I know what you're thinking:  I haven't been posting blog entries so I must not be eating.  Well just because I don't post blog entries doesn't mean I'm not eating.  That's plain silly.  Of this you are assured.  It's just that I don't always feel like writing a whole bunch, or, more accurately, don't think I have anything interesting to say (usually the case).  So, every now and again, I write these superficial little recaps, describing what I recently ate and where I ate it, if it think it's important enough.  It's less pressure on me.  This comes out of laziness, lack of motivation, lack of confidence, and a complete and utter lack of interest in whether people return to my blog for fresh posts.  The occasionally declining tommy:eats blog stats are a testament to that, if not a reminder to post something.  Anything.

So here you go:  superficial and shallow notes on a few notable bites from the past week or two, that I think you should know about, from Oceanos (NJ), Babbo (NYC), Victor's Maywood Inn (NJ), and The Restaurant (NJ):

Sexy camera phone pic. Sweet, I know.

When the news first broke that someone was building a sort-of-fine-dining restaurant (well, compared to the Silver Bullet - the previous tenant of the space at 41st and 8th - pretty much anything is "fine") at the Port Authority bus terminal (or as our fraternity cook, the lovely Anne, used to call it, "the Port of Authority"), people were quite surprised.   "Oysters at Port Authority!?!?!" people asked  (I was one of them).  Responses generally came in the form of "Well, look what they did with Grand Central.  There's plenty of fine dining in Grand Central now, and that used to be gritty too."

Allow me to indulge myself:  Grand Central was once an opulent and beautiful structure, which fell on hard times, and was refurbished back to its original majesty.  The Port Authority, conversely, was a big ugly piece of metal before the pencil even hit the paper.

You know you get them, and you know you want them to go away.  You also know that you've tried some of the wacky cures out there, and they probably didn't work.  You've probably even googled "hiccup cure" in the past. 

Here's one cure for the hiccups that has worked on every single person I've introduced it to, and every time on me.  I don't question it.  I don't analyze it.  I just do it. 

Courtesy of the missus:    

Update (2013/09): Bobcat Bite has moved and is now called Sante Fe Bite. Story here (click me).

I can't remember where it was that I first heard about Santa Fe's Bobcat Bite and its burger.  It might have been George Motz's documentary Hamburger America.  But I think it was even before then. 

Regardless, it's been on my "list" for some time now.  And I was very excited to finally get a chance to pull up a stool and grab a green chile cheeseburger here.

If you're not from north Jersey, you probably don't know what "all the way" means.  At least as it relates to hot dogs.  "All the way" means that your dog will be served with mustard, chopped raw onion, and chili "sauce."  Additionally, if you're not from north Jersey (or Cincinnati), you probably don't know what chili "sauce" is.  I'm not really sure either, but I'm relatively certain that it has little-to-no meat or beans.

Living in North Jersey (the hot dog capital of the world) affords me the luxury of choosing any number of about a gajillion hot dog places that make these "Texas Wieners", as they're called, for lunch or dinner or breakfast or late-night dinner.  You want to love them all equally, but there comes a time in every man's life when he has to rank his local hot dogs.   

My goal for this particular exercise was to visit 3 local places, one after another, for comparative purposes.  All very scientific-like as you might imagine.  Additionally, I wanted an excuse to have 3 hot dogs at 3 places for dinner.  Off I went to River View East (Elmwood Park), Goffle Grill (Hawthorne), and Johnny & Hanges (Fair Lawn):

The Amish Market is a bit of a mini-chain of upscale gourmet food markets in Manhattan.   They've got a great selection of produce, cheeses, olives, desserts, breads, meats, fish, and practically everything else you'd ever need.  They also have a fair amount of prepared foods and nice hot/cold buffet-style selections.

The standout to my mind is the brick oven pizza.  It's really quite good.