Lower East Side Crawl
I lumbered out from a self-imposed pity session this weekend to utilize my poor mood and piss on the happy-go-lucky spirit of Spring. Spring is like a flaky blond. Ooh - everything is great, look at the flowers, the air is so fresh. Let's bathe ourselves in the gentle rays of the warm kind sun! Shut yer trap Spring – and take your damn birds away, too.
Spring in NYC is usually the best time of the year. Cool nights, and breezy days. The storefronts are open and all those cafe tables are outside again. I even saw cute little kids drawing hopscotch grids on the sidewalks. So how to enjoy it when I'm in such a bad mood? I sampled these places and in the process got happy drunk. I felt better for sure, cause the time wasn't totally wasted -- just used to wear away my liver...
1. Inoteca: A little homely place festering with the hip, the young and the beautiful. Not bad if you want to sample the Italian vinos while eavesdropping on what in any other city would be classified as delinquents. Here, they have 'projects'. Glass blowing, soap operas, glam-rock, mash-art -- you name it. Where else can you get the latest scoop on autumn fashions while rubbing elbows with those rare LES-iders?
The service was fast, friendly and knowledgeable. For less than the price of a haircut, you can pick and choose from over 40 cheeses to complement the woody, spicy, sweet or full-bodied wine of your choice. To have an even better time, do like we did: toss your noses up in the air and revel in the luxury of dining out in New York -- all the while denigrating other cities (ahem, London) who may never measure up. (4/5 stars)
2. Piano's: Oldie but.. goodness gracious. The last time I was here was for a bachelor party and I had forgotten what a loud place it was. Lush's boyfriend J was jamming in front of a fish tank video montage projected onto a white bedsheet and it was.. uh, cool. That is precisely the word I use in situations like this. But then Butane Variations (managed by J) came on and then it was all right. All right as in the music was good but I could've just been listening to any indie-folk group.
The bar was stocked as I remembered, and the drinks were expensive as I remembered. Downstairs when there are no shows it's more breathable, but upstairs you have the couches and the dance floor for all the crazy ladies. Fun.. once in a while, and it's good to know that independent acts can still perform somewhere in the city.. even if it's for a bunch of half-drunk suburbanites coming in from the weekend and wanting to check out the 'scene'. (3/5 stars)
2. Fried Dumpling: Five (count 'em) dumplings for $1! Crazy, huh? But come early, otherwise the dude wearing the chef's apron will give you the finger wag for "sorry, you think we stay open this late just to serve your sorry drunk ass?" Cause that was what happened. Trust me, I've been here before when there were dumplings and mmm it was good. You get pork or vegetable ones and they're pan-fried. Sorry health nuts, no steamed ones.. and steamed ones aren't really all that different in calories from fried ones anyways.
Lush and I got scallion pancakes and vegetable egg rolls instead. We also got (my favorite) soy sauce dipped boiled eggs. I ate one of these suckers practically every day while I was in China, and like little girls we gleefully pointed at the floating brown globules through the glass counter. We ordered two eggs. And then two more. And then Lush asked me, should we get another one, I said ok. I'm such a pushover. But with the last egg, we ate it while walking to the bus stop cause if I had stayed in there much longer, I would've eaten all the eggs! With all that food, it still came out to be something like $4. I'm just glad I didn't order everything off the menu. (4/5 stars)'
I agree with you about spring; I think it's highly overrated and gets way too much praise as being the best season. I was on the LES this weekend, too! Funny. But Brooklyn is where it's at. Didn't you know that Bocca Lupo is the new 'inoteca? ;)
Posted by: sanguine smile | March 28, 2007 at 07:03 AM