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Below are three photographs across the street from the park, showing the spread of Chinatown. This is pretty far north of any current boundaries.
Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………… ………………….. click to enlarge
Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………… ………...................………….. click to enlarge
Mary Sargent © 2010 ………...........................………….……………………….. click to enlarge
Perhaps someday we'll all be Chinese. Umm, good food.
Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………… ………………….. click to enlarge
We have finally torn ourselves from the magnetic field of White Slab and made it to the streets once again. Please no rain.
Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………… …........……………….. click to enlarge
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.
Now we're inside. This is one of two other people in the place.
Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………… ………………….. click to enlarge
Here's the other:
Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………… ………………….. click to enlarge
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.
Mary Sargent © 2010 …… ………………….. click to enlarge
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.
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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.
Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….………...................…… ………………….. click to enlarge
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.
Mary Sargent © 2010 ………….................................................……….………….. click to enlarge
And this is the Allen Street Side.
