My simple rule for New York has always been this: If I walk everywhere, then I get to eat whatever the heck I want. That's how I convinced myself to walk across town and more than 30 blocks downtown for a bowl of pasta.

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It would be the last meal over two quick days that would involve a lot of walking and eating. I was in town for the James Beard Foundation Awards, which honor the year's best in restaurants, cookbooks and media.

The awards show moved this year from the Marriott Marquis in Times Square to the much classier Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, and I was thrilled to skip out partway through to phone in to the paper Watershed chef Scott Peacock's win for best chef in the Southeast. I was also happy, frankly, to stretch my legs during the three-hour-plus event hosted by CBS' tragically chipper Hannah Storm and get an advance on the little nibblies that famous chefs from around the country were handing out.

Between the Beards and the perambulation, I managed to squeeze a number of New York food moments into 48 hours:

• Most hilarious food moment: Surely, at the Beards, where chef Grant Achatz (a winner for his avant-garde work at Alinea in Chicago) served weird little whatzises off custom-built metal contraptions. One was a cantilever that you actually had to tip over so you could bite the squishy bit (a puffed morel) right off the prong like some kind of communion ceremony from the Alpha Centauri system.

• Most hilarious nonfood moment: At Nobu 57, the newish Midtown branch of the game-changing TriBeCa sushi bar. I peeked in one afternoon and asked the pretty girl at the hostess stand if there were any reservations available early that evening. Her response? "I have no idea. You'll have to call the central reservationist." She handed me a card. I laughed, assuming it was a joke. She showed me the door.

• Most expected and worth-it price vertigo: At L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon — the counter-seating spot in the Four Seasons Hotel that just walked off with Best New Restaurant at the Beards. The acclaimed French chef now has five outposts of this concept (the others are in Las Vegas, London, Paris and Tokyo), which is based loosely on the idea of a Japanese kappo eatery — i.e., one where the chef cooks very fine food before your eyes and serves it to you at an eating bar. While there are some full portions, the small plates are the stars on this menu, and they range in price from the mid-teens to the mid-30s. A bursting-plump langoustine wrapped in sheer, crunchy rice paper served with a "pesto" reduced to a startling, pungent green smear told you all you need to know about this chef. I also loved a dollop of eggplant caviar, bright with the flavor of curry and outfitted with shaved spring veggies. For dessert: grapefruit sections glazed in kirsch gelée and set off by mint sorbet. And a $10 espresso.

• Least expected and worth-it price vertigo: Breakfast at Hudson Cafeteria in Midtown's chic Hudson Hotel. A bagel with smoked salmon for my wife, eggs and toast for me, juice and coffee, $57. Why is New York so expensive?

• Most exciting restaurant everyone is talking about: It was easy to see (and taste) why New Yorkers are nuts for Momofuku Ssäm Bar, a spinoff of and clear step up from the sensation-causing Momofuku Noodle Bar in the Lower East Side. The menu riffs on mostly Asian (and mostly Korean) dishes but is confident enough with its own identity to include a ham tasting alongside a stir-fry of rice cakes with bitter greens. Wok-charred brussels sprouts, jumbo shrimp in the shell and a great barbecued pork shoulder with kimchi puree that you wrap in lettuce leaves (ssäm refers to the Korean predilection for wrapping foods). The famous pork buns from Momofuku Noodle Bar reappear on this menu, and they're as good as ever.

• Most satisfying restaurant everyone is talking about: So that bowl of pasta I walked 35 blocks for? At A Voce, the Madison Square Park restaurant opened by Andrew Carmellini, the former chef de cuisine for Daniel Boulud. I was surprised to see how conservative and unflashy the menu was for New York — particularly in light of the bachelor-pad, retro-modern decor. But a plate of perfect spring asparagus, pancetta lardons, a thick truffle dressing and a fried farm egg so totally hit the spot. The egg was an ideal sunny side up, with a runny, orangey-dark yolk and absolutely no white goo. I also appreciated the clean flavors in a plate of gnocchi with lamb ragù and ricotta. I think gnocchi should be bigger than pencil erasers, but I totally loved the way the potato flavor of the dough came through.

New York restaurants always surprise you — even when the surprise is restraint.

• L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon at the Four Seasons. 57 E. 57th St., New York. 212-350-6658.

• Momofuku Ssäm Bar. 207 Second Ave., New York. 212-254-3500.

• A Voce. 41 Madison Ave., New York. 212-545-8555.

For a complete list of Beard award winners, see http://www.jamesbeard.org.