East Coast Eats

Warning: This post is going to be very long.

So I took a vacation to the East Coast for the first time, and boy did I eat up a storm! It was fantastic! So I'm going to include a food diary of things I ate while I was out there. I may include some recipes, we'll just see how long it gets. I'm going to do this chronologically so you will get an idea of what my vacation was like.

My journey began in Washington, DC. To tell the truth, initially I wasn't as excited about seeing DC, I was just looking forward to seeing my friend, Amy. But DC is a must-see for every American and I was pleasantly surprised. The first day I was in DC was the 2 year anniversary of me being home from Italy. So, we got some pizza!

2Amys is a lovely Neapolitan Pizzeria (DOC certified) and the pizza was absolutely amazing. It really does look like that photo. The thing I love about a good, authentic, Italian pizza is the taste the bottom of the crust gets from the wood burning oven. It turns your hands black but it's oh-so-good! I had the margherita, which is your basic, classic cheese pizza with fresh mozzzerella. Absolutely incredible. What a great way to celebrate my time in Italy.

Next, Andrea and I had lunch in the Madison building of the Library of Congress. The food was good, nothing to sing praises about, but it was a really cool experience eating on the top floor, overlooking the river, surrounded by Library of Congress employess. The cafeteria is open to the public but most tourists don't know about it. The trays had the official Library of Congress seal on them.

That night my friend Amy picked us up and we had dinner in Old Town Alexandria, VA. It is just the most charming place, with small streets, lots of town homes and cute shops and restaurants. I can't for the life of me remember the place we ate at, but I will forever remember the absolutely delicious plate of linguine alle vongole that I hate (that means clams). Red sauce. It was so good and brimming with clams. I ate the whole thing and it was absolutely delicious. Alexandria is a beautiful place. If you're in the area, get out and walk around.

We then went to get some ice cream because it was rather warm outside and we wanted to walk around the port for a while. So we stopped in to Pops Old Fashioned Ice Cream. Those of you who know me well are fully aware of how scrutinizing I am about ice cream (Thank you, Bill Cole) and this place did not disappoint. Grandpa would have been proud. I had a sugar cone dipped in chocolate and rolled in chocolate sprinkles with a big scoop of Cheesecake ice cream (to die for) that didn't last very long.

And then we move on to Philadelphia. As soon as I got to Philly, my good friend, Preston drove me straight to the most famous cheesesteak corner in the world. He recommended Jake's, which, from what I understand, is the "original," although I'm sure Philadelphians brawl about thiis subject (they are not a delicate people). I had decided to order my cheese steak the Philadelphia way, that is, smothered in Cheez Whiz (not Provolone). "Cheesesteak with Whiz, light onions," I excitedly proclaimed at the counter. Preston then ordered me a Birch Beer, which is something like root beer, and apparently a Philadelphia favorite. I destroyed my meal, I was absolutely starving.

I spent the entire afternoon in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. If you don't do anything else when you go to Philly, make sure you hit up the museum. It's amazing. After all that walking around I was super hungry, so Preston introduced me to Buffalo Chicken Pizza (on a wheat crust). Remember, folks, in the East it's Bleu Cheese, not Ranch. This was one of the tastiest pizzas (of the American variety) I have ever had. Delish.

And on to New York City! It really is a food mecca. There are restaurants EVERYWHERE. I have never seen so much Italian food outside of Italy. I was in food heaven. I had breakfast at the Seinfeld Restaurant (which only looks the same on the outside). Really great, super yummy French Toast and the largest breakfast sausage I have ever seen. It's located in Harlem, and worth the trip, even if you're not a huge fan of the show.

We then made our way through a rainy street fair and into Greenwich Village to get a cupcake from Bleeker Street's famous Magnolia Bakery. Now, I make a mean cupcake, but I got nothin' on these guys. This was hands down the most delicious cupcake I have ever eaten in my life. The formation of the frosting is still a mystery to me. It's in this swirled shape that I can't for the life of me figure out how to do. It's the type of frosting you just lick right off the cupcake.

The bakery itself is really small inside, and even in the rain the line was half way down the block. It moves fast though, there's no where to stand inside so you just grab and go. They also had jars of cookies, and I ate the most amazing molasses cookie I have ever had in my life. I could have eaten the whole jar. And there are cakes and a display window of smaller pasteries... I was in heaven. Let's just say there's a reason this place is so famous.

We then hit up the very first pizza place in America, Lombardi's Pizza. It's a good thing the pizza was so good because we waited FOREVER. The place looks like it only seats about 40 but they have extra rooms and a basement you can't see from the street. So if you go and are wondering if you'll EVER sit down, you will, and it's worth the wait, but don't be afraid to walk around the area. It's close to Canal Street (famous China Town tourist trap) and Little Italy. There's plenty to look at while you wait. The pizza was really good. The table next to us was a really awkward date, so we were also entertained. I highly recommend this place, and how cool is it to say you ate at the oldest pizzeria in America? Pretty darn cool if you're a pizza freak like me.

My last food find in NYC was Junior's Cheesecake. It's apprently the NY Magazine's #1 ranked cheesecake in NYC. And it was dang good. The only thing that was different for me was the lack of graham cracker crust. This had a very light, almost sponge cake crust. I missed the graham cracker, admittedly, but the cheesecake itself was so good it didn't matter. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves on this one.

And that concludes my culinary adventures on the other side of the continent. Remember that food should be an integral part of your vacation, especially if you're doing as much walking as I did. I actually lost weight eating all that! A special shout out to all my friends who let me crash with them during my trip. You're what makes my vacations special!
I love you guys! Happy summer vacationing, everyone!