From my experience traveling to New York City is never complete without dining in one of the more unique restaurants within Manhattan, the 21 Club, 21 West 52nd Street, New York, New York 10019.

Once a glamorous speakeasy, today ’21′ is one of the most celebrated restaurants in New York City. In addition to its two restaurants, the Bar Room and ‘Upstairs’, this four-story townhouse features ten private party rooms ideal for celebrations, meetings and banquets, including the legendary Prohibition-era Wine Cellar.

My wife and I dined Upstairs at 21 and had one of the finest dining experiences you can have. Our waiter, Christopher, was by far the best waiter, and I hesitate to call him that, I have ever seen. Calling Christopher simply a waiter is like calling the Mona Lisa a paint by numbers painting. He exceeded every expectation we had.

He seemed to read our minds because he was right there whenever we needed his services and provided the right wine with hardly a description from us of what we wanted. He escorted my wife down the steep stairs when she went to the restroom. He took our picture before dinner and took another after dinner, only after clearing the table and putting down a clean table cloth.

The food was excellent, I had the salmon and thought it was cooked to perfection. The upstairs area is small but not cramped. You get special service, as provided by Christopher, while in the upstairs area. The cost of each meal was $40 which include appetizer, main course and dessert.

There are many places to have a delicious meal in New York City but few give the level of service provided by the 21 Club. Thank you, Christopher. We hope to stop by on our next trip to New York this summer!

If you make your reservation online you get free champagne, which we did.
Oh, and we saw Spamalot after dinner and were entertained. Clay Aiken did a good job as Sir Robin.

There are times when you crave a quantity of SUSHI and you feel the need to go to one of those “All You Can Eat” buffets in town that has SUSHI . D-O-N-’-T!!!! According to the Health Department, these places will not have the best fish or the best storing conditions for what you will be served.

I will just say, quality will win every time. My favorite QUALITY SUSHI Restaurants here in Richmond, VA are Haru Sushi in the Village Shopping Center and Akida on Robinson in the Fan. If you are in the area, you will be pleased with the freshness, creativity, and most of all SAFETY of the food!

From my experience when you are at a restaurant and asking for another pickle wedge because the pickle wedge that given to you was pathetic in both size and visual presentation, you need to be specific about the reason you are asking for another pickle wedge. Otherwise, you may get another crappy pickle wedge or two. Thank you, Baker’s Crust, for three of the sorriest pickle wedges I ever saw or ate. Yes, I wasn’t too proud to eat them.

Now here is a nice size pickle wedge.

P.S. The Jersey Grinder I ordered was very good.