New York
With Canon's shiniest new ultrawide lens in-hand, a stroll through the totally overdone tourist trap known as Times Square seemed like an appropriate test for it-- and as promised, it was quite fun to use. Between the tall buildings and massive LED billboards and the bizarre like a giant mechanical hot dog... and both the locals and the tourists, it was a neat perspective. Continuing the walk down to the mothership for photographers, B&H Photo, lead to a few more opportunities as well, although by then hunger was starting to take hold.
Brooklyn Bagel and Coffee Company may not be the best-known name for bagels in New York, but they are very competitive. The blueberry bagel with cream cheese was massive and generously slathered with quality cream cheese; I was quite sad to throw half of it away (!) as I was saving space for lunch at Wah Fung No.1 Fast Food not too long after. Even with the long line and Sam getting there a bit before I did, there still would not have been stomach space to justify two meals so close together. Turns out Wah Fung No.1 Fast Food largely lives up to their name: generous portions for cheap, and an amazing char siu. The soy sauce chicken is more average and the roast duck is forgettable, but the char siu was so good Sam almost got back in line for seconds.
Opted to get out of Manhattan and into Brooklyn for once. Raaka Chocolate Factory was a bit of a letdown, but their unroasted chocolates had a few viable ones, particularly the sea salt and dark chocolate. A walk around lead to a stop at The Black Flamingo, which was perfectly ordinary but sufficient in quality and character to be a cute neighborhood spot. Sam, somehow, was already hungry-- and he has an endless stomach for BBQ, no matter the quality-- so we walked all the way down to Hometown Bar Be Que. They were extremely generous with portions (half pound orders supposedly, saw them hit 0.84lb on the scale for the brisket) and their brisket had a good flavor. However it was a bit dry, and the sausage, which was nicely crisped with a good flavor, had cheese in it (which was not listed as an ingredient on the menu), so that was a no-go for Sam. Ultimately it was a nice stop but not one I would be in a hurry to go back to.
Dinner #1 for the day was at Kosaka, a Michelin *1, and a welcome break from all of the red meat. The omakase here is about 10% or 15% cheaper than the last Michelin 1* I had in Los Angeles, and the quality in fish was slightly better. Katsuo (skipjack) and shima-aji (striped jack) last week at 715 Sushi were easily outclassed by Kosaka, and the work they do with searing here-- even without charcoal-- is simply on-point. The bluefin tuna hand roll (torutaku) by Chef Inoue-san was also in perfect harmony, and in what was a random nice touch, the anago (sea eel) was from chef's hometown, Nagasaki. Did some add-ons which raised the price, including aburi and a kinki (rockfish); the latter in particular was new to me, and quite mild yet delicious.
About the only odd part of the experience was that it took barely 90 minutes, which is quite quick for a fine dining experience. Not that there was anything wrong with that, per se, but quite different in the usual two-to-three hours I'm used to. They also have table as well as bar seating, the table seating is slighty cheaper, and enables a total of 25 guests-- 14 at the bar and 10 or so at the tables.
Dinner #2 was the most ridiculous meal of the trip. Coqodaq is not the most expensive restaurant in New York, but it may be one of the most exclusive. Reservations go up 14 days in advance at 10:00am Eastern time, and they sell out in the first seconds. Sam checked for Monday and got nothing, we both checked for Tuesday (today) and Sam was barely able to get an 11:00pm booking. For grins we checked Wednesday (tomorrow) and both completely struck out as well (!). As 11:00pm is their last seating we didn't quite know what to expect; we showed up to a restaurant that looked almost like a club (or at least an Instagram/Tiktok-influencer's dream). Skipped the equally absurd gold flake and caviar toppings for just the regular $38/person fried chicken meal, went with the original recipe and the soy-garlic, both of which were excellent. Have to say it was well worth the visit, although maybe just not at 11:00pm...