A HARTE APPETITE: NEW YORK RESTAURANT CUISINE AMONG BEST

What's the greatest restaurant city in the United States? I'd put New Orleans near the top of the list. Also San Francisco and Los Angeles. Washington and Chicago wouldn't be far behind either. But as a frequent visitor to New York City, I am persuaded that the Big Apple stands alone as the nation's premiere culinary destination.

Because our son attends school in New York, we visit the city often. And with every sojourn, I am further convinced that it is harder to find a bad meal in New York than in Paris. (I've had mediocre meals in both cities, but despite France's deserved reputation for fine restaurants, I believe Gotham's are better overall.)

This isn't surprising for a city where the average person eats out 8.3 times a week, and there are over 16,000 restaurants. Just imagine. If you ate every meal out it would take you 15 years to visit all of New York's eating places. What a wonderful challenge!

New York, of course, is home to many temples of haute cuisine such as Le Cirque and La Cote Basque. But what appeals to me is the diversity of the city's restaurants. There are casual places serving trendy fare, steak houses, theme restaurants, elegant hotel dining rooms, tearooms (like Restaurant T, in the basement of the Guggenheim's SoHo branch, specializing in dishes made with tea), open air markets, and every kind of ethnic food imaginable, plus pizza houses, bagel bakeries, coffee shops, delis, street vendors, and Balducci's, the gourmet shop in Greenwich Village that may be the finest food emporium outside of Harrod's in London.

Thus, one of our favorite activities in New York is strolling the streets in search of something to eat. We are rarely disappointed. For example, earlier this year we discovered Camaje, a brand new restaurant where the Caribbean chef brings forth sauteed foie gras and towering desserts that are absolutely exquisite.

On our latest trip we stumbled upon the Parlour Cafe right in the middle of the huge ABC Carpet and Home store. There we sat at antique tables and chairs that were actually for sale and ordered divine pastries like the rustic apple tart made by Mitchell Londe, mayoral chef during the Koch administration.

So in honor of America's gastronomic capital, consider the following two recipes. The first, which substitutes zucchini for pappardelle noodles, is a great way to utilize a surplus of that summer vegetable.

Union Square Cafe's Pappardelle of Zucchini

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 zucchini, peeled and sliced vertically into wide 1/4-inch strips

1 clove minced garlic

2 minced shallots

1/4 cup white wine

3/4 cup cream

4 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced

1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano

1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh marjoram

1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil

3 tablespoons Parmesan

1 teaspoon chopped parsley

Directions:

Over medium heat saute zucchini, garlic and shallots in oil without allowing them to color. Add wine and reduce until zucchini is wilted. (Don't overcook or zucchini will fall apart and not resemble noodles.) Add cream, tomatoes and herbs. Cook 2 minutes until sauce thickens and add 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Serve in soup plates, garnished with parsley and remaining cheese. Serves 4.

Modern Waldorf Salad

The traditional salad, namesake of the famous New York hotel, is updated here in a recipe from Bon Appetit magazine.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise

1/4 cup nonfat yogurt

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 teaspoons grated orange peel

1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning

1 head romaine lettuce

1 grapefruit, peeled and cut into segments

1 firm, ripe Bosc pear, peeled, cored, diced

1 tart green apple, peeled, cored, diced

1 cup seedless grapes, halved

1/3 cup chopped dates

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

Directions:

Combine first five ingredients for dressing. Line bowl with large outer lettuce leaves. Chop remaining leaves to measure 6 cups. Halve grapefruit segments. Combine all ingredients with dressing and transfer to leaf-lined bowl. Sprinkle with pine nuts. Serves 6.

Got a recipe you'd like to share with our readers? Are you looking for a recipe for something in particular? Send your recipes and requests to The Harte Appetite, c/o Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, MO., 63702-0699.

~Tom Harte is a professor at Southeast Missouri State University and writes a food column every other week for the Southeast Missourian.