A Soggy Tribeca Street Fair

It was a damp and chilly day so much more time was spent inside than on the street. I pretty much confined myself to Greenwich Street which is where most of the fair took place.

461) Roc

On the corner of Greenwich and Duane Streets is this elegant Italian restaurant. It has a modern looking dark wood bar with metal trim that looked like it was brushed aluminum. It also has a chromed bar rail. A huge display of Japanese cherry blossoms in a clear glass vase sat on one end of the bar. Two living room style lamps with metal bases and cloth-like shades also sit on the bar. An nice set of shelves in dark wood and metal that matches the bar sits behind the bar. The bottom has refrigeration units and two built in shelves for liquor. Three framed mirrors, two with a tiered shelf for liquor in front and the one in the middle has the cash register sitting in front. The top of this unit is arched with shelves holding two large water or wine jugs decorated as heads wearing garlands of wines and what looks like oranges. Some brandies in fancy bottles sit on a shelf between the heads and above them are a couple of green pineapple looking things. The walls are white with curtained windows looking out at a park. There are shelves holding wine bottles and knick knacks. Two large mugs with faces on them sit on little shelves towards the back. The overhead lights are metallic looking and reminded me of the breast plates on the robot in the movie Metropolis. The tables outside were decorated with old scenic Italian postcards.

The female bartender was very pleasant and we had a nice conversation as I drank my Tanqueray and tonic.

462) Viet Café

As you walk down Greenwich Street, at 345, you can’t help but notice the painting of a large, smiling face of a Vietnamese peasant woman with a caption that says “Designation For The New Millenium.” The painting is on the wall of a restaurant and bar. The bar has a dark cherry wood looking top and, coincidently, has a huge display of Japanese cherry blossoms in the vase that was the same type as the one in Roc. They probably use the same florists. These blossoms were pretty sorry looking though, most of them seemed to be dead. A display of bronzed flowers in a dark, squat jug sat on the other end. These were holding up much better. The bar stools appear to be cherry wood, matching the bar. They were uncomfortably high though and too close together. The somewhat height impaired Chinese lady had a hard time climbing up and down. Large cylindrical orangish yellow lights hung over the bar and, somewhat improbably, had the Chinese word for health inscribed on the bottoms. Larger and narrower versions of these lights hang from the burgundy ceiling throughout the rest of the restaurant. Nice mirror back matching wood shelves behind the bar held bottles, Asian statues, jugs, an incense burner, and three gold Buddhas. The brick wall in the back was adorned with Asian prints and the pale yellow walls towards the front featured pictures of Vietnamese children. There is an attached store which sells Vietnamese objects of art and furniture.

I had a glass of Hugel Gentil Gewürztraminer while the Chinese lady had some non-alcoholic concoction that contained lemon grass and who knows what else and was kind of a carroty orange color.

463) Dominic

Whew! Another gorgeous place at 349 Greenwich Street. A rectangular bar with a top of pale green ceramic squares with a confetti-like pattern to it. The front of the bar is dark and there is no rail or foot rest. The bar stools are square and have dark-blue velvet-like cushioned seats and are very comfortable. A welcome change from the last place. Just a simple center serving station with shelves for bottles and glasses. Very interesting lighting hangs from the ceiling. Three of them look like colorful glass condoms, the ones with the reservoir tips. Another three are golden-colored affairs and another lighting fixture has blue shades. The lights above the bar look like inverted metal desk lamps, the kind you see jumping around in the at the beginning of movies by Pixar. Little lamps with blue shades sit on the bar. One long brick wall has an ornately framed mirror and various old photographs. Plates are mounted on the wall toward the back. The high-backed tan booths make you feel, or at least look, like a small child. The flat screen television mounted on the wall at one end of the bar was showing “Singing In The Rain.” Unfortunately, for a movie that is a musical and is about making the move to talking movies, it had the sound turned off. The floor has a wave pattern of black and white tiles in front and wood in back. Downstairs there was an intimate little dining room with just one long wood table with five chairs on each side.

I had a glass of red wine, Feudi Di San Gregorio Pinot Noir, quite tasty.

464) Pig & Whistle

Just down the block a bit at 365 Greenwich Street is a place with a big wood bar with brass rails. The bar chairs have green seats. The coolers have black doors and there are wooden shelves holding liquor and a large mirror above. At the very top is a shelf holding statues of characters such as Laurel and Hardy and the Marx Brothers. An old brass spittoon also sits behind the bar. There is old, English-style lighting. It looks like the street lights you see in Sherlock Holmes movies. This is an old looking place with a wood floor and brick walls with mirrors, posters, and a map of Ireland mounted on them. There were several televisions showing the Yankee Toronto game.

I had a draft Weisse, very refreshing.

465) Ivy’s Bistro

A bit further down Greenwich at 385 is a little, somewhat informal looking Italian restaurant with a bar. It was getting about dinner time and companion was getting a bit peckish, even though she ate something the bar at Dominic. I have to be honest though, I took a couple of bites myself. She found a table while I had my drink at the bar before joining her.

It just has a small bar that was fairly crowded. English style lighting mounted on light pink walls. The floors are blue carpeted and add a bit of poshness. Framed photos on the walls and candles on the table.

I had a shot of Metaxa, a nice Greek brandy, at the bar and then sat down for dinner.

A nice day with five bars hit bringing my total for the year to 465 with 535 left to go.