March 2011
The Archives
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Morningside Heights, Restaurants
Brunch & Dinner at Community Food & Juice – NYC
03.26.11 | Permalink | 8 Comments
For my birthday, my brother and Hannah (my sister-in-law), got me a gift card to Community Food & Juice, the uptown branch of Clinton St. Baking Co. My initial reaction was “WOOT!” followed quickly by “F*CK!” Not that I hate gift cards or that Community is a bad restaurant or that I wasn’t grateful. (Thank you Hannah and Bro for thinking of my stomach!) It’s just that the location isn’t so ideal for me. Community Food & Juice is located in Morningside Heights. From the East Village, it takes a little less than an hour by train. That’s more time than I want to spend commuting on the weekend for brunch. Years ago, when I was a hungry college student in Morningside Heights (I’m a Barnard girl), I probably would have been more appreciative, but now, not so much. In addition, considering the East Village is seasonal restaurant central, it really doesn’t make sense to go all the way to Morningside Heights for the type of food I can eat a block away. It’s like living in Flushing and commuting to the Upper East Side for Chinese food. I inquired about using the card at Clinton St., but Community said it wasn’t possible. It probably wouldn’t have made a difference anyway. Even though Clinton St. is less than ten minutes away from my apartment, I’d probably spend the same amount of time waiting for a table outside with the morning tourist crowd. Not my kind of scene. So one morning, with dragging feet, David and I set off to find out if Community Food & Juice was truly a destination restaurant. MORE »
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Hell's Kitchen, Restaurants
Lunching at Pure Thai Shophouse – NYC
03.19.11 | Permalink | 11 Comments
There’s an inordinate number of Thai restaurants in Hell’s Kitchen. Even more than Duane Reade pharmacies. Not sure why. There isn’t a large Thai community in the area. I assume the restaurants are there to cater to the non-Asian office workers in Midtown who want something similar to Chinese take-out, but nothing too exotic. Something safe. I say this because most of the Thai restaurants are bad. On one fateful lunch, I went to a very popular Thai restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen, and everything tasted like it had been tossed in sugar before it came out. Horrible. Last year, Pure Thai Shophouse opened on 9th Avenue amid all the bad Thai restaurants, and I admit, I had my doubts. However, those doubts were quickly cast aside after my first visit, and now I’ve become a lunchtime regular. MORE »
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Midtown, Restaurants
When Not to Go to Marea – NYC
03.10.11 | Permalink | 9 Comments
You’ve heard it before. Don’t go to a restaurant near closing time. No one, except possibly the owner, will be happy to receive customers when everyone has their mind set to go home. It’s like getting an email from your boss for a last-minute project at 4:30 pm on a Friday. It sucks. Well, I discovered this also applies to lunch. Do not go to a restaurant at the end of lunch service. The BF and I had reservations at Marea at 2:30 pm on a Sunday. We got there late. It was a holiday weekend and we decided to take a cab through the heart of tourist central. This was our first mistake. We got there at 3 pm. When the host informed us the kitchen was closing but we could be seated on the condition we order quickly, we agreed. Mistake two. We should have walked out the door. Instead, we rushed and were rushed through what should have been a leisurely weekend lunch. Not a big deal when eating at a cheapo diner two in the morning, but not so pleasant at a nice (read expensive; 2 courses for $42 at lunch) restaurant. MORE »
