A Sunday Stroll In SoHo

For those of you who may not know, SoHo is a neighborhood in Manhattan that is south of Houston Street. New Yorkers seem infatuated with naming neighborhoods. Presumably this is to give them a bit of class so that property values can be increased. But really, do we need SoHo, NoHo, Tribeca, Nolita, Dumbo, BoCoCa, and who knows how many more. It really does get to be a bit silly after awhile. And the good names, like Five Points and Alphabet City just kind of disappear. They have been trying to make Hell's Kitchen go away for years, but that is a name with legs.

Last Saturday the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I went to visit some friends who live about as far on the East Side of lower Manhattan as you can get. To get there we took the F Train and got off on East Broadway. We were early so I figured I would stop at a bar on the way to their place for a quick one. But, there were no bars. I kid you not. I must have covered about a square mile before I found one. This is a seriously dry part of town. The bar that I did find, on Broome Street and Ludlow Street looked a bit out of place too. I suspect that this area is going to change quite a bit in the near future and Casini's will be the first bar on the block.

Casinis


It was a pleasantly sunny place with only one other couple sitting at a table. Not much business for prime weekend brunch time. The walls were light wood and the bar had a dull metallic finish. Not my favorite because in the summer when you are wearing a short sleeve shirt they feel uncomfortably cold when you lean on them. Another thing I didn't care for, they have those new modernistic taps where, for some reason, it is cool to not display the names of the beers.

Mystery Taps


Why don't I like them? Easy, I like to walk into a bar and see what they have available. Then, when the bartender asks me what I want I can tell him. I don't waste my time nor his. With these, unless there is a sign somewhere or, how pretentious, a menu, you have to ask the bartender. Now if you have over six taps I will also probably have to ask him to repeat a couple. Then I have to decide which one I want. What should be a quick and simple transaction turns into a major event. I have never met a bartender who likes them either.

Well, according to the bartender only two of the three taps had beer so I could have my choice of either a Stella or a Jeffe or Jefe or something. She didn't seem to know exactly what it was so that is what I ordered along with a Absente.

Bar Man, Beer, and Pernod


Well now I do have a few complaints. First, the beer was served in a glass more suitable for a scotch and soda or a gin and tonic. And the Absente was served in a shot glass. I prefer it in a glass like the beer was served in with an ice-cube or two and a splash of water. Oh well, who am I to make a fuss.

I had to laugh a bit though. I ordered a second beer and a different bartender had to ask me which of the taps it came out of. On the other hand, she demonstrated that all three taps did, in fact have beer and Bass Ale was another alternative. I don't think this is a bar I will be hanging out in once a second one in the neighborhood opens.

It did have a nice little dining area, although I didn't look at a menu so I don't know what they have to offer.

Kind Of Cosey


This view from inside looking out one of their windows gives you a bit of an idea of how this is a neighborhood in transition. You don't see laundry hanging out on the fire escapes in the more gentrified neighborhoods.

Letting It All Hang Out


We met our friends, Frank and Kathy, at their place and then walked to SoHo for an early dinner at the Fanelli Cafe which can be found on Prince Street between Mercer Street and Greene Street. Somehow Frank and I got separated from the ladies so we had time for a couple of beers before Kathy and The Mysterious Chinese Woman showed up. Unfortunately I didn't think to take any pictures. It is a nice old-style bar though with good and reasonably priced food so I shall return and do it justice.

After we ate we decided to hit another bar in the neighborhood. Someone suggested Milady's so off we headed.

Milady's


Fanelli's was crowded, but this place was packed. We decided to pass it by and look for a bar with a bit more room. On the way we passed another group of Milady's and Kathy decided she would join them.

Kathy and Milady's


We ended up going to The Cupping Room, and that turned out to be a very nice choice indeed.

The Cupping Room




The Cupping Room is on West Broadway between Broome Street and Franklin Street. Once you get into SoHo there is no shortage of bars. It is just that barren patch east of SoHo that is the problem.

I liked this place right off the bat. Warm wood, a nice glow, and a place to stand at the end of the bar. Actually, after a couple of beers, a glass of wine (maybe two) and a steak at Fanelli's I also has a nice glow. I thought a Maker's Mark Manhattan would be a nice way to end an enjoyable day and Christian, the bartender, turned out an excellent one.

Christian And My Excellent Manhattan


And we all enjoyed our drinks at the bar.

Kathy, Bar Man, and Frank At The Bar


Bar Man has noticed that he is developing a bit of a paunch. I am sure the steak and beers I had just eaten added to the effect, but nonetheless I have decided to start a bit of an exercise routine. Next month I will be heading to Mexico and I want to look good in my bathing suit.

I also plan on heading back to SoHo one of these days. I like that neighborhood and there are still plenty of old time bars. They may have gone upscale in terms of what they now serve and the prices they charge, but they still retain a lot of their original charm.

I decided to play around with a photo-paint program that I have, Corel. It has more features than I could ever possibly use, but it is kind of cool. I thought I would try to use it to create a more artistic image of the picture I shot out of the window at Casinis. It turned out kind of 60's pschedelia, I thought.

Groovy


Don't worry though, I will try not to get too carried away with my new toy.

Brooklyn Bridge Park Progress Report

Not too far from where I live is where they plan on building the Brooklyn Bridge Park. This will be an expanse of park that will run 1.3 miles from the Brooklyn Bridge to Atlantic Avenue. Laughably the initial "groundbreaking" took place in 2001 and it was then Mayor Rudy Giuliani who presided over the event. The press release from the event said that development would be finished in two years.

Well, it looks like they have put up a bus stop sign for the Brooklyn Bridge Park Beach and Pool Shuttle. Such optimism.

Next Stop, No Idea


If you did get off the bus here you wouldn't exactly be at Coney Island, and you might wonder where the beach might be.

Hmm, Where Is The Beach


Ah, This Must Be It


Well, at least it looks like they are making progress on the fishing pier. They outdid themselves on capturing the look of the old one.

The Old Fishing Pier


The local artists have been invited to display their work in the new park and it looks like at least one has taken up the offer.

Art In The Park


I thought the best visual though was the juxtaposition of the downtown Manhattan skyline with the soon to be demolished warehouses where one day there will be a park.

Somewhat Surreal


Some evidence that progress is being made does exist. The warehouses have largely shut down and the lumber company that once occupied one of the piers has relocated.

A Mere Five Miles Away


Oh, another ceremonial groundbreaking is scheduled for early this year.

Although I look forward to seeing the new park, I will kind of miss morning walks down the somewhat desolate stretch known as Furman Street.

Scenic Furman Street


Well, a bit of a departure from my normal fare, but I felt like sharing.

New Years Day

New Years Day at my sister-in-law's house, a family get-together that is all about food and camaraderie. We will have to mostly settle for pictures of the food though. For some reason a lot of the family seems reluctant to have their pictures appear on a blog devoted primarily to bars and drinking. This obviously doesn't apply to my brother-in-law Jim, though.

The Unbashful Jim


Okay, now that we have that out of the way, back to the food. We started out with a somewhat unsavory looking taro root dish the night before. This is supposed to be a traditional Chinese dish for the New Year. It is really quite good, considering you can't actually handle the uncooked taro root without getting a rash. A variety of taro root grown in the United States is called dasheen.

Taro root is starchy and somewhat like a potato. In fact the way my Mysterious Mother-in-Law makes it it tastes like a thick potato soup that my father used to make ,especially on a cold winter's night, when I was just a small Bar Boy. It really was quite tasty.

Lucky Taro Root


Also prepared on New Years Eve, but not allowed to be eaten until the morning of the New Year is this strange and sticky dish, and I mean really sticky. Think gluey sticky. But with a lot of ground pork in it. And it is delicious.

A Sticky Dish


There is really only one way to eat this, because no utensil seems adequate. First you spend about ten minutes cutting and prying a decent size lump away from rest.

A Decent Sized Lump


Then you simply pick it up and gnaw at it.

Looks Strange, Tastes Great


The strange thing, this dish seems to heal itself. At least until the real feeding frenzy begins the whole dish seems to just settle back together and you can't even tell that a piece has been removed. Spooky.

We had a lot of food, as you can imagine. Three kinds of bird, goose, duck, and chicken. And, even though Jim keeps trying to get his mom to do it, they weren't stuffed inside of each other.

A Goose Marinating


And the duck was taking a bath with his butt sticking out.

Duck Butt


The chicken was taking his bath too. You may notice that in Chinese tradition the fowl, especially the chicken, is cooked with the heads still attached. They aren't actually eaten, but generally show up at the table.

I Am Drowning Here


My contribution to this dinner were the ribs that I forgot to bring to yesterday's tailgate party. Although they were well received, the majority of the feast was prepared by the Mysterious Mother-in-Law who chopped and sewed and did whatever else she did all morning long.

Chopping


Sewing


And when it was all over, a feast we did have.

New Years Feast


And, as promised, the chicken head made its appearance.

Here's Looking At You


For the sake of symmetry I shall end this blog as I began it, with a picture of Jim holding a bottle. At least he isn't holding this one to his lips, we had to share.

Champagne Jim


Needless to say, a great time was had by all. And in another six weeks I get to do something similar for Chinese New Years. It will be the Year of the Rat, in case you are interested. Actually, it will be the Year of the Rat even if you aren't interested.

New Years Eve

Not too much to post. It was a fairly low key evening, dinner and a few cocktails afterwards down in the dance pit. We were spending New Years at my sister-in-law's house and she lives in New Jersey. We all kind of like to go to New Hope and Lambertville for the restaurants and shops so that is the direction we headed to party.

There is a nice restaurant in a converted train station that is always fun. It is close to a nice hotel that I have stayed in. I spent the week-end here for a fish related festival of some kind. No fish were caught however, but the champagne brunch on Sunday morning was nice. Ah, but that was then and this is now. Still, if you are interested in spending a weekend in Lambertville and New Hope, you could do worse than this place:

The Inn At Lambertville Station


We were headed to Lambertville Station itself for dinner.

All Aboard


Never really did make it to a bar but the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I did share a glass of wine before dinner.

A Small Aperitif


After dinner we headed downstairs where there was a bar and a small, but crowded, dance floor.

Party, Party


We did manage to stay long enough to greet the New Year but then we beat a relatively hasty retreat. New Years Day was going to be a big dinner so we had to make sure we got plenty of rest for that.

Staying Awake Till The End


I hope you all had a Happy New Year's Eve and I wish you all the best for this year. Whatever will they do after 2009 when you can't wear those silly glasses with the two zeros anymore.

Happy New Year

Lazy Man's Tailgating

Well, I guess we are all getting old. And, perhaps, a bit fed up with how we are being treated by the Jets. Not just the losing season, but the limited parking access that has broken up the old tailgate parties and even no beer policies that aren't pre-announced. This might have been the last year for the old gang.

Given the crappy weather forecast for last Sunday, some of us decided an indoor tailgate party was the way to go.

Bob, Bar Man, Bernie in the Good Seats


You will notice that we did hang up a 3B sign for nostalgia's sake. And our view of the game was much better than if we had actually gone to the game.

Better Than The Fifty-Yard Line


We brought along a new mascot too. My sister-in-law Paula Sue sent me this nifty wine-bottle holder for my birthday. I had an old bottle of Gridiron Cuvee with a picture of Don Maynard on the label that I thought would be perfect for the occasion.

Our Mascot


We did do a bit of grilling and I was in charge of the ribs. Actually, I had pre-prepared a couple of racks with my special spice rub, but I forgot them. Luckily we found a butcher shop that had some nice ones and with a couple of bottles of Hoboken Eddie's barbecue sauce we were able to save the day.

Cook Em' Low And Slow


Much better food and drink service than you find at the stadium, no two ways about that.

Just Like Box Seats


And, the best part, you have room to stretch out and watch overtime in comfort.

Ah, This Is Living


Maybe staying at home brings the Jets luck, they actually won in overtime.

Belated Christmas Cheers

Lot's of stuff going on for the Holidays, as I am sure is true for most of you. What with all of the preparations and parties and the family get-together it doesn't leave much time for bar-hopping. I did manage to stop into one though on my way to visit my sister-in-law. This one is just about a block away from the train station in New Brunswick, and it is a pretty decent brew-pub.

Harvest Moon


It is nice to see a real brew-pub these days. In New York City there were never very many and most of the ones that were once here have disappeared. Even Hearland Brewery, who kind of revitalized the concept now is what is known as a Contract Brew Pub. This means that their beer is brewed to their specifications at an off-site brewery and then shipped to their multiple locations.

Being suspicious by nature I did ask if Harvest Moon really brewed their own beer and was assured that they did. Now I saw the equipment, but some places that used to be brew pubs kept their equipment for display purposes only.

Harvest Moon's Brewing Tums


They had a nice selection but I only has time to try a couple of them.

Harvest Moon's Beer List


I decided to start off with the Elmes' Mild Manor. It was much darker than I expected but wasn't at all heavy. As advertised it did have a nice floral smell and was nice and malty. I pleasant change from the overly hopped IPAs that you find everywhere these days.

Bar Man Visting Elmes' Mild Manor


Now don't get me wrong. It isn't that I dislike IPAs, as I am sure most of you know by now. It is just that I like to be able to have something different if I want it. In fact my next choice from the menu was the Hops Double IPA. Although the hops did come through, it wasn't that over-powering. At least not to my somewhat jaded palate. It went well with my hamburger and French fries.

I would certainly stop in here again to try out a few more of their beers. I would imagine that it probably draws a real college crowd at night given its proximity to Rutgers. Not quite sure, but this looked like it might be part of the previous night's crowd. I think if you can't pay your tab they lock you in the dungeon.

Dungeoned Deadbeats


I had a wonderful Christmas with plenty of good eats: Duck, Goose, Chicken, and all sorts of side dishes. I brought my Hero's Glogg and, sadly, it didn't go over as well with this crowd as with the tailgate crew. Oh well, I made sure that there wasn't anything left over.

Although everyone was most generous, once again I didn't get my most hoped for gift, the always popular Ear and Nose Hair Trimmer. As you can see, I really do need one.

Badly In Need Of A Trim


Maybe next year.