Lexington Brass, New York City

I am not too picky about restaurants or complain about bad service. I was not made like that, you can call it acquired wisdom from a decade of cooking and realizing the effort that goes behind each plate. A crowded restaurant is a sign of a good one. The only exceptions to that rule is when I have hungry (a.k.a cranky) kids around.

The place is packed most of the time and loud. I mean really loud. I was looking to eat some no-meat food and the only thing on their menu was a cheese plate. In the years I have learned to custom order vegetarian food when I travel and most restaurants happily oblige. I ordered fig jam, candied pecans and three types of cheeses that came with honey and raisin bread. Actually blue cheese taste good with honey, something I learned.