Back to 34th

I went back to 34th to have lunch with my wife and my sister-in-law at La Garia. This was a place that I had a drink, a glass of wine, last week. Obviously I am not counting this one. However, after lunch I did make some progress.

141) La Bella's

Kind of a restaurant/bar/pizza place combination. A fairly large place on the corner of 32nd Street and 2nd Avenue. Nice brick pizza oven and interesting overhead track lighting, but not much else going on.

I had a draft Birra Moretti

142) Waterfront Ale House

This is the Manhattan presence, corner of 30th street and 2nd Avenue, of Peter's Waterfront Ale House in Brooklyn (see an earlier post). The place looks remarkably similar to the place in Brooklyn. A couple of people sitting there that seemed to know a bit about beers and bars so I had a pleasant conversation.

I had a Czar Imperial Stout, quite tasty and strong.

143) Paddy Reilly's Pub

This place on 2nd Avenue, across the street from the Waterfront Ale House, serves nothing but Guinness on draft. It has the look and feel of a real Irish pub, with a back room with banquettes and tables for sitting around and chatting and the Pogues on the juke box. A decent enough place to pop into for a beer on a somewhat chilly afternoon.

I had a, let me think, Guinness.

144) Bistango

Down a block on the corner of 29th and 3rd Avenue was this Itallian restaurant Right on the corner and had a huge antique copper espresso machine in the front window. It had a decent sized bar.

I had a Chianti.

145) Porta Rossa

Another Italian Restaurant that served as a stop-in place as I made my way toward the subway. It is on Lexington Avenue between 30th and 31st Street. Not much to distinquish it but it had a bar and I needed to use the bathroom.

I had a glass of Chianti

146) Artisinal

This is a quite classy restaurant that is known for its cheese selection. And I don't mean just any old cheese. This place probably has the largest selection of cheeses of any restaurant in the United States.

They also have a fairly decent bar set a bit up from the rest of the place.

I had an espresso and a Sambuca.

Well, that isn't a bad start on my journey. 146 bars the first month with only 854 left to go. Tomorrow is my wife's birthday and we are going to go to Chantrelle's, one of our favorite restaurants. I will have the full wine course with my dinner but will not count it because it is served at the table. I don't think they have a bar, I haven't been there in a long time, but if they do I will have a pre-dinner libation and count it. Otherwise, no progress tomorrow. Unless my wife lets me pop in for a drink at the bar across the street either before or after dinner.