A picnic (not) in the park.

(The New York food saga continues!)

Sometimes, the best restaurants don't involve white tablecloths or multi-course tasting menus. Sometimes it's a hole-in-the-wall noodle shop or back-alley pizza joint, and sometimes it's a public transportation food court.

For my dad's birthday, my sisters and I ordered him some specialty cheeses from Murray's Cheese Shop. He and my mom called us with rave reviews, so when we planned our New York trip, we knew we had to stop in to get some, and we found a satellite counter in the Grand Central Terminal shops. Grand Central is a breathtaking piece of architecture and historic landmark, an icon of many TV shows, romantic photo shoots, and movies about the end of the world where the spectacular windows are shattered by meteors or missiles or dinosaurs for dramatic effect. Apart from being a suburban commuter center, the station is also home to all kinds of gift shops, clothing stores, and of course, bakeries and deli counters.

We strolled up and down the corridor, seeing freshly baked bread and fruit stands, but we finally found what we were looking for. We picked out a creamy Brillat-Savarin and a nutty Tomme de Chèvre Aydius, and while we were at it a couple ounces of jamón ibérico -- the most incredible aged Spanish ham ever.

(Fun fact: A Spanish specialty, Iberico ham was illegal in the United States until recently (thank goodness!) -- a family friend who grew up in Spain orders one at least once a year and calls my dad to announce, "Alan, we've got a ham!" and then invites a bunch of friends over to partake.)

So we had our ham and cheese, I grabbed a loaf of bread and some fruit, and my dad slipped away to browse a wine store he had seen on our way in. "Open container laws, you know?" I reminded him. He "he-he-he'd" and said nothing else.

Ten minutes later he met us outside the market area and motioned to the Grand Central food court. He held up an open bottle of wine and said, "The police officer said we could drink it as long as we stay in the food court." Conveniently, New York wine stores are (evidently) accustomed to people wanting the bottle opened on the spot, to the point where they keep a vat of liquid nitrogen on hand to quickly chill bottles upon request. A five-second dip into the freeze chilled our Sancerre perfectly.

Okay, maybe it felt a little ridiculous being a bit tipsy at Grand Central Terminal on a Saturday afternoon, but it sure was delicious (and fun!).