MOMA lunch, New York

I can't really complain. I'm in New York for a month studying all the museums and galleries - what a hard life! However, a month without cooking is a long month indeed. Especially since there are some amazing supermarkets here offering a cook's paradise of ingredients. Sigh. I'm staying in a college room and I have to eat every meal for the month either out at a restaurant or cafe or in the college cafeteria. I don't like having so little control over what I eat!

Below is the lunch I had yesterday in the cafe of the Museum of Modern Art - beetroot with goat cheese, calamari with black chickpeas, and braised artichokes with steamed spinach.

Lunch today was sandwiches from Pret a Manger eaten in sunny and lively Bryant Park - what a treat! Bryant Park is at the rear of the New York Public Library at at 12.30pm was absolutely flooded with local New Yorkers with their packed lunches or sandwiches from nearby shops (Pret a Manger was a madhouse!). The atmosphere was perfect - hundreds of moveable seats and tables encourage everyone to make the most of the sunny park rather than eat at their desks.

(Bryant Park, 2 hours before the insane rush)

In general, food here is very affordable, perhaps slightly cheaper than Melbourne. I'm fast developing an addiction to garlic bagels at breakfast time. But for $1.60, can you really go wrong?!