next stop on the u.s food train is delicatessen in new york’s soho district. with the tagline “international comfort food,” the popular lunch spot offers a diverse array of… well, just that. from whole wheat pancakes to a new england lobster roll and steak frites, delicatessen’s menu is undeniably comforting. at the time, however, i found myself slightly distracted after seeing naomi watts standing out the front with her son & very cute dog. her son was also cute, i should say. i just read that back and it sounded odd. anyway, there she was. would it be weird to start talking to naomi just because we’re both australian? yes, yes it would. luckily for naomi (and my dignity), hunger took precedence…

the menu: as you can see, delicatessen delivers what it promises.

with my hunger now at that scary stage between nausea and semi-consciousness, i opted for the tuna nicoise. i almost never order this salad out of fear that canned, and not real tuna will appear before me. there’s no comparison. is it actually the same fish? who knows? luckily, i was presented with what i would described as close to the ideal nicoise. beautiful seared tuna: tick. soft fingerling potatoes: tick. fresh greens perfectly dressed in a mustard vinaigrette: tick. the only area of improvement would be with the egg, as i prefer a slightly runnier yolk, but hey, as far as nicoise’s go it was still trés bon.

my lunch date/travelling companion/long-suffering food blog tolerator, who shall henceforth be known as joe king for privacy and humour reasons (get it?), went for the burger. somewhat deconstructed, he seemed to appreciate the quality of the burger meat, while i appreciated the giant cup of fries, which mr. king reluctantly shared. 

all in all (or feel free to insert your own concluding statement), delicatessen is a pretty rad lunch spot. a-list hollywood career optional.

restaurant image © david joseph/ delicatessennyc.com 

a few months ago, when i told my friends and family that i planned to set off on a culinary tour of the united states, i was startled to hear the same reaction each time: “why would you go to america for food!? yuck, the food there is terrible, you should be going to europe!” after a quick, sagacious “you don’t know me!” i felt dismayed at the apparent misconceptions about american gastronomy. after two brief visits to the land of the free which had included only brilliant dining experiences, i couldn’t understand the negativity. this, coupled with a once-in-a-generation strong aussie dollar, and my mind was made up- i wanted to go to there. 

(ferry building, san francisco)

and now, as i adjust back to life in now-freezing sydney, i can say with utter confidence that america is a brilliant destination for a culinary tour, should you wish to do one. in thirty days and five cities, i partook (what an odd word) in some of the most delicious food experiences of my life, visited arguably some of the most exciting restaurants in the world and ate approximately 500 pieces of pizza.*

(dean & de luca, nyc)

i know what you’re thinking, and let me reassure you, dear reader(s?)— all of the aforementioned foodstuffs were detailedly (another odd word) and often painfully documented. so stay tuned over the coming days as i relive my trip through the often blurry snaps of a food blogger abroad….

(farmer’s markets, san francisco)

… what you’ll (hopefully) see through the following posts, is exactly what i discovered: that as far as produce, service, innovation and value for money go, the us is the place to be. sure, it’s terrible at preventing gun violence, recovering from national debt and educating themselves about countries other than their own, but food: food they know.

enjoy!

*sadly, not as wildly exaggerated as it sounds. i ate, like, a lot of pizza.