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(Photo of a Paella cooked by my friend Paul in his new apartment in the UWS, New York)

My friends and family in Valencia have serious doubts that one can eat in the USA as well as in Spain.

Granted, Spain is a foodie`s paradise (by the way, amazing how many of the top 50 restaurants in the world I have had the pleasure to try, the latest one being Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in London thanks to Stephanie). But this little post goes to show that in New York (not exactly “representative of the whole USA”) one can eat wonderfully well without the need to have a table at Eleven Madison Park, Per Se or Le Bernardin.

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The availability of fresh food (thank you, Hawaiian Airlines for the awesome fish you bring to Chelsea Market daily) and ingredients from all over the world (Sunrise Mart, next to my office in SoHo is where I get my Japanese dashi, white miso, wakame seaweeds, furikake, mochi, calpico… but there are Korean, Indian, Puerto Rican, and all kinds of markets around) make it very easy to cook anything you or your partner wish and are capable of.

And then, of course, you have an endless take out and delivery service options from hundreds of restaurants (ethnic, vegan, macrobiotic… you name it, we have it and they will deliver it in half an hour or less for free). Even the online groceries services work pretty amazingly well.