One Day, Two Cities, Lots of Lox

....or, Winter Picnic: Part 4 (tales from my jaunt up the East Coast)

January 24, 2010 was very close to the most perfect day.

Yes, the day did include some not so glamorous aspects (I spent about four hours on a bus that sort of smelled like cheese...and I schlepped a laptop, camera, two lenses, and a suit case lots of blocks) but the events that occurred on either end of my bus jaunt made the day really fabulous. Here's the play by play:

8:15 AM
Wake up in Cara F.'s adorable upper west side apartment (complete with polka dotted floor mat and bright yellow bathroom).

9:00 AM
Leave Cara's apartment and walk several blocks in the most adorable Upper West Side neighborhood. Pretend not to be a tourist.

9:15 AM
Arrive at Barney Greengrass. Become embarrassed because of my large suitcase and the fact that I am several minutes late to meet Carolyn G. and Jonathan H.

9:17 AM
Sit down in the Barney Greengrass dining room and bask in the joy that is fresh OJ, whitefish salad, and conversation with two of my favorite people.

11:13 AM
Quick stop at Levain.

12:09 PM
Arrive at the Bolt Bus pick-up spot. Spot another curly headed familiar looking person. Strike up a conversation and discover mutual friends Neil S. and Jill S.

12:33 PM
Fall asleep on the bus to Boston.

4:32 PM
Dena and Jay S. arrive to pick me up at the bus station. We drive to their cute house in Brookline and take lots of photos.

6:45 PM
Take a photo shoot break and eat delicious cookies Dena has just baked.

7:13 PM
Walk from Dena and Jay's house to Zaftigs. Loudly mention former employee Abbey O.'s name so waitress knows I'm in with the in crowd.

7:15 PM
Place order for the "Zaftigs sampler" and a bowl of matzah ball soup. Come to the realization that I have just completed the almost perfect day: two iconic Jewish food establishments in two different cities on the same day.

That's right. I woke up in New York and had brunch at Barney Greengerass... then went to sleep in Boston having just eaten dinner at Zaftigs. I am quite proud of myself for accomplishing this personal celebration of Ashkenazi cuisine in less than 12 hours. In case you try to do the same thing (or perhaps dine at either one of the establishments mentioned above), here are my thoughts.

Barney Greengrass
Levain is to cookies as Barney Greengrass is to smoked fish.

You heard me. I just put something in the same category as Levain. BG is just the best. I remember the first time I went there with Jonathan H. and Erica F. (her last name contains the word fish which just made the whole experience even richer). The service is bad and there's usually a wait. The prices are steep and the selection is limited...

But what they do serve is fantastic. They do a few things, and they do them VERY well.

I usually get a toasted sesame seed bagel with whitefish salad and orange juice and consider this basically the perfect breakfast.


A few more interesting facts about BG:

• My grandparents went to Hebrew school around the corner (they were both students there at the same time but didn't know each other).
  
• Once, Cara F. was dining at BG and saw Matt Damon at the next table.
• Although I don't believe hype and celebrity equal excellent smoked fish, the fact that Yov've Got Mail and Revolutionary Road both included scenes filmed inside BG proves what a New York icon it really is.
• It is possible that Barney Greengrass requires its own blog post...and when I have the correct words to thoroughly describe this Upper West Side palace of smoked fish, I will.
  
• After Elissa F. completed her rabbinical school interview, I had two dozen Barney Greengrass ruggelach overnighted to her office. For this, she proclaimed me "the greatest friend of all time."
  

Zaftigs
So, I had never been to Zaftigs until I was in Boston in September for Abbey and Oded's wedding. We stopped in but didn't have time to stay so I got a black and white cookie to go. It was fine, but not blog worthy. Then...I went back with Dena and Jay S., and Katie R. and actually had a meal. It was delicious. Not really in the same category as Barney Greengrass, but delicious in its own way.

We started with the Zaftigs sampler. What a good idea, Zaftigs! It is a plate composed of all the things you want to get when at a Jewishy food establishment but can't really cobble together into a socially acceptable meal: a cheese blintz, one potato latke, a potato knish, and a piece kugel. We split this plate of Jewish culture and it was really fantastic.

I ordered matzah ball soup as my entree and it was warm and flavorful with big pieces of carrot (one of the most important parts). Dena ordered something with potato latkes and lox which I tasted and it was excellent (how could you go wrong with that?). Although he didn't order this when we were together, Jay's usual dish at Zaftigs is "The Lupo" which consists of hot brisket layered between two latkes (!) with vegetable gravy and horseradish. If he had ordered that, I can only imagine the photo possibilities.


A few other important Zaftigs related points:

• A cute aspect of Zaftigs is the funny t-shirts that all the waiters wear ("Got latke?" or "Happy Challahdays").
  
• I am slightly bothered by the fact that there is no apostrophe in the name. Shouldn't it be Zaftig's?
• In Yiddush, ˈZäf-tig, ˈzȯf- means voluptuous.
• Abbey O. used to work at Zaftigs before she moved to Israel. This, by definition, makes it cool.
• According to Suburban Sweetheart, the french toast she consumed at Zaftigs was the best french toast she ate in 2009.
  

So, there you have it. I am unsure if this feat of Ashkenazi culinary excellence has ever been accomplished, but if it has I'd love to meet the participants and compare notes. I think I will make an effort to feature more Jewish food establishments here on W&CP. Nothing says wild and crazy like the pursuit of excellent bagels, lox, whitefish salad, and ruggelach.

Next up, Potomac's Celebrity Deli?