up and walked out. Roaches and vermin in eateries is a major no-no for me and every year when the City's Chief Health Inspector publishes the violations found in the restaurants I pray that i have not dined in any of them (unfortunately for me, I have and I have since stopped patronizing the business).

I am constantly aware of these reasons and I tried my hardest no to encourage him to eat in any of the diners we passed. Finally, I suggested that we go into a Subway's ans split a foot long whole wheat Italian sub. Thank god he went for it.

Now, don't get me wrong, I will dine out with friends. As a matter of fact I do it monthly with former colleagues from Chase. But we go through great pains research the place, the reviews etc. And more often than not, we love the place. Most recently, we at at Raphaela's on Ninth. Their pepperoni pizza as an appetizer was mouth watering. Also shared a plate of Penne ala Vodka... The sauce was so fresh and creamy, I vowed next time to make it my entree. I had meat lasagna which had lots of meat and sauce and my friend had the roasted chicken. All delicious. Of course throughout the night we drank Merlot wine (their choice of bottles leaves rooms for improvement. A few of the listed bottles were not in stock, including the Malbec--a bit of an annoyance on an otherwise very nice time had.) But what draws to Raphaela's is their dessert menu and one particular item that I had when they were on Seventh Avenue in the Village and still is a hit with my friends--Cognac Pumpkin Cheesecake. It is creamy, melts in your mouth and makes it worth the trip.

Raphaela's on Ninth came about after the original Raphaela's located on 7Th Avenue closed last year. The restaurant is on 9Th and 21st Street and I highly recommend it for a quiet dinner. If you go, I recommend the Penne ala vodka and the cognac pumpkin cheesecake. Please share your experiences.