Opening Dish

I came up with the idea of this blog as a single thirties-something that recently moved to Manhattan. As someone who enjoys spending hours and hours in the kitchen and considers himself an excellent chef of various cuisines, I have always hesitated to eat out -- unless I know I can't do better. But now in Manhattan, with much more dining options coupled with less grocery shopping options, I figured I'll test the skills of Manhattan restauranteurs on their cuisine -- as well as how they treat a lone diner. I will focus on the latter, as this is a city of single people as well -- and few restaurants are good at dealing with us.

I enjoy various cuisine, ranging from Italian to Turkish, from Hungarian to Peruvian, from Korean to Indian, from Estonian to Aboriginal. The joy of life is variety, after all. However, I am a traditionalist, and I shun "fusion" cuisine. Frankly, if you can't do one cuisine right, then try to mix them. I also detest restaurants that sacrifice taste for aesthetics -- that's for magazines and TV, not for us real food lovers.

Aside from reviews of the "Lone Diner" and his experience, I will add some other insights on the culinary scene in New York and in my extensive travels around the world here. Of course, as a single guy (and looking) I won't always be dining alone, but I will remark on them. I will open with a few reviews of restaurants I have been to in the past few months here in NYC just to get things moving, but will from that point on keep things recent.

I hope you enjoy reading this blog, and enjoy!