Decisions, decisions. When in doubt, restaurant hop, or as I like to call it “food-hop”! After all, who says you can’t have it all, or that life is too short? If you can’t decide between or among several great recommended places to eat when you are traveling, then don’t decide. Group them by neighborhood and go to them all! That’s how we spent our 2nd day living life in the footsteps of Woody Allen – we just ate a course at one restaurant and then moved on to another for the next course. And let me tell you, my taste buds were in a constant state of pleasure … la vita e bella!

While we made 4 food hops that day from late morning to just about mid-afternoon, my 2 favorites were the Nom Wah Tea Parlor in Chinatown and John’s of Bleecker Street. I can still taste and see before me the succulent shrimp mai, as utterly appealing to the palette and to the eye as any I have eaten in San Francisco’s most elegant dim sum establishments or in Beijing or Shanghai for that matter.

But the Nom Wah Tea Parlor is the first dim sum restaurant founded in NYC’s famous Chinatown and its longevity and extreme popularity with those speaking Mandarin and their offspring speaks for itself.

Very easy on the budget, with a large menu that includes many other delectable choices, Nom Wah does a lively business. But you can call and reserve a table, and even order some appetizers to be waiting for you when you arrive!

If I close my eyes, I can still taste and smell the fabulous flavors and aromas of the tomatoes roasted with garlic, anchovies and pepperoni, each of which added a layer of flavor to the coal-fired brick oven pizza that we devoured at John’s of Bleecker Street in the Village.

I can’t remember when I’ve enjoyed pizza more, but this place has been satisfying customers and bringing them back time and time again since 1929.

Eat in amidst an array of enticing Italian aromas on one of the wooden booths, carved with the names of John’s pizza devotees over the decades, or take out your order. But do give John’s a try – it’s worth a trip to the Village just for their pizza!

And don’t forget to try “food-hopping” when you are traveling in order to savor all the flavors you can.