The Triple Crown

There is a block in New York City that satisfies pretty much all of my food needs. The problem is that I don't get to NYC all that often and when I do it is difficult for me to make more than one trip to this area so I have some tough choices to make, but I've learned to improvise....

So, what could this bountiful food block have to offer and where exactly can it be found? It is Spring Street, between Mott & Mulberry in the (sadly) ever-shrinking Little Italy section of New York City.

We start my culinary adventure at Lombardi's on the corner of Spring & Mott. The claim to be the first coal fired pizza restaurant and therefore the oldest. I can't imagine that it isn't true, but I really don't care either way because if the pizza weren't so damn good it wouldn't matter how it was cooked. I am going to devote an entire blog entry to Lombardi's in the near future so I will leave the details for that post but let me just say that after eating Lombardi's pizza I can't even stomach another pie for at least a month. They all taste terrible to me-that is how good their pizza is.

After eating more than my fill of pizza I waddle down towards Mulberry and right next to each other in the middle of the block they stand like beacons of dessert goodness calling to me, literally fighting for my love. On the left is my beloved Pinkberry and to the right is the one and only Rice to Riches rice pudding shop.

What's a girl to do? I really am not piggish enough to eat a bowl of rice pudding and a serving of Pinkberry's swirly goodness, so I get the Pinkberry (medium original with strawberries please!), and after I have inhaled every last swirly bite I roll myself next door to Rice to Riches for a to go cup to have for breakfast the next morning. (As far as I am concerned nothing starts the day better than delicious homemade rice pudding that you have painstakingly kept chilled and protected in your travels throughout New York City...).

Now, I know I haven't really told you much at all about neither Pinkberry nor Rice to Riches and I promise that a post about each is on the way-they are both worthy of their own moment in the blogosphere sun.

You can't go to New York City without tripping over some of the best food on earth. There are literally thousands of other spots in NYC that are bound to be someones faves but to have 3 of my most beloved all right there is something special to me and I thought you might like to partake in one or all 3 next time you find your stomach grumbling someplace between Mott and Mulberry whilst standing on Spring Street.