Adventure vs. Comfort

I was in Manhattan recently. There was some eating involved. But really I went down to be with family.

There are two major things that I’ve never done in the city. Surely there are many many more. But there are two things that are really unforgivable. I’ve never eaten my way through the Lower East Side – in fact I’ve never eaten there at all. I have also never eaten in NYC’s Chinatown, which given my love for dim sum and my lack of access to good dim sum in Albany, one might think it would be at the top of my list.

And it is.

But that doesn’t mean that either of those places got worked into my latest trip. They didn’t. Instead, I went with my mother and my sister to the tried and true. We went to a little bit of comfort in midtown. It’s a place for tourists, to be sure. But there, I’m not a tourist. It’s been a regular pit stop for me in the city for over a decade. And that’s the Carnegie Deli.

Tourists fall into the trap of ordering those phantasmagorical sandwiches. But not me. I really don’t even need to look at the menu. It’s a corned beef, on rye, sliced thick. If I’m feeling particularly bold, I’ll ask for it juicy. A Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray and a few extra full sours and that’s all I need to center myself and feel at peace with the world.

It was great to be able to share this with my mother and sister who were incredulous that I could actually finish a sandwich on my own. But I’ve been doing this for a while. I know my limits. Still, I am not as young as I used to be.

Certainly there were other things on the menu that I wanted to get. But there is only so much I can eat, and I abhor waste.

This is the perpetual conflict of my life.

Some of my friends are not as constrained. ADS and La have no qualms about wasting food when it is in the service of trying new and wonderful things. When we found bánh mì heaven at a strip mall in Virginia, they had no reservations about ordering twelve sandwiches just to try a bite of each, and perhaps a second bite of their favorites. But I have a hard time doing it.

And it’s not even about money. When judging the Tournament of Pizza, unless the slice was awful, I generally tried to consume it in its entirety. If only my capacity for food and drink were greater, there would be just that much more that I could enjoy.

So I’m forced into making difficult decisions. Do I seek out something new that is full of potential, or do I stick with the old and the familiar?

Oddly, it seems that when I’m home I try as much as possible to try new things. Really it’s strange. I rarely make it to many of my favorite places. I am lucky to get to Capital Q, Dewey’s Diner, and Garden Bistro 24 every three months. I can’t even tell you the last time I had a pastry from Mrs. London’s.

I suppose part of that is my desire to chronicle all of the good things in the region.

But when I’m traveling, adventure is the furthest thing from my mind. If I’m going back to Miami, I want to visit my favorite places. No trip back would be complete without a visit to Ruben’s Cuban or Shorty’s BBQ. And I couldn’t go to San Francisco without a stop at Blue Bottle Coffee or an egg custard from Golden Gate Bakery.

Maybe if there is time I’ll try something new on a trip. I did stumble into a few new places on the most recent visit to the city. But none of them are musts for future visits. Thankfully.

Now I am curious. When are you most likely to try new places, at home or away? Or are you like Mrs. Fussy, who finds a few places that are satisfying and then rarely wants to try new places at all?