Fame and Fortune

Well, not exactly fame and, certainly, no fortune, but the New York Post did print a nice little article about my quest in today's paper. It is in the Pulse section if you care to check it out. Please note that in the second paragraph where it said that "Since he started on New Year's day, Walker has bent an elbow at 155 bars..." they really mean I had bent an elbow. I was being interviewed in Walker's. Also, I hit the 155 bars yesterday, the day after the interview. An editor did call me up after I got home yesterday to get the updated number so it is accurate as of this morning. Also, I am much better looking in person than in the picture, but I did like the comment about my bright eyes and clear skin. Maybe I can get some kind of an endorsement deal for vitamins or a skin-care product.

156) Delmonico's 2000 Bar & Grill

This place is an adjunct to Delmonico's, one of the uber restaurants in New York. They are located in the heart of Wall Street, right on Beaver (go figure) and is the place where I have paid the most so far for a drink. $10.00 for a Dewars and soda and then they added the New York City sales tax (no other place except maybe that TGIFs has ever done this). Anyway, this drink cost me $10.86 without tip. Now I will say they poured with a heavy hand so I am not really complaining all that much. I mean we are in the heart of the world's economy and there were a lot of suit-and-tie guys sitting around drinking martinis. Made me somehow happy.

The bar is really nice old horseshoe shaped bar. The door is a revolving door like you once saw in department stores. Venetian blinds over the two front windows. Dark wainscoting with a panel of scenes of New York done to look like old charcoal drawings on parchment. Very interesting. A place where deals are, or should be, getting done.

I had the aforementioned Dewars and soda.

157) Ulysses'

Moving about a block from Delmonico's is this place. If you walk down Mill Lane into Stone Street you will walk right into this bar. It has a really large bar, the length is the width of a block, and you can enter from both ends. There are a lot of pictures of James Joyce hanging on the wall. The street that it sits on from where I walked in is cobblestone and it is blocked off from traffic. In the warmer weather they have outside tables and it is quite festive. Very European in concept.

I had a draft Chimay, one of my favorites, and not too readily available.

158) Cassis

Down the block, almost next-door, is Cassis. Walking into the place was an experience. It was warmer today than usual so a lot of snow and ice was melting. Apparently the waterspout next door was backed up so there was a shower, no exageration, of water spewing over the entrance. I got drenched. They give you nice napkins to wipe off and an umbrella service to get out, but getting in was interesting.

Anyway, this place also is the width of a somewhat narrowing block, but has no back entrance. It has brick walls and interesting paintings on the wall. The back of the bar had some real nice liquor cabinets with stained-glass fronts. They had nice little red stained-glass lights hanging down over the bar. The rest of the place had those same lights that reminded me of the principal's office. Somehow more relaxing in this context though.

The owner wanted me to say that it is "located on a coble street which reminds you of Europe. Warm, intimate ambiance, great food and a fun crowd." I saw no reason to disagree. She also pointed out that a prominent beam in the middle of the place was actually a part of a beam that was in the great fire of 1815 when, apparently, the whole neighborhood (warehouses, at the time) burnt down.

Anyway, I drift.

I had a Dewars and Soda

159) Gerardi's

More of an Itallian restaurant, but with a nice little bar at one end, if you can find it. This is a fairly large place that does have entrances on both streets. It also has two levels. Well, I left Cassis and entered through the restaurant side. I walked right up the stairs to the dining area, but the bar was not there. I then went back downstairs and wended my way through a labyrinth of rooms to the front. There they had a nice little bar and a very friendly bartender. It turned out we both knew a few of the same bartenders. She is Russian so we chatted about some of the few places we knew in Brighton Beach, places. She taught me a Russian toast that I can only spell as "poe hali" and means, essentially, Let's go.

I had a glass of Ruffino Chianti

160) Waterstone Grill

The last of the restauraunts on this reconstructed cobblestone street. Another pleasant place with real Irish bartenders and what looked to be decent bar-food. I was getting hungry by now. It turned out that they also knew the same bartenders as the woman next door knew. Small world.

I had a Samuel Adams Winter Lager

161) White Horse Tavern

Well, now I moved out of the cobblestone area and headed to my subway stop. I knew, however, I that I was going to pass by and stop in at the White Horse Tavern. This is an older place that makes no pretences about it. Mostly older guys reading the racing forms and watcing OTB. Great steam-table though so I had a corned beef sandwich with mustard on rye. But I ate it sitting at the bar so it all counts.

I had a Dewars and soda.

After I got home from my round of bars I got a call from KROC and did a radio interview that they aired. They did a good job of editing it, I actually sounded much better than I thought it should have after just coming back from having a drink in six different bars.

Now here we ago again, the pain at the end of every post, only (1000 - 161) = X left to go, where X equals the number of bars left to go. Email me with your answer.