El Rio Grande

Rick and I went out for a late brunch today - around 4:00 we made our way over El Rio Grande which is on the second floor over Duke's on 38th and 3rd. You access the restaurant and spacious outdoor patio from 38th Street. You will pay a premium for eating on this spacious deck, but it's all good when the weather is amazing like it was today.

We sat and ordered a pitcher of red sangria after the waitress raved about it. It was rather kool-aid like - I'm not sure we would order it again, but it was a nice drink in the sun, so maybe we would... Just don't expect a complex rich sangria that you might get at a good cuban place or better yet, Dos Caminos.

We got a basket of crunchy corn tortilla chips - the thick and heavy ones, and a few bowls of delicious salsa - the salsa is smoky and spicy but not overly so...

Rick was so good - he ordered the Fajita Salad with steak - they cooked it to order - medium rare - but it arrived cold unfortunately. I ordered the chicken enchiladas with refried beans, and it also came with rice. There was just enough cheese so there was some, but my 2 enchiladas were filled only with chicken, nicely cooked, so I didn't feel too badly about the calories which must have been fewer than ususal for chicken enchiladas which are swimming in cheese.

El Rio Grande is close enough to the apartment that it will probably be a summer staple. I won't forget about my beloved Baby Bo's though :)

Ladies who Lunch

OK - I don't have any lady friends here in NYC with whom I can lunch yet, but occasionally, when I find myself near Grand Central Station at lunch time, I'll call Rick and he'll happen to have some time to take me to lunch :)

Rick works in the Graybar Building attached to Grand Central Terminal.

Grand Central Terminal is so much prettier than the Graybar building I took a couple pictures of that instead :) But essentially, this is where Rick goes to work.

After I arrived and easily wrangled my inviation, I met Rick on the corner of 42nd and Lex. He and folks in his office had recently discovered a little diner he was anxious to share with me. We walked to 37th and 3rd, and paused to decide - should we sit inside or out? Although the outside tables are near the street, they are protected by bushes and plants and you actually step down away from the hustle and bustle. Today was pretty warm, so we elected to eat with a little a/c. After sitting there for a few minutes, we decided the temp was about the same in both places :)



Duke's (http://www.dukesnyc.com/) is a real retro place with kitchy decor - kind of like the Friendly Toast in Portsmouth, minus the tattoos and piercings. Duke's serves southern comfort food, and they have lots of options. Rick ordered the pulled pork sandwich and I ordered the po-boy. Rick's sandwich had a sweet smoky bbq sauce mixed right into the meat and it was piled on a soft homemade white roll. My po-boy was made with blackened red snapper - the grilled fish was amazing. The sandwich was made with a nice soft white bread shaped like a baguette, but not crusty like one. It had a sweet spicy sauce that was not unlike tartar sauce along with lettuce and tomato. Heavenly. Our sandwiches came with a big pile of very crunchy shoestring french fries and a small container of cole slaw.

We enjoyed our lunch and it was good to get out and enjoy the day!