What happened to Bubby's?

Daddy said that in 2006, on his first visit to NYC, he stumbled upon a little foodie heaven called Bubby's; a homely, southern-style, all-american diner, serving up house-cured salmon, cheese grits, green eggs and ham, and all the fixings.

Monday. Labour Day.

Daddy had been waiting for 2 years for his Bubby's re-mix. He had gotten so excited he walked me here one morning, and then rang Mummy to reflect upon the fact he had walked all the way to Bubby's TriBeCa location from LES, for no apparent reason.

We had to wait for a table, as apparently brunch on Labour Day is popular. But I got to smile at the other patrons waiting and at the cute puppy outside. Daddy was happy because he met a celebrity - Jason Bateman. Mummy was just hungry. As Jason and Daddy parked their strollers in the allocated parking bays, Jason wondered aloud whether he would get a valet ticket. Daddy suggested he could give him one for a fee.

Once seated, the usual ballet of table re-organisation occurred as I tried desperately to get my hands on anything and everything as Mummy and Daddy frantically pulled salt & pepper shakers, milk & maple syrup jugs from my reach. I had to resort to playing with the children's placemat and starring out the man behind me. I was all business, no smiles from me today! It is Labour Day after all!

Mummy ordered grits with her 3 cheese omelette, Daddy ordered grits with his BBQ pulled pork butt, and both agreed that they should not have fries. Alas, Daddy was served fries, and both Mummy and Daddy ate them (which illustrates why they didn't want to order them in the first place). Double alas, Mummy's omelette was cold and the 3 cheeses were not melted. The upside was the grits were awesome.

Unfortunately, Bubby's never quite lived up to the memory, perhaps they were too busy to cope, or perhaps they just didn't labour hard enough on Labour Day, or perhaps Daddy should only ever order grits. Personally, I was more than happy with my piece of whole wheat toast.

Doughnut Dan

There are some things that Americans do very well. Like cupcakes, Reese's Peanut Butter products, dark chocolate covered Oreo cookies, and not least of all, doughnuts.

When we moved into the Lower East Side, Daddy's work friend, Paolo, told Daddy about Doughnut Plant. Daddy calls it "Doughnut Heaven". And it is only 2 blocks from where we live!

In a non-descript store, that must be the closest thing that NYC has to a strip mall, they serve up 3 varieties of doughnuts - yeast, cake and jam. Flavours include (but are not limited to), crème brüleé, tres leche, and valrhona chocolate.

Mummy and Daddy have eaten these treats on no fewer than 3 occasions, sampling all 3 varieties, and forcing me out of my stroller in favour of the doughnut box. The most recent sampling was carried out to welcome our friends Isabelle and Dan from Aussie to the Big Apple. Carrot cake, blueberry jam with a peanut butter glaze, coconut glaze & white peach doughnuts were served alongside a smattering of Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavours.

Isabelle and Dan didn't seem to like the doughnuts, stating that they definitely could not live in the Lower East Side as it was dangerous to live too close to Doughnut Plant. Oh well, more for us I guess.