the last new york restaurant in restaurant challenge

there are three reasons the answer to can you play this gig? will be a definite yes:

1. the venue is in an unexplored part of town

{creating opportunities to discover new restaurants}

2. the performance is narrated by isaac mizrahi

3. it involves 3D glasses

ok there are other reasons that actually have to do with music and stuff, but the point is this past week i played a gig that included two of the above...

[and i was absolutely kidding about the 3D glasses.]

see?!

for two entire weekends, i was chained to the guggenheim,

playing show after show of {my favorite!} peter and the woof.

and i thought i was out of luck when yelp search nearby said

starbucks, le pain quotidien, starbucks, the wright...

until on page four it finally said my dreams come true in the form of

cafe sabarsky

[3 blocks away]

...and so began my residency

on the first day there was what a little austrian girl eats after a long day when it's cold and she could use some comfort:

baked bowties, ham, and emmentaler

and

weisswurst with a pretzel and mustard

it was the best kind of hot dogs with mac and cheese.

and it is a fact that, if there's one underrated wiener in this country, it's weisswurst.

that s*** is hella good.

on the second day,

there was

spätzle with peas, carrots, and mushrooms

bratwurst with riesling sauerkraut

and a high brow version of what the people in my family like to call

hot dog cheese* {käsekrainer... bratwurst stuffed with cheddar}

*one of the most embarrassing snacks i ate as a wee one was a hot dog cut up and topped with little squares of american cheese and then microwaved and served with ketchup.

it was as embarrassing as its terribly unfortunate name.

the käsekrainer was really delicious and snappy!! and oozy.

and the spätzle was amazing, once i picked out all of the mushrooms. i know, i know.

spätzle is another thing this world needs more of. i mean, it is little premature dumplings!

for dessert,

rehrücken

chocolate marzipan cake with organgey things and house made whipped cream

your girl cannot resist some marzipan.

it is like if a clydesdale were a dessert, you know?

all smart and stately.

and austria is cool because it doesn't mess with all them fruity sorbets or popsicles.

they are all about the cakes and the marzipans and the strudels.

and you should have seen this dessert menu.

on the third day,

i took the newspaper as my date and had a

liverwurst open-faced sandwich

which i had a little issue with because the menu didn't specify that my sandwich would be

open-faced, but i instantly didn't care because

it was some thick and salty {i lurve salty} liverwurst spread.

by far the best part about this meal was afterwards when i ran into my little korean friend on the street who asked me what i ate for lunch and, in my best broken korean, i tried to explain what liverwurst is to her, until i realized that i really don't know korean and decided to just point to my liver and then i didn't know which side my liver was on.

so i think she thinks i ate a pancreas sandwich for lunch...

the other best part about my last visit was that i got an apple strudel on the house.

maybe it's because i went there like twelve times in a week,

but part of me also thinks it's because i was there alone and it was an all male wait staff and i did my hairs real good that day.

regardless, the apple strudel was the perfect christmas time dessert!

***********

and so here marks the last new york restaurant in restaurant challenge.

it was christmas-y and festive and delicious.

wiener-filled, and marzipan inclusive.

i'm into it. you should be too.

now, get ready for the 1 remaining restaurant.

xoxo

yeh

cafe sabarsky is on east 86th and 5th, inside of the neue galerie. if there's a really long wait, the more casual cafe fledermaus {downstairs} has the same menu.