Deconstructing traditional American dishes is one of the lede ideas behind the very popular new brasserie CENTRAL by chef Michel Richard in Washington, DC. Unless I told you, however, I think you’d be very hard put to identify the dessert at the right as a Banana Split. Yes, indeed, a deconstructed banana split worthy of Salvador Dali. Makes me yearn for the old-fashioned real McCoy as it used to be served at Bailey’s in downtown Boston. Bon Appetit?

April 11, 2008

Tomorrow morning I’m off to New York to begin my two week book tour around the United States, and I can’t wait to eat my way from coast-to-coast and discover what America’s eating these days. On every trip back to the U.S., I arrive with a mental must-eat list of things that I either can’t get in Paris and/or which are much better in America. It’s an eccentric high-and-low list, too. A brief sampler: Everything bagels, pepperoni pizza, Lipton Onion Soup dip, Mexican food as often as possible (Paris fails badly on this score), cheeseburger at the Union Square Cafe, everything at Momofuku Ssam (even thinking about David Chang’s food makes me drool, and can’t wait to try Momofuku Noodle), mushroom pizza, Mary’s Fish Camp lobster roll, I could go on and on, and this is just in New York! If you come across this post, maybe you can give me some advice on the best Mexican restaurants in Los Angeles, and places not to miss in the other cities I’ll be visiting.

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