West Side Favorites

NYC is full of happening little restaurants and eateries and farmers markets I love to scour. Especially special are smaller, independently owned shops with off-beat dishes at plebian prices. Based on friend's advice or a travel guide (not just any travel guide), I say hello to the owners, take a few photos and declare the place fit for return - if it tickles the tastebuds. Dining isn't just a quick nice meal, check-please and then a dash for the door. Extra thought goes into picking a place in Manhattan or Brooklyn because who knows when I'll get the chance to come back.

So I paved my way through the upper West Side on Wednesday morning looking for a few friends' favorites. I found everything I was looking for. First up, a tiny treasure called the Silver Moon Bakery at 2740 Broadway @ 105 Street. Sylvie gave me this tip. The rainy day didn't dampen the smell of breakfast muffins, brioches & croissants sitting in the window so I rushed in for a Bavarian pretzel and an artisan baguette for the road.

The place was out of OJ so I washed down everything with a juicer from Juice Generation next door. Health conscience Fashionistas were lined up for wheat grass power shots, soy and whey protein power bars, gourmet sandwiches and organic soups. This was not my typical Tropicana and it took several fresh squeezed grapefruit, pears and ginger root for my Pink Citrus C to blend. I slurped in 2500% of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C.

When my friend Angela is feeling lofty she brunches at Barney Greengrass. Not the celebrity-rich hotspot in LA but the west side institution, circa 1908, at 541 Amsterdam Ave. The gritty little Jewish-American tradition has the nicest service and supposedly the best Sturgeon and Kippered Salmon in NYC. Celebrities like Alfred Hitchcock used to "order ten pounds of "fatty" sturgeon & have it flown to Hollywood to help him maintain his shape."

Angela mentioned Barney Greengrass during dinner at a new place called Community Food and Juice at 2893 Broadway. This place is all about Green but in a non- conspicuous way. Unless you read their website you'd never know that your entrees are prepped in an energy-saving kitchen or the tables and chairs are made out of reclaimed wood. When I asked for water our cheerful waitress brought us filtered H2O straight from the tap, no plastic here. I had an intense Italian pumpkin ravioli dish in memory of my days in Rome last November. It measured up nicely.