S'Mac - NYC

Watch out Murray Hill, there's a new player in this part of town and she's laying the S'Mac-down on your quaint little restaurants. More is more in these inexpensive, exotic-ingredient-loaded platters, turning comely comfort food into a high-end home for the hungry.

Get the nosh portion for a fairly fared $4.75-7.25 range - no need to go big or home. If you're so hungry the nosh just won't do, go for the major munch, but anything bigger than that will feed no less than a small family. Split a few different noshes with your friends if you can - all this heavy mac will S'Mac you in the gut like a ton of bricks if you nosh too much on just one flavor.

The Parisienne looks like a lip-S'Mac-ing snack on laminated paper, but the brie with an overload of shitake kept me from getting through more than half a nosh, and I wouldn't have minded more fig-ful bites. Real Parisians would scoff down their upturned noses at the excessive bunches of brie, but je suis Americaine so pile it on.

The Masala is a spice-loaded taste of India in Mac-hattan, a dire threat to the Kosher vegetarian Indian dining that dots the domain of modern-day Curry Hill.

Napoletana impersonates a Margherita pizza minus the saucy tang, plus some strands of fresh mozzarella elbowing through a bed of mac. And S'Mac-dab in the middle of all that mac, garlic, tomato, and basil intersperse a fresh, light quality that make it possible to manage a major munch.

I usually talk S'Mac about chains, but I actually have nothing negative to say. The over-the-top gooey gluttonies set up in a casual cafe curb a craving for comfort, and S'Mac can comfort my craving any day.