A Max Fish memorial. Says Moby, "I had a list of things in the neighborhood that, were they to go away, then so would I. Max Fish and Mars Bar were both on that list." [TONY]
Reasons to stay the hell away from Murray Hill. [NYT]
Commenting on the commenting about the hideous new hotel planned for the Bowery. Luc Sante doesn't like it either. [EVG] ...but it gets even worse.
A walk through the subway tunnels. [Blah]
When Gem Spa had pinball. [FP]
Photos of old Coney on view at Chelsea gallery. [ATZ]
Don't forget: Even in winter, a Ray's egg cream tastes good. [NSC]
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Checking on bookbook
When the Biography Bookshop was pushed out of its longtime location and replaced with a Marc Jacobs bookstore, we were bereft. Luckily, they managed to reopen further east on Bleecker as bookbook. Today is the day Biography shuttered after 25 years. To commemorate the one-year anniversary of that closure, bookbook is having a sale throughout the month of February, with 20% off all books.
I checked in to see how they're doing. Partners Carolyn and Chuck answered some questions about life after Biography.
You've been in your new location for over a year now. How has the transition gone? Have you found you've been able to keep many of your old customers?
Chuck: The transition has gone quite well. We renovated our new space (it looks great), we’re a good fit in the neighborhood (which is very old Village), and most of our clientele has followed us.
How does life at one end of Bleecker compare to the other?
Carolyn: The new store is surrounded by other mom-and-pop stores including some that have been on Bleecker Street since the 1920s (John's Pizza and Faicco's Italian Specialties). Some of our old friends such as Rob from Murray's Cheese and Matt from Matt Umanov Guitars have been on the block for decades. And we have new friends including our next door neighbor, John, from Panoramas, who has the scoop on everything that’s happening on the block. Most of the stores on the other end of Bleecker Street are owned by large corporations such as Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, and Coach.
Have you been to visit Bookmarc? What are your impressions of it?
Carolyn: I did stop into Bookmarc to drop off some business cards. They kept our fixtures and almost everything else. I guess that is a tribute to us. I hope our customers don't get too confused. The people who work there have been very nice about directing our customers to the new location.
Do you miss Magnolia and the Sex & the City tourists?
Chuck: Magnolia and The Sex & The City Tours did help our business, but we do have plenty of tourists at this end of Bleecker Street and we have two great bakeries--Amy’s and Rocco’s (try their French Cannolis).
What are you guys reading right now?
Carolyn: Just Kids by Patti Smith and The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol
Chuck: Survival City: Adventures Among the Ruins of Atomic America by Tom Vanderbilt and The Tears of Autumn by Charles McCarry
What's on the bookbook bestseller list these days?
Hardcovers (all hardcovers are always 20% off):
Life by Keith Richards
Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
Autobiography of Mark Twain
Finishing the Hat by Stephen Sondheim
Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
Paperbacks:
Just Kids by Patti Smith
The Fran Lebowitz Reader
The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz
I checked in to see how they're doing. Partners Carolyn and Chuck answered some questions about life after Biography.
You've been in your new location for over a year now. How has the transition gone? Have you found you've been able to keep many of your old customers?
Chuck: The transition has gone quite well. We renovated our new space (it looks great), we’re a good fit in the neighborhood (which is very old Village), and most of our clientele has followed us.
How does life at one end of Bleecker compare to the other?
Carolyn: The new store is surrounded by other mom-and-pop stores including some that have been on Bleecker Street since the 1920s (John's Pizza and Faicco's Italian Specialties). Some of our old friends such as Rob from Murray's Cheese and Matt from Matt Umanov Guitars have been on the block for decades. And we have new friends including our next door neighbor, John, from Panoramas, who has the scoop on everything that’s happening on the block. Most of the stores on the other end of Bleecker Street are owned by large corporations such as Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, and Coach.
Have you been to visit Bookmarc? What are your impressions of it?
Carolyn: I did stop into Bookmarc to drop off some business cards. They kept our fixtures and almost everything else. I guess that is a tribute to us. I hope our customers don't get too confused. The people who work there have been very nice about directing our customers to the new location.
Do you miss Magnolia and the Sex & the City tourists?
Chuck: Magnolia and The Sex & The City Tours did help our business, but we do have plenty of tourists at this end of Bleecker Street and we have two great bakeries--Amy’s and Rocco’s (try their French Cannolis).
What are you guys reading right now?
Carolyn: Just Kids by Patti Smith and The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol
Chuck: Survival City: Adventures Among the Ruins of Atomic America by Tom Vanderbilt and The Tears of Autumn by Charles McCarry
What's on the bookbook bestseller list these days?
Hardcovers (all hardcovers are always 20% off):
Life by Keith Richards
Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
Autobiography of Mark Twain
Finishing the Hat by Stephen Sondheim
Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
Paperbacks:
Just Kids by Patti Smith
The Fran Lebowitz Reader
The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Old NYC Menus
My venture into the history of Oscar's Salt of the Sea got me looking at old New York City menus on Ebay. There are many. Here are a few.
It's somehow fascinating to see what people used to eat--and what they used to pay for it. Like sugar cured ham steak followed by preserved figs in cream at Dempsey's. Or Creamed Chicken a la King on toast at the Nut Club in Greenwich Village.
Luchow's Black Forest Festival of 1958 featured Eisbein in Gelee (pig's knuckles in jelly) with home-fried potatoes for $2.25. You could also get Saure Leber (sliced calf's liver in chablis) with home-fried potatoes for $2.65.
How about an Eggburger Plate with Curleycue Fries at The Californian, 1950s "Times Square's most unusual restaurant"?
A Waldorf salad and Lobster Thermidor at Toots Shor's, in 1951, would only cost you a few bucks. At Hamburg Heaven in 1954, a "heavenly hamburg" was 55 cents and you could wash it down with a 15-cent glass of buttermilk.
By the early 1980s, a burger at Soup Burg cost you $1.30.
A Sirloin Steak for 2 at Gage & Tollner cost $10 in 1962 and a Filet Mignon went for $5.25.
You could get Scampi Puccini at Asti on 12th Street for $7.25 in 1968--plus lots of pictures of opera singers.
A hot pastrami sandwich at The Stage Deli ran you $2.45 in 1973. Today it's a bit more expensive.
At the Russian Bear you could get something called the Moscow Mule for $1.50. I bet it came with quite a kick.
And wouldn't a 55-cent King of the Sea Cooler, made with Valliant California burgundy, be refreshing on a hot day in the 1940s? They thought so with this colorful menu.
But for pure visual pleasure, the best menu in the bunch is from the fabulous Leon & Eddie's who greeted their patrons with a topless burlesque girl and the charge to "Push the first valve down." (That's a line from an old Tommy Dorsey tune, which may or may not have become a double entendre.) Inside the menu, they insist, "This is no time to be thinking of diets--sail right in and have some fun!"
This last image is not a menu, but a cocktail napkin from the Astor Roof Bar. I just like it. It's autographed by Marsha Hunt and Olga San Juan, actresses of the 1940s that someone was excited enough about, on the roof of the Astor Hotel, to ask for their autographs.
It's somehow fascinating to see what people used to eat--and what they used to pay for it. Like sugar cured ham steak followed by preserved figs in cream at Dempsey's. Or Creamed Chicken a la King on toast at the Nut Club in Greenwich Village.
Luchow's Black Forest Festival of 1958 featured Eisbein in Gelee (pig's knuckles in jelly) with home-fried potatoes for $2.25. You could also get Saure Leber (sliced calf's liver in chablis) with home-fried potatoes for $2.65.
How about an Eggburger Plate with Curleycue Fries at The Californian, 1950s "Times Square's most unusual restaurant"?
A Waldorf salad and Lobster Thermidor at Toots Shor's, in 1951, would only cost you a few bucks. At Hamburg Heaven in 1954, a "heavenly hamburg" was 55 cents and you could wash it down with a 15-cent glass of buttermilk.
By the early 1980s, a burger at Soup Burg cost you $1.30.
A Sirloin Steak for 2 at Gage & Tollner cost $10 in 1962 and a Filet Mignon went for $5.25.
You could get Scampi Puccini at Asti on 12th Street for $7.25 in 1968--plus lots of pictures of opera singers.
A hot pastrami sandwich at The Stage Deli ran you $2.45 in 1973. Today it's a bit more expensive.
At the Russian Bear you could get something called the Moscow Mule for $1.50. I bet it came with quite a kick.
And wouldn't a 55-cent King of the Sea Cooler, made with Valliant California burgundy, be refreshing on a hot day in the 1940s? They thought so with this colorful menu.
But for pure visual pleasure, the best menu in the bunch is from the fabulous Leon & Eddie's who greeted their patrons with a topless burlesque girl and the charge to "Push the first valve down." (That's a line from an old Tommy Dorsey tune, which may or may not have become a double entendre.) Inside the menu, they insist, "This is no time to be thinking of diets--sail right in and have some fun!"
This last image is not a menu, but a cocktail napkin from the Astor Roof Bar. I just like it. It's autographed by Marsha Hunt and Olga San Juan, actresses of the 1940s that someone was excited enough about, on the roof of the Astor Hotel, to ask for their autographs.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
*Everyday Chatter
Checking in with recently shuttered Cabo Rojo, Tricia reports plans to reopen "at Christopher & 12th Ave in the spring." Good news.
Another giant luxury project for the Bowery. [Curbed]
Happy 2-year blogiversary to Melanie! And many more... [EVC]
Check out the NYC punk photography of Eugene Merinov. [EM]
Max Fish: an oasis back "when the Lower East Side was just starting to become an amusement park for suburban day-trippers." [NYT]
Freddy's Bar reopens Friday 2/4 in a new location. [FIB]
Behind Miss Weber's Millinery--plus! The story of those K's on the Burlington Coat Factory building. [FNY]
More things that are irritating about people in New York. [Restless]
A look back at Doyers' Nom Wah Tea Parlor in 1938. [BB]
In case you're in the EV and have a hankering to eat a $450 whole baby lamb. [EVG]
Hoisting a pint at Sophie's. [NSC]
Fleeting shots of Soho in a distant Blondie video. [FP]
Walking the LES with Teri. [WOBA]
The emptiness of the new Coney Island. [ATZ]
Park Slope La Taqueria shutters--neighborhood weeps at prospect of Chipotle. [PSP]
Another giant luxury project for the Bowery. [Curbed]
Happy 2-year blogiversary to Melanie! And many more... [EVC]
Check out the NYC punk photography of Eugene Merinov. [EM]
Max Fish: an oasis back "when the Lower East Side was just starting to become an amusement park for suburban day-trippers." [NYT]
Freddy's Bar reopens Friday 2/4 in a new location. [FIB]
Behind Miss Weber's Millinery--plus! The story of those K's on the Burlington Coat Factory building. [FNY]
More things that are irritating about people in New York. [Restless]
A look back at Doyers' Nom Wah Tea Parlor in 1938. [BB]
In case you're in the EV and have a hankering to eat a $450 whole baby lamb. [EVG]
Hoisting a pint at Sophie's. [NSC]
Fleeting shots of Soho in a distant Blondie video. [FP]
Walking the LES with Teri. [WOBA]
The emptiness of the new Coney Island. [ATZ]
Park Slope La Taqueria shutters--neighborhood weeps at prospect of Chipotle. [PSP]
John's Goes Vegan
John's Italian restaurant on East 12th Street has been around since 1908. With the loss of the Beatrice Inn and now Fedora, it's one of the last of a few places where you can go in the East or West Village for an authentic "red sauce" meal in a place that hasn't changed.
As a surviving classic, it makes sense they'd try something new to stay in the game.
On a recent trip, with a craving for meatballs, I discovered their new "Vegan Italian Specialties" menu. It includes such dishes as Seitan Scallopini and Seitan Parmigiana, whole wheat and gluten-free pasta, as well as gluten-free cannoli, and vegan ice cream from Lula's Sweet Apothecary.
John's notes on the vegan menu: "We want everyone to be able to enjoy our Italian specialties made with the freshest ingredients available! All of our vegan dishes are plant-based and contain no animal ingredients whatsoever. We use dedicated cooking utensils for preparing vegan dishes."
I'm not vegan, so I can't review the food. And while I may look askance at gluten-free cannoli (that's not how Grandma made them), I applaud John's for making a change that may help it to survive without ruining the spirit and atmosphere of the place. Vegans, spread the word.
Keeping up with the changing world of food, in addition to their vegan menu, John's is also on Facebook and Twitter.
As a surviving classic, it makes sense they'd try something new to stay in the game.
On a recent trip, with a craving for meatballs, I discovered their new "Vegan Italian Specialties" menu. It includes such dishes as Seitan Scallopini and Seitan Parmigiana, whole wheat and gluten-free pasta, as well as gluten-free cannoli, and vegan ice cream from Lula's Sweet Apothecary.
John's notes on the vegan menu: "We want everyone to be able to enjoy our Italian specialties made with the freshest ingredients available! All of our vegan dishes are plant-based and contain no animal ingredients whatsoever. We use dedicated cooking utensils for preparing vegan dishes."
I'm not vegan, so I can't review the food. And while I may look askance at gluten-free cannoli (that's not how Grandma made them), I applaud John's for making a change that may help it to survive without ruining the spirit and atmosphere of the place. Vegans, spread the word.
Keeping up with the changing world of food, in addition to their vegan menu, John's is also on Facebook and Twitter.
Friday, January 14, 2011
*Everyday Chatter
Check out Last New Yorker director Harvey Wang's latest short. [13]
Watch Matt Silver (man in white dress) under the J train. [BBK]
Then visit High Bridge in the City Concealed. [13]
More video? See Jerry Rio, the man on the street in the 1990s. [COS]
A Flickr photographer captures the many cornerstones of New York:
Old-timey street vendors. [ENY]
On the Bowery returns to IFC in April. [BB]
Urban loneliness. Edward Hopper. [P&W]
Houston Wall gets security cammed--you are being watched. [EVG]
Subway rat on man's face goes viral. [Gothamist]
Watch Matt Silver (man in white dress) under the J train. [BBK]
Then visit High Bridge in the City Concealed. [13]
More video? See Jerry Rio, the man on the street in the 1990s. [COS]
A Flickr photographer captures the many cornerstones of New York:
Old-timey street vendors. [ENY]
On the Bowery returns to IFC in April. [BB]
Urban loneliness. Edward Hopper. [P&W]
Houston Wall gets security cammed--you are being watched. [EVG]
Subway rat on man's face goes viral. [Gothamist]
O Joe's!
As discussed earlier this month, the Village's beloved lost diner Joe Jr's is becoming O Cafe, a green venture between a South American coffee connoisseur and a real estate developer named Sitt.
The brown paper is now down from the windows and the name is on the glass.
Through the winter steam, a bleary peek inside. Green plants, squiggly lamps, big coffee cups. No greasy burgers or onion rings worthy of being smuggled into a coffin. As far as I can tell.
The brown paper is now down from the windows and the name is on the glass.
Through the winter steam, a bleary peek inside. Green plants, squiggly lamps, big coffee cups. No greasy burgers or onion rings worthy of being smuggled into a coffin. As far as I can tell.
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