A couple of weeks ago my friends Jess & Garrett, of We Heart New York, invited me along to a lecture at Proteus Gowanus. When they suggested that we meet someplace beforehand for dinner, I thought of Sheep Station, which bills itself as “an Australian ‘local’ in Brooklyn”.

I went for the veggie burger (for a dollar extra, topped with Aussie cheddar). The patty itself was pretty standard fare (that is, it fell apart pretty quickly), but the toppings were interesting: beets, a slice of grilled pineapple, and a fried egg. There’s no reason that all of those things should work together, but somehow they combined to make something pretty good. The side salad left something to be desired, and the veggie burger wasn’t good enough to warrant a second trip, but if you find yourself down 4th Avenue you might want to give it a try.

Sheep Station — 149 4th Avenue, Brooklyn

When my friend Jess, from We Heart NY suggested we meet for lunch, one of her suggestions was Devi. I was excited about it, because I had been craving Indian food for a few weeks. I saw that Frank Bruni gave it two stars, which made the anticipation only greater. After eating there, however, both Jess and I had one thought: we were confused.

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I’ve gone on record as saying I just don’t get the ramp craze, but that doesn’t mean that I’m immune to it. On a recent impromptu trip to Roberta’s with my friends Mo and Martha I decided to go for the “J Street” — a pizza topped with ramps. This was the best ramp dish I’ve had to date — the wild onions were allowed to just barely char on top of the pie, so they still retained their delicate onion-y, garlic-y taste. The real star of the meal was the (not pictured) soft scrambled eggs, studded with hen-of-the-woods mushrooms and teleggio cheese. It was so rich and delicious it made me wonder who needs truffles?

I used to live on the corner of E 3rd St and Avenue A, and I loved the neighborhood. This was before this blog existed, but I still was excited about the many food options available to me: Nicky’s Vietnamese Sandwiches, Mama’s, and a 24-hour Key Food, among others. I was not, however, aware of the existence of Perbacco, an Italian restaurant that blends tradition and the avant-garde. Lucky for me my friends Jess & Garrett knew about it, and the three of us met there for dinner last week. Lucky for you also, because their photos came out much better than mine (click the link to their blog if you don’t believe me).

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Sometimes you get so caught up in going to the newest, hippest, most happening restaurants in town — What’s got great buzz? What’s been reviewed recently? What’s the newest trend? — that you forget that there are plenty of restaurants that have been around for a while. It takes a visit to a real veteran restaurant to make you realize what it takes to run a successful restaurant in New York City. At a recent dinner at Po (after a few drinks at Vol de Nuit) with my friends Jeff & Eva, we had just such a revelation.

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I watch Lidia Bastianich on television quite a bit. In some ways she stands in for the Italian grandmother I never had, complete with exhortations to join her (and her family) at her table to eat. I’d been meaning to check out Felidia for a couple of years now, but somehow never made it. My family has started a little bit of a tradition in the past few years: when my parents, my sister, and I are all in town, we try to go out to a fancy meal. With thoughts of family in my head, I realized Felidia would be a perfect place to go.

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