Turtle Bay, Tudor City Place Between 43rd and 41st Streets

Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Remember at the beginning of this walk I said I was meeting FL for lunch? This is the place. Convivio. Pretty fancy for two out-of-work gals, you say? I'll explain. This lunch took place during Restaurant Week in New York. Actually, finding that link, I just discovered it's still going on. Through this week. Anyway, as many of you know, you can get a special lunch at many of the city's best restaurants for $24.07 (that odd price is to point out that New York is open 24/7) and the way to do it is find the most expensive restaurant with the highest food ratings and call as soon as you can because everyone else is doing the same thing.

We picked a winner this year and now we want to go back. We crave it. That's the problem. This is what I had: First course, salad with figs and pancetta, but the pancetta was cut into thick logs. Wow. Main course: orecchiette with plum tomatoes and maybe ricotta, can't remember. This sounds dull but it most definitely was not. The pasta was silky and tender and the sauce was full of flavor. Dessert: Some kind of tart with chocolate ganache and caramel, which I was thinking about for the next week or so. Truly delicious lunch. Don't ask me what FL had – that was two weeks ago and I can't remember.

Now with tax and tip the bill comes to a little over $30 and you might be thinking that's not really a cheap lunch and you would be right. I'm not going to tell you what it costs when you add a couple of glasses of wine. This is what you do about that. Book the latest lunch they serve and stay as long as they'll let you and then call it dinner.



Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

And my pedicure. Remember my pedicure? Right down the block. It was a nice day.

See map.