Stayed
With Mike and Pete. Mike is a co-worker at outside.in and shares my feeling of less is more with regard to stuff. Pete is foreign currency trader by day and an 80’s pop star by night. Check out his new album here and follow him on Twitter here, and read his blog here.
Ate
Awesome food, pretty much everywhere I went. Some highlights:
Esperanto – Brazilian food. Mike and I went there on Monday night for the prix fixe menu ($20) and half off bottle of wine. $12 for a halfway decent bottle of wine? I asked him if I was still in Manhattan.
Barnyard – Mike was a great host and recommended some spots for me while he was away for the weekend. Barnyard was one of those spots. An expensive, albeit delicious breakfast sandwich. I also had turmeric juice which just tastes healthy.
Kafana – Pete, Mike and I had the nomad sponsored dinner here and it was really great. INCREDIBLE cow’s milk feta cheese and a great selection of meats. It’s relatively new, and neither of my hosts had been there, which always makes for a fun outing. I had never eaten at Serbian restaurant (or had Serbian beer) before.
Wacky Wok – This is the go to take-out spot. Pick your noodles, pick your vegetables and protein and pick your sauce. It’s guilt free takeout as the packaging is all eco-friendly. What’s even nicer is that they are not in your face about how “green” they are. It’s kind of obvious from the moment you walk in the place. There is a hippyish guy who runs the shop and like most of Alphabet city, it was just a chill place.
Caracas Arepa Bar – I finally went here after 3 previous unsuccessful attempts. There had always been over an hour long wait so when it was 30 minutes I jumped at the chance. I am definitely a fan and would go back, but I wouldn’t wait an hour for it. I’m of the belief that the block on 7th street between 1st and A has the best food in all of Manhattan. Anyone have a better block?
Also had my first cupcake at Butter Lane. You pick your cupcake and icing and its pretty fun. I had Banana with Peanut Butter.
Met
Lots of nice people at the 9th street community garden and park. I’m writing a whole post about it so stay tuned. There are an abundance of community gardens in Alphabet city.
Relaxed
I had the apartment mostly to myself over the weekend. I didn’t leave the neighborhood until Sunday and stayed in Friday and Saturday night. I hadn’t done that in a long time and it was exactly what I needed. I enjoyed coffee at 9th street espresso which was described to me as mecca for coffee drinkers. I also waited for the cable guy on Saturday afternoon and scored my hosts some free cable. Sound good? Send me an Email!
Saw
One of the most insane performances I’ve ever seen. This guy used to play basketball for Villanova.
Here’s a picture:
Bars
Duke’s – Duke’s is a cool spot with a dartboard in the back. They had to take down their sign because the Duke’s restaurants in NYC were complaining about copyright. I think that is pretty lame.
B side – It’s a cool spot with a foosball table and cheap beer
Banjo Jim’s – What a bar is supposed to be in my opinion. Great music and a really fun crowd with $3 Tecates and $4 Dale’s Pale Ale. Banjo’s is right below where I was staying and I can’t believe I only made it there one night.
Ran
Runners high happens about every 5 years for me, but I had it within 10 minutes of starting my run along the East River. It was an incredible day and the five fingered shoes might have had something to do with it. I also returned to the outdoor gym on 6th street where I always seem to meet someone interesting (this time a chef in the Financial District).
If you couldn’t tell from the length of this post, I LOVED Alphabet City!
What did I miss? Email me.
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