Lost Dog Coffee is weird. In a college-kid-going-through-growing-pains way. It's a hangout for artists, hippies, rockers and college students. There are political statements - possibly offensive - all over the walls, and odd little chachkies cluttering up the space.

But they know their coffee and tea.

I ordered their Sinderella's Supper, which was just described as ice caramel heaven. I'll take it. I don't even know what was in it, but I know it was delicious, and I ingested more caffeine from that drink than I typically do in an entire month.

It's a fancy little thing, and I'm not sure why they don't have iced to-go cups, but I ended up drinking it like this for our ride back to Morgantown.





I like this place. I think there's a certain group that it would turn off, and I don't think they care one bit. Which makes me like it even more.

Grade: B

As soon as I got back from New York, I had to turn around for a work assignment and head to Shepherdstown. I actually love traveling for work - and especially to cute cities in West Virginia that have good food!

I was doing a story on the farmers market, and needed to find a drink/restroom nearby. Fortunately, the Sweet Shop Bakery is just around the corner. Mmm pastries!

I got a blueberry muffin and a bottled shirley temple. The muffin was good - a little dense. Could have been fluffier. But I loved the actual blueberries and the nice atmosphere. Overall, a nice little pick-me-up and a cute shop!

Grade: B

My last dinner in New York City was reserved for Veselka, a Ukranian restaurant open 24 hours a day.

Veselka has been around since the 1950s, and produces about 3,000 pierogis every day. That is a lot of pierogis.

I ordered a large plate of the pierogi - which is seven total. You get to choose what kind you want, so I got one of each: potato, cheese, meat, spinach & cream cheese, sauerkraut & mushroom, arugula & goat cheese. I think I ended up getting two potatoes.

My least favorite is easy: the sauerkraut. Blech. The potato, cheese and meat ones were all good - but fairly standard. I really liked the goat cheese one because it was so different. I alternated between sour cream and applesauce. Love both.

I also got a potato latke, which was very good. I'm just glad this place isn't in Morgantown, because if a 24-hour place opened serving this kind of delicious grub, I'd be in trouble.

Grade: A

Another New York specialty is the egg cream. It is a beverage consisting of milk, carbonated water and chocolate syrup. No eggs or cream.




William Greenberg Desserts features not only the famous egg cream, but also tons of other goodies.



I was going to order a black and white cookie, as well as an egg cream. But then I was told the egg cream I ordered comes WITH a black and white cookie. Or, in this case, a pink and white cookie.


I took my egg cream and headed to Central Park.

I had ordered a vanilla egg cream (vanilla just sounded right?), and it is kind of like a vanilla flavored milk that's carbonated. In a really good way! It's quite tasty, but a bit different.

The cookie was by far the best black-and-white cookie I've had (of the two). The icing was perfect, and the cookie was not dry at all. It was quite good.

Grade: A

I've always seen "New York" style cheesecake on menus. What does that mean? Apparently it means a cheesecake that relies upon heavy cream or sour cream. It is rich and has a dense, smooth and creamy consistency.

After a bit of searching, Eileen's Special Cheesecake came up as a popular spot for cheesecake in the city. There are so many delicious goodies to choose from.

They have mini cheesecake tarts, which looked amazing. I got a strawberry cheesecake and pulled up a seat at a table.

The cheesecake was delicious! It was creamy, a perfect texture - not too solid, or too creamy - but a nice mix of the two. It was rich, decadent. Delicious.

Grade: A