Jimmy’s Corner is a dive in the best sense of the word. This narrow, 40-year-old haunt feels like it’s been plucked from Times Square’s seedier past and plunked down on today’s 44th Street where, ignored by tourists, it quietly ministers to a cross-section of locals. History stares back at you from walls cluttered with autographed photos of boxers, and from the tables, covered with snapshots of random folks preserved in amberish laquer. The beers are cheap ($4 pints of Bud Light, Hennekin, or Sam Adams), sports flickers on the TV, and the jukebox cranks out one Stax soul gem after another. I haven’t heard anything that sucks, or was recorded before 1980, from that wonderful device. If you endure this neighborhood as part of your daily grind, and especially if the recent storm of layoffs that are seemingly hitting everyone has you feeling a bit low, Jimmy’s is a cheap, low-key refuge. It’s a good idea to limit your posse to one or two friends, it is quite small.
Jimmy’s Corner in Midtown Lunch. (This review has a good neighborhood lunch tip–at Margon (136 W 46th st.) you can get a decent Cuban sanwhich for $6 or a heaping platter of roast chicken, rice, beans, salad, and fried plantains for about $8. They’re open until 5pm weekdays).
Jimmy’s Corner, 140 W 44th St. between Sixth and Seventh Avenue
If you’re a beer-lover in NYC here’s one event you shouldn’t miss. Since most people in the US like their light, ice-cold, and bubbly lagers, cask ale, or “real ale,” is pretty uncommon outside of the city. Since the lifespan of a cask ale once tapped is only a few days, the idea of this event is genius: get a whole bunch of cask ales together, for a swarm of beer lovers to drink over three days, or until the casks are kicked. Strategically, the first night is the night to go, but you can still drink your fill tonight and tomorrow at Chelsea Brewing Company at Chelsea Piers. Hopefully I’ll even have some crappy Treo pictures to add once I get it working again.
The definition of Cask Ale or “Real Ale” by the Campaign for Real Ale is is: “Unfiltered, unpasteurized beer brewed only from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide.” Unlike keg beer, which is filtered, artificially-carbonated, served cold, and stored in a drum that forces beer out under gas pressure, cask ale contains living yeast that continues to ferment. Finings such as irish moss are added to drag the yeast down to the bottom so you don’t get a mouthful of yeastiness. It is best consumed within three days of the cask being tapped, although a stronger beer will last longer.
If you’re not wild about the idea of sipping a warm, flat pint of sediment-heavy ale, it’s actually better than it sounds. I tasted a few (natural) bubbles, and didn’t miss the excess. The beer is cool (though not cold), and I did taste more yeast, but I found it was easier to notice other flavors too, especially with a row of little glasses lined up for tasting. Of the two-page, 46-beer list, I picked the one cask that was never delivered to be excited about: The Blue Point Cherry Imperial Stout. But I was pleased with the Butternuts extra-special porkslap, a unique pale ale which had a nice maltiness as opposed to being overly hoppy. The Brooklyn ‘Black Ops’ imperial stout (10% ABV and aged in bourbon barrels) was rich, molasses-dark, and VERY strong. I probably over-reached a bit by ordering a pint of it (I noticed my server’s eyebrows did shoot up a bit when I asked for “a big one.”). Each beer is available in an 8 oz or 16 oz glass, and prices range from about $3.00-$4.50 for 8oz, and $6.00-$9.00 for 16oz. There’s no admission fee, though you need to purchase sheets of $20 “tokens.” Beer-friendly food such as bratwurst and knishes are also available. I drank up all my tokens before I got to try it, but the word on the street is the pulled pork is worthwhile.
The 2nd Manhattan Cask Ale Festival
NYTimes.com: “The Power in the Cask: Old Ways New Beer”
Friday September 19-Sunday September 21
Chelsea Brewing Company, Chelsea Piers
17th Street and West Side Highway
The road to Krumville might be the longest few miles you ever drive. County Route 2 winds and unwinds past redundant woods, ponds, and abandoned barns, the Catskill mountains bobbing ever-closer in the near distance. You know you’re getting close to The Country Inn when your usually-intrepid companion says, “So WHERE is this place?” and you say “I think it’s just up ahead,” but there is doubt in your voice.
Just hang in there because it’s worth the trip. The Country Inn sits on a hillside overlooking an algae-coated pond, and inside is all lodged-out, wood-lined and adorned with objects like a giant mounted fish and hanging mottled softballs. A neglected pool table and a dusty fireplace both await discovery. A few things belie the casual appearance, though. Local-types hunch over the bar sipping beers out of exotically-shaped glasses and the names of 500 or so beers available in bottles line the back wall, heavy on Belgians and lambics. The menu, while brief, features beyond-dive fare such as escargot, duck, and trout. It’s like a secret beer-snob society plunked down in the woods.
We opted for locally-brewed Evans ales, (on tap and a steal at $4.50); both a pitch-perfect pale ale and a very hoppy brown ale. For dinner, burgers ($9) with beef from Fleisher’s of Rhinebeck ($3 extra), which supplies locally-raised, grass-fed meat–the adorable Frankie’s Sputino is one of many city restaurants that shop there. The burgers arrived unadorned except for a single lettuce leaf and our extras, sauteed mushrooms and onions, on hearty CD-sized buns. The grass-fed beef was delicious but extremely lean and getting it cooked beyond medium is probably not a great idea; but it was a pleasure to eat a burger without feeling like I was courting a heart attack. I somewhat missed the crunch of pickles or onions, though they might ultimately distract, so next time I might indulge in some smoked bacon on top. The onion rings, suffice it to say, were perfect–not overly battered, and sliced thin enough to bite through. The desserts parading by looked tempting but I ordered a Corsedonk ($6) which arrives in its appropriate glassware. To me, this is better than ice cream, unless someone devises Corseonk-flavored ice cream, in which case I’ll have to rethink that statement.
I’ll put it this way, when I’m fighting my way through Times Square on another miserably hot day the happy place I go to in my mind will be the patio of The Country Inn at dusk with a Belgian and good company. Here’s a tip: bring a designated driver so you can make some headway through their beer list and still get down the mountain.
The Country Inn, on Route 2, Krumville–which is not a town, exactly… just check their website because I can’t explain it. Wed-Sat 5pm-10pm, Open Sun at 3pm. They usually close in January so if it’s wintertime better call ahead.
“Have you had this before?” said the lank-haired dude with the generously inked forearms as he rang up my little white bottle of ale. I shook my head. “It’s the One.” he intoned gravely.
“I bet you say that to all the beers,” I countered. I was feeling saucy because I was wearing my new boots.
He wasn’t flirting. “Do you have a glass that tapers near the top then bells out?”
“Yeah.” Actually, not really, but sort of. Buddy, I’m standing here spending five dollars on a rare little bottle of Belgian beer. OF COURSE I have a special glass to drink it in.
Satisfied, he bagged my beer and pushed it across the counter. “Enjoy.”
And I did enjoy. Gulden Draak (golden dragon) is a drinkably smooth and dark 10.5% ABV Belgian ale, with a creamy head and malty, spicy body, but without any overpowering fruitiness you may find in other Belgians. If you’re a fan of Guinness Stout, you may like this one. Unlike Guinness, one little bottle will put some color in your cheeks, and you may start to appreciate beer the way that some aficionados experience wine.
Reviews of Guldren Draak on BeerAdvocate.
Gulden Draak, available at Whole Foods (on Bowery) in The Beer Room.
95 East Houston Street between Chrystie and Bowery
As if Abraco Espresso weren’t enough, the East Village has hatched another cool little coffee spot–in a former carriage house. The Mercury Dime on Fifth Street actually started out as a wine bar, but the plan got vehemently smacked down by the nightlife-loathing neighbors. (Fifth Street residents are a particularly mobilized bunch, especially after fighting The Cooper Square Hotel’s now-unstoppable blotting out of the sun.)
But for now the block is sunny, quiet, and caffeinated. And unlike one of owner Sasha Petraske’s other ventures, referral-only speakeasy Milk & Honey, you don’t need a secret phone number to get in. Instead, the heavy black door swings right open to a clean, classy cafe, with four tables, a stunning full-length window, and high-quality, Ethiopian coffee. There’s supposedly food and wi-fi on the way, but for now, it’s just a minimalist menu of coffee and espresso drinks, with maybe a free sesame-studded cookie or two.
The jury’s out on whether their espresso ranks with my fave, Ninth Street Espresso, but given the owner’s connoisseurship with cocktails, it’s bound to be pretty damn good. Their official opening is this Friday, so be sure to check it out while you can still snag a seat.
The Mercury Dime 246 E. 5th St.