La Torta Gorda - Mission, SF

I think of this meal as the second date of my new love affair with tortas—delicious, toasty Mexican sandwiches. The first was from Mijita, which I'll post next, out of order. Anyway, we had a couple different tortas. One was a shredded, marinated pork which was not unlike a pulled pork sandwich. Decent, but lacked something. The other was Al Pastor, which was the winner. Spicy, marinated pork with little chunks of pineapple piled onto a torta bun and pressed in a grill to make it crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. If I had to rate this one, I'd give it a 3 out of 5. It was good, but I know there are better things to come. Soon.

Kung Fu Tacos - SF

Il Buco

This is the first stop on our countdown to not living in New York anymore. And it was a good one. I had a duck ragu that sits squarely in my top three ragus of all time. Alex had pillowy fresh ricotta ravioli with sage and butter. Light and delicious. And we started the meal with a crispy cauliflower and gorgonzola croquettes that I could eat every day until I have to be wheeled out on a fat wagon.

BLT Burger - NYC

This is my last lunch as an employee of Saatchi & Saatchi. And it was a good one. A burger with smoky bacon and cheddar, a couple of onion rings, and a milkshake made with Maker's Mark and Caramel.

After lunch, I was taken to the roof and thrown off with a box full of my belongings.

Banh Mi - West Village

Damn, this is good. I ordered the Sloppy Bao - red chili ground pork with basil, cilantro, carrots and green papaya. So good. The bread was perfect - crusty outside/soft and hollowed out on the inside.

Dirty Bird - NYC

Damn. I'm lucky I didn't know about thi place until now, because it's good, fast, and cheap. I had two pieces of buttermilk fried chicken with a polenta triangle and a side of brussels sprouts. $8.63. Hot damn.

Iron Works Barbeque - Austin

It's good to be in Texas. I had the combination plate with perfect, tender smoky brisket, sausage and a giant beef rib. Alex had donkey ribs, I think. Not sure. They look like donkey ribs, or maybe horse. They're so similar, it's often hard to tell. See for yourself.

Frank - East Village

This is a polpettone, which I figured would roughly translate to "giant meatball." But the menu said that it was meatloaf. Well, the menu was wrong.

Taïm - NYC

I think I've posted about this before, but the falafel sandwich at Taïm is unbeatable. Perfectly crispy harissa falafel, Israeli salad, marinated cabbage, hummus, tahini and s'rug (hot sauce).

This Middle Eastern Delight is so good it makes me want to play hacky sack.

Oops - Healthy

Waaaa waaaaaa. I ordered a chicken salad sandwich today at Blue Ribbon in the West Village and received a salad with chicken instead. I figured that was the universe telling me I'm fat, so i ate it (and almost enjoyed it.)