Okay, so perhaps I was rash not to name names yesterday, because certain establishments deserve good old fashioned shout outs! And today's is "Empenada Mama" in Hellsea. 9th Avenue, in the low 50s.
Like the delicious South American tapas sized goodies they serve, this establishment proves that good things can come in small packages...a concept likely lost on the Kitch's boy on boy majority. Take the ham and cheese wheat flour emp. Deep fried, perfectly melted goodness, through and through. I had two. And the chicken wheat flour. Forget the Colonel, this is finger licking good. Served in simple white bags with your order stamped on the outside, you always know which deliscious emp variety you're getting (and there are many. baked. fried. wheat. corn. chx. beef. steak and cheese. veggie. you name it, they got it.) And did I mention the avacado salad. I had a bite of my companion's greens. Fantastic. (You will never read the other "f" word made famous on SATC here.)
To top it off, it's a delicious little place, just like the emps. Bright colors, appropriately small two-tops that can become four, or six tops. And a nice little view of the street. And the servers are pleasant to boot. Check it out, or pick up. It's fun food for maybe an Oscar party in the near future.
Friday, February 9, 2007
Thursday, February 8, 2007
A Brew with a View
There is nothing better than a brew with a view. And that's just what I had last evening at a mellow, old-timer bar along Hudson Street in Tribeca last evening. (The joint will remain nameless...I'm not one to plug places, nor do I want others to one day overtake the charming places I choose to visit.) Let's just say, an old pub-like feel, with giant floor to ceiling windows, and a handsome fiftysomething bartender, make for a comfy locale to people watch on the street, but also in high priced loft-like dwellings with large pre-war windows across the way.
Sitting there with a lovely friend from my grad school days in Urban Planning...yes I have a degree...no, I don't know it all...but yes I know what I like...I got a warm fuzzy feeling even though it was a particularly cold night. That window was an eye on the neighborhood, and we were the retina. A slightly drunk retina, but a retina nonetheless. The neighborhood outside was quiet and cold, the inside warm and cozy. Views of an occasional passersby making their ways home, or to the restaurant across the street, or to another drinking establishment down the street, was somehow entertaining. It was evidence that outside, this toney neighborhood, was a living, breathing, functioning place. Somehow, the combination of the built environment and the people who built it, worked. Sure, this is the upper crust, a crust I can't remotely afford, but it worked nonetheless. And that alone made me happy, as well as everyone else sitting along that window.
And the view of the hot guy in the 14 foot ceiling loft across the way was a nice bonus.
Sitting there with a lovely friend from my grad school days in Urban Planning...yes I have a degree...no, I don't know it all...but yes I know what I like...I got a warm fuzzy feeling even though it was a particularly cold night. That window was an eye on the neighborhood, and we were the retina. A slightly drunk retina, but a retina nonetheless. The neighborhood outside was quiet and cold, the inside warm and cozy. Views of an occasional passersby making their ways home, or to the restaurant across the street, or to another drinking establishment down the street, was somehow entertaining. It was evidence that outside, this toney neighborhood, was a living, breathing, functioning place. Somehow, the combination of the built environment and the people who built it, worked. Sure, this is the upper crust, a crust I can't remotely afford, but it worked nonetheless. And that alone made me happy, as well as everyone else sitting along that window.
And the view of the hot guy in the 14 foot ceiling loft across the way was a nice bonus.
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