National Tequila Day

I was just informed by my friend Bob (he is always looking out for me) that today is National Tequila Day here in the United States. This could be serious.

The perfect Margarita is extremely simple to make and simply delicious:

3 parts tequila
2 parts Cointreau
1 part fresh squeezed lime juice (no mix and no sugar, fresh squeezed only)

Combine all the ingredients in a shaker with ice cubes, and shake like mad. Strain into a cocktail glass garnished with a salted rim (optional).

I prefer a good Tequila blanco (or silver), but be sure it is good and 100% blue agave. A reposado will work as well, but save the anejo for sipping.

By law tequila only needs 51% of the fermented sugars to come from blue agave. These are labeled mixto, but avoid them at all costs. No self respecting Mexican would ever drink this and it is almost all shipped to the United States or used in frozen margaritas that are sold to tourists in Mexico and college students here. Or sometimes to Bar Man.

I had a Margarita, three actually, at Braeburn's the last time I was there that were made with a light Mezcal. Gave them a nice smokey taste.

Of course there are thousands of recipes for margaritas and more and more tequila based cocktails are popping up. For something different, try a nice anejo (aged) tequila in a brandy snifter and just sip it.

Okay, after giving you my perfect Margarita recipe I had to modify a bit. I went to my local liquor store and not only did they not know that today was National Tequila Day, they were out of Cointreau. Can you imagine that? I ended up buying a bottle of Grand Marnier, which is a good substitute but, ah, what can you do?

The Ingredients


They do carry one of my favorite tequilas, though, Herradura. I usually drink this when I am in Mexico and Esquire magazine just rated it very highly as well. If you are in Mexico, just say air ah doo rah, and try to roll your Rs. Kind of requires you to make a motorboat sound with your tongue.

Most cocktails are best straight up and icy cold so I always like to chill my glasses. Make sure your freezer is turned down as low as you can get it. Unlike boiling water which can only get so hot, ice can get as cold as cold can be. And the colder the better.

Chilling Out And Chilling The Glasses


That gal in the chair always reminds me of my sister, Paula. But that is another story.

With everything assembled I mixed up two Margaritas, one with a salted rim for me and one without for the Mysterious Chinese Woman.

Two Mighty Decent Margaritas


I, of course, had to don my Mexican apparel before sitting back to enjoy the efforts of my work of love.

Drinking Like A Native


Only about six or seven months and I will be back in Mexico again. Next week, however, the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I will be up in Quebec for a couple of weeks to see the International Fireworks Competition. Or at least some of it. It runs for three weeks and we will just be there for two to see three nations display their finest and the grand finale.

Who'd Of Thunk

I still have to laugh at the interesting turns life takes. When I bought my place in Downtown Brooklyn it was a bit of a seedy neighborhood. Atlantic Avenue wasn't someplace you felt comfortable walking at night, especially to the east. Smith Street was pretty much all bodegas and social clubs. The area that is now Dumbo was positively desolate after dark. And now, tour buses pass by my building.

And Here Is Where Bar Man Lives


Of course I also lived at the Gramercy Park Hotel for almost a year when I first moved to New York and drank at the semi-dive bar there where the hookers used to take their breaks and ply their trade. Once I ordered a rum and coke and jokingly asked the bartender to leave the bottle. And he did. Now that bar is the Rose Bar and you need a reservation to get a drink.

Goin' To Gowanus

Yesterday was a nice day, warm and sunny. A perfect day to head over to the Gowanus Canal and take a few pictures. I headed up Smith Street, our local Restaurant Row, until I got to the Gowanus Yacht Club. It doesn't open until later in the day and is several blocks away from the Gowanus Canal.

Gowanas Yacht Club


I headed east on President Street and strolled down a ovely tree lined street.

Quite A Pretty Neighborhood





That tree lined street only runs for a couple of blocks though, and then it dead-ends at a parking lot and storage yard for Verizon trucks. This blocks access to the Gowanus Canal at this point. In fact, there are very few places where you can actually get to the Gowanus Canal.

The Dead End


There are several bridges across the canal though for both pedestrians and automobiles. These pretty much provide the only vantage points to take pictures unless you want to risk getting caught trespassing.

The Other Side Of The Dead End


There are a few boats moored in the canal.

Hardy Souls


Looks Like It Could Be A Nice Pedestrian Walk



But, as you can see, the canal is pretty much solidly lined with storage yards, vacant lots, and various manufacturing concerns.

Not Too Attractive


Right In The Heart Of Booming Brooklyn, Too


Sheet Metal And Concertina Wire


A Perfect Place For A Park


Potentially Prime Waterfront Just Used For Storage


Graffiti And Decay


Oh, a bit of trivia. Did you know that graffiti is from the Italian graffio, which means "a scratch"?

More Urban Decay


Grain Silos Or Cement Storage?


Such A Waste


A Cafe On That Point Would Be Nice


Pristine Waters


This Gowanus Canal was originally completed in 1869 and was the result of dredging the existing Gowanus Creek. Even though it is relatively short, it did provide access to and from New York Harbor. As a result the Gowanus Canal was a hub for Brooklyn's maritime and commercial shipping activity. Factories, warehouses, tanneries, coal stores, and manufactured gas refineries sprang up as a result of its construction.

Of course the Gowanus Canal no longer serves its original purpose, but the old manufacturing nature of the neigborhood remains and the canal is now more of an eyesore than anything else. A smelly eyesore with a lot of potential and an endless topic of political debate as to its future.

Am I Missing Something?

CNN is interviewing Rudy Giuliani asking how he would help prevent future terrorist attacks on the United States. Am I missing something here?

In 1993 the World Trade Center was almost brought down when a car bomb was detonated below the North Tower. It failed, just barely, to bring down the tower, but six people were killed and 1,042 people were injured. Yeah, that is right, over one thousand people were injured. But you probably forgot all about that. The North Tower was completely shut down for over a year.

The bomb instantly cut off the center's main electrical power line, knocking out the emergency lighting system. The bomb caused smoke to rise up to the 93rd floor of both towers, including through the stairwells which were not pressurized. With thick smoke filling the stairwells, evacuation was difficult for building occupants and led to many smoke inhalation injuries. Hundreds were trapped in elevators in the towers when the power was cut, including a group of 17 kindergartners, on their way down from the South Tower observation deck, who were trapped between the 35th and 36th floors for five hours

Also as a result of the loss of electricity most of New York City's radio and television stations lost their over-the-air broadcast signal for almost a week, with television stations only being able to broadcast via cable and satellite via a microwave hookup between the stations and three of the New York area's largest cable companies. Telephone service for much of Lower Manhattan was also disrupted.

Now, knowing how vulnerable the World Trade Center was to an attack, and knowing it was a prime target of Al-Qaeda, tell me again what, exactly, Rudy Giuliani did to prevent a second attack eight years later. Or what he did to minimize the impact of a second attack? And why is he now considered an expert on preventing the very type of attack that occured when he was Mayor?

Now, don't get me wrong. I am not sure if there is much, if anything, Giuliani could have done to prevent the attack, although I think there is much he could have done to minimize its impact. But I just don't know why being Mayor when the attack occured makes you an expert on preventing another one.

Again, Bar Man is confused.

But, I promise, tomorrow I will have more kvetching. This time with pictures. The Gowanas Canal is now the object of my wrath.

Digging Yourself A Hole

The weather looks pretty good so far today so I am going to try to get out a take a few pictures of the Gowanas Canal. First, though, I thought I would give you another example of how New York moves along on its projects.

There was just an article, again, in the New York Daily News, saying that the completion of the first section of the 2nd Avenue Subway Line is now being postponed until Late 2016 or early 2017.

So what, you might ask. Well, consider the history of this project:

1920 - The idea of the 2nd Avenue Subway Line is first floated.
1930 - Completion date is projected to be 1948
1944 - Completion date is pushed back to 1951
1957 - Planning for the line is put on the back-burner
1964 - Federal money becomes available for the project
1972 - Ground breaking held at 103rd Street and 2nd Avenue
1975 - Construction is halted due to New York's fiscal problems
1995 - Planning starts again
2007 - Ground breaking held at 102nd Street and 2nd Avenue with a projected 2013 completion date
2008 - Cost overruns delay projected opening to 2015
2009 - New target date is December, 2016

By the way, that December, 2016 target date is only for the first phase of the line, three stations at 96th, 86th and 72nd Streets and then hooking into the existing subway network.

This would be amusing if it wasn't so sad, and so typical. Meanwhile you have the same old thing; at least a dozen businesses along the proposed line have closed because of the ongoing construction and others are having a difficult go of it. New York, you got to love the place.

Oh, and does anyone want to hazzard a guess as to when the new line really opens? If you say December 2016, well I live really close to a bridge that is for sale.

Food Fight Follow-Up

The other day I posted about the article in the New York Daily News that claimed "A new study shows a staggering 80% of all car accidents and 65% of all near misses are caused by distracted drivers being more focused on their burgers than on the road."

Interestingly, a new study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminstration says that: "...motorists talking on a phone are four times as likely to crash as other drivers, and are as likely to cause an accident as someone with a .08 blood alcohol content.

One can only assume that a lot of people must talk on their cellphones while also eating and intoxicated. Actually, that might account for some of those late night phone calls I get.

Business As Usual

Lousy "summer" day today. Currently 64 and rainy so I don't know if I will be getting out and about to take pictures of the Gowanus Canal. We shall see if it clears up later.

Of course the reason that nothing get done, or is likely to get done soon, is the incredible cumbersome political process that we have here in New York. A couple of articles in today's New York Daily News just reinforces that.

First, we have the mess that is the building on the site of the former World Trade Center. A supposedly high priority project to restablish our pride in America. Of course there is still nothing there but a muddy hole as various agencies bicker for control and money. Today's article announced that the Governor of New York is now trying to resolve the dispute between the Metropolitan Transit Authority and developer Larry Silverstein to resolve their conflicts so that development can begin. The primary issue is what will get built on the 16 acre site and who will pay for it. What will get built? This nearly eight years after the World Trade Center was brought down.

The second article concerned Coney Island where proposed redevelopment has been on hold for years and meanwhile Astroland has left, Ruby's Bar & Grill never knows from one year to another if it will re-open, and there are acre's of, while, acres of nothing. And this is beautiful beachfront property. The story, "Pol warns: I may kill Coney deal." What a surprise. Unless the city funds improvements to a hospital in the area and makes other, unspecified, concessions a Brooklyn city councilman who represents Coney Island is threatening to kill the whole plan.

Two of many examples of how nothing seems to get done here in New York.

Cold rainy days make Bar Man cranky.

This Can't Be Right

This startling and somewhat unbelievable statistic was reported in the Sunday's New York Daily News article "Eat-&-drive sure recipe for a crash."

"A new study shows a staggering 80% of all car accidents and 65% of all near misses are caused by distracted drivers being more focused on their burgrers than on the road."

The upshot of the article is that eating or drinking non-alcoholic beverages, especially hot coffee, while driving is the contributing cause of 80% of all automobile accidents and, by the way, 65% of all near misses.

Now first of all, who keeps statistics on near misses? Do people pull over to the side of the road after a near miss, wait for the police to show up and then admit to eating a hamburger or drinking a cup of coffee while driving? I don't think so.

And 80% of all accidents? Why are we banning the use of cellphones and texting then? Hell, if we believe that statistic then driving while intoxicated isn't as dangerous as eating while driving.

Sometimes you read something in the paper and just have to shake your head in disbelief. Sometimes the editor should do the same.

Oy Vey, Cuvee

The other day the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I popped into Pete's Waterfront Ale House looking for Sam. We still hadn't seen him since I made my South Carolina style pulled pork sandwiches and I wanted to thank him for the cooking advice. We also had an ulterior motive:

Duck Confit


You may remember that I was a bit disappointed that Braeburn's didn't have it on the menu the last time I visited. Well, I must have put out some vibes because a few days later it was a special at Pete's. I first had duck confit in Paris and tend to get it anytime I see it on the menu here. I also have made it myself and, if I do say so, it turned out really well. Traditionally a French dish, the chef, Jim, put a bit of a Cajun spin on it here serving it with black beans instead of the tradtional white beans and a spicy andouillie instead of a more traditional game sausage. I used a rabbit sausage when I made mine.

Confit was originally a method of preserving game birds. It involves heavily salting the meat and then slowly cooking it in lard. When the meat is thorougly cooked it is then stored in the lard and will keep for quite a long time. Now it is prepared just for the flavor and, this is important, much less salt should be used.

The Finished Product


It was quite tasty but, in my opinion, a bit too salty. Remember, the old recipes call for way more salt than is traditionally used today. You can still keep this dish in your refrigerator for up to a month, however, if you keep the meat covered in the lard. And it is best if you refrigerate it for a least a couple of days before serving it.

The Chips Were A Nice Touch


I had a couple of the Brooklyn Brewery Brewery's Cuvee de Cardoz to wash down my meal. This is that limited edition beer that was concocted by Chef Floyd Cardoz of Tabla and Brewmaster Garrett Oliver. It is a wheat beer seasoned with spices picked out by Chef Cardoz and then toasted and ground before adding. These included ginger, tamarind, mace, black pepper, corriander, fennel, fenugreek, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and chilies. As you can imagine, this beer has all the flavor that you could ever want. Simply delicious and, at around 8% alcohol, it packs a punch. I will keep ordering this at Pete's until they run out.

Comfy With My Confit And Beer

I do love Paris but, quite frankly, I love where I live more. Not as pretty a city, I will grant you that, but with the abundance of French bistros within walking distance of where I live and the occasional French bistro fare at Pete's Waterfront Ale House, what more could I ask for. And you can't get that Brooklyn Cuvee de Cardoz in Paris.

Gowanus Canal Mess

If you read my last post, or several others, you will have seen me kvetch about how New York, to a large extent, totally misuses their abundant waterways. A prime example is the mile-long Gowanus Canal, a truly disgusting, polluted, raw sewage and chemical filled, smelly canal that runs through a section of Brooklyn. In most other cities this would have long ago been cleaned up and lined with walkways, restaurants, shops, you name it. Not here though. It is as it has always been, a cesspool.

Now, in what is the most convoluted logic yet, New York is fighting to prevent it from being declared a Superfund cite and receiving Federal money to help clean it up. Their official reason is that the city can do a better job of cleaning it up themselves. Oh, and they are going to rely on voluntary payments from polluters to fund the effort. Good luck with that. Most of the original polluters are long gone and out of business and I doubt if those that are still around will volunteer anything.

Amazing that in the almost thirty years that I have lived here the city had done nothing to clean up the Gowanus Canal but now, all of a sudden, they can do a better job than the Federal government.

Here is but one example of the city's ineptitude. There is a large flushing pump at the end of the canal that just kind of dead ends. This was designed to keep the water circulating to avoid it just becoming stagnant. This pump broke over 40 years ago but was repaired and reactivated in 1988. Due to who knows what it wasn't repaired and activated until 1999. Since it's activation the water quality has improved somewhat, but the canal hasn't been dredged since 1975. Oh, and the pump needs to be repaired again, and that is scheduled to take two years during which it will not be fully operable. Not even sure if the repair work has started though.

By the way, the real reason for the city refusing the Superfund offer is the concern that potential developers will not want to build in the area if it is classified a Superfund site. Oh, but they will flock to the area if it remains a polluted mess?

Next week I am going to takes some strolls along the canal and post pictures so you can see how this neat little waterway is now being utilized. Of course you won't be able to see much of the pollution. In fact, the violet sheen to the water actually photographs pretty well.

Art Show But No Artie Shaw

After our brunch at Kevin's we headed down to the new Fairway that has opened up. Nice place, and they really tried to preserve the building that they took over. Ikea tried to do the same thing, but they somehow fell short.

The New Ikea


It is still kind of a rough area down here, at least in terms of the decaying structures. Makes for kind of an interesting neighborhood though. This is the shot of right behind the Fairway and next to the abandoned warehouse that housed the Art Show.

Not A Golf Fairway


You can still see the remnants from when this was a much more vibrant port. Much of the business has now moved to New Jersey so there is a lot of just plain old decay here. Kind of strange. Beautiful location, right on the water, nice views of the Statue of Liberty. New York has to rate at the very top of totally mismanaging waterfront property.

Should Be Hotels, Restaurants, And A Marina


Of course the geese like it. The reason we have so many geese here is that someone, in their infinite wisdom, thought they would be a nice addition to New York City. So they captured a bunch of Canadian geese and clipped their wings so they couldn't migrate. A few breedings later and the new geese don't know how to migrate anymore. Oh well, aside from being aggressive, messy, and bringing down the odd airplane they don't do any harm.

Don't Fool With Mother Nature


I was inspired by the Art Show so decided to take a few pictures for my next exhibition. I shall entitle it "Windows."

Window 1


Window 2


I took these shots from windows in the abandoned warehouse where the Art Show was held. I don't think Arden Suydam has anything to worry about.

We were going to head back to Ikea to catch their free shuttle home but, what a coincidence, we passed right by Rocky Sullivan's

Well, It Is Here


So, of course, we popped in and wet our whistle a bit.

Whistle Being Wetted


Me Too


We had a couple of Six Points beers. Hey, they brew them in the back. I had a very hoppy IPA and the Mysterious Chinese Woman had a nice Summer Wheat.

We decided to just catch the 61 bus back home because it stops right in front of Pete's Waterfront Ale House (and right in front of Rocky's as well) and I wanted to stop in and tell Sam that the pork that I cooked to his specifications came out just perfect. Alas, Sam wasn't there.

Kevin's, But No Hobbes

The Mysterious Chinese Woman and I headed back to Red Hook to take in an art show that was displaying some photographs of a friend of mine, Arden Suydam. We, without too much effort, decided to head back to Kevin's for a bit of a nosh.

The Venerable Kevin's


It is always nice to start out with a spot of coffee, and they brew a mean pot here. My sister-in-law, the one who lives in Minnesota, has a cafe and coffee shop, the Left Bank Cafe. I often order my coffee beans from her, so I do kind of know good coffee. Kevin's is right up there with the best.

The Olde French Press


You have to love the warning labels on everything these days.

Duh!!!


Usually I put the children in a cauldron and then add the hot fluids. My bad.

I decided to try something a bit different this time. I had the Adirondack instead of the Chesapeake. Similar, except this time instead of crab cakes on the toast they served smoked trout on the side on a bed of greens with a nice horseradish dill sauce.

The Adirondack


My friend Gene, Kevin's brother, is the creator of this nice little dish.

The Mysterious Chinese Woman knew what she was going to have before we even got there. She just loved her seafood stew that she had the last time and, by golly, she had it again.

I See Her Point


A Succulent Morsel, And Nice Fish, Too




There are a couple of places right across the street from Kevin's that also look interesting. I will have to come back one evening and try them out.

Brooklyn Ice House


Red Hook Bait & Tackle Shop; Fishing Club + Bar


Not too far from here is a VFW Club, so I popped in and talked to Bob, the head of the Membership Committee. Now, if I can dig out my discharge papers, I will send them to him to get an application for a membership. It is easy enough to get to from my house by bus and looks like it might be a fun place.

We headed on to the Art Show and I will post a few pictures from there tomorrow. Don't expect too much though, I didn't take any pictures of any of the art work.

And This Is Fun?

As you may know, I have been going to a few Staten Island Yankees games lately. This is just a Class A league so the quality of play is, well, not too good. But it is cheap, the food is free, and they serve decent and reasonably priced beers. They also have some very strange between the innings entertainment.

A regular feature is what they call Lemonhead. Now you tell me why this is supposed to be fun and why any parent would participate.

You start out with a bunch of pre-toddlers lined up with their parents.

Oh, How Cute


Then, one by one, the baby's faces are displayed up on the video screen.

Time For Your Close-Up


Next, and I find this morbidly fascinating, one of the parents gives the child a swallow of lemon juice.

You Can Trust Me


And then the aftermath of the swallow is displayed for the crowd to enjoy.

Isn't This Hilarious?


Finally, the crowd determines which baby had the "funniest" response by applauding for their favorite.

Am I missing something here? I predict long sessions on a therapist's couch for some of these kids. And what kind of a parent would actually subject their young child to something like this just to get a laugh?

There is much in life that Bar Man doesn't understand.