Hands Across America

Last Sunday, various New York City bloggers got together at Le Pain Quotidien to welcome Chuck of One A Day - Mostly Seattle to our city. We talked shop and politics, exchanged URLs of our websites and had a great time, in general.

Lisa of Gramercy Cafe posted a great photo of us at the restaurant. The other bloggers in the photo include (in no particular order) Elizabeth of About New York, Alexa of The Road is Mine, MissB in NYC and Eliane of NYC Daily Photo.

So have you met any of the other bloggers in your city?

Gazpacho

This bowl of gazpacho was from Le Pain Quotidien, the Belgian chain restaurant/bistro. I had my first gazpacho soup probably about 5 years ago at a french bistro and since then, it has been a love affair that knows no bounds. . . . except when it comes to me having to make it myself. :-) It is especially delicious during the hot summer months when the last thing I want to eat is a warm soup.

So do you have a favorite soup for winter and/or summer?

Gruyère Tartine

I had lunch this afternoon with fellow NYC bloggers, Lisa of Gramercy Cafe and Todd of Postcards from Hell's Kitchen at Le Pain Quotidien, an amazing Belgian cafe/restaurant in Union Square. Unfortunately, I "lost" my camera this morning so was not able to take any photos except this one with my cell phone.

Lisa and Todd took a lot of photos including one with actor, Jesse May who starred in a Pepsi commercial. Go to Lisa's blog to see the commercial on YouTube.

My lunch included a bowl of gazpacho (you can see part of it on the top right of the photo above) and gruyère tartine with mustard. It was super delicious and I think everyone had a good time. So what did you have for lunch today?

N.B.: I found my camera in a grocery bag from yesterday.

Communal Table Dining

I had breakfast at the SoHo branch of Le Pain Quotidien a couple weeks ago. It is one of the many restaurants in New York City that offers communal table dining. I love the idea of sharing the table with total strangers, especially when I am eating alone, because I get to meet all sorts of people. But the restaurant does have smaller tables for those who do not want to dine with strangers.

So what is your opinion of communal table dining?