East Village, 14th Street Between Avenues A and B

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I didn't know until tonight that these two stores plus the three adjoining were destroyed by a fire in May.  It seems someone was installing a fire door (see the irony?) when his welding torch "apparently set some grease on fire."  And now the neighbors lament the loss of the only good pizza in the East Village.

Flatiron District, 22nd Street Between Fifth And Sixth Avenues

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Back to Allegretti.  Yvette had survived and we proceeded to have an impressive dinner.  In fact, this was probably the best Restaurant Week meal I had, in that there were no weak links.  Asia de Cuba had a possibly more delicious entree and dessert, but the appetizer was not much good.  This is what I had at Allegretti:  We shared an extra appetizer of grilled octopus with some kind of delicious rice combination, umm good.  Tuna tartar, 3 mounds on cucumber slices with something crispy, ummm, good.  Risotto with crab and asparagus.  After I finished, I realized I hadn't tasted much crab, but it was delicious all the same.  Black cherry clafouti,  ummm good.  The food deserved a better room; it was a rectangle with small square tables scattered around.  They serve the same prix fixe year round for $39.  Or does it change daily, as website says?

Flatiron District, 22nd Street at Sixth Avenue

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The sign says only "Pizza".  No name. I was hardly paying attention to it.  However, I was checking Songlines just to see what was on this block and discovered it's called Maffei Pizza and that the Village Voice called it a "culinary nirvana."  Take a look at its web presence.  You just never know.

Okay, so now I've come to the end of the block and I must run back to Allegretti before Yvette starts gnawing her knuckles.

Flatiron District, 22nd Street Between Fifth And Sixth Avenues

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There at the red awning is Allegretti, where I'm to meet Yvette for our Restaurant Week dinner.  I've already received a text from her saying, hurry up, I'm starving, I've been here since 6 (it's going on 7), but she's going to have to wait a few minutes longer while I photograph the rest of this street.  I'm not late yet, after all.

Chelsea, 19th Street Between Sixth and Seventh Avenues

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Lower East Side, Delancey Street at Allen

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In due time, the food arrived, and once again, in the excitement of actual food in front of me, I forgot to take pictures. So picture this:  a fish sandwich on a kind of thick powdery looking good bread, oozing with tartar sauce and sliced cornichons and greens, with salad and homemade potato chips on my side; on Luka's side, crunchy potato pancakes with ligonberries and bacon, no make that ham, we're out of bacon.  But the ham was surprisingly good as a bacon substitute because it was fried crisp.  The sandwich, though hard to eat, was quite good (the fish was pollock), the salad, not very, and the potato chips, fine.  The potato pancakes were good once I got past the crunchiness factor.  Luka had no problem.  We shared, as you may have gathered.  All in all, although I wouldn't say the food was great, it was good enough to be able to come back another time and be in this enchanting place.

But here's the thing.  I was coming back from the bathroom and ran into the proprietor/chef/waitress, who looked at me, stricken, and said, we were shut down.  Much disbelief, indignation and sadness ensued.  According to her, it was a matter of saran wrap stored in the bathroom, some fruit flies and a little condensation, surely not enough to shut a restaurant down?  A fine, maybe, but not shut down.  We agreed wholeheartedly.  It did seem mean.  By this time, these people were our friends, our family, almost, and we hated to think of the lost money, the being out of work, and all that follows.

Thus the yellow notices on the doors.  We're hoping for a speedy reopening.

Lower East Side, Delancey Street at Allen

Now we're inside.  This is one of two other people in the place.



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Here's the other:



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Love those windows.  Loved being there.  I hope the food is good, I prayed.  It will be, promised Luka.  The proprietor/chef/waitress emerged from the basement and welcomed us but said we might have to wait a bit for food because there was an inspection going on.  In the meantime, we could get drinks and some olives and bread.



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It's a gin something with a nice bitter taste to counter the sweetness.  Luka always gets pretty drinks.

I must stop now, though I'm not finished. I have to get up in 3 hours.

Lower East Side, Delancey Street at Allen

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Luka and I had plans.  We would meet at the 2nd Avenue subway stop on the Lower East Side, and do a photowalk down Chrystie Street to Delancey. Turn on Delancey and walk to Orchard to the Tenement Museum, and take a tour, if possible.

We did meet at the appointed time, having arrived on the same train, but it was raining on Chrystie Street and so there was no photowalk on Chrystie Street.  Then we didn't want to take the last tour of the day, which is all that remained at the Tenement Museum, and so we took no tour.  What to do?  You already know the answer.  Find a restaurant.




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And so we did.  This is White Slab Palace, this shot taken on our way out.  We had arrived around 4 p.m. when it was almost empty and the doors and windows were closed, and there were no yellow notices on the doors.  This is the Delancey side.




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And this is the Allen Street Side.

Midtown, 56th Street Between Sixth and Seventh Avenues

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Here's Topaz Thai, so Carnegie Hall must be nearby.  I remember eating here a couple of times years ago, and liking it, but the last time, I ordered a dish I'd had before but this time it was so spicy, I couldn't eat it.  And I haven't been back since.  A little mistake like that and it's over.

Midtown, 56th Street Between Fifth and Sixth Avenues

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56th Street between Fifth and Sixth looks back at big buildings to the east (see half of the broken pediment of the Sony Building on Madison), and forward to big buildings to the west, but here on this block, there are lots of old 3, 4 and 5 story buildings, as you can see here in this long shot.




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And there's the uptown version of Joe's Shanghai, famed for its soup dumplings (the soup is inside the dumplings, and they are good, good, good).  However, long before soup dumplings existed in Manhattan, Bill and I and FL and I made the arduous journey to Queens to try soup dumplings at Goody's, and my loyalties lie with Goody's as having the first and the better dumplings.  Later, they opened a branch in Chinatown on East Broadway, and later than that, they closed.  As far as I can tell, they no longer exist at all.  Oh, it's so sad.

But back to 56th Street.



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And these two cuties, one housing Sushiya.  If you check out the link, you can read a review that mentions the line at Abercrombie and Fitch's.  It seems to be an everyday thing.

Midtown, 56th Street at Third Avenue

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I think of Johnny Rockets fondly because it was there in the DC train station that I accidentally had a scrambled egg cheese sandwich and knew it was good.  I still think of it from time to time.  After that, I tried the Egg McMuffin at McDonalds and I'm sorry to say, it was not in the same league.  The DC Johnny Rockets also had a good juke box. 

Hmm.  I just checked their menu and breakfast is not on it.

Now I am confused.  I just googled Egg McMuffin and discovered it's made with a fried egg.  I could swear I had a scrambled egg McMuffin.  I had to have or how could I compare them.  Unless I had a fried egg at Johnny Rockets.  No!  It was scrambled!

Midtown East, 58th Street Between Third and Second Avenues

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Farther down the block is Chola which turns out to be the best value dining of the block.  Chola has Zagat ratings of 23 for food (as high as Dawat) and the lowest prices of all:  $39.  Check out the menu; it looks pretty interesting.  Now I'm going to have to talk someone into going there for dinner.

Midtown East, 58th Street Between Third and Second Avenues

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And now in the next block, three restaurants in a row.  Eenie, meenie, minie . . .  No, I actually made a conscious choice.  Dawat would've been the wisest choice because it had the highest Zagat ratings for food (23) and the lowest for price ($48 [for dinner]).  And I have wanted to go there.  But Indian food for lunch by myself didn't appeal.  You need at least one other person, so you can try more than one main dish and you need to eat the wonderful bread and the pickles and other condiments.  Save Dawat for dinner.

So then it's a choice between two Italian restaurants.  I rejected Mia Dona, simply based on seeing a lot of guys standing around, I don't know why, it just didn't appeal to me at that moment, but it turns out maybe I should have tried it.  Its Zagat ratings are 21 - $53.

So I picked Nino's 208, with ratings of 21 - $58.  Way to go, Mary!  Value oriented, you're not.  Luckily, it was a wonderful lunch.



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Midtown, 58th Street Between Lexington and Third Avenues

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Yes, we're still at One Beacon Court.  I couldn't help it.  It looks as if people and cars sort of mingle together in this court without worrying too much about it.  If only we could all get along like this!





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And here is Le Cirque, mentioned last night, complete with man on important call leaning against post.  We know it's important because he's still clutching his napkin in his hand.

And speaking of lunch . . .  It won't be at Le Cirque, so it's time to leave One Beacon Court and




Mary Sargent © 2010 ……………………….. click to enlarge


get back to the street.

Midtown, 58th Street Between Lexington and Third Avenues

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There.  Isn't this surprising and wonderful?  A curved, glassy courtyard.






Mary Sargent © 2010 ....................................click to enlarge

While I was standing there photographing, an old lady approached me to talk about the building:  what is it, anyway, and isn't it surprising, and wonderful.  We were in agreement.  Then the talk shifted to politics, because I mentioned Bloomberg, as being somehow connected to the building (see sign).  She didn't approve of Bloomberg, but admired Giuliani and I respectfully disagreed.  Then she said, but that President!  I said Obama?  I love him.  You love him?  He hates everybody, he hates Catholics, he hates . . .  Then I accused her of listening to Fox News and then she said she listened to everything and stomped off.






Mary Sargent © 2010 ....................................click to enlarge

I should have been more diplomatic.

Bloomberg was the major tenant the developers needed.  If you're interested in New York City development, go to The City Review for a pretty comprehensive outline with many photographs.  As I mentioned last posting, this courtyard is just a small piece of the project, which covers the whole block, yes, including the awful Container Store.  And by the way, the courtyard is a drive-through between 58th and 59th Streets.  Also, by the way, Le Cirque has relocated here, a restaurant where if you're well-known, you're fawned over and if you're unknown, you're treated as if you shouldn't be there, as Ruth Reichl, the new New York Times Restaurant critic in 1993, proved by going there before she was known.  Let's all boycott Le Cirque!

West Village, 10th Street at West Street

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Although this building is on the north side of West 10th, it has been included in the Weehawken Street Historic District Designation Report, and so we can know just about everything there is to know about it.  You'll be happy to know I'm not going to tell you everything there is to know about it, but it's good to know it's there.

It was built in 1903-04 as a hotel, the Holland Hotel, and over the years it has been home to many businesses, including Peter Rabbit, a gay men's bar,* and, lately Uguale Restaurant, followed by the present tenant, Antica Venezia Ristorante.

I used to go here when it was Uguale, not that the food was more than pretty good, but the space was nice, with the big windows looking out over the sunset and the West Side Highway. 

Now for architecture talk.  The style is neo-Renaissance and the facade materials are buff brick which has been painted, terra cotta, and a pressed metal cornice.  It features a round corner oriel.  What the heck is an oriel, I wondered.  Naturally, I googled.  The definitions all came up "oriel window", and said it was a projecting window which does not extend to the ground.  To me, the oriels in this building do not look like windows; they look like rounded spaces projecting from the building that have windows.  BUT they do not extend to the gound.  Anyway, I think we get the idea, and in the future, we will be able to impress our friends by throwing the term around.  Try to be casual.

For an explanation of why the building was included in the historic district, here's a quote from the report:

Built during the third significant phase of the historic district’s development, when it continued to be improved with residential, industrial, and commercial structures after the turn of the 20th century, this handsome 3-story, neo-Renaissance hotel, one of the last surviving hotels located along the Hudson River waterfront, contributes to the historically-mixed architectural character and varied uses – much of it maritime-related – of the Weehawken Street Historic District.

There will be more about the District itself when I photograph Weehawken Street.


*For a story about Peter Rabbit, go to Bent, "the place where disability and queerness meet head-on."

West Village, Hudson Street at 10th Street

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The Cowgirl Hall of Fame - restaurant and bar.  Usually I walk by here on my way to the White Horse, and every now and then I wonder if I should walk on in.  It looks a little too themey for my taste, but one never knows.  I read somewhere about a good late afternoon drink special.  However, reading in the New York Magazine review (not a critics' pick) that they serve their margaritas in mason jars has confirmed my original impression that I should just keep walking.

See map.

West Village, 10th Street Between 4th and Bleecker Streets

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I was intrigued by the signs on the window of Westville.  They say butterbeans, strawberries, collard greens, corn on the cob and bok choy.  Each a separate one word sign, well not one word, but one item, you know what I mean.  That's a pretty unusual looking produce store, I thought.  Westville is not a produce store; it's a restaurant, and, it turns out, another New York Magazine Critics' Pick.

West Village, 4th Street at 10th Street

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Here is the well-known intersection where 4th Street turns northish and crosses 10th Street.  And if you pan down that building across the street




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you will see Chow Bar, a place I dismissed as being of no interest as I assumed it was filled with college kids.  It was the sign that made me think that, the appearance of it and the word Chow.  But I was wrong.  Chow is Chinese; it does not refer to chowing down.  If you follow the Chow Bar link, you will see that it's a New York Magazine Critics' Pick, highly thought of for its honey plum glazed spareribs. 
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See map.

West Village, 10th Street Between Seventh Avenue and 4th Street

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I had had plans last night, but they were cancelled last minute, and rather than use the opportunity to stay home and do laundry, I decided to go downtown and hear some jazz at Smalls.  Good decision.  Except when I got home I had no cell phone.  Today I called my phone and discovered it was at the bar at Smalls.  Whew.  So I decided to go get it and take the opportunity to do a photowalk on 10th Street from Seventh Avenue to the West Side Highway.

Now I'm not finished with the Chelsea walk but I'm tired of it.  Aren't you?  It's been going on for 4 weeks and showing no sign of ending.  So I'm just ending it before its time, and moving on to the Village.



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Here's 10th Street at Seventh Avenue and that's Smalls over to the left, but since it's impossible to see it at this distance, below is a closer shot.




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Isn't it cute?  It's a small basement room and instead of tables, they set up rows of folding chairs and people sit there like they're at a concert.  For that reason, I prefer to sit at the bar.  The music starts at 7:30 and goes on "all night" and $20 gets you in for the night.

I wasn't paying any attention to Cafe Condesa, but Googled it at the last minute and discovered it's a hidden gem, a place to put on the list.  Take a look.


See map.