I have a bone to pick with Animals, the newly opened sandwich pop-up that’s attached to The Wayland in the East Village. But first, let me tell you about their pulled bacon sandwich. (Priorities!) It starts with slab bacon, slow braised and pulled to tender, smoky pieces, which are layered with refried beans, avocado, pickled jalapeños, lettuce, tomato, red slaw, and a generous dollop of chili mayo, then tucked inside a fresh, crusty baguette. (more…)
Banana Joe, Best in Show winner
The 137th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show wrapped up last night with a tiny monkey-faced Affenpinscher named Banana Joe scurrying off with the Best in Show title. I’d been afraid the little squirt would win. Of all of the dogs there, I needed a photo of the winner, and seven-pound, pitch-black, perpetually-moving critters aren’t easy to photograph from across an arena. I suspected that he’d prevail, though. He seemed to have a dangerously large ego that practically soaked up cheers from a packed Madison Square Garden. (more…)
Strangely Masonic bear is watching you.
There is a sign tacked to the ceiling of a certain bar in the East Village that reads “We’re all here because we’re not all there.” It’s a phrase that’s been used a number of ways, but it’ll always remind me of what makes a great dive bar. (more…)
These days flying seems as mundane as taking the bus, unless you find a TSA pat-down exciting, of course. Gone is the glamour of the 1960s when air travel resembled a pleasure cruise, complete with lit cigarettes and sexy stewardesses, hot meals and ample legroom. (more…)
I don’t claim to be an expert on the best hot chocolate mix, but cocoa is one of my favorite winter treats. I always seem to have at least two varieties on hand: one I can make with water, like Swiss Miss, and a “fancy” kind, like Ghirardelli, that I make at luxurious moments like when I realize I still have milk that hasn’t gone bad. (more…)
Like many a pizza-obsessed New Yorker, my ears would perk up when I’d hear about “New Haven” style pizza. Distinguished by a thin, coal oven-charred crust, “apizza” put New Haven on the culinary map, so that it even rivals New York for pizza supremacy, by some accounts. This year for my birthday, my snack associate and I made a pilgrimage to Frank Pepe, the oldest and most famous of New Haven’s pizzerias. (more…)
If the lines at Smorgasburg this year were any indication, Mighty Quinn’s makes some mighty good barbecue. I ended up with my worst sunburn of the summer while waiting in the infamous line for their smoked brisket, resulting in a few freckly mementos that are only now fading. The sole fault I found with the brisket was the long wait in the sun, so I’ve been eagerly anticipating the opening of pitmaster Hugh Mangum‘s restaurant in the East Village for some time. (more…)
Mile End Sandwich’s Noho storefront looks like the kind of chic converted garage that should be peddling $500 motorcycle boots and deconstructed jackets instead of Jewish soul food. This arm of the popular Boerum Hill deli is located on a stretch of Bond Street so posh that you might even think the neon “Sandwich” sign denotes a new gallery devoted to postmodern food art. (more…)
The entrance to the High Line at 34th Street
If you visit The High Line today it’s pretty hard to imagine what it looked like a few years ago. The elevated railway was built in the 1930s to transport freight trains above the traffic along Manhattan’s Tenth Avenue, which was known as “Death Avenue” prior to the High Line’s construction due to the number of accidents that occurred there. (more…)
The Yardbird
I’ve stopped wondering how many artisanal cocktail bars the East Village can sustain, because the answer, judging by the thirsty crowds, always seems to be “more, of course!” Evelyn Drinkery, which opened two months ago on ever-fancier Avenue C (right up the street from Summit Bar and a craft beer store) is a refreshingly laid-back spot in an often riotous neighborhood. (more…)