what to eat: citi field

One of this past weekends highlights was the Mets-Phillies (aka: Philth) game on Friday night. Game wise - it was terrible. The Mets had their asses handed to them by the Phils, but on the bright side they swept the series. Guess I'm not as great a good luck charm as I'd like to think I am.

Win or lose, Citi Field is always a great time.

So, what should you eat? Everything. Okay, maybe not everything.

Yes, Citi has Shake Shack and Blue Smoke. Yes, both are amazing establishments; but I don't know about you, but when I go to a ballgame, I don't want to spend half of the game on line for some meat. Especially since there's a Shake Shack in my hood and Blue Smoke is a quick bus or subway ride away.

Personally, I look forward to three things at Citi Field: 1) a filet mignon steak sandwich with the works at Pat LaFrieda's, 2) garlic parmesan fries with every dipping sauce I can get my hands on from Box Frites; and 3) beer! Anything from the basic Bud Light to breweries across the states on tap, generally at the Big Apple Brew. 

yes, please

As you can tell from beautiful shit show that is our Friday night dinner, I was in food heaven. Also, please note that all that food was for four people, not two. I gorged myself but nothing too crazy that can't be worked off. There are actually plenty of healthier food choices at Citi but I can promise you, this is the most delicious. When a Philly fan around my age looked at our steak sandwich and questioned if it was a philly cheesesteak, I had to clarify that it was a filet mignon steak sandwich that happened to have cheese on it - and it is infinitely better than any philly cheesesteak at Citizen's Bank Park. He gave the sandwich a second look and agreed. That's how good our food is - even Philthy fans agree!

I've been to my fair share of baseball stadiums and although I'm bias, I feel confident proclaiming that Citi Field really has this food game on lock. 

& because I'm a Metsies (thanks, Keith Hernandez) and Venus Trapped in Mars fan:

here's a story about my quest for an apple pie milkshake

If the boyfriend & I aren't in an exclusive relationship with a TV show (for instance, right now we are in a committed relationship with Six Feet Under - thanks HBO GO on AppleTV!), the Food Network is the go-to. It also has had the tendency to sway our vacation planning. One day in March, we happened to have Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on and the ever-annoying Guy was in Toronto. Something spoke to me - an apple pie milkshake at a retro-revived diner called The Lakeview. With further research, we learned what an awesome food scene Toronto was becoming so it was decided that we would celebrate our two-year anniversary in Canada. (Fun sidenote: I actually spent our two-year anniversary taking a final for my online class.. on a Saturday night. Grad school is the best) ANYWHO, for about two months straight I craved apple pie milkshake - salivated just at the thought of it despite never actually having one. The boyfriend and I also happened to be on Weight Watchers during this time (love made us fat). The boyfriend lost over 20 pounds and I lost 16 pounds. Toronto was going to be our ever-deserving reward. And I would finally get to taste this apple pie milkshake. A true love story of an American in Canada. 

So fast-forward to Labor Day Weekend: We arrive in Toronto, which is a story unto itself, and we're having a great time - eating great food and enjoying our time together, despite the fact that we're idiots & forgot that maybe we wouldn't be able to use our cell phones (roaming.. duh) or maybe we should tell our banks that we're fleeing the country. Everything made the trip that more memorable. And finally, the moment I've been waiting for has arrived - we are having dinner at The Lakeview. The place is adorable and Guy Fieri's face is painted onto to wall (which is questionable). I'm so excited - it is finally happening. I order the 'freedom toast' that i saw on the show because I love carbs and cheese. In preparing for my milkshake, I intentionally do not finish my dinner and make sure to doggy-bag it up (it was mighty delicious). The moment is here. I order my milkshake. The waitress says something back to me that is the craziest and saddest thing I ever heard in my life - she knows it's strange but somehow they ran out of vanilla ice cream. NO. No. no. no... I'm in complete disbelief. Nothing else will do. We pay, leave, bring our leftovers back to the hotel and I'm still in a state of shock. When we got back to NYC, I tried to soothe my sadness with a Mr. Softee vanilla shake but sadly, it didn't do.

The big joke now is that I went all the way (a 2 hour flight that we waited around 8 hours for) to Toronto for an apple pie milkshake and didn't even get it. The boyfriend promised me he would make me one. The one (very reasonable condition) was that it had to be done right, which means we wait until my favorite farm in upstate New York is open where they make incredible homemade apple pie. So now, it's July 4th weekend. We're upstate and it's the same weekend that the farm opens - except they're closed. Of course. Don't worry though, this truly is a happy story. We go across the road to a farm I haven't been to since pumpkin-picking as a kid and they have a wall of glorious homemade pies. Yes. This is finally really happening! Even though we didn't get around to making the shake while upstate, we did bring the pie home with us. So, Sunday night we decided was the night where it was do or die. We had the blender, milk, vanilla bean ice cream and the homemade apple pie that had made the 2 hour Amtrak trek and 15 minute cab ride to our apartment. It was show-time. And it was glorious. Without further adieu, here are the pictures that do not do it justice:

It was worth the wait and everything I ever dreamed of.

If you want to make your own apple pie milkshake, I highly recommend topping it off with some crust.