This is Lisa's last weekend as a Chelsea resident. When I moved to New York, I moved to Chelsea 10% because it's a great area and 90% because Lisa lived here. Now she's moving to Hell's Kitchen, leaving me alone with Ethan Hawke (the only other Chelsea resident I see on a regular basis.) Whatever will I do?

Well, I'm sure I'll pull through. And to celebrate her last weekend here I offered to take her to The Spotted Pig down in the Village. I wanted her to experience the pumpkin salad and the gnuddi. I have a feeling she will love them. Unfortunately, by the time we got there it was packed. So we went a'scrambling. Where did we end up?

My favorite food street in New York! Bleecker Street! See, I told you, I wasn't kidding around---I love eating on Bleecker.

And tonight we tried two places I've passed many many times but never ate in. First: Risotteria.

I can't tell you how perfect this place was for Lisa and I. Usually, places I like aren't so vegetarian friendly. But this place had a whole segment of vegetarian risotto options. Lisa was thrilled. We started with a beet walnut salad:

Isn't that beautiful?

I asked Lisa: "On a scale from 1 to 10 what would you give this salad?"

She paused and said: "A 7.9. You?"

I paused and thought and said: "8."

She nodded. Because it's not like so spectacular that it merits a 10, and it's not quite a 9, but it's surely an 8. Simple but delicious.

As for my risotto, I ordered the one featured in one of the blurbs on the door---chicken, porcini and pine nuts:

In terms of quick risotto made to order it wsa really terrific. Compared to risotto I've made myself, it didn't compare. The layers separated (liquid, solid) and the flavors were pleasant but not particularly memorable. Lisa enjoyed hers though. We had fun.

(The people sitting at the table next to us were this icy couple who didn't say anything to each other so they spent the entire time staring at Lisa and I as we talked loudly--our usual boisterous selves. It was a strange dynamic.)

Afterwards, we went to Cones. It's a brightly colored ice cream shop that makes homemade ice cream. To quote the Barefoot Contessa: how bad could that be?

Not bad at all, it turns out. Here's what Lisa and I ordered:

There's lots of pressure when ordering because you can only sample two. I sampled Dulce De Leche and Tiramasu. I chose the Tiramasu which you can see on the right. It was awesome---it had all the good qualities of Tiramasu boiled down into a homemade ice cream. I give it an A+.

Lisa sampled pear sorbet and chai tea sorbet. She didn't like them. She was in a bind. So she chose chocolate sorbet mixed with raspberry sorbet. The owner called her a genius--"That's a great combination," he said. You can see it pictured above. Lisa really liked it. But I liked mine better.

And thus concludes another successful night of eating on Bleecker Street.