Veritasty: Truthfully Delicious

Who doesn't love a good block party, especially when there's barbecue involved? Before After Last weekend, we went out to Madison Square Park with our friends Charlie and Laura to sample some of the many vendors at the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party.  It was really cool to see BBQers from all over the country, especially since I have barely been to any of the really intense barbecue states.  With every step we took, we smelled smoky meaty aromas in the air.  All around the park was the sight of giant smokers and sizzling open grills.  We went early on Sunday and were delighted to find pretty short lines.  If I had a few more stomachs and cash to spare, I would have tried something from each vendor, but alas, we only had room for a handful. The "Meathead" Laura and Charlie had a chopped whole hog sandwich from Skylight Inn of North Carolina.  This was certainly not a thick, goopy barbecue sauce-covered pork sandwich; the

Funny coincidence that I used to work at Maimonides in Brooklyn and one day, we stumbled quite accidentally and desperately on this restaurant called Maimonide of Brooklyn. It's located on one of my favorite stretches of buildings in downtown Brooklyn, a colorful row of houses on Atlantic Avenue almost like they were implanted here from Portobello Road in London.  It was late in the day, we were starving, and we were actually joining other dining companions who scoped out the place first. The front of the house was kitschy, with figurines of vegetables stuck on plates, and a huge wall decorated with Sharpie drawings.  We sat in a cute courtyard out back.  And then...we were told this was a vegan restaurant.  My heart sank into my already-empty stomach.  Okay.  Not the first thing I wanted to hear, since I was HANGRY and wanted something junky to fill me up after a day full of walking. To give MOB credit, though, I thought lunch was actually really enjoyable and didn&#