New York Edition: John Dory Oyster Bar the Lone Negative in a Splendid NYC Excursion

When we decided to stop at New York’s John Dory Oyster Bar during our trip to the Apple, it came near the conclusion of a long and trying day. The wife had walked many miles in uncomfortable shoes. I had pulled Lil’ Saucy out of his stroller about a million times for bathroom breaks that had turned out to be false alarms. We were on our way to Macy’s, the plus side of which is you get to see such beautiful sights as their meticulously designed storefront windows and their iconic Christmas-themed department store. The negative side of this, of course, is having to deal with all the idiots taking pictures of said windows and department store on their annoying camera phones. It was with all of this in mind that we decided to stop at John Dory Oyster Bar for a quick drink. I would like to think that some of this has contributed to what is going to be a fairly scathing review.

New York Edition: Pinche Taqueria Merits Both a Rave and a Word of Warning

Let me quickly knock out a review of Pinche Taqueria because the lag time between food consumption during our New York trip and actual discussion of said mastication is getting absolutely ridiculous. It has been like 18 days since I sampled the grub at this Mott St. eatery – one of two New York locations – and what follows is what I remember about our excursion.

Being that our blog is entitled The Pizza Project, it was our intention to sample as much New York City pizza as possible during our trip. To this end, we entered Lombardi’s Pizza with our sights on a circular, flour-and-dough-based delicacy with oozing cheese and delicious red tomato sauce. We spied an offering that someone was eating at an adjacent table and we immediately commenced salivation, Pavlov’s Dog-style. However, this is where everything began to go awry.

NYC Edition Tale of the Pie: Keste Pizza & Vino

Okay, so this one is going to be short and sweet. We were winding down our trip to New York (or perhaps in the nibble's case, winding up) and stopped for one final meal at Keste Pizza & Vino in the West Village for a few pies.

I don't know who was more tired or crankier at that point in the day - the nibble or Saucy. Either way, I have to preface this review by saying that Keste didn't receive the usual amount of attention that we would give to a pizza spot we were planning to review.

New York Edition: For a Good Spot to Hang Out and Drink Beer in NYC, Try Spitzer's Corner

While dining on lunch at Rubirosa, we somehow got on to the topic of a good place to grab a fine microbrew in the Big Apple. We knew of Blind Tiger, of course, and had been tipped off to a place called d.b.a. by a Twitter friend named @BeerCulturist, but for some reason we decided to do something that we almost never do: we asked one of Rubirosa's employees for a suggestion. A fresh-faced female hostess suggested Blind Tiger, but another guy, looking hip in a flannel and Chucks, threw out the name Spitzer's Corner. Now, I don't know if you have met us but we are nothing if not spectacularly hip. So when the name was tossed out by someone who looked at least as unmistakably cool as us, we decided that we would have to hunt it down and check out the list. When we found it, I ran in to check out the beer list. It revealed that the place had multiple Lagunitas, multiple Stones, and many other luminaries. It was immediately confirmed: We would be returning to the Lower East Side that night for our lone post-sundown adventure on the town.

New York Edition Tale of the Pie: Max Brenner

Not a pizza shop, I know. But we did have a slice ... of chocolate pizza to go.

As Saucy mentioned, our NYC weekends once consisted of leisurely Saturday afternoons at the Brooklyn Brewery and Sunday evenings at the Blind Tiger. With a toddler in tow, grabbing a dessert to go from Max Brenner is more our speed these days.

Not that I'm using the nibble as an excuse for slobbing on a slice of absolute decadence in the middle of Broadway. As a true chocoholic, I was happy to leave Saucy and the nibble outside and sneak into the extremely crowded restaurant/chocolate shop to check out their offerings. Almost instantly, I spotted the chocolate pizza. Melted chocolate and toasted marshmallows on a pizza crust? Uh, one slice to go, please.

The wait for our pizza slice was at least 10-15 minutes, a bit longer than I expected. But it was freshly made, with piping hot chocolate and marshmallows oozing over all three sides. So rich, so flavorful and so delicious. And as the three of us stood there chowing down without a word, faces covered in chocolate smears, I thought to myself that this new sort of NYC weekend isn't that bad after all.

Max Brenner
(212) 388-0030East Village
841 Broadway (between 13th and 14th)
New York, NY  10003

Apparently, there is also one in Philly (for our local readers) at 1500 Walnut St. (15th St. between Walnut and Locust).

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The Pizza Project
Just a nibble: http://twitter.com/ThePizzaProject
Single slice: http://www.facebook.com/ThePizzaProject
The full pie: http://thepizzaproject.blogspot.com/

New York Edition: Blind Tiger a Wonderful Option for a Quick, Unseated Beer

What is there to say about our visit to the stellar Greenwich Village beer stop that is Blind Tiger? Well, in this case, there probably isn’t much to say other than, “Wow, they have a really incredible list of drafts!” We didn't have time to take in much in the way of ambience.

You see, the last time we went to Blind Tiger we were childless so we spent a very decent amount of time at the watering hole. We chatted leisurely while sitting at their sizeable bar. We watched some of an Eagles-Giants contest, cheering for the G-Men because the Eagles had just acquired a scoundrel named Michael Vick. We soaked in the environment of a strangely empty-feeling bar in one of the world’s busiest cities. We may have even sampled some of a specialty chili they had on the specials menu.

And, of course, we downed a lot of tremendous beer.

On our latest visit, pretty much everything had changed. We did not sit at the bar (we now have a kid). We did not watch the Eagles (they were not on and, even if they were, they have now gone far beyond afterthought status in my mind). The bar was not empty (it was a Saturday afternoon, so it was absolutely jammed). And we didn't sample the chili (in fact, I’m not sure we tried the chili last time; we haven’t been there in two years and I am looking at this through a haze created by two years of alcohol consumption and fatherhood, not necessarily in that order).

One thing that certainly did stay the same, of course, was the tremendous depth of choices. With the little guy having fallen asleep in the stroller, we entered into the establishment and posted up at the door. Spicy sent me up to the bar to pick our beers. I saw the name Lagunitas and made a beeline. I have already drooled over the California brewers enough on this blog, but let’s just say that Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale fresh out the tap is a good time. Heavy on the hops, but not without a citrusy backbone that really makes it pop. For the lady, I chose a pumpkin beer that was created via a collaboration between West Coast breweries The Bruery, Elysian Brewing Company, and (jackpot!) Stone Brewing Company. Shockingly enough, Spicy had a sip and I could tell that she was a little underwhelmed. One taste, and I could figure out why: the pumpkin spice was very subtly applied. I loved it because it reminded me of Smuttynose’s delicious yet reserved Pumpkin Ale, but she felt like they could have been a little less stingy with the pumpkin notes. Not disgustingly abundant, like Southern Tier’s undrinkable Pumking, but a little more pumpkin flavor would have been appreciated by her palette.

But in the all’s well that ends well department…one good thing about Wifey not enjoying her beer was that I had even more time than usual to enjoy a second specimen. For number 2, I chose Bear Republic’s Mach 10 Imperial IPA. Now it’s been about nine days since I consumed this beverage, so if you are looking for a detailed description, you will be sorely disappointed. Let’s just say it tasted like someone poured a bunch of hops into a glass, set the water to ice cold, and commenced pouring. Were there other flavors present that made this an enjoyable beer? I’m sure. The fact is though I truly hate it when someone advertises a double IPA and you find that it is basically the power of one of the big boys' singles. This is not a problem for Bear Republic: They brought out the big guns. My father-in-law, an educated hop head, took a sip (we ran into the wife’s parents even after separating to look at some notable hot spots on our individual agendas) and said something along the lines of “Wow.” Not “Wow, that’s great” wow, but more of a “Wow, that’s a lot of hops” wow. When someone is sort of revolted by the amount of hops in a beer, that is a pretty good sign that I am going to really like it.

I would have loved to stick around longer for more scrumptious liquid, but, alas, our son woke up. Suddenly, with his eyes no longer glued shut, it didn’t feel as responsible to be standing in a bar downing suds. So we bid Blind Tiger "Adieu," and got along our way. But not before voicing a silent vow. Like McArthur before me, I pledged to the establishment that I would return. And that will be a promise kept as long as they keep stocking such an adventurous menu of hops-and-barley based options.

Blind Tiger Ale House
281 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10014-4106



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The Pizza Project
Just a nibble: http://twitter.com/ThePizzaProject
Single slice: http://www.facebook.com/ThePizzaProject
The full pie: http://thepizzaproject.blogspot.com/

NYC Edition Tale of the Pie: Rubirosa

Window on left is where the nibble left his saucy mark.

So my parents generously invited Saucy, the nibble and me to accompany them on a trip to NYC last weekend. We of course jumped at the chance, as we love New York and hadn't been there since before the nibble was born. The two days were filled with plenty of eating and a bit of boozing, so we'll be sharing more in future posts.
We arrived Saturday right before lunchtime, and after leaving our luggage at our hotel (Hotel Mulberry, a great little spot in the heart of Chinatown), we scurried around the corner for a quick nosh on dumplings at a place that shall remain nameless (only because I have no idea what the name of the place is). You certainly can't beat 5 for $1, especially as you watch the owner rolling them herself. Delish!