“Meals make the society, hold the fabric together in lots of ways that were charming and interesting and intoxicating to me. The perfect meal, or the best meals, occur in a context that frequently has very little to do with the food itself.” – Anthony Bourdain
A MINI SPEAK EASY TOUR
Last night we made reservations at Beauty and Essex at the recommendation of our good friend Brittany. It did not disappoint. Certainly the best meal and cocktails of the trip so far. But the cool bit? You enter through a pawn shop. And a slightly crusty one at that. Check out the entrance.
Through the pawn shop, and the unassuming door, you’ll find the restaurants brilliantly executed interior. Dark. Cozy. Yet decidedly upscale. The cocktails were unique, strong, and oh so delicious. The food? Reasonably sized, reasonably priced portions that were both well thought out and easy to share. Perfect.
Despite being a food photo junkie, I am still anti flash, so forgive the lighting.
PLEASE DON’T TELL
After dinner, we headed to our next speakeasy type stop – Please Don’t Tell. Their website here pretty much sums it up. Part of the fun is in finding these places. And while we certainly could have googled our way in faster, the adventure found in the discovery was worth the extra time.
Here, you enter through a hot dog shop, then pick up a phone in a phone booth and wait for an answer. If they have space, you’re in! If they don’t they put you on a list to return. 3 hour wait. So we will try again tonight. But we did get to see the setup. Pretty rad. The bar photo is from the website.
ANGLES SHARE
Our final hidden spot was Angels Share. This place was the most fun to find. We actually walked past the entrance 3 or 4 times before deciding to just go for it.
You walk up a flight of stairs into a small Japanese restaurant, make a hard left through an unmarked door and… boom…you’re in. Super chill spot and another long line to be seated.
GRAND CENTRAL AND BIERHAUS SPEISEKARTE
On the way home we wandered through Grand Central Station and into a German beer hall. My kinda place.
A big stein of Dunkel and some beer cheese and chips wound down our night. While I still don’t think I would ever move to a city as big as New York… the food and drink selection makes it much more appealing.
Gray and rainy, it’s a good opportunity to stay indoors. Tonight we are off to Rafele for some Italian…thanks Maggie!… and Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. I’m wearing my nice shoes, and bringing my tums… should be all set.
Cheers! See you on the journey.
