I took Pandagirl into the city today to meet two of my girlfriends for Dim Sum. We went over to the Golden Unicorn on East Broadway in Chinatown. Dim Sum is a great and inexpensive way to try lots of different Chinese foods. This was Panda's first experience ever and I was really proud of her for trying so many new, and sometimes strange-looking things. In the end she decided the spring rolls were her favorite.
This was only my second or third Dim Sum outing; all previous times had been with Karen and Elisa as well. I think I had Vietnamese food for the first time with Elisa. She, by the by, is a singer-songwriter extraordinaire; please do visit her website here.
After lunch we wandered over to Mott Street and Aji Ichiban candy store. Besides candy, they have a wide variety of dried fruits and other exotic foods. Panda picked a few chocolates and some dried strawberries; I found some dried strawberry plums I really liked a lot.
From there it was over to Grand Street and Ferrara Bakery & Cafe, for coffee and pastries.
We caught a 3:00 train home. Panda was asleep before we were out of the tunnel. I held on long enough to give the tickets up to the conductor then I crashed hard.
Woke up wondering what to make for dinner after such a day of feasting, and thinking about novels of Chinese food and culture that I could recommend. I didn't have to think very long:
If forced to pick between the two, then Last Chinese Chef, no question. In fact, read that and then go read everything Nicole Mones has written.