tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74713071032352740572024-03-19T10:45:30.262-04:00Mitch Broder's Vintage New YorkAdventures at the classic old haunts of Manhattan, with justifiable detoursMitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.comBlogger111125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-59918261511260445202015-09-01T13:55:00.001-04:002015-09-01T13:55:38.054-04:00New in New York: Discover "New York's One-Food Wonders"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SJF6kkXKtq8/VeXV3miTP6I/AAAAAAAACN4/xKB69c1oW-o/s1600/NYOneFoodCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SJF6kkXKtq8/VeXV3miTP6I/AAAAAAAACN4/xKB69c1oW-o/s640/NYOneFoodCover.jpg" width="546" /></a></div>
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<b>By Mitch Broder</b><br />
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New York is a swell place for a single person, but it’s an even sweller place for a single food. When a food on its own wants a restaurant of its own, its best shot is here. In fact, the single-food restaurants in this city could fill a book — and I know, because it’s the book I just wrote.<br />
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Today is the publication date for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/New-Yorks-One-Food-Wonders-Single-Food/dp/1493006428">“New York’s One-Food Wonders: A Guide to the Big Apple’s Unique Single-Food Spots.”</a> It’s the first and only guide to the dozens of destinations that turn a lone food into a lone star, thus bringing new meaning to “singles event.”<br />
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The destinations include places like Egg Shop, Luke’s Lobster, and Caracas Arepa Bar. Their foods range from peanut butter to caviar. They are as unlikely as Rice to Riches, which sells rice pudding, and as old as Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery, which is 105.<br />
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They serve common delicacies in uncommon ways, like the hot dog with bacon, egg, and cheese at Crif Dogs. They serve uncommon delicacies in common ways, like the goat-milk ice cream at Victory Garden. They serve delicacies they invented themselves, like the stuffed bagel balls at Bantam Bagels.
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The book, of course, tells you all about the places, but it also tells you all about the people behind the places. They include families, friends, couples, and, naturally, singles — all consumed by a food, and all determined to share their vision of it with New York.<br />
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This book is my follow-up to “Discovering Vintage New York: A Guide to the City’s Timeless Shops, Bars, Delis & More.” That book tells of the classic spots that have survived for over 50 years. The Wonders constitute an alternate classic. I call them the Other Vintage.<br />
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They are vintage in that they keep some independence in the city; they are one last chance for dreamers to live out their dreams. And they are vintage in that they keep some adventure in the city; developers rarely generate places like Sticky’s Finger Joint.<br />
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Since there is more to life than food, though not much more, I’ve included a bonus section that features the city’s one-thing wonders. It takes you on an improbable journey from Alex & Bell Accordions to Yunhong Chopsticks. (I’ll let you know as soon as I find a Z.)<br />
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And as another bonus, I’ve created the New York Singular Hall of Fame, celebrating both kinds of wonders from the past. Among the one-thing wonders here is Seashells Unlimited; among the one-food wonders is the lamented Hero’s Sweet Potatoes.<br />
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That said, this remains mostly a book about available food. But as I write in the book’s introduction, it is also a book about passion. It’s about passion for creativity, which is what brings these places to life — and about passion for something surprising to eat, which is what keeps these places alive.
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“Wonders” (like “Vintage”) has appendixes that group its places by category and by neighborhood. With these you can craft a customized trip to debauchery. I hope you do. Many of us overlook the wonders nearest to us. I’d like to help everyone to get over that.<br />
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<i>Find what's wonderful in New York in “New York’s One-Food Wonders,” published today by Globe Pequot.</i>Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-69487348195643752572014-01-08T15:03:00.003-05:002014-01-08T17:00:05.844-05:00New in New York: Crispy Rice Puts on the Ritz at Treat House<div class="MsoNormal">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Rice Krispies Treats were originally named Marshmallow
Squares, back when a company could actually miss a chance to name a thing after
one of its brands. The Squares were likewise humble. This made them ripe for
elevation. And they have now gotten that in the form of a store all their own,
named Treat House.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Prepared in your home, as originally intended, Marshmallow
Squares were a blob in a pot. It could be eaten in gobs or, if you had
patience, spread into a pan and cut. At Treat House, the snack is refined. It comes
in perfect cubes, in deluxe flavors. The Treats think they are cupcakes. Each
one wears a hat.<o:p></o:p><br />
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The Bubble Gum Treat, for instance, is topped by a wad of
Dubble Bubble. The Mint Chocolate Chip Treat is topped by a section of chocolate
mint patty. The Chocolate Peanut Butter Treat sports a jaunty chocolate peanut
butter cup, and the M&M treat, needless to say, is crowned by M&M’s.<o:p></o:p></div>
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These are gourmet Treats. They have been created by a pastry
chef. They make a better appearance at, say, your wedding reception, than gobs
from a blob. This explains why Treat House makes its home on the Upper West
Side, and why one Treat costs almost as much as a box of Rice Krispies on sale.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Still, Treat House is
not stuck up. It is a playful place. “Treat House” sounds like “treehouse,” so
the shop has treehouse décor. It makes creative use of logs. And in the back
you can sit on a stump and dine on Treats in a room that looks like it belongs on
a branch.<o:p></o:p><br />
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It all began in 1939. That’s reportedly when Mildred Day and
Malitta Jensen of the Kellogg’s company invented Marshmallow Squares. Legend
has it that they invented them as a fund-raiser for the Camp Fire Girls, but it
seems more likely that they invented them as a fund-raiser for Kellogg’s.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Seventy-two years later, Chris Russell got the idea for
Treat House. He really did get his inspiration from a fund-raiser. His sons
Daniel and Eli wanted to help children in Africa. They would have a bake sale.
Conveniently, they had a father who was also a chef.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Chris, with the help of the boys and his wife, Jennifer,
came up with three Treats: Chocolate Mint, Butterscotch Sprinkle, and Raspberry
Chocolate. The Treats sold out in two hours and netted $300. “A couple of weeks
later,” Chris says, “it dawned on my wife and me that there were so many
potential flavor combinations.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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They enlisted the pastry chef, Wendy Israel, and everyone pitched
flavors. They spent two years determining their Treat choices and techniques.
“We learned early on,” Chris says, “that if you just add ingredients to crisp
rice cereal, you get soggy crisp rice cereal, and nobody wants that.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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Treat House has been a smash. But for some customers,
the Treats take adjusting. “They’re not traditional Rice Krispies Treats,”
Chris explains. (They’re also not made with Rice Krispies.) “We pack them
denser than you would at home. So sometimes people’s expectations of what it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">should</i> taste like are different from
what it does taste like.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wpAKSqglkks/Us2f7zCbTYI/AAAAAAAABhY/9Aq3ef1nFxQ/s1600/Treat+House+menu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wpAKSqglkks/Us2f7zCbTYI/AAAAAAAABhY/9Aq3ef1nFxQ/s1600/Treat+House+menu.jpg" height="296" width="400" /></a>Fortunately, Chris believed that I should draw my own
conclusions. He gave me several <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>samples
of Treat House Treats. I adjusted quickly. They were delightful. I was
impressed that the Raspberry Chocolate tasted like raspberry, and that the
M&M had M&Ms inside as well as on top.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The shop also has Treat Pops, Treat Breakfast Bars, and Treat
Ice Cream Bars. The Chocolate Mint Ice Cream Bar is what I’ll eat daily when I
decide to let myself go. The flavors change, but there is always a
choice of at least 12 Treats. And 10 cents per Treat goes to the Food Bank For New York
City, so the more you eat, the more philanthropic you are.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Chris was once an owner of the once red-hot restaurant
Moomba. This place is different, of course. But then again, in a way it’s the
same.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“If you want a two-dollar brick of Rice Krispies, you go the
deli,” Chris says. “If you want something a little more sophisticated, you come
here.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Climb up to the <a href="http://www.treathouse.com/">Treat House</a>, 452 Amsterdam Avenue, between 81<sup>st</sup> and 82<sup>nd</sup>
streets, New York City.<o:p></o:p></i><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cgZX_Eqc_yQ/Us2krEH6N9I/AAAAAAAABiA/stso6VxpyAA/s1600/Hungarian+Pastry+Shop+outside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cgZX_Eqc_yQ/Us2krEH6N9I/AAAAAAAABiA/stso6VxpyAA/s1600/Hungarian+Pastry+Shop+outside.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
FOR MORE VINTAGE TREATS ON AMSTERDAM, VISIT THE HUNGARIAN
PASTRY SHOP, WHICH HAS BEEN SERVING ITS SWEETS SINCE 1961. IT’S AMONG THE DOZENS OF SPOTS
WHOSE STORIES YOU’LL FIND IN THE AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE BEST SELLER
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Vintage-New-York-Timeless/dp/0762784547">“DISCOVERING VINTAGE NEW YORK”</a>!<o:p></o:p><br />
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<!--EndFragment-->Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-40398968282159681342013-11-26T21:30:00.001-05:002013-11-26T21:30:13.103-05:00Old New York: Town Shop's Old Skills Have Found a New Home<div class="MsoNormal">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Why did the Town Shop cross the road?<o:p></o:p></div>
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To get to the other size.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Especially since the other size is three times the previous
size.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Town Shop is the store where women undress you with their
eyes — at least if you’re also a woman, and in search of the right brassiere.
It’s the bra-fitting capital of New York, and it has just moved across the
street to a shop that can provide more women than ever with its formidable
support.<o:p></o:p><br />
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This is fitting, since Town Shop has always been preoccupied
with size. It advances the theory that 80 percent of women are afflicted with
ill-fitting bras. When a member of that 80 percent walks in, a fitter quickly looks
her over and then announces her proper number and letter. There’s not a tape
measure in the house.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ubsKwxRhOPg/UpVNRsewimI/AAAAAAAABfs/Nl0ILZg2Yn0/s1600/Town+Shop+Selma.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ubsKwxRhOPg/UpVNRsewimI/AAAAAAAABfs/Nl0ILZg2Yn0/s320/Town+Shop+Selma.jpg" width="320" /></a>But the once-over measure must work, since the store is
around a century old, with roots in a Bleecker Street notions shop of 1888. It
has had several branches around the city, but this is the one that endured.
It’s been a fixture on the Upper West Side since 1936.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For most of its life it was run by Selma Koch, the founder’s
daughter-in-law, who arguably became even more famous than her bras. Her crusty
devotion made her a media darling. She ruled the store for 75 years. She was undoubtedly
as famous as you could get and still be a bra-store owner.<br />
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Selma died 10 years ago, and the store has since been run by
her son and grandson, Peter Koch and Danny Koch. Schooled as they are in spatial relationships, they were primed to increase their square footage. When a chance appeared
across the street, they packed up their underthings.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The bright new space, Danny says, is a jolt to some longtime
patrons: “They say, ‘Oh, we loved that old store’ or ‘We miss the intimate
feel.’” But others are jolted with joy. “They can’t believe this is us,” Danny
says. “They’re not accustomed to shopping in one of our stores where you can
actually see the merchandise.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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The merchandise, as always, includes all manner of ladies’ delicates.
But now it also includes a whole department of gentlemen’s delicates. <a href="http://mbvintagenewyork.blogspot.com/2011/05/town-shop-where-nyc-man-can-get-lift.html">The Koches tested the waters</a> two years ago with the Spanx line of “compression”
undershirts, and their new store has expanded it into an entire man’s room.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_WNgzDfUjt4/UpVLp8dMYlI/AAAAAAAABfU/VFXtramQtEs/s1600/Town+Shop+display.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_WNgzDfUjt4/UpVLp8dMYlI/AAAAAAAABfU/VFXtramQtEs/s640/Town+Shop+display.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Along with the Spanx compressors, the room displays
underwear and pajamas with fancy-pants brand names like Calida and Derek Rose. As
Danny points out, women buy most men’s underwear, but just in case, the man’s
room has a TV set that always shows the game.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-camr3FKIBCo/UpVOqC5nzfI/AAAAAAAABgE/VUuZT84n4PM/s1600/Town+Shop+men's.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-camr3FKIBCo/UpVOqC5nzfI/AAAAAAAABgE/VUuZT84n4PM/s640/Town+Shop+men's.jpg" width="640" /></a>Danny loves his new place — but he made sure to give it some
old spirit. You can see it in things like the dressing-room curtains and the
Town Shop memorabilia. The store is shiny, but it’s still a long way from
Bloomingdale’s. Or in Danny’s words: “It’s somewhere between what we had and
the Apple Store.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wTo8NgMSVc4/UpVOISj-vZI/AAAAAAAABgA/5t0ciQY3quo/s1600/Town+Shop+inside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wTo8NgMSVc4/UpVOISj-vZI/AAAAAAAABgA/5t0ciQY3quo/s640/Town+Shop+inside.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cross over to <a href="http://www.townshop.com/">Town Shop</a>, now at 2270 Broadway, between 81<sup>st</sup> and 82<sup>nd</sup>
streets, in New York City.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xm1ziFj7srM/UpVPsKsTd-I/AAAAAAAABgQ/31CnuewdUV4/s1600/Town+Shop+Vintage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xm1ziFj7srM/UpVPsKsTd-I/AAAAAAAABgQ/31CnuewdUV4/s640/Town+Shop+Vintage.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">READ THE WHOLE STORY OF THE TOWN SHOP AND THE STORIES OF DOZENS OF OTHER CITY CLASSICS IN THE AMAZON BEST SELLER
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Vintage-New-York-Timeless/dp/0762784547">“DISCOVERING VINTAGE NEW YORK”</a>! GIVE IT THE ONCE-OVER AT THE TOWN SHOP!</span></b><!--EndFragment-->
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b>Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-70595981797455259592013-10-22T18:15:00.000-04:002013-10-22T18:15:02.962-04:00New in New York: Potatopia is a Paradise of Potato Possibilities<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YvX47Ic_LfY/UmbmJ_z89-I/AAAAAAAABdo/DAEpFRaSOOg/s1600/Potatopia+fountain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YvX47Ic_LfY/UmbmJ_z89-I/AAAAAAAABdo/DAEpFRaSOOg/s640/Potatopia+fountain.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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If, like me, you can’t enjoy a potato without a choice of 10
aiolis, then you grasp the importance to total potato gratification of
Potatopia.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Well, actually, that’s not like me. I really don’t want any
aiolis. And if I did, I probably wouldn’t want them anywhere near my potato. I would
want sour cream, or maybe cheese. But Potatopia has those, too, which means that
it seeks to gratify everyone, which makes it truly a Potato Utopia.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YLvYbIaFK1Y/Umbmw8iHs2I/AAAAAAAABdw/k3-2HB3mwUY/s1600/Potatopia+front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YLvYbIaFK1Y/Umbmw8iHs2I/AAAAAAAABdw/k3-2HB3mwUY/s320/Potatopia+front.jpg" width="236" /></a></div>
Potatopia is a new idea that, in New York, you’d think is an
old one: a restaurant that serves only meals featuring potatoes. It offers 10
different forms of potatoes, 16 different toppings, six different “proteins,”
and 15 different sauces, including, indeed, 10 different aiolis.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I got 100 on my eighth-grade math midterm, but I still can’t
begin to calculate how many different potato-meal options those choices can yield.
But I’m pretty sure that you could get a different one every day for the rest
of your life and die in old age regretting all the potato combinations you missed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Your potato choices include Baked Potato, Baked Sweet
Potato, Smashed Potato, Mashed Pie, Skin Chip, Shoestring, and Curly. Your
topping choices include Broccoli, Sweet Pepper, Cilantro, Red Onion, Cheddar
Cheese, Asiago Cheese, Pepperjack Cheese, and Specialty Cheese.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qxUwhEQVdXU/UmbnSmBaRII/AAAAAAAABd4/jqJ237IZSNY/s1600/Potatopia+toppings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qxUwhEQVdXU/UmbnSmBaRII/AAAAAAAABd4/jqJ237IZSNY/s640/Potatopia+toppings.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The proteins are Chicken, Sausage, Bacon, Shrimp, Steak, and
Egg. And the sauces — besides Sour Cream, Melted Cheddar, Ketchup, and BBQ —
include Mustard Aioli, Ranch Aioli, Curry Aioli, Chipotle Aioli, Truffle Aioli,
Savory Bacon Aioli, and Roasted Pepper Aioli.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OeRNSiVmQiE/Umbnmf7PYRI/AAAAAAAABeA/jibhEKjBJ3s/s1600/Potatopia+sauces.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OeRNSiVmQiE/Umbnmf7PYRI/AAAAAAAABeA/jibhEKjBJ3s/s640/Potatopia+sauces.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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All these choices are on the menu under “Build Your
Own/Follow Steps 1 - 4.” <a href="http://mbvintagenewyork.blogspot.com/2011/11/strangely-new-york-stepping-out-at-b.html">As I have previously expressed here</a>, I tend to get ruffled by Steps. But for the Step-averse, there is “Signature
Meals/Leave It To The Potato Experts.” The Potato Experts offer seven Step-free
selections.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iTJ_SrhzkHY/Umbn5MEu1MI/AAAAAAAABeI/naStCmCMxaQ/s1600/Potatopia+Smahed+Hit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iTJ_SrhzkHY/Umbn5MEu1MI/AAAAAAAABeI/naStCmCMxaQ/s640/Potatopia+Smahed+Hit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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These include Frequent Friers, comprising “Shoestring,
House Salt & Pepper, Parmesan Cheese, Parsley, Garlic with Parmo Aioli,”
and Smashed Hit — pictured here — combining “Smashed Potato, House
Salt & Pepper, Cheddar Cheese, Asiago Cheese, Scallion, Red Onion, Garlic,
Cilantro with Roasted Pepper Aioli.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6jzs8geIr3M/UmbouBjbfiI/AAAAAAAABeQ/pQdAApZNvdo/s1600/Potatopia+inside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6jzs8geIr3M/UmbouBjbfiI/AAAAAAAABeQ/pQdAApZNvdo/s640/Potatopia+inside.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QndYYAbZ66A/UmbqAQkuLAI/AAAAAAAABeg/KwsjOYPNfVI/s1600/Potatopia+door+pull.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QndYYAbZ66A/UmbqAQkuLAI/AAAAAAAABeg/KwsjOYPNfVI/s320/Potatopia+door+pull.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
There have long been guys in the city with potato
carts. But to make all the stuff in Potatopia, a guy’d need a potato
Winnebago. That’s the point of Potatopia: It’s not a baked-potato joint. It’s closer to an unprecedented spudian smorgasbord.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Not unprecedented, though. Potatopia had an out-of-town
tryout. Its first store opened two years ago in, inventively, Edison, New
Jersey. But its founder, Allen Dikker, acknowledges that he opened it with the
goal of opening his second store in New York.<o:p></o:p></div>
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He anointed potatoes, he says, because “everything else is out
there.” In a city with restaurants like <a href="http://mbvintagenewyork.blogspot.com/2012/07/new-in-new-york-breakfast-is-lunch-and.html">OatMeals</a>, that’s more or less true. He
conducted aioli experiments at home to assemble his roster of sauces. Not
surprisingly, he’s now at work on an all-potato cookbook.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bUD4ZcF58bg/UmbpgsUjOFI/AAAAAAAABeY/s-51WD-w168/s1600/Potatopia+window.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="473" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bUD4ZcF58bg/UmbpgsUjOFI/AAAAAAAABeY/s-51WD-w168/s640/Potatopia+window.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before the grand opening.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Potatopia’s top potato is the Smashed Hit, though there is
interest in the most complex choice, which has 16 ingredients, four of which
are cheeses. It’s called the Comatoser. The store has been open for just a few
weeks, but Allen says that more are already on the way. He’s understandably feeling
his oats.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Still, he also acknowledges that I’m far from the only person
who is perturbed by the profusion of potato possibilities. As the store manager,
Albert Sierra, told me: “In the beginning, people find it a little
intimidating. But by the second or third time, they get used to it.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C-hO1NctAVg/Umbqbkr5KdI/AAAAAAAABeo/s8-b86L-0oY/s1600/Potatopia+Get+Smashed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C-hO1NctAVg/Umbqbkr5KdI/AAAAAAAABeo/s8-b86L-0oY/s640/Potatopia+Get+Smashed.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Weigh your options at
Potatopia, 378 Sixth Avenue, between Waverly Place and West Eighth Street, New York
City.<o:p></o:p></i><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a6BoJcqlpbQ/UmbtRb17WPI/AAAAAAAABew/HhybBhIsQfs/s1600/Yonah+Shimmel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a6BoJcqlpbQ/UmbtRb17WPI/AAAAAAAABew/HhybBhIsQfs/s640/Yonah+Shimmel.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">POTATOPIA HAS A LOT — BUT IT
DOESN’T HAVE A KNISH. FOR THAT, YOU NEED THE CENTURY-OLD YONAH SCHIMMEL KNISH
BAKERY. FIND YONAH SCHIMMEL, ALONG WITH OF DOZENS OF OTHER CLASSIC CITY SPOTS,
IN THE AMAZON BEST SELLER <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Vintage-New-York-Timeless/dp/0762784547">“DISCOVERING VINTAGE NEW YORK”</a>!</span></b><!--EndFragment-->
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b>Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-42625058121481267872013-09-23T20:30:00.000-04:002013-09-23T20:30:09.592-04:00Signing Off: We've Fled the Growlers and Turned Down the Heat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ffzq0Mz7Plw/Uj_TDIsfDsI/AAAAAAAABbw/QZ1JXx2f6uc/s1600/Growler+Station.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ffzq0Mz7Plw/Uj_TDIsfDsI/AAAAAAAABbw/QZ1JXx2f6uc/s640/Growler+Station.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b>By Mitch Broder</b><br />
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A growler can be a container for beer.<br />
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It can also be other things, none especially pleasant.<br />
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The Growler Station, a small chain, squirts "craft" beer into jugs and bottles that you can take home, or wherever it is you like to take your beer. But no matter what "growler" makes you think of, it's probably not as appealing as brew, which could be the reason that the Eighth Street Growler Station has ceased to squirt.<br />
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At least it could be according to the axiom of Signing Off, which holds that while a name can conceivably make a place, it can definitely break it. At the end of a miserable day, the word GROWLER in big orange letters doesn't seem like the thing to convince you that this is the place to escape all the world's growls.<br />
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If you agree, here are more places that may have made the same mistake.<br />
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If you disagree, your closest Growler Station is now in Columbus, Ohio.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u4VVxDN3eMU/UkCrr2yKx-I/AAAAAAAABcE/xWwJslu83WI/s1600/High+Heat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u4VVxDN3eMU/UkCrr2yKx-I/AAAAAAAABcE/xWwJslu83WI/s640/High+Heat.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
There are few times in New York life when high heat is attractive, and clearly not enough of them to support a burger joint by that name. But then, New York City is not currently starving for burger joints. And Waldy Malouf is a famous chef, so he'll surely come up with something cooler.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--0ul8rPR_6U/UkCsUcHHB_I/AAAAAAAABcM/BRQZeMwNJbc/s1600/Animal+Crackers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--0ul8rPR_6U/UkCsUcHHB_I/AAAAAAAABcM/BRQZeMwNJbc/s640/Animal+Crackers.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Animal Crackers are for people, but this store was for dogs. Thus your expectations were frustrated before you walked in the door. So you didn't. Instead, you went somewhere else to find yourself some cookies. And then, if you needed dog food, you went somewhere else for that.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RcvNrpJLUM4/UkCs3F7H1UI/AAAAAAAABcU/90OXA5hPEuQ/s1600/Mxy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RcvNrpJLUM4/UkCs3F7H1UI/AAAAAAAABcU/90OXA5hPEuQ/s640/Mxy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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This was a spiffy gift store, and it lasted for twenty years. But even with all its letters it couldn't handle today's numbers. It couldn't have helped that many customers who wanted to recommend it couldn't pronounce it, unless they were fluent in Superman comics. Still, it survives in Jersey City.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VJgbAuZLRKY/UkDBfVHBtnI/AAAAAAAABck/bWjpdkoYfXg/s1600/Cigkoftem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VJgbAuZLRKY/UkDBfVHBtnI/AAAAAAAABck/bWjpdkoYfXg/s640/Cigkoftem.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Cigkoftem is a Turkish chain that sells sandwiches of spicy wheat balls. But to the unversed, the name could suggest something you might get from excess smoking. If a place is selling just one food, it should make clear what that food is. Though I can't swear that it would have helped to have named the place Spicy Wheat Balls.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tTGmZmemR-c/UkDKDg1JnrI/AAAAAAAABc4/paHnxOnQsNQ/s1600/Ramen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tTGmZmemR-c/UkDKDg1JnrI/AAAAAAAABc4/paHnxOnQsNQ/s640/Ramen.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
I can't say whether robatayaki is better known than cigkoftem...<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h61F0T1Apko/UkDKkl8M3KI/AAAAAAAABc8/G9F9cRCXw8g/s1600/Prohibit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h61F0T1Apko/UkDKkl8M3KI/AAAAAAAABc8/G9F9cRCXw8g/s640/Prohibit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
... but I can say that Prohibit sounded awfully prohibitive.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kE5IZfGsAnY/UkDK5GcPGtI/AAAAAAAABdE/BzKBBHWbESw/s1600/Bee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kE5IZfGsAnY/UkDK5GcPGtI/AAAAAAAABdE/BzKBBHWbESw/s640/Bee.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
And I can say that while we appreciate our bees and our desserts, we appreciate them separated.<br />
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And now they are.<br />
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<i>Vintage New York always tries to understand.</i><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wOd_Aqh14TQ/UkDQ3YUuruI/AAAAAAAABdU/E7IH8UN609s/s1600/Glaser's.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wOd_Aqh14TQ/UkDQ3YUuruI/AAAAAAAABdU/E7IH8UN609s/s640/Glaser's.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
<br />Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-50376922533819107122013-08-30T13:26:00.001-04:002013-08-30T13:26:19.079-04:00New in New York: Now You Can Pinpoint Your Wafels & Dinges <div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hOeHr6RHeHA/UiDF1Bg92OI/AAAAAAAABaU/N4q7O4z8qME/s1600/Wafels+&+Dinges+iron.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hOeHr6RHeHA/UiDF1Bg92OI/AAAAAAAABaU/N4q7O4z8qME/s640/Wafels+&+Dinges+iron.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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When I was a boy my mother deemed waffles and ice cream an
official meal, which is why I still love my mother and why I still love waffles
and ice cream. But a good waffle, like a good mother, can be hard to find,
which is why Wafels & Dinges has opened its first shop that doesn’t move.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4cKam05JyoI/UiDGiV2LRmI/AAAAAAAABac/x1wRyxPFl9U/s1600/Wafels+&+Dinges+cafe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4cKam05JyoI/UiDGiV2LRmI/AAAAAAAABac/x1wRyxPFl9U/s400/Wafels+&+Dinges+cafe.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Till now Wafels & Dinges has been the mildly baffling
name of a fleet of trucks and carts that dispense waffles in mildly baffling
forms. Powdered — make that powered — by public response, the owners have opened
a waffle café in Alphabet City without any wheels.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Dinges, pronounced “ding-ess,” which is Flemish for “things,”
are the toppings that you can get on your wafels. Wafels, pronounced “wah-fuls,” which is Flemish for “waffles,” are Belgian waffles. Belgians speak Flemish.
New Yorkers are learning.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The main wafels are the Liège, which is “soft, sweet &
chewy,” and the Brussels, which is “light n’crispy.” Once you have selected
your wafel, you move on to selecting your dinges. Standard dinges include maple
syrup and butter, but the dinges go way beyond standard.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N29i-GbcOl8/UiDHD0PrI8I/AAAAAAAABak/Z7xb6G-kJM4/s1600/Wafels+&+Dinges+wafels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N29i-GbcOl8/UiDHD0PrI8I/AAAAAAAABak/Z7xb6G-kJM4/s400/Wafels+&+Dinges+wafels.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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One dish premiering at the café is the Oh Oh Serrano, which
is a “flavor fest on a grilled Brussels wafel with serrano ham, asiago cheese,
& fig spread.” Another is the 2<sup>nd</sup> Street Salmon Special, which
loads your Brussels wafel with smoked salmon, capers, red onion, and lemon-dill
sour cream.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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These join things familiar to truck patrons, like the
wafel with pulled pork, and the wafel with Bauernschinken ham, Raclette cheese,
and scallions. Also things like the World’s Fair wafel, topped with
strawberries, whipped cream, and powdered sugar, just like the ones that were
the hit of the ’64 fair.<o:p></o:p></div>
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My mother never stocked Asiago cheese or lemon-dill sour cream,
let alone Bauernschinken ham or pulled pork. So I ordered waffles and ice cream.
I chose chocolate ice cream on a Brussels wafel. I knew it wouldn’t match Breyers
on a Downyflake. But it came remarkably close.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vs1t_hJe750/UiDHfw3l9XI/AAAAAAAABaw/f6NTnkIvofI/s1600/Wafels+&+Dinges+inside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vs1t_hJe750/UiDHfw3l9XI/AAAAAAAABaw/f6NTnkIvofI/s640/Wafels+&+Dinges+inside.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Still, at least in New York, Belgian waffles have a
checkered history. They’ve never had a golden moment like, say, Belgian fries.
Over a decade ago I wrote about a new place called Bulgin’ Waffles Café. It was
soon toast. Then again, its special was the Hot Waffle in a Bag.<o:p></o:p><br />
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More recently, there was a place called Go For a Bite, whose
two specialties were its <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Original
Belgium Waffles” and its Cream Puffs. It, too, went up in smoke. Curiously, it
has been replaced by a restaurant that serves only oatmeal, which is called,
suitably, <a href="http://mbvintagenewyork.blogspot.com/2012/07/new-in-new-york-breakfast-is-lunch-and.html">OatMeals</a>.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tsxxYmvzKyw/UiDILVuT2qI/AAAAAAAABa4/Ba8n21Afa3Y/s1600/Wafels+&+Dinges+tables.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tsxxYmvzKyw/UiDILVuT2qI/AAAAAAAABa4/Ba8n21Afa3Y/s640/Wafels+&+Dinges+tables.jpg" width="640" /></a>Acccording to Sophie Grant, the manager of Wafels &
Dinges, waffles are a tough sell largely because of Breyers and Downyflake.
“It’s one of those meals people take for granted,” she explained. “You can get
them at any diner and have them at home in the freezer.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“What sets ours apart is the quality,” she added. “It’s as
close to a real Belgian waffle as you can get. We chose one thing to do really
well.” That choice was made by Thomas DeGeest, the Wafels & Dinges founder,
who sold his first wafel in 2007 from a 1968 Chevy truck.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--rtDqFUfOkQ/UiDI_LAcYlI/AAAAAAAABbA/ezSYOVonNzk/s1600/Wafels+&+Dinges+truck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--rtDqFUfOkQ/UiDI_LAcYlI/AAAAAAAABbA/ezSYOVonNzk/s640/Wafels+&+Dinges+truck.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Thomas’s triumphs since then have included popularizing
spekuloos spread, a Belgian topping that looks like peanut butter and tastes
like a gingerbread man.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Awhile ago I got it on a Liège wafel from a Wafels &
Dinges truck.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m trying to get my mother to deem that another official
meal.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pj-tdzPxklQ/UiDJRCNbatI/AAAAAAAABbI/y-lV_1pJxQ4/s1600/Wafels+&+Dinges+waffle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pj-tdzPxklQ/UiDJRCNbatI/AAAAAAAABbI/y-lV_1pJxQ4/s640/Wafels+&+Dinges+waffle.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Get off the street at <a href="http://www.wafelsanddinges.com/">Wafels & Dinges</a></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">, 209
East Second Street, between avenues B and C, in New York City.</span></i><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nXyIjotfb4g/UiDTn4CFv_I/AAAAAAAABbg/37xGhxDmpW0/s1600/Donut+Pub+Day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nXyIjotfb4g/UiDTn4CFv_I/AAAAAAAABbg/37xGhxDmpW0/s640/Donut+Pub+Day.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<i><br /></i><!--EndFragment-->
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><br /></span></i>
<b>WHEN ONLY A DOUGHNUT WILL DO, NURSE ONE AT THE DONUT PUB, THE CITY'S CLASSIC DOUGHNUT SHOP! IT'S AMONG THE DOZENS OF RESTAURANTS, SHOPS, AND BARS SPOTLIGHTED IN <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Vintage-New-York-Timeless/dp/0762784547">"DISCOVERING VINTAGE NEW YORK,"</a> THE FIRST AND ONLY BOOK TO COLLECT ALL THE CLASSICS! NOW AN AMAZON BEST SELLER!</b><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><br /></span></i>Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-61786078522695149122013-08-09T00:20:00.000-04:002013-08-09T00:20:42.224-04:00Old New York: A Sad Last Look at What's Left of Big Nick's<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mJcUJWaltoc/UgRXQPync1I/AAAAAAAABYQ/8XKIVJ1qNvg/s1600/Big+Nick's+onion+rings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mJcUJWaltoc/UgRXQPync1I/AAAAAAAABYQ/8XKIVJ1qNvg/s640/Big+Nick's+onion+rings.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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It was clear almost immediately that I was not going to be
getting a hamburger.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And yet I stayed. Surely someone would show up and say it was
all a mistake.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f7Yi4cr-Me0/UgReXJNZwNI/AAAAAAAABYg/jXxaZQTW1VU/s1600/Big+Nick's+grill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f7Yi4cr-Me0/UgReXJNZwNI/AAAAAAAABYg/jXxaZQTW1VU/s640/Big+Nick's+grill.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I'm never in the last four stages of grief. I enter
denial and I stay there. This applies to the loss of places as much as to the
loss of people. So when I visited Big Nick’s Burger Joint & Pizza Joint a
few days after its closing, I was sure that it would be coming back. Despite
all that crap in my booth.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NawLAMVRwt0/UgRfISehDPI/AAAAAAAABYo/me6ZtBTlB_8/s1600/Big+Nick's+booth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NawLAMVRwt0/UgRfISehDPI/AAAAAAAABYo/me6ZtBTlB_8/s640/Big+Nick's+booth.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Big Nick’s is the joint that had more character in its
28-page menu than most restaurants in New York today have in their 28-day
lifespans. Ironically, for all its earthiness, it gave the Upper West Side
class. It closed last week because its space can now be rented for the price of 10,000
hamburgers a month.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xyPy2UZoPH0/UgRfwOkTWRI/AAAAAAAABYw/NL9LSy1ZcMo/s1600/Big+Nick's+No+Admittance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xyPy2UZoPH0/UgRfwOkTWRI/AAAAAAAABYw/NL9LSy1ZcMo/s640/Big+Nick's+No+Admittance.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Nevertheless, Big Nick — ever the gracious host — invited me
in, even if, for the first time, I would have to leave hungry. I roamed the
ruins, unsure what I craved more, the earthiness or a hamburger. It didn’t
matter. Neither one could have existed without the other.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EwaM742CLrk/UgRg_e5NJKI/AAAAAAAABZI/dJ2Ft2sWbKQ/s1600/Big+Nick's+wall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EwaM742CLrk/UgRg_e5NJKI/AAAAAAAABZI/dJ2Ft2sWbKQ/s640/Big+Nick's+wall.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The earthiness included framed photographs of mostly stars
of the future, and little signs for selections like the Sumo Burger (“Over One
Pound [1 LB.] of Meat”). The hamburgers included 60 varieties among which was
the Sumo, although, if you were going strictly by weight, that one should have
counted as two.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rem3xwhrqkc/UgRgN_RYYII/AAAAAAAABY4/Q6epZjV5-_c/s1600/Big+Nick's+photos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rem3xwhrqkc/UgRgN_RYYII/AAAAAAAABY4/Q6epZjV5-_c/s640/Big+Nick's+photos.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Nick always embraced his jointhood. He put quotes on the
back of the menu like: “Big Nick’s is a 24-hour dump that … inspires
affection.” His place was a roadside diner, except that the road was Broadway. On
his tables, there was never a laptop. On his TVs, there were always Three
Stooges.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-53WPvao8pJU/UgRhzqQ-87I/AAAAAAAABZQ/KCD3l6v51LU/s1600/Big+Nick's+television.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-53WPvao8pJU/UgRhzqQ-87I/AAAAAAAABZQ/KCD3l6v51LU/s640/Big+Nick's+television.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Nick is actually Demetrios Niko Imirziades, who arrived from
Athens in 1961 to make his Broadway debut. He washed dishes. But he also diligently
attended restaurant school and worked his way up to manager at the coffee shop
that he would buy in 1964.<o:p></o:p></div>
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He renamed it The Burger Joint (now the name of the
unconnected joint at Le Parker Meridien). A few years later, he unveiled the
Big Nick burger in response to the Big Mac. In 1976, he renamed the place Big
Nick’s. The name was accurate. Nick had once excelled in discus and shot put.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aijc4GA_OtE/UgRiMYHPHII/AAAAAAAABZY/0ITaoXsHodw/s1600/Big+Nick's+outside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aijc4GA_OtE/UgRiMYHPHII/AAAAAAAABZY/0ITaoXsHodw/s640/Big+Nick's+outside.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Through the years, Nick has opened and closed about a dozen
other joints. One was Big Nick’s on 71<sup>st</sup> Street, which still exists
but is no longer his. The last to go, before the flagship, was the nearby
Niko’s Mediterranean Grill & Bistro, which closed in 2011. It had been
inspired by his mother’s cooking.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I thought of all this as I trudged past the now burgerless
grill, the now empty stools, and the now Stoogeless television sets. I thought
of it as I gazed at the corner booth where I once sat with Nick, when he told
me that it was the booth in which he’d had a heart attack thirty years ago.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bRM7ecXb-qE/UgRjAWBCJYI/AAAAAAAABZo/MJwTVd6gMZ4/s1600/Big+Nick's+Big+Nick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bRM7ecXb-qE/UgRjAWBCJYI/AAAAAAAABZo/MJwTVd6gMZ4/s640/Big+Nick's+Big+Nick.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Now, before I left, I spoke with Nick outside. He seemed
confident that he’d be opening another place, around 20 blocks up. “It’ll be a
little bit more limited menu,” he said. “It’ll be a combination of what I sold
at Niko’s and what I sold at Big Nick’s.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“I will know in September if something’s happening, and if
it doesn’t work out, maybe we’ll try something else,” he said. “Nothing is set
a hundred percent.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Except for this: The old Big Nick’s will be back. I know it.
No need for anger, bargaining, or depression.<br />
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And definitely no need for
acceptance.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-minnFFc3_HY/UgRjYzdsU9I/AAAAAAAABZw/1IiaaV3ccyo/s1600/Big+Nick's+counter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-minnFFc3_HY/UgRjYzdsU9I/AAAAAAAABZw/1IiaaV3ccyo/s640/Big+Nick's+counter.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Big Nick’s was on Broadway at 77<sup>th</sup> Street. I’ll let you know when it comes back.<o:p></o:p></i><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FwD5EFzFm-w/UgRklKMUO5I/AAAAAAAABaA/qdkQcyhyvRU/s1600/Big+Nick's+corner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FwD5EFzFm-w/UgRklKMUO5I/AAAAAAAABaA/qdkQcyhyvRU/s640/Big+Nick's+corner.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">VISIT THE CITY’S OTHER
VINTAGE SPOTS BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE. FIND THEM ALL IN THE NEW BOOK <a href="http://mbvintagenewyork.blogspot.com/2013/06/old-new-york-discover-it-all-in.html">“DISCOVERING VINTAGE NEW YORK.”</a> IT COVERS OVER 75 PLACES THAT TAKE YOU BACK IN TIME. IT
INCLUDES THE WHOLE STORY OF BIG NICK’S.</span></b><!--EndFragment-->
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><br /></span></b>Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-67632690892187918752013-07-25T20:50:00.002-04:002013-07-25T20:50:17.484-04:00Old New York: Catch the Cool Cats at Bleecker Street Records<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IkoEs7BbFRw/UfG2Fj-VT6I/AAAAAAAABWk/dztda3GUp3Q/s1600/Bleecker+Street+Records+June+Christy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IkoEs7BbFRw/UfG2Fj-VT6I/AAAAAAAABWk/dztda3GUp3Q/s640/Bleecker+Street+Records+June+Christy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Creeper and Scuzzball apparently will be moving to a new
store, but that shouldn’t stop you from paying a call on them while they’re at
the old store. At the old store, after all, you always know where you can find them.
In the new store, at least at the start, they might actually get up.<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jt9aGRwnX78/UfG2pqV7EqI/AAAAAAAABWs/dlfnUvnwDos/s1600/Bleecker+Street+Records+cats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jt9aGRwnX78/UfG2pqV7EqI/AAAAAAAABWs/dlfnUvnwDos/s640/Bleecker+Street+Records+cats.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Creeper and Scuzzball are the languid cats of Bleecker
Street Records, one of the few consequential record stores left in New York. It’s
been said to be closing, due to the typical rent challenges of city stores.
But credible sources tell me it’s moving, probably in the fall.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s moving, they say, to the former site of another record
store — 186 West Fourth Street, once the home of Disc-O-Rama. Disc-O-Rama, which
has had several stores, is now just at 44 West Eighth Street. It, too, carries
CDs and LPs — but not with the festiveness of Bleecker Street.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kYr0dm6-1Z0/UfG3OzMalkI/AAAAAAAABW0/TGVSDlJnbxU/s1600/Bleecker+Street+Records+inside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kYr0dm6-1Z0/UfG3OzMalkI/AAAAAAAABW0/TGVSDlJnbxU/s640/Bleecker+Street+Records+inside.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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At Bleecker Street Records, the main attractions are the
walls. There aren’t any. At least not that you can see. If they are there, they
are concealed by hundreds of beguiling albums, which recall the
joys that were once a part of a hunt for musical treasure.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zvU_t1SDtcM/UfG3oV5MaNI/AAAAAAAABW8/gcbifNRaNCM/s1600/Bleecker+Street+Records+albums+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zvU_t1SDtcM/UfG3oV5MaNI/AAAAAAAABW8/gcbifNRaNCM/s400/Bleecker+Street+Records+albums+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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They include rarities by the likes of the Beatles and Buddy
Holly, and oddities by the likes of Carroll O’Connor and Zero Mostel. This may
the only place in the world that displays an LP by the Detergents, who answered
the bizarre Shangri-Las hit “Leader of the Pack” with their bizarrer hit, “Leader
of the Laundromat.”</div>
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The albums provide education along with entertainment. They
are festooned with labels that tell you things you never thought you could
know. A formidable example is found on the label for the Japanese pressing of an
album intriguingly titled “The Best of Cheryl Ladd”:<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Did you know this former ‘Charlie’s Angel’ was also the
singing voice behind the animated cartoon ‘Josie & the Pussycats,’ and she
was very popular in Japan where she enjoyed a successful career and released
many Japanese Market only releases!!! Well, it’s all true!!!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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And as if that isn’t enough, the label makes sure to add:
“Japanese pressing/Best Quality! ... Immaculate Condition!!!! This Gatefold LP
comes with a huge color poster of Cheryl … Va Va Voom!!!!”<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zus56rAXW0M/UfG6574ZtjI/AAAAAAAABXY/szYo4ZCg7lA/s1600/Bleecker+Street+Records+45s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zus56rAXW0M/UfG6574ZtjI/AAAAAAAABXY/szYo4ZCg7lA/s400/Bleecker+Street+Records+45s.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Below the displays, the place is packed with recorded music,
much of which you’re unlikely to find anywhere else. It spans not just rock and
pop, but everything from country to Broadway, with a dash of Noël Coward, Jimmy
Durante, Chad Everett, and Rosey Grier.</div>
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Topping it off — almost literally — are Creeper and
Scuzzball, two big gray furry meat loaves who doze on boxes by the stairs to
the basement. They hardly move and they rarely respond. Evidently, this gives
them mystique. One of the store’s best-selling items is the Creeper and
Scuzzball T-shirt.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Inevitably, there’s some whining online about the record
prices. They can be high. But so can prices on any other antiques. Besides, the
bins in the basement are full of surprising bargains. And if you’re looking for
“The Best of Cheryl Ladd,” how many options do you have?<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qWaZNHzUCHw/UfG75NGSV3I/AAAAAAAABXo/dZSF1Nxjmn4/s1600/Bleecker+Street+Records+outside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qWaZNHzUCHw/UfG75NGSV3I/AAAAAAAABXo/dZSF1Nxjmn4/s640/Bleecker+Street+Records+outside.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The store, more or less as it is, dates to 1972. It was
called The Golden Disc, with “disc” referring to vinyl. It changed
hands in the mid-nineties and was redubbed Bleecker Street. The new store
settled in just in time to enjoy the golden age of compact discs.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Today it counts on record hounds willing to
pay the price, says Rob Lecuyer, one of the store managers. “People come to New
York to spend money, and this is a real tourist street,” he says. “Some people
complain about prices. Other people drop thousands in one sitting.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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West Fourth is also a tourist street, so it seems like a
good bet. And that’s good for New Yorkers — at least the ones who still like to
hunt.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Anything and everything will sell,” Rob says. “What you
think is crap, somebody else is like: ‘I’ve been looking for this my whole
life.’”<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DH9IwqwJ9Rk/UfG8fVSSmQI/AAAAAAAABXs/0Z6hby-s9DI/s1600/Bleecker+Street+Records+Creeper+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DH9IwqwJ9Rk/UfG8fVSSmQI/AAAAAAAABXs/0Z6hby-s9DI/s640/Bleecker+Street+Records+Creeper+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Take a spin at
<a href="http://www.bleeckerstreetrecordsnyc.com/store/bleecker.html">Bleecker Street Records</a>, 239 Bleecker Street, between Carmine and Leroy
streets, New York City.<o:p></o:p></i><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rhjXW7PfwR0/UfG9BNMN5UI/AAAAAAAABX0/ylnsjv93Brk/s1600/House+of+Oldies+Rare+Records.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rhjXW7PfwR0/UfG9BNMN5UI/AAAAAAAABX0/ylnsjv93Brk/s640/House+of+Oldies+Rare+Records.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">FOR MORE RARE
RECORDS, VISIT HOUSE OF OLDIES, ON CARMINE STREET, JUST AROUND THE CORNER FROM
BLEECKER STREET RECORDS. AND READ ABOUT HOUSE OF OLDIES — AND DOZENS
OF OTHER CLASSIC SPOTS — IN THE AMAZON BEST SELLER <a href="http://mbvintagenewyork.blogspot.com/2013/06/old-new-york-discover-it-all-in.html">“DISCOVERING VINTAGE NEW YORK”</a>!<o:p></o:p></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-38526210331926938272013-06-18T00:00:00.000-04:002013-06-18T00:00:05.230-04:00Old New York: Discover It All in "Discovering Vintage New York"<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gy98U6yF2NM/Ub6EBKHjH8I/AAAAAAAABUI/zzbyCTVIRo0/s1600/Discovering+Vintage+New+York+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gy98U6yF2NM/Ub6EBKHjH8I/AAAAAAAABUI/zzbyCTVIRo0/s640/Discovering+Vintage+New+York+cover.jpg" width="546" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Walk by the Streit’s matzo factory and get handed a hot piece
of matzo as you pass the open window of the matzo-cooling room.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sit down at Marchi’s Restaurant and get served the one and only
meal they’ve been serving there every night for the past 70 years.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uwR_xn9ihX8/Ub6bsSt5avI/AAAAAAAABV8/BGtXJzLBqnM/s1600/Marchi's_in.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uwR_xn9ihX8/Ub6bsSt5avI/AAAAAAAABV8/BGtXJzLBqnM/s400/Marchi's_in.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marchi's.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Slip into Marie’s Crisis Café and get amused by people
singing show tunes around a piano before you break down and start singing along.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I can’t live around such opportunities and not tell people about
them. That’s why I’ve written a book called “Discovering Vintage New York.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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About two years ago, I started writing Vintage New York the
Blog. But long before that, I dreamed of writing Vintage New York the Book. And
that’s just what I did — dream. But as vintage spots kept disappearing, I knew I’d
better get to work while the dream could still come true.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The result is the first and only book to collect all the
Manhattan restaurants, shops, cafés, and nightspots that take you back in time.
It covers more than 75, and it spotlights 50 with profiles that tell you what
each place is like now and how it got that way.<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rtmDdq6cyQc/Ub6aNa1IdMI/AAAAAAAABVs/0v3GNxPHixw/s1600/Katz's+Deli+Inside+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rtmDdq6cyQc/Ub6aNa1IdMI/AAAAAAAABVs/0v3GNxPHixw/s320/Katz's+Deli+Inside+.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Katz's.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My blog, as its subhead notes, allows for “justifiable
detours.” But the book travels exclusively on Vintage Road. All the spots are at
least 50 years old (or very close to it). And all the spots, in some genuine
way, evoke a bygone era.<br />
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</div>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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The subjects range from the Café Carlyle to Katz’s
Delicatessen, and from The Four Seasons to The Donut Pub. I spent hours at every
one of them and interviewed people at every one of them. I wanted to get each
spot’s history straight and to convey each spot’s unique charm.</div>
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A friend who once worked in publicity has called the book an
“adventure map,” and though I have to leave terms like that to publicists, I secretly
think she’s right. No one I’ve met along the way has known about all of these
places, let alone been to all of them. Or even to a lot of them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FqlBWubvhRE/Ub6OkdfkSeI/AAAAAAAABVE/LtVeIx-Dt2o/s1600/Donut+Pub+Day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FqlBWubvhRE/Ub6OkdfkSeI/AAAAAAAABVE/LtVeIx-Dt2o/s400/Donut+Pub+Day.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
I add this in the book’s introduction:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I chose places that
some of us see as the heart of New York — the ones that created the city that’s
squeezing the likes of them out. When places like these close, people who
always meant to visit them start grieving. I wrote this book to save you some
grief.<o:p></o:p></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
More than that, I wrote it to tempt you to visit these
spots for fun. They are precious places, and they almost always leave you with
precious memories. I don’t want to say how many vintage places have disappeared
since I started dreaming. I’ll just say that no matter what you think, nothing
lasts forever.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GxyzM70cmj8/Ub6QyYT_tNI/AAAAAAAABVc/AhelYuyEUsE/s1600/Four+Seasons+Sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GxyzM70cmj8/Ub6QyYT_tNI/AAAAAAAABVc/AhelYuyEUsE/s320/Four+Seasons+Sign.jpg" width="320" /></a>I tell more about the book in the introduction, and I thank
the many people who helped to make it possible in the acknowledgments. Still,
I’m compelled to shamelessly steal my own words again, and repeat the first
paragraph of those acknowledgments:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The people who most
directly made this book possible are the people who own, manage, and otherwise
tend to the places featured in it. Thanks to everyone who invited me in, showed
me around, told me stories, and kept the places going long enough for me to
show up.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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And now I also thank <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/mitch_broder_my_vintage_new_york_Nx89RqxKPkZjoSMyMrFYXJ">The New York Post</a> for introducing the
book to New York City with a big splash, in last week’s Sunday paper. It was appropriate, since The Post is the oldest newspaper in the city, and yet
it was nimble enough to scoop me on a story about myself.<br />
<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cfic5tBDxzc/Ub6PNSz6HUI/AAAAAAAABVM/YdtDmbW5-Oc/s1600/Streit's+Matzo+Cooling+Room.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cfic5tBDxzc/Ub6PNSz6HUI/AAAAAAAABVM/YdtDmbW5-Oc/s640/Streit's+Matzo+Cooling+Room.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Find what's really cool in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_12/181-4520718-7180329?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=mitch+broder&sprefix=Mitch+broder%2Caps%2C205">“Discovering Vintage New York,”</a>
published today by the Globe Pequot Press. It makes a great gift. I’m not just
saying that.</span></i><!--EndFragment-->
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><br /></span></i>Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-67256952879798114262013-06-07T00:00:00.000-04:002013-06-07T00:00:09.945-04:00Old Yet New in New York: Papaya King Crowns the East Village<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gcyMJm2sxVs/UbFOIHsiZ7I/AAAAAAAABSk/SJtb5F_Ys7Q/s1600/Papaya+King+East+Village+front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gcyMJm2sxVs/UbFOIHsiZ7I/AAAAAAAABSk/SJtb5F_Ys7Q/s640/Papaya+King+East+Village+front.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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They snap downtown just the way they snap uptown.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That’s all that matters. Papaya King East Village is a
success.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FqjSn6h5iYU/UbFPvpLOcxI/AAAAAAAABS0/2L2-_Ei7Ldo/s1600/Papaya+King+East+Village+inside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FqjSn6h5iYU/UbFPvpLOcxI/AAAAAAAABS0/2L2-_Ei7Ldo/s640/Papaya+King+East+Village+inside.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Yes, the hot dogs that gave a second career to tropical
fruit drinks have ventured from East 86<sup>th</sup> Street to St. Mark’s
Place. Thus, Papaya King has a second location for the first time in decades.
And the dogs traveled well. Here, too, they’re one of the best bites of New
York.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7Go4ecjVeaA/UbFQbpUZ9_I/AAAAAAAABS8/f7ecScItSkA/s1600/Papaya+King+East+Village+porch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7Go4ecjVeaA/UbFQbpUZ9_I/AAAAAAAABS8/f7ecScItSkA/s400/Papaya+King+East+Village+porch.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The new store is three times as big as the old, and it has a
concrete porch. It takes some time to acclimate to all that luxury. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the hot dogs are the same, which is to say
perfectly tasty and snappy, as are the buns, which is to say perfectly fluffy and
crunchy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As is the papaya drink, which is to say perfectly creamy and
frothy. It’s unlike any other fruit drink you know. It’s mysterious. And best
left that way.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Papaya King, born on that uptown corner in 1932, has had
other branches, but they disappeared despite the perfection. The original location
was bought by a group of investors three years ago. The new store is their
first attempt to build on history.</div>
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“It’s a good match for the brand,” says Blake Gower, the group’s
head of development. “It’s a quintessential New York experience on a
quintessential New York street.” He’s especially proud of the porch: “It’s one
of the key design elements. It kind of makes this place feel like it’s always
been here.”<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Blake wanted to have a place that looked new to people who
like new things and old to people who like old things, and he got as close as
you could expect. The classic neon sign, for instance, is new and yet manages
to say Old New York in the middle of the city’s body-piercing corridor.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VlbWjRGif_U/UbFSMnrfJbI/AAAAAAAABTU/V4qFbCq0_Hs/s1600/Papaya+King+East+Village+counter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VlbWjRGif_U/UbFSMnrfJbI/AAAAAAAABTU/V4qFbCq0_Hs/s400/Papaya+King+East+Village+counter.jpg" width="400" /></a>Inside, the walls preserve a Papaya King tradition: little
signs designed to enlighten you about frankfurters and fruit. But here they’re
tailored to the neighborhood, as in: “Right across the street from where you’re
standing was the legendary Five Spot Jazz Club. All the greats played there.
Bet they wished for franks after shows.”<br />
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Blake dug even further back to come up with the bamboo
counter and the thatched grill awning laden with artificial fruit. They recall Papaya
King’s origin as a stand called Hawaiian Tropical Drinks, where just fruit
juice was sold, sometimes by a man crowned by a pith helmet.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The porch has wooden chairs that make you feel like
you’re at the old homestead, until you notice the view of the St. Mark’s Hotel,
the St. Marks Ale House, and Karaoke St. Marks (and you get a snootful of smoldering
sandalwood from the nearby incense stand).<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2F--7RFee1E/UbFTz_tzsbI/AAAAAAAABT0/6miv-I3Rzk0/s1600/Papaya+King+East+Village+hot+dogs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2F--7RFee1E/UbFTz_tzsbI/AAAAAAAABT0/6miv-I3Rzk0/s640/Papaya+King+East+Village+hot+dogs.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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It’s a unique blend. But it could be what the neighborhood
needs, since Papaya King could be what every neighborhood needs. Among nearby competitors
is <a href="http://mbvintagenewyork.blogspot.com/2012/01/strangely-new-york-japadog-brings-taste.html">Japadog</a>. But Japadog has hot dogs with bonito flakes. Papaya King has two hot
dogs and a fruit drink for five bucks.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It has toppings, too, though not bonito flakes. But try a
couple of these dogs straight.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As the longtime slogan promises: “Our Franks are Tastier
than Filet Mignon.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bRfKD-vMlYU/UbFTUGLjGgI/AAAAAAAABTo/Yyt0X2rq6pA/s1600/Papaya+King+East+Village+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="498" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bRfKD-vMlYU/UbFTUGLjGgI/AAAAAAAABTo/Yyt0X2rq6pA/s640/Papaya+King+East+Village+logo.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Eat royally at <a href="http://www.papayaking.com/">Papaya King</a>, at 3 St. Mark’s Place, between Cooper Square and Astor Place, in New York
City.<o:p></o:p></i><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tItze3yY11E/UbFSyAOuQOI/AAAAAAAABTg/N-GFskLihm8/s1600/Papaya+King+East+Village+Hawaiian+Tropical.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tItze3yY11E/UbFSyAOuQOI/AAAAAAAABTg/N-GFskLihm8/s640/Papaya+King+East+Village+Hawaiian+Tropical.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">READ THE WHOLE STORY
OF THE ORIGINAL PAPAYA KING — AND OF DOZENS OF OTHER CLASSIC CITY SPOTS — IN
“DISCOVERING VINTAGE NEW YORK,” COMING ON JUNE 18 AND <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Mitch%20Broder&search-alias=books&sort=relevancerank">ON SALE NOW</a>!<o:p></o:p></b><br />
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<!--EndFragment-->Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-86183150587943534432013-05-17T13:48:00.000-04:002013-05-17T13:48:16.210-04:00New Yet Old in New York: Reclaim Your Youth at Mr. Throwback<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hj8yUA40kWU/UZZjNjnmqtI/AAAAAAAABQI/8mCsCHtILNo/s1600/Mr+Throwback+toys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hj8yUA40kWU/UZZjNjnmqtI/AAAAAAAABQI/8mCsCHtILNo/s640/Mr+Throwback+toys.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Somewhere there’s a place where the Power Rangers still morph,
the Smurfs still frolic, and the California Raisins still wrinkle.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s where the Nickelodeon blimp always sails and the Mighty
Ducks always play.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s on East Ninth Street. It’s called, not surprisingly,
Mr. Throwback.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZIn6_LMcQek/UZZkqsgnGyI/AAAAAAAABQc/k3e0qgFUF98/s1600/Mr+Throwback+clothes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZIn6_LMcQek/UZZkqsgnGyI/AAAAAAAABQc/k3e0qgFUF98/s640/Mr+Throwback+clothes.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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It’s designed to look like the childhood bedroom that you
left behind, specifically if your childhood took place in the eighties or the
nineties. It’s filled with the kind of stuff that you most likely left in it.
And now that stuff can be yours again. If you want it. And can afford it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GW2hbmy8xLg/UZZlJ2gdYLI/AAAAAAAABQk/HwkMYStjC3I/s1600/Mr+Throwback+men.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GW2hbmy8xLg/UZZlJ2gdYLI/AAAAAAAABQk/HwkMYStjC3I/s400/Mr+Throwback+men.jpg" width="400" /></a>Yes, though it may be unsettling to people who come from
earlier decades, nostalgia now refers to years like 1993. It means the Jerky
Boys. It means the Spice Girls. It means “Beethoven.” It means “Full House.” They’re
all here, waiting to comfort all the people who never forgot them.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Among those people is Michael Spitz, Mr. Throwback himself, who
is thus, but only coincidentally, Mr. T. He never forgot them, so he got them
back. And now he sells them. And when he’s not selling them he’s still happy,
because he walks among them.</div>
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He was teaching t-ball to four-year-olds when his life went
into reverse. But it wasn’t because of the four-year-olds. It was because of his
parents’ house. “You see your old video games,” he says. “You see your old
toys. You go into your basement. I guess the concept of the store was to bring
back everything from my childhood.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sy_g3bwOrAI/UZZlhC7PEPI/AAAAAAAABQs/_RnA6PoLs9s/s1600/Mr+Throwback+Michael+Jordan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sy_g3bwOrAI/UZZlhC7PEPI/AAAAAAAABQs/_RnA6PoLs9s/s320/Mr+Throwback+Michael+Jordan.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
He brought back He-Man. He brought back the Ghostbusters. He
brought back the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They’re all here in the form of
figurines and other playthings. He brought back Pokémon and Game Boy and Super
Nintendo. Not to mention Hulk Hogan and the Energizer Bunny.</div>
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They’re in a space that’s actually a cross between a bedroom
and a bedroom closet. It has scuffed-up wood floors and posters on the walls.
Michael sits in the rear at a desk equipped with an Alf phone. On his tube
television he runs a VHS tape of “The Mighty Ducks.” All day.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VCDQKsttuDU/UZZmEEy1ffI/AAAAAAAABQ0/BHjZ9VD6fiQ/s1600/Mr+Throwback+Nickelodeon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VCDQKsttuDU/UZZmEEy1ffI/AAAAAAAABQ0/BHjZ9VD6fiQ/s200/Mr+Throwback+Nickelodeon.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Other videocassettes on hand include “Home Alone” and “Free
Willy.” Audiocassettes feature Billy Squier and New Kids on the Block. Everything’s
sprinkled among period sports jerseys, jackets, sweatpants, caps, and T-shirts,
along with T’s that celebrate the likes of the Backstreet Boys and MTV.</div>
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The sports collectibles are a big draw. “All the old brands
I sell are coming back now,” says Michael, who is usually modeling some of the
stuff in the store. “Stylists are coming in here because this stuff is so hot,
they’re using it as inspiration to create their next lines.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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But everybody love the toys. “My favorite part of this,”
Michael says, “is when someone comes in and says, ‘This is the coolest store
ever.’”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“This is my life and I’m reliving it every day,” he says,
and picks up a He-Man. “I played with this when I was a kid, and now I’m
holding it again.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GoGwkx_jtA0/UZZj1bER0HI/AAAAAAAABQQ/ikMEgoqkmcY/s1600/Mr+Throwback+Mighty+Ducks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GoGwkx_jtA0/UZZj1bER0HI/AAAAAAAABQQ/ikMEgoqkmcY/s640/Mr+Throwback+Mighty+Ducks.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Regress at <a href="http://www.mrthrowback.com/">Mr. Throwback</a>, 428 East Ninth Street,
between First Avenue and Avenue A, New York City.</span></i><!--EndFragment-->
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><br /></span></i>Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-88453324001763062872013-04-27T17:55:00.001-04:002013-04-27T17:55:29.909-04:00New in New York: Another French Roll Rocks at Baguette Bar<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qJ81CNa7EFI/UXw6KEwHKII/AAAAAAAABOg/fItahaH5LNw/s1600/Baguette+Bar+sandwich.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qJ81CNa7EFI/UXw6KEwHKII/AAAAAAAABOg/fItahaH5LNw/s640/Baguette+Bar+sandwich.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I can’t promise you a Houska House or a Pumpernickel Pub,
but I can follow my report on <a href="http://mbvintagenewyork.blogspot.com/2013/04/new-in-new-york-two-buddies-are-on-roll.html">Croissanteria</a> with one on Baguette Bar.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And considering that the city is full of places like
Popover Café, it could soon very well have a restaurant named for every bread
and roll.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For now, Baguette Bar is the apparently the newest, undoubtedly
the tiniest, and surely the most focused. It serves meat-and-vegetable
sandwiches on toasted baguettes. If you don’t want your meat and vegetables on
a toasted baguette, you’ll most likely have to take them in a pile.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The meats are pretty much limited to corned beef, pastrami,
salami, and turkey. The vegetables include corn (the cereal) and avocado (the fruit). On a standard sandwich you get one meat, two vegetables, and one sauce. Ketchup Mayo is a sauce. Ketchup is still a sauce.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The bar is about to roll out its Signature Sandwiches, which
are based on five of its most successful combinations.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KFZvjDQp8BY/UXw8Y5_36QI/AAAAAAAABPA/e2iJ5gmcAnU/s1600/Baguette+Bar+seats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KFZvjDQp8BY/UXw8Y5_36QI/AAAAAAAABPA/e2iJ5gmcAnU/s320/Baguette+Bar+seats.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
The New Yorker is pastrami, lettuce, red onions, pickles,
and honey mustard. The Pirojok is corned beef, roasted red peppers, jalapenos, and spicy honey mustard. Lettuce does not count as a vegetable. Pickles and onions do. Pirojok means pie, even though it’s a sandwich.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The categorization may be challenging, but the concept is
simple. The appeal of the simplicity is nicely explained by a comment on Yelp:
“Cool New place downtown and its open super late! Perfect for when you’re
really drunk and need something to eat…”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Just weeks ago the Baguette Bar space was a storeroom for
Pink Elephant, the glittery new club whose entrance is around the corner on
West Eighth Street. The club’s owner set up his brother, Ben Nahmani, and Ben’s
friend Zachi Ozery as baguette baristas.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FPCsmdes5AU/UXw80AQ2dbI/AAAAAAAABPI/raLfqMtyJZc/s1600/Baguette+Bar+store.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FPCsmdes5AU/UXw80AQ2dbI/AAAAAAAABPI/raLfqMtyJZc/s400/Baguette+Bar+store.jpg" width="400" /></a>The idea came from places that sell comparable food in
Israel. The furnishings came from a nearby defunct delicatessen. The location
is the MacDougal Street corner of the regenerating West Eighth Street, just
across from the appealingly simple <a href="http://mbvintagenewyork.blogspot.com/2012/04/new-in-new-york-its-time-to-take-dip-at.html">Sticky’s Finger Joint</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The sandwiches, besides being panini-style, are also kosher-style,
which means that the corned beef and pastrami are better than what you get
at the diner. And they’re toasted not once but twice, the second time with an
olive-oil glaze that Zachi says makes for “a much more nice taste.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Now,” he says, “I want people to recognize this product,
and we’ll be able to open more.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ll let you know when they do.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ll also let you know about the Brioche Boîte
and the Sourdough Saloon.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-APSTU_Qeue0/UXw9Z2r307I/AAAAAAAABPQ/gixxKSG8aDY/s1600/Baguette+Bar+toasters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-APSTU_Qeue0/UXw9Z2r307I/AAAAAAAABPQ/gixxKSG8aDY/s640/Baguette+Bar+toasters.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Belly up to <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/baguette-bar-new-york">Baguette Bar,</a> 179 MacDougal Street,
near West Eighth Street, in New York City.</span></i><!--EndFragment-->
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><br /></span></i>Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-91016587759913734922013-04-05T18:50:00.000-04:002013-04-05T18:50:04.598-04:00New in New York: Two Buddies Are On a Roll at Croissanteria<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uH5u4h_LbL8/UV9JkRQztuI/AAAAAAAABNg/iqPLpYkshyk/s1600/Croissanteria+croissants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uH5u4h_LbL8/UV9JkRQztuI/AAAAAAAABNg/iqPLpYkshyk/s640/Croissanteria+croissants.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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As long as you’re going to open a humble neighborhood
bakery, you might as well make it a global destination for crescent rolls.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s unusual logic. But Selmo Ribeiro and David Simon wanted
something unusual. And so far, their humble bakery and global destination are
doing well.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2acnOrHv9WA/UV9McsAhLnI/AAAAAAAABNo/eRKPNzjL1q4/s1600/Croissanteria+store.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2acnOrHv9WA/UV9McsAhLnI/AAAAAAAABNo/eRKPNzjL1q4/s640/Croissanteria+store.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Having determined that they wanted to launch some sort of
restaurant, they went on to determine that Alphabet City could use a homey café.
They then determined that — at least locally — the croissant was a short-changed
pastry. With that determination, they launched Croissanteria.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-njsvtyfMw9M/UV9MxgCyGDI/AAAAAAAABNw/t8kSx7l8baQ/s1600/Croissanteria+counter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-njsvtyfMw9M/UV9MxgCyGDI/AAAAAAAABNw/t8kSx7l8baQ/s400/Croissanteria+counter.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
It’s a plucky alternative to the nearby Starbucks and
Dunkin’ Donuts. It has tiled walls, ceiling fans, an antique mirror, and an antique
bench. It’s comfortable. It has what any good bakery-café should have. With the
addition of croissants that Parisians have said rival the ones in Paris.</div>
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They include almond croissants, chocolate croissants, and
almond-and-chocolate croissants, not to mention apricot croissants, and just
plain croissants. Those varieties come in full-size or mini, but you have to
go full-size if you want the peanut-butter-and-jelly or Nutella-and-banana
croissants.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Croissanteria makes gourmet sandwiches, and they all come on
croissants. They include French Ham, Italian Tuna, and Smokey Turkey. The
Prosciutto di Parma has “Buffalo Mozzarella, Sliced Prosciutto, Tomato, Basil,
EVOO, & Cracked Pepper.” You wouldn’t think that all of that could fit in a
croissant.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NV6aQfnFG-k/UV9NGuLixLI/AAAAAAAABN4/XEpBSBm1pUY/s1600/Croissanteria+cafe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NV6aQfnFG-k/UV9NGuLixLI/AAAAAAAABN4/XEpBSBm1pUY/s400/Croissanteria+cafe.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Selmo and David gave me a couple of croissants, though without Nutella,
Buffalo Mozzarella, peanut butter, or EVOO. They were perfect — soft and fluffy,
with a thin crispy crust and a buttery flavor. And without any of that pesky croissant greasiness.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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These were croissants that virtually any neighborhood could
use. And not at all what you’d expect from guys with backgrounds in hamburgers
and smoked fish.<o:p></o:p></div>
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David worked for his father’s Catskill Artisan Smokehouse — known
as Catsmo — which sells smoked salmon and caviar to places around the city.
Selmo founded the Nah Nah Bah café and lounge, a burger joint on the beach in
Lagos, Portugal.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--22OEaIQ79Y/UV9Np8jamZI/AAAAAAAABOA/DuGZak_VZeg/s1600/Croisanteria+clock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--22OEaIQ79Y/UV9Np8jamZI/AAAAAAAABOA/DuGZak_VZeg/s320/Croisanteria+clock.jpg" width="238" /></a>The guys had met at Northeastern University, where they were
roommates. “The one thing we really had in common,” Selmo says, “was that we
liked going out to eat.” He adds: “We always spoke about opening something
together having to do with food.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iZFraAw0u3w/UV9OBeb2DqI/AAAAAAAABOI/Ktav3LBrug8/s1600/Croissanteria+special.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iZFraAw0u3w/UV9OBeb2DqI/AAAAAAAABOI/Ktav3LBrug8/s320/Croissanteria+special.jpg" width="238" /></a>David first went to Catsmo and Selmo went to Lagos. But they
stayed in touch, and Selmo came to New York every year. They decided
to open a bakery, but with a twist, Selmo says: “If you’re in New York, the
more niche you go in what you offer, the better you can make it.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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They’re happy with their success as a global destination.
But they seem happiest with their success as a humble neighborhood bakery.
“We’ve gotten such a friendly reception from the neighbors and the
neighborhood,” David says. “We focus on this, and try to make the place
special.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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One day, Selmo says, they had to close for a plumbing
repair. One of the regulars emailed him, in fear that they wouldn’t come back.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“I don’t know how he got my personal email,” he says. “But
those are the small things that are just awesome. Really, really awesome.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9dsk9kp2Ldo/UV9OfV8QNeI/AAAAAAAABOQ/wC0ooMLVz6k/s1600/Croissanteria+window.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9dsk9kp2Ldo/UV9OfV8QNeI/AAAAAAAABOQ/wC0ooMLVz6k/s640/Croissanteria+window.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Get flaky at
<a href="http://www.croissanterianyc.com/">Croissanteria</a>, 68 Avenue A, between Fourth and Fifth streets, in New York City.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-15914097061304613332013-03-08T17:32:00.000-05:002013-03-08T17:32:03.810-05:00Old New York: The Broadway Restaurant is Still Just the Ticket<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MWJT1yKOksU/UTpc8TLwUrI/AAAAAAAABMw/ihx9FPRNorQ/s1600/Broadway+Restaurant+counter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MWJT1yKOksU/UTpc8TLwUrI/AAAAAAAABMw/ihx9FPRNorQ/s640/Broadway+Restaurant+counter.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The menu says “Photos Are For Suggestion Only,” which
explains why the Broadway Restaurant does not look like the Parthenon. But it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> a temple — a temple of New York short-order
cookery. It’s the perfect place to nestle while awaiting a dawdling New York
spring.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3AEbvPhV0oc/UTpd0QrX9yI/AAAAAAAABM4/kvOfqfsEAEo/s1600/Broadway+Restaurant+front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3AEbvPhV0oc/UTpd0QrX9yI/AAAAAAAABM4/kvOfqfsEAEo/s400/Broadway+Restaurant+front.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
It’s one of the last of the bygone Manhattan coffee shops, the
kind with pastrami and eggs for breakfast and meat loaf parmigiana for dinner.
The kind where the pastrami and eggs is $6.65 including potatoes and toast, and
the meat loaf parmigiana is $12.95 including potatoes, vegetables, and soup.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s a place to find a sumptuous five-dollar burger, and to
chase it with an intriguing five-dollar “Milk Shake with an Egg.” It’s a place
where your waitress calls you “honey” and sounds like she means it. It’s a genuinely
homey place. There are so few left.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I felt at home when I came in alone and saw the signs that
said “Seating of 2 Or More in Booths,” and the waitress promptly seated me in a
booth. I felt at home when the waitress took the time to help me choose my short order. I
felt loved when she called me “honey.” I felt married when she called me
“dear.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xf2EKneXauw/UTpeUEM5S5I/AAAAAAAABNA/Qn_eW77OGe0/s1600/Broadway+Restaurant+breakfast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xf2EKneXauw/UTpeUEM5S5I/AAAAAAAABNA/Qn_eW77OGe0/s640/Broadway+Restaurant+breakfast.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I had the burger, which beats ones that cost three times as
much, though I postponed the Milk Shake with an Egg so I’d still have it to look
forward to. And I was not alone, after all. I dined with Brigitte Bardot,
Marilyn Monroe, and Sophia Loren, who smiled at me from the wall. It was the perfect
lunch.<o:p></o:p></div>
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My waitress was Ann Taylor, who told me how, when the prices
go up, she changes them on the menu signs with red nail polish. “Stuff goes up
for like a nickel,” she says. “It’s so much work for a nickel.” But she knows
it’s worth it. The signs are among the things that make the place homey.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OaM_Vgm1Mg8/UTpetcd8ShI/AAAAAAAABNI/dUrRh-HQ3aY/s1600/Broadway+Restaurant+sandwiches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OaM_Vgm1Mg8/UTpetcd8ShI/AAAAAAAABNI/dUrRh-HQ3aY/s640/Broadway+Restaurant+sandwiches.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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They date to around 1970, which is when Broadway opened, says
Angelo Arsenis, who bought the place in 1980. He chose to keep the signs. He had to keep the wagon-wheel lights. “I tried to change the lamps,” he explains.
“People complained. I put ’em back up.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Most important, he kept the horseshoe counter, which evokes
an old-time doughnut shop, which is what Broadway reportedly used to be. Customers say
that in the sixties it was part of the Twin Donut chain. Back then, doughnut shops
were supposed to be pleasant.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Angelo figured that a coffee shop also ought to be pleasant.
And he figured that his ought to be homey — not only for you, but for him.<br />
<br />
“This is my house. This is my second house,” he says. “When I
leave my house and come here, I feel like I’m in my house.”<br />
<br /><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UxWKQmF-L-4/UTpfAJ-vE3I/AAAAAAAABNQ/e0-hL_QSNug/s1600/Broadway+Restaurant+window.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UxWKQmF-L-4/UTpfAJ-vE3I/AAAAAAAABNQ/e0-hL_QSNug/s640/Broadway+Restaurant+window.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Settle into <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/broadway-restaurant-new-york">Broadway Restaurant & Coffee Shop</a>, 2664 Broadway, between 101<sup>st</sup> and 102<sup>nd</sup>
streets, in New York City.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-6140803882629872052013-02-19T23:50:00.003-05:002013-02-20T00:06:36.833-05:00New in New York: At Baconery, Everyone's Taken With Bacon<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pgps-jbLbkQ/USRRWOaY7dI/AAAAAAAABK8/fORwNg0AOM0/s1600/Baconery+blackboard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pgps-jbLbkQ/USRRWOaY7dI/AAAAAAAABK8/fORwNg0AOM0/s640/Baconery+blackboard.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Wesley Klein’s plans for his bakery became clear to me when
I asked him if he thought there was anything at all that doesn’t go well with
bacon, and he said no.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“It works with everything,” he said. He named his place
Baconery, and he meant it. Today he puts bacon in a few foods. Tomorrow he may
put it in all foods.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CfomTZ0tP0Y/USRSBNvkpOI/AAAAAAAABLI/5EEmxSRL4yo/s1600/Baconery+storefront.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CfomTZ0tP0Y/USRSBNvkpOI/AAAAAAAABLI/5EEmxSRL4yo/s640/Baconery+storefront.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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So go now, while the menu is manageable, and decide for
yourself how clever he was to open the city’s first all-bacon bakery. The
response has been promising, he says: “People come in with their expectations
too high and go out saying it was even better than they expected.”<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></div>
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Their choices include bacon cookies, bacon brownies, bacon
blondies, bacon muffins, bacon croissants, and bacon pecan pie. Also bacon
lollipops, bacon caramels, bacon marshmallow bars, chocolate-covered bacon, and
gluten-free bacon macaroons.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1DShX1NSerQ/USRSkPNVQgI/AAAAAAAABLQ/Jqc7xU4X8Gg/s1600/Baconery+chocolate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1DShX1NSerQ/USRSkPNVQgI/AAAAAAAABLQ/Jqc7xU4X8Gg/s640/Baconery+chocolate.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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If they really want to pig out, they can precede (or follow)
the sweets with one (or more) of the bakery’s six bacon sandwiches. They range
from the Miss Piggy (Grilled Bacon & Cheese) to the Porky Pig (Bacon, Egg,
Lettuce, Cheese, Tomato, Avocado, Cucumber, Mayo). There's also a Wilbur.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Wesley’s idea was to address our need for sweet combined
with salty. He got the idea while sopping up pancake syrup with a slab of bacon. He
consulted with chefs, established his main ingredient’s versatility, launched
Baconery online, and a year later opened the store.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3oqgGhDIf0c/USRTID7N67I/AAAAAAAABLY/cZZhjzCSrLU/s1600/Baconery+rugs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3oqgGhDIf0c/USRTID7N67I/AAAAAAAABLY/cZZhjzCSrLU/s640/Baconery+rugs.jpg" width="475" /></a></div>
<br />
He started small, but he went whole hog. It’s a hard-core
bacon store. There are bacon slices on the walls. There are bacon rugs on the
floor. There are bacon-colored sofas accented with bacon-print pillows, behind
red-and-white-striped tables and baconian wood-topped stools.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jMvfMcELB5A/USRTtWZZ76I/AAAAAAAABLg/O8S8j7hLyZ4/s1600/Baconery+tables.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jMvfMcELB5A/USRTtWZZ76I/AAAAAAAABLg/O8S8j7hLyZ4/s640/Baconery+tables.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Besides the food, he sells T-shirts that say things like
“Feel Like Bacon Love,” along with items like bacon-themed platters and wallets,
and actual gourmet bacon. And he has posted “The Rules of Bacon,” of which
Number Four is: “Even the pigs like bacon. That’s a fact.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tkFqrqNnaeg/USRUELRcgkI/AAAAAAAABLo/IZ3QkO-Y1RM/s1600/Baconery+pillow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tkFqrqNnaeg/USRUELRcgkI/AAAAAAAABLo/IZ3QkO-Y1RM/s640/Baconery+pillow.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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It’s a curious obsession, especially curious since Wesley is
Jewish, which he says only proves that Baconery welcomes customers of all
faiths. And you can glimpse the obsessive future with a glimpse at the
selections currently served from 6 to 8 p.m. as “Snack of the Night.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sunday’s snack, for example, is the Ultimate Bacon Mashed
Potato Bowl. Wednesday’s is the Nutella Bacon Strawberry Crepe. Monday’s is
Bacon Wrapped Pineapples; Tuesday’s is Bacon Wrapped Jalapeños. And Friday’s is
apparently what it’s all leading to: Bacon Wrapped Bacon.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SpxxYyTm3to/USRUWBqT2jI/AAAAAAAABLw/HBg2bIqW9as/s1600/Baconery+bacon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SpxxYyTm3to/USRUWBqT2jI/AAAAAAAABLw/HBg2bIqW9as/s640/Baconery+bacon.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Get bacon for granted
at <a href="http://baconery.com/">Baconery</a>, 911 Columbus Avenue, between 104<sup>th</sup> and 105<sup>th</sup>
streets, in New York City.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-15234333902546200512013-01-31T16:53:00.000-05:002013-01-31T16:53:24.897-05:00Old New York: The Carnegie Deli Launches Its Congenial Stage<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-scV9pjPBcZI/UQrDJLXPQ-I/AAAAAAAABJI/2kzyVKnB_TM/s1600/Carnegie+Deli+pastrami.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-scV9pjPBcZI/UQrDJLXPQ-I/AAAAAAAABJI/2kzyVKnB_TM/s640/Carnegie+Deli+pastrami.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Next time you sit down at the Carnegie Delicatessen, brace
yourself for what may come with your big sandwich:<o:p></o:p></div>
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A big smile.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After 75 years, the place has decided to start being nice.
It’s enough to make you ask for your money back before you start eating.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Carnegie, which is world-famous for its morbidly obese sandwiches,
is also famous for having them hauled to your table by someone who’s crabby. But
it has a new COO, and he says that crabby is out: “That may have been cute when it
was old Jewish waiters back in the sixties, but it’s not the way it is
anymore.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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The new COO is Robert Eby, and his niceness policy is the
third in a recent series of shocks to hit the deli right in its kishkas. First,
its lifelong rival, the nearby Stage Delicatessen, closed up. Then, its 20-year
manager, Sandy Levine, stepped down. Oy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Those two consecutive events prepared it for anything — except
this. A Jewish deli without grumpiness is like a day with sunshine.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Carnegie has reveled in its rudeness. It knew that people
had come to expect it. Its insults were featured in a souvenir video that it
made in the nineties. In the video — called “What a Pickle!” — a crusty waitress
peppers her patrons with lines like: “You want me to smile? Did you come here
to eat or see teeth?”<o:p></o:p></div>
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The place won’t go schmaltzy, Robert says: “We’re just gonna
warm it up.” That’s reasonable when you’re getting seventeen bucks for a pastrami
sandwich. But usually it’s competition that triggers such a reversal. With the
Stage gone, you’d think that they’d let themselves get crabbier than ever.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Then again, the demise is a good reason to cheer up. The
Stage was a relentless source of crabbiness for years.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GYmWdlTz5ow/UQrI-IDzLKI/AAAAAAAABJs/9YQfeXp2BVk/s1600/Carnegie+Deli+sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GYmWdlTz5ow/UQrI-IDzLKI/AAAAAAAABJs/9YQfeXp2BVk/s640/Carnegie+Deli+sign.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Both delis opened in 1937, but the <a href="http://www.stagedeli.com/History.cfm">Stage Deli</a> made its debut
at 48<sup>th</sup> Street and Broadway. Five years later, it moved to Seventh
Avenue between 53<sup>rd</sup> and 54<sup>th</sup> streets. The Carnegie was on
Seventh Avenue between 54<sup>th</sup> and 55<sup>th</sup> streets.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Carnegie’s founders, Izzie and Ida Orgel, sold the deli
to Max Hudes. He got the sobriquet “Carnegie Max,” but that didn’t get him the crowds.
The Stage, too, had a Max — Max Asnas — and he’d already made his Stage a star.
For over three decades, the Carnegie was relegated to second fiddle.<o:p></o:p><br />
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It stayed there till 1976, when Milton Parker and Leo
Steiner took over. Steiner hired his brother Sam to cure their own meats in the
basement. In 1979, Mimi Sheraton, in The New York Times, named the Carnegie one
of the three best places for corned beef and pastrami. She didn’t name the
Stage.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But the day the story came out, the Carnegie’s line reached to the Stage. Though they’d stocked up, the owners ran out of pastrami by 3 in
the afternoon. In a single day, they had finally eclipsed their competitor.
Mimi Sheraton had done for the Carnegie what Hugh Grant would do for Jay Leno.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Leo Steiner became the deli doyen that Max Asnas had once been.
He courted stars, catered to comics, and kept making the sandwiches bigger.
When Steiner died in 1987, Parker did his best to take over that role. In the video
he appears in a bow tie, lugging around a giant pickle.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VyNc7UwZBdI/UQrJro7n-WI/AAAAAAAABJ0/gCj4vncy3l8/s1600/Carnegie+Deli+tables.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VyNc7UwZBdI/UQrJro7n-WI/AAAAAAAABJ0/gCj4vncy3l8/s640/Carnegie+Deli+tables.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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In 1993, he brought in Sandy Levine, who had been working in
apparel but who was a natural in a deli. Sandy honed the art of abusing customers just
enough so that they enjoyed it. He had business cards that said “MBD.” It stood
for “Married Boss’s Daughter.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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The daughter is Marian Harper Levine, whose father was
Milton Parker. She is still in charge, and she admittedly has little to be
crabby about. She owns the Carnegie’s building, and she’s getting not only her
own customers but also the Stage’s. “Now they have no choice,” she observes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The staff will still be playful, Robert says. But only to a point:
“We want to let our guests know that they’re appreciated.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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In other words, don’t expect to get that waitress in
the video, who bade her customers a touching farewell with: “You’re not paying
rent here. It’s time to go.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AA-FMA7BYEc/UQrIi9-ng1I/AAAAAAAABJk/19GSfpkXcIQ/s1600/Carnegie+Deli+waitress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AA-FMA7BYEc/UQrIi9-ng1I/AAAAAAAABJk/19GSfpkXcIQ/s640/Carnegie+Deli+waitress.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Have a nice day at the <a href="http://www.carnegiedeli.com/home.php">Carnegie Delicatessen & Restaurant</a>, 854 Seventh Avenue, between 54th and 55th streets, in New
York City.</span></i><!--EndFragment-->
Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-42075352541817217142013-01-03T19:45:00.000-05:002013-01-03T19:45:15.272-05:00Old New York: Gallagher's Steak House Will Get Its Third Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U0iqh4wni3A/UOYbZuexd2I/AAAAAAAABFs/4kFh3cjUjCU/s1600/Gallagher%2527s+Tables.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U0iqh4wni3A/UOYbZuexd2I/AAAAAAAABFs/4kFh3cjUjCU/s640/Gallagher%2527s+Tables.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Dean Poll isn’t sure yet what he’ll do with the see-through
meat locker, but he assures you that you’ll still know Gallagher’s Steak House
when you see it.</div>
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“It will unquestionably be recognized as a restaurant that’s
eighty-five years old,” he told me yesterday. “We will certainly maintain its
heritage.”</div>
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Dean, who owns the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park, has
bought Gallagher’s from Marlene Brody, the widow of Jerry Brody, its previous
rescuer. The two are holding a press conference at noon tomorrow at
Gallagher’s, a theater-district destination since it was launched by a Ziegfeld
girl.</div>
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The conference is a good idea, since a wave of reports in
October declared Gallagher’s dead, based on circumstantial evidence. As of
today, New York magazine’s online listing still said: “This venue is closed.”
This venue is not closed. And now it won’t be closed.<br />
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Dean, in fact, told me that he may not touch the place much for a
year. So you have some time to grab a last look at Gallagher’s untouched. Go now to
see the wooden revolving door, the knotty-pine walls, the log lights, and the
famous locker. You never know what’ll make it through.</div>
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“It’s not going to be a new restaurant, but it needs some
work,” Dean said. “But I’m not going to make it into a brand-new, shiny, lawyer
restaurant. You will know you’re in Gallagher’s, and you will know you’re in a
place that has connections to theater, sports, and politics.”</div>
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That sounded good not only to me but also to Marlene Brody,
whom I spoke to today. “That reassures me,” she said. “Not because I don’t want
it to change, but because when people redo things completely and just keep the
name, the place loses its soul.”</div>
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“He’s been wanting it a long time,” she said. “He tried to
buy it off me after Jerry died. … He really understands the essence of it.” She
did add, however: “The meat locker, he has to leave. It’s the only restaurant in
the world that has that. People come to take pictures of that.”<br />
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Seeing stacked raw meat when you enter a restaurant is
indeed an oddity — but not any more of an oddity than the history of the restaurant.</div>
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To start with, Gallagher had nothing to do with it. Edward
Gallagher was half of the famous vaudeville act Gallagher and Shean.
Gallagher’s was opened as a speakeasy in 1927 by his wife, Helen Gallagher, who
by that time was with her next husband, Jack Solomon, a bookie.</div>
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After repeal, Helen and Jack turned Gallagher’s into a
steakhouse. It had a lot going for it besides Helen and Jack’s friends. It was
near not only dozens of Broadway shows but the old Madison Square Garden. It
got theater and sports people along with other Ziegfeld girls and bookies.</div>
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Helen died in 1943; Jack died in 1963. He left the
restaurant to Irene Hayes, his second wife (and his second Ziegfeld girl). But
Irene was a florist and had no use for a steakhouse. She sold it to Jerry
Brody, one of the city’s great restaurant impresarios.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ex4DxooIWAQ/UOYeHi2GjUI/AAAAAAAABHs/BOopv1nwzaU/s1600/Gallagher%2527s+Marlene+and+Jerry+Brody.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ex4DxooIWAQ/UOYeHi2GjUI/AAAAAAAABHs/BOopv1nwzaU/s400/Gallagher%2527s+Marlene+and+Jerry+Brody.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the center, Marlene and Jerry.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Brody had led the creation of, among other things, The Four
Seasons, and would go on to rescue the Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant.
When he bought Gallagher’s, it was on the ropes. Three years later, Princess
Grace was hiring it to cater her summer barbecue.<br />
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Brody died in 2001, and Marlene has run it since. But she’s
81, and her heart is in her horse farm upstate. To run a restaurant, she said,
“you need money and you need youth. What I really want to do is to breed a
champion racehorse.”</div>
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So Dean finally gets Gallagher’s, with its past patrons ranging from James Cagney to Frank Sinatra to Jacqueline Onassis to Mickey Mantle. He gets the walls full of
pictures and portraits of celebrities, politicians, and racehorses. Not to
mention the big painting of patrons including the Brodys.</div>
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As we spoke, he invoked P.J. Clarke’s, the century-old bar
on Third Avenue that a decade ago was renovated but put back the way it was.
That’s his model for Gallagher’s, he said: “I don’t consider it a restaurant in
New York. I consider it part of the fabric of New York.”<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HhjjcXmJSnU/UOYdysKyPfI/AAAAAAAABG0/4NTvxuJ5eAw/s1600/Gallagher's+Door.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HhjjcXmJSnU/UOYdysKyPfI/AAAAAAAABG0/4NTvxuJ5eAw/s640/Gallagher's+Door.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Step back at <a href="http://www.gallaghersnysteakhouse.com/">Gallagher’s Steak House</a>, 228 West
52<sup>nd</sup> Street, between Eighth Avenue and Broadway, in New York City.</span></i><!--EndFragment-->
Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-75588053419478566902012-11-27T20:20:00.000-05:002012-11-27T23:33:02.902-05:00Old New York: Christmas is Served, at Rolf's German Restaurant<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZkI7rtdGOL0/ULVYXRHINiI/AAAAAAAABDw/-qsXDIUntv8/s1600/Rolf's+Christmas+Booths.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZkI7rtdGOL0/ULVYXRHINiI/AAAAAAAABDw/-qsXDIUntv8/s640/Rolf's+Christmas+Booths.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The angels appeared to be tooting, but there was no way I
could have heard them, what with all those other people chattering away on our
branch.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Still, I couldn’t help liking my afternoon in the tree, even
if I couldn’t help expecting an icicle to fall and puncture my head.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Anyone who will listen knows that I get sick of the holiday
season around the time that the first bag of candy corn arrives at Duane Reade.
I blame this on years of working at newspapers where every story written after Labor
Day began: “Christmas came early for...”<o:p></o:p></div>
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I used to look forward to going to, say, Rockefeller Center.
Now I almost look forward to not going to it. But Bob Maisano said his place is
different. He said I must come see it. And he was right. Christmas came early
for me, at Rolf’s German Restaurant.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Rolf’s is not a restaurant with a Christmas tree. Rolf’s is
a Christmas tree with a restaurant. It is a place packed with ornaments,
lights, fake pine, fake ice, and fake snow, such that you don’t feel like you’re around a
tree; you feel like one’s around you.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The dominant feature are the ball ornaments, in clusters of
red and gold. Also the icicle ornaments, aiming squarely at your head. Also the
tiny lights, of which Bob says there are 85,000. Every feature is dominant.
Everything glistens or glitters or glows.<br />
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Walk around, if you can, and you’ll pick out the dolls and
the sleighs and the tooting and fiddling angels, and maybe the three Santas
swigging Merlot. And none of it’s junk. That is, none of it’s cheap. Bob says
that the thousands of pieces are mostly nineteenth-century German
antiques.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://mbvintagenewyork.blogspot.com/2011/07/rolfs-german-restaurant-four-wursts-no.html">Last year, I chatted with Bob</a> on a sultry summer’s day, when
the crowd at Rolf’s, besides me, consisted of Bob. When it’s hot, people withdraw
from jaeger schnitzel and smoked bratwurst. That’s why Rolf’s needed Christmas.
That’s why Christmas there lasts for three months.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It wasn’t like that in 1968, when Rolf Hoffman opened the
place. Back then, the patrons were satisfied with glowering waitresses in
dirndls. It was Ben House who decided to fortify the holiday décor when he and
Bob took over, after Rolf died in 1981.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q8AyAjIRLdA/ULVcQS8U4II/AAAAAAAABEc/H3uapZn89ow/s1600/Rolf's+Bob+Maisano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q8AyAjIRLdA/ULVcQS8U4II/AAAAAAAABEc/H3uapZn89ow/s640/Rolf's+Bob+Maisano.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Ben started off cheap. Bob says his taste ran to dollar-store silver garlands and animated polar bears swigging martinis. “You wouldn’t know if it
was a restaurant or a store that sold Christmas decorations,” Bob says. “He
loved Christmas decorations. … It seemed like the business was secondary to
that.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ben died in 1996, and Christmas fell to Bob. He bypassed the
dollar stores in favor of New England antique barns. He added stuff each year,
and his tree became a destination. “If we didn’t have this Christmas here,” he
says, “we wouldn’t have this business here.”<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nYORVYhxnCw/ULVdR7FplSI/AAAAAAAABEs/J8wxBq1RC_A/s1600/Rolf's+Christmas+Dolls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nYORVYhxnCw/ULVdR7FplSI/AAAAAAAABEs/J8wxBq1RC_A/s640/Rolf's+Christmas+Dolls.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Rolf’s perked me up, at least until I hear “Grandma Got Run Over
by a Reindeer.” And perking people up, Bob says, justifies the six weeks of
installation.<br />
<br />
“Maybe they had a bad time somewhere. Maybe they had a bad day at
work. And at least they walked in here and had a moment of happiness.”<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0iww_zww6Uk/ULVcxsDn8uI/AAAAAAAABEk/sjIYPS2PuRI/s1600/Rolf's+Christmas+Couple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0iww_zww6Uk/ULVcxsDn8uI/AAAAAAAABEk/sjIYPS2PuRI/s640/Rolf's+Christmas+Couple.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Find happiness at
<a href="http://rolfsnyc.com/www.rolfsnyc.com/Welcome.html">Rolf’s German Restaurant</a>, at 281 Third Avenue, between 22<sup>nd</sup> and 23<sup>rd</sup>
streets, in New York City.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-34766452682170284522012-11-07T17:27:00.001-05:002012-11-16T16:06:31.418-05:00New in New York: Warm Up to the Cup at Meatball Obsession<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XfLLgYjzEbk/UJrT8p0lN0I/AAAAAAAABCM/173OxOv_I-U/s1600/Meatball+Obsession+Sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Meatballs in a cup are a treat for anyone dining in New York" border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XfLLgYjzEbk/UJrT8p0lN0I/AAAAAAAABCM/173OxOv_I-U/s640/Meatball+Obsession+Sign.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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When it’s hot, you want a cup of ice cream. When it’s cold,
you want a cup of meatball.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When you look at it that way, you may begin to grasp the
logic behind the Home of the Original Meatball in a Cup.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rKgXoqQdPgY/UJrVgufQXQI/AAAAAAAABCU/uy7S1BHMcrQ/s1600/Meatball+Obsession+Cup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Meatball Obsession offers those dining in New York a casual way to taste the obsession." border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rKgXoqQdPgY/UJrVgufQXQI/AAAAAAAABCU/uy7S1BHMcrQ/s400/Meatball+Obsession+Cup.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
The Home is Meatball Obsession, which looks like an ice-cream
stand except that instead of ice cream containers it has meatball pots. It
serves you a cup with a giant meatball in the flavor of your choice, with the toppings of your choice and Parmesan bread instead of a wafer.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It opened in time for summer, since it is clearly up for a
challenge, but it is now embarking upon its maiden meatball season. It has unveiled
new items, new toppings, and a new meatball, and it is waiting to see you having yourself a little Italian meal walking.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In keeping with <a href="http://mbvintagenewyork.blogspot.com/2011/11/strangely-new-york-stepping-out-at-b.html">popular practice</a>, it provides you with three
steps toward acquiring your optimal movable feast. Step 1 is “Indulge Your
Obsession,” which means “Choose Your Meatball,” which means you can have Beef,
Turkey, Pork Sausage, or the new Chicken, in Sunday Sauce.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Step 2 is “Choose Your Style,” which means that if you don’t
like cups you can have your meatball stuffed in the Original Pocket Sandwich. Step
3 is “The Toppings,” which means that you can complicate your meatball with flavorings from Locatelli Pecorino Romano to the new Sautéed Peas and Onions.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EIS8qzRmIYw/UJrWUYWUYWI/AAAAAAAABCc/yd7pYadFpac/s1600/Meatball+Obsession+Meatball+Pots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A lineup of dutch ovens simmer the meatballs for those dining in New York at Meatball Obsession" border="0" height="238" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EIS8qzRmIYw/UJrWUYWUYWI/AAAAAAAABCc/yd7pYadFpac/s320/Meatball+Obsession+Meatball+Pots.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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You get a single meatball — in either format — for $4; you
get one topping free and others for 50 cents or $1 apiece. To expand your options,
there are now ravioli, and to complete your meal there are now cannoli, which come
from Arthur Avenue but get assembled in the store.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It may all sound a little detached, but be assured that,
in fact, it all came straight from Grandma’s kitchen. The Grandma was Anna
Mancini, and her grandson is Daniel Mancini, who has spent his life obsessesed
with her meatballs, which is why he brought them back.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“One of my favorite memories was waking up every Sunday
morning to the wonderful smell of her meatballs and Sunday Sauce cooking on the
stove,” Daniel says in his meatball credo. “Sunday afternoon our home was full
of family and friends enjoying the feast my grandmother prepared.”<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1v0r2ntgUa0/UJrWqlHh34I/AAAAAAAABCk/UIcHKfAlNbI/s1600/Meatball+Obsession+Meatballs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dining in New York you will have a hard time resisting Meatball Obsession" border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1v0r2ntgUa0/UJrWqlHh34I/AAAAAAAABCk/UIcHKfAlNbI/s640/Meatball+Obsession+Meatballs.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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He had a career running clothing companies but ditched it to
make meatballs, which he has since sold in stores under the name of MamaMancini’s. But he also wanted to sell them hot, so this year he opened his meatball stand. He
didn’t come up with the cup. Grandma did that, too.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The city, of course, has been in a meatball phase for a while. The phase has given us, among other things, The Meatball Shop and <a href="http://mbvintagenewyork.blogspot.com/2012/10/signing-off-you-name-it-just-dont-give.html">The Meatball Factory</a>. No meatball source, however, has been quite as accessible as Meatball
Obsession’s color-coded pots and open window.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nb9Y9I-1NrE/UJrYMZ2BLYI/AAAAAAAABC0/JI4wX1rlVm8/s1600/Meatball+Obsession+Bread.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Nothing goes better with meatballs then fresh bread at Meatball Obsession in New York" border="0" height="476" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nb9Y9I-1NrE/UJrYMZ2BLYI/AAAAAAAABC0/JI4wX1rlVm8/s640/Meatball+Obsession+Bread.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I had meatballs. I had Beef and Turkey. (I had them before
there was Chicken.) Both of them were excellent, and the sauce was delicious. Two
or three make a good meal. You get two for $7.50 and three for $10. You
get a 10 percent discount on 50, but my limit is 45.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous before
we opened Meatball Obsession,” Daniel says in the credo. “Would people not want
a meatball in a cup?”<o:p></o:p></div>
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So far people have wanted it. And more are bound to want it, because meatballs always look better in December than in July.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hn0sq1cjOPA/UJrXJrRHEpI/AAAAAAAABCs/iDvk-vs74kk/s1600/Meatball+Obsession+Outside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="When dining in New York try not to mistake Meatball Obsession with an ice cream stand" border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hn0sq1cjOPA/UJrXJrRHEpI/AAAAAAAABCs/iDvk-vs74kk/s640/Meatball+Obsession+Outside.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Roll with it at <a href="http://meatballobsession.com/">Meatball Obsession</a>, 510 Sixth
Avenue, between 13<sup>th</sup> and 14<sup>th</sup> streets, in New York City.</span></i><!--EndFragment-->
Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-87458893571120022342012-10-17T20:20:00.000-04:002012-10-25T22:04:20.360-04:00New in New York: Populence and Pop Karma Make a Crop Pop <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O3P3-l5aMeE/UH9CQItLsjI/AAAAAAAABAI/GhDxqNscfq4/s1600/Pop+Karma+Popcorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Delicious popcorn at the New in New York popcorn venue Pop Karma" border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O3P3-l5aMeE/UH9CQItLsjI/AAAAAAAABAI/GhDxqNscfq4/s640/Pop+Karma+Popcorn.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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For Porcini Cheddar popcorn, you want the East Side. For Three
Cheese popcorn, you want the West Side. Then again, for Pumpkin Spice popcorn,
you want the West Side, whereas for Bacon Apple Bourbon Caramel popcorn, you
want the East Side.<o:p></o:p><br />
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It could have been simple. But nothing ever is. So the
popcorn department of your life just got complicated. Through what you’d have
to call karmic opulence, New York has just furnished you with two new popcorn shops — Pop Karma and Populence.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6fsOWTIu2bw/UH9DyW8MFLI/AAAAAAAABAc/o_e_bUE4-4g/s1600/Populence+Counter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Visit the New in New York Populence" border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6fsOWTIu2bw/UH9DyW8MFLI/AAAAAAAABAc/o_e_bUE4-4g/s640/Populence+Counter.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Each is a little place run by a woman inspired by corn. Both
popped up at practically the same time, though apparently by coincidence. Each
offers popcorn in flavors that you don’t get in cellophane bags. Both sell
popcorn with a conviction that it will make you happy and healthy.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KTgTRWtkm8k/UH9EV8rNi1I/AAAAAAAABAk/kH3nHGygV2c/s1600/Pop+Karma+Counter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Pick your popcorn flavor at Pop Karma" border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KTgTRWtkm8k/UH9EV8rNi1I/AAAAAAAABAk/kH3nHGygV2c/s640/Pop+Karma+Counter.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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So take your pick. Or don’t, for if you love popcorn, you’ll
want to try both. They’ve made themselves just different enough so that you have no choice.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yAOqMxuks8A/UH9Et3-sPsI/AAAAAAAABAs/YtE2tZikCd0/s1600/Populence+Menu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The menu at this New in New York establishment makes your mouth water" border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yAOqMxuks8A/UH9Et3-sPsI/AAAAAAAABAs/YtE2tZikCd0/s320/Populence+Menu.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Populence, in the West Village, is run by Maggie Paulus,
whose very life was essentially launched by popcorn. “My dad proposed to my mom
with a ring in a Cracker Jack box,” she told me. “So growing up, popcorn was
always associated with something fun.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Pop Karma, on the Lower East Side, is run by Jean Tsai, who
wants to inspire you in much the same way that popcorn inspired her. On the
chalkboard outside her store, she puts inspiring quotes like Herbert Spencer’s
“The great aim of education is not knowledge but action.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dMf1Hg80odA/UH9E_Kd_T1I/AAAAAAAABA0/l31VSUbQ-vU/s1600/Pop+Karma+Menu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="A white board of popcorn goodness at the New in New York Pop Karma" border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dMf1Hg80odA/UH9E_Kd_T1I/AAAAAAAABA0/l31VSUbQ-vU/s320/Pop+Karma+Menu.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
Populence carries six flavors at a time — usually three sweet
and three savory. The top sellers have been Salted Caramel, Sun-dried Tomato,
and Jalapeño Cheddar. There’s also Kettle Corn, Ginger Caramel, Garlic Rosemary,
Real Raspberry, and Sweet Cinnamon. Salted Caramel could count as sweet <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> savory.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Pop Karma carries six flavors at a time — usually three
“classic” and three seasonal. The classic are Caramel, Mediterranean, and Zen
Cheddar. The seasonal have included Barbecue, Margarita, and White Truffle
Cheddar, and now include Za’atar, which is described as “a visit to a Middle
Eastern souk.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Populence Web site says: “Our artisanal method of
creating cornfections involves small batches of heirloom popcorn combined with
the finest whole ingredients.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Pop Karma Web site says: “Our ingredients lists are
minimal since we source the best food possible from responsible, sustainable
producers.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s close, but I have to give that round to Populence, because
of “cornfections,” and in spite of “heirloom.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-apFkeK0ftCU/UH9Fz3_Dh8I/AAAAAAAABA8/DwbY-aELzCk/s1600/Populence+Cans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Don't stop with just a days worth of popcorn, bring a bucket of Populence home with you" border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-apFkeK0ftCU/UH9Fz3_Dh8I/AAAAAAAABA8/DwbY-aELzCk/s640/Populence+Cans.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
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Maggie and Jean, of course, are not the first to have
popcorn stores in New York, regardless of which one of them thought of having
one first. Awhile ago, Times Square had a store called Popcorn, Indiana. In the
eighties, the Upper East Side had Jack’s Corn Crib. The Jack was Jack Klugman.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Those are gone, of course. But they were chains. Pop Karma
and Populence aren’t. Yet. And their owners both seem devoted to their products
and their neighborhoods.<br />
<br />
As the Pop Karma Web site puts it: “Kind words and
kind actions inspire a beautiful day. A lifetime of beautiful days is a work of
art. Live it.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XOPctPMLYoY/UH9GG05uTWI/AAAAAAAABBE/yLUWBVeB3Io/s1600/Pop+Karma+Sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A good sign is an imperative for any New in New York establishment" border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XOPctPMLYoY/UH9GG05uTWI/AAAAAAAABBE/yLUWBVeB3Io/s640/Pop+Karma+Sign.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Pop into <a href="http://www.populencenyc.com/">Populence</a>, at 1West Eighth Street, and
<a href="http://popkarma.com/">Pop Karma</a>, at 95 Orchard Street, in New York City.</span></i><!--EndFragment-->
Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-77166221652123994572012-10-04T18:33:00.000-04:002012-10-25T22:10:00.829-04:00Signing Off: You Name It — Just Don't Give Us the Wrong Idea<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fwduZ6-odkY/UG3IeHx8rZI/AAAAAAAAA9o/HG-LnoVOuYM/s1600/Out+of+the+Kitchen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Out of the Kitchen is a restaurant in New York that will no longer invite you in" border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fwduZ6-odkY/UG3IeHx8rZI/AAAAAAAAA9o/HG-LnoVOuYM/s640/Out+of+the+Kitchen.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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They said they'd be Out of the Kitchen!<br />
<br />
And now they are!<br />
<br />
Think of the rent they could have saved if they'd never opened at all!<br />
<br />
I don't like to mock this place. For one thing, it was homey, and for another, it had one of the best chocolate-chip cookies in the city. But its subliminal message was either that no one ever worked there or that no one was welcome — neither of which is what you want to impart to the crowd.<br />
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So now Hudson Street has one less takeout and the city has one less good cookie. And once again, the lesson is: Don't let this happen to you. Holding fast to the flimsy premise that stores' names can determine their fate, Vintage New York offers up the latest cases of nominal self-sabotage...<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pwQdUr4jR8Q/UG3QQtW-pJI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/mwKJ84KkCRw/s1600/Village+Crabhouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dining in New York will never be the same without the Village Crabhouse" border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pwQdUr4jR8Q/UG3QQtW-pJI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/mwKJ84KkCRw/s640/Village+Crabhouse.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Nobody wants to eat in a house full of crabs...<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2maGU6gx9tA/UG3-UE8OcyI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/SsR5tSYMGqk/s1600/Shelf+House.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Apparently shelves were not the New in New York thing everyone thought they were going to be." border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2maGU6gx9tA/UG3-UE8OcyI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/SsR5tSYMGqk/s640/Shelf+House.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Nobody wants to live in a house full of shelves...</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--8aaxI8wjbM/UG3Q0kVMIOI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/gRrhBVDjedA/s1600/Meatball+Factory.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Meatball Factory shuttered it's doors disappointing those dining in New York" border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--8aaxI8wjbM/UG3Q0kVMIOI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/gRrhBVDjedA/s640/Meatball+Factory.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The last food you want to get from a factory is a meatball ...<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XMNp_aQfwZk/UG3RboYbIwI/AAAAAAAAA-g/-9YaH0Tfhks/s1600/Silver+Spoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Another establishment in New York that is no more, Silver Spoon" border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XMNp_aQfwZk/UG3RboYbIwI/AAAAAAAAA-g/-9YaH0Tfhks/s640/Silver+Spoon.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The last spoon you want is one that was in someone's mouth when he was born...<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Iv0-rmZol2E/UG3R3sRxt2I/AAAAAAAAA-o/z8k9pACjrP4/s1600/International+Luggage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Isn't all luggage International by design?" border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Iv0-rmZol2E/UG3R3sRxt2I/AAAAAAAAA-o/z8k9pACjrP4/s640/International+Luggage.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
This seemed like a place that was loaded down with too much baggage...<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UYvjV1Kr9O8/UG4Av_fUD5I/AAAAAAAAA_Y/Dn8HVRirZVM/s1600/Roam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Roam has been closed and will be making way for another New in New York tenant" border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UYvjV1Kr9O8/UG4Av_fUD5I/AAAAAAAAA_Y/Dn8HVRirZVM/s640/Roam.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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This seemed like a place that was telling you to go someplace else...<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1jiJf8dHxYQ/UG4BK9C3hlI/AAAAAAAAA_g/q8llD6x6eEs/s1600/A+to+Z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A health and beauty store in New York." border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1jiJf8dHxYQ/UG4BK9C3hlI/AAAAAAAAA_g/q8llD6x6eEs/s640/A+to+Z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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And this place promised you everything from A to Z, while it's perfectly clear to anyone that it was missing a D.</div>
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<i>Vintage New York is only trying to help.</i></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-46990682044538908662012-09-27T01:55:00.000-04:002012-10-25T22:13:56.144-04:00New in New York: This "Chaplin" is Worth Trying on For Size<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yaei8aXeEi4/UGNt1Bg3WcI/AAAAAAAAA8I/fCb3RuDP5U4/s1600/Chaplin1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The New in New York musical celebrating the life of Charlie Chaplin" border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yaei8aXeEi4/UGNt1Bg3WcI/AAAAAAAAA8I/fCb3RuDP5U4/s640/Chaplin1.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Charlie Chaplin would surely approve of a musical called "Chaplin the Musical," if only on the grounds that it's a musical called "Chaplin the Musical."<br />
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Not just approve of it, but also believe it to be the world's greatest musical, since he would believe it to be a musical about the world's greatest movie star.<br />
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Chaplin was the Little Tramp who got the Big Head. But it was forgivable, because he actually was the world's greatest movie star. And happily, by the end of his life he had reduced his head enough to publicly act as if he wasn't, even if he still thought he was.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G6cjVw0my6M/UGPgopq07lI/AAAAAAAAA8w/t6ZeD4t-ZnM/s1600/Chaplin+Barrymore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Chaplin The Musical is playing at the Old New York theater the Barrymore" border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G6cjVw0my6M/UGPgopq07lI/AAAAAAAAA8w/t6ZeD4t-ZnM/s640/Chaplin+Barrymore.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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It took a long time to get a musical based on Chaplin's life to Broadway. It took a long time to get a musical based on Shaw's "Pygmalion" to Broadway. That musical was "My Fair Lady," and it became the longest-running musical. "Chaplin" isn't "My Fair Lady," and it probably won't.<br />
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Still, it's not a bad way to spend a couple of hours. It's a pleasant show with pleasant music about a recurrently unpleasant life. It follows Charlie from his bleak boyhood, which, early on, he sums up with the line: "Dad died drunk, Mom went crazy, so maybe I should go into the movies!"<br />
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"Pygmalion" was so tough to convert that even Rodgers and Hammerstein gave up. Others have made Chaplin musicals, but none made it to New York. This one must be the best yet, considering that it's here, but it enjoyed no help from Rodgers and Hammerstein, let alone from Lerner and Loewe.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7ZbRfRWKh9E/UGPhDFIQs_I/AAAAAAAAA84/YtHkYq2uunw/s1600/Chaplin3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The cast of Chaplin The Musical sings and dance in this New in New York show." border="0" height="446" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7ZbRfRWKh9E/UGPhDFIQs_I/AAAAAAAAA84/YtHkYq2uunw/s640/Chaplin3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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It does enjoy a lovely cast, led by Rob McClure, who has Chaplin nailed both as the Little Tramp and as Chaplin. It also enjoys a lovely design, suffused with black and white, which is, of course, the way most of us have come to picture Chaplin.<br />
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And it does enjoy nice songs. But you won't go out humming them. They work well in the show. Then they stay there.<br />
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The lack of memorable music is frustrating, since this is, after all, a musical. The lack of Tramp scenes is also frustrating, since this is, after all, "Chaplin." McClure is enchanting when he does the enormously popular character, but he doesn't do much of him. This is not "Little Tramp the Musical."<br />
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In the end, that could be the biggest drawback. Chaplin's wasn't a musical-comedy life. Parental alcoholism and mental illness were just the overture. His later years were afflicted with — besides the Big Head — bad marriages, governmental harassment, and exile. Everybody sing!<br />
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The show's best number is itself sinister. It's "All Falls Down," sung by Jenn Colella as the sinister gossip columnist Hedda Hopper. Hedda sings gaily of destroying Chaplin because he didn't grant her an interview.<br />
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This is insulting to a former newspaperman like me.<br />
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Maybe that's the best reason to see the show.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bk1Njy_Ryp4/UGPjHfVqKyI/AAAAAAAAA9A/fyW1t4doa_k/s1600/Chaplin+Hat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Patrons picture themselves as Chaplin before heading into the Old New York theater, The Barrymore" border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bk1Njy_Ryp4/UGPjHfVqKyI/AAAAAAAAA9A/fyW1t4doa_k/s640/Chaplin+Hat.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>Hats off to <a href="http://chaplinbroadway.com/">"Chaplin,"</a> at the Barrymore Theatre, 243 West 47th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, in New York City.</i><br />
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Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-12909239518252056412012-09-13T00:18:00.000-04:002012-09-19T09:02:00.568-04:00Old New York: Stars Dim on the Yiddish Theater Walk of Fame<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EETk7WzzLwo/UFFOkUbYUnI/AAAAAAAAA7A/0Xoeh6xg5xA/s1600/Yiddish+Walk+of+Fame+Star.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A faded star for Daniel Libeskind on the old new york landmark the Yiddish Theater Walk of Fame" border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EETk7WzzLwo/UFFOkUbYUnI/AAAAAAAAA7A/0Xoeh6xg5xA/s640/Yiddish+Walk+of+Fame+Star.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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In a sense, it won’t matter when you finally can’t read the names, because most people already don’t recognize the names. Or at least they wouldn’t recognize the names if they tried to, which, at least for the most part, they don’t.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The names are of stars of New York City’s Yiddish theater. They’re engraved in granite slabs, which are on Second Avenue at 10<sup>th</sup> Street. Unfortunately, the granite slabs are embedded in the sidewalk, and the sidewalk is often used by people heading for Ninth or 11<sup>th</sup> Street.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So the people walk on the slabs, which is forgivable, and the names get gradually scuffed away, which is regrettable. But the man who got them embedded has been dead for sixteen years, and now the slabs, apparently, are the domain of nobody in the world.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BVmVH_kVq3w/UFFPzS7PlkI/AAAAAAAAA7I/KWE9byRUlUA/s1600/Yiddish+Theater+Walk+of+Fame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Foot traffic has eroded the names along the Yiddish Theater Walk of Fame an old new york landmark" border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BVmVH_kVq3w/UFFPzS7PlkI/AAAAAAAAA7I/KWE9byRUlUA/s640/Yiddish+Theater+Walk+of+Fame.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
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Yiddish theater flourished here from the 1890s through the 1930s. Theaters for its shows clustered on Second Avenue below 14<sup>th</sup> Street. The stretch, which was then regarded as part of the Lower East Side, came to be something of a second Broadway, at least if you understood Yiddish.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Many of its stars moved on to the first Broadway, as well as to movies and television. Probably the most famous of them was Paul Muni. He starred in classic films like “I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang.” But even his is no longer a household name, which doesn’t bode well for Maurice Schwartz.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Moved by the stars’ fate, Abe Lebewohl came to their rescue, perhaps because he was in a unique position to do so. In 1954, he had opened the 2nd Ave Deli. In 1985, he installed the Yiddish Theater Walk of Fame in front of it.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cIvZ2j66kvQ/UFFQt4f2s9I/AAAAAAAAA7Q/-4mK1-g_Sso/s1600/Yiddish+Theater+Walk+of+Fame+Founder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The founder of the Old New York landmark the Yiddish Theater Walk of Fame Abraham Goldfaden's star" border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cIvZ2j66kvQ/UFFQt4f2s9I/AAAAAAAAA7Q/-4mK1-g_Sso/s640/Yiddish+Theater+Walk+of+Fame+Founder.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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It consists of about thirty markers, mostly in two rows, mostly with two names to a marker. Most of the names are inside of stars — not Jewish stars but Hollywood-Walk-of-Fame stars, signifying that the tribute was as much to talent as it was to heritage.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There is David Kessler with Zvi Scooler. There is Leon Liebgold with Lilly Lilyana. There is Boris Thomashevsky with Bessie Thomashevsky. Boris, at 13, helped to bring Yiddish theater to New York. His grandson is the conductor Michael Tilson Thomas.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In 1996, Abe Lebewohl was murdered. His brother, Jack, took over the deli, but ten years later he closed it. The year after that, his sons Josh and Jeremy reopened the 2nd Ave Deli — but on 33<sup>rd</sup> Street, between Lexington and Third.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Last year they opened a second branch, on First Avenue at 75<sup>th</sup> Street. There they <a href="http://mbvintagenewyork.blogspot.com/2011/08/automat-new-york-city-icon-is-slotted.html">installed an Automat section</a> that had been on display at the original store. I’m sure that they’d like to have the walk of fame at the new store, too. It’s kind of hard to fault them for not dislodging and moving a city sidewalk.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Akn2BHe-GzY/UFFRRFh9KcI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/F7Pvh4eoTzQ/s1600/Automat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="An old new york staple Automat returns" border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Akn2BHe-GzY/UFFRRFh9KcI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/F7Pvh4eoTzQ/s640/Automat.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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On the site of the original store there now stands a Chase bank. Neither the bank nor its building manager seems to want much to do with the walk. Nor does the city, which has reportedly said that it never actually approved it. David and Zvi and Leon and Lilly and Boris are on their own.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ve never quite gotten the concept of being honored on a sidewalk. I’m too conscious of the substances that are bound to find their way there. Jazz greats were honored with a walk of fame on 52<sup>nd</sup> Street. The last time I looked, Thelonious Monk had turned into Niou Mon.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Still, many people have embraced the Yiddish Walk. Some years ago, Jack Lebewohl told me of one. “One Rosh Hashana,” he said, “I actually saw a woman stand out there, drop a rose on the sidewalk and say a Hebrew prayer.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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And just maybe, all those names were meant to fade away, before the day when not a single one is known to pedestrians.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So if you want to go look at the names, don’t put the trip off too long.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This walk isn’t going to be preserved. You can bank on that.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WX0YXIQYwfE/UFFR-UgBVQI/AAAAAAAAA7g/0q7w8hlk0v0/s1600/Yiddish+Theater+Walk+of+Fame+Chase.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Yiddish Theater Walk of Fame, an old New York staple is being taken over by a Chase Bank branch." border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WX0YXIQYwfE/UFFR-UgBVQI/AAAAAAAAA7g/0q7w8hlk0v0/s640/Yiddish+Theater+Walk+of+Fame+Chase.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'MS 明朝'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">See the stars on the Yiddish Theater Walk of Fame, on Second Avenue at 10<sup>th</sup> Street, in New York City.</span></i><!--EndFragment--> Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-11424920350069074552012-09-05T21:05:00.001-04:002012-09-19T09:11:16.881-04:00New in New York: Allow Yourself a Taste of Forbidden Fruit<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-thpk0flsPwc/UEezr2rOeHI/AAAAAAAAA5c/oCZKGQ9o1Gk/s1600/Forbidden+Fruit+Billboard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Forbidden Fruit is a yummy treat that is New In New York" border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-thpk0flsPwc/UEezr2rOeHI/AAAAAAAAA5c/oCZKGQ9o1Gk/s640/Forbidden+Fruit+Billboard.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Forbidden Fruit was founded on two sound principles: Fruit
belongs in chocolate, and chocolate belongs on fruit.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Except maybe in the cases of melons and grapes. But every
principle gets resistance.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-20mZaPWI7pw/UEe1HlcUJpI/AAAAAAAAA5k/vbvhhUhfneo/s1600/Forbidden+Fruit+Store.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The small interior gives way to big flavor at the New in New York Forbidden Fruit" border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-20mZaPWI7pw/UEe1HlcUJpI/AAAAAAAAA5k/vbvhhUhfneo/s320/Forbidden+Fruit+Store.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Forbidden Fruit is an all-chocolate-covered-fruit place,
which makes it a good fit for the all-peculiar-place food court that is
MacDougal Street. It’s a simple store with a simple selection that harbors the
simple hope of conquering all the other food courts of the
world, peculiar or not.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When you’re ready to help it succeed, prepare to “dip it!!!” or “drip
it!!!” (With either choice, you get three exclamation points.) The dip-its are
the individual fruits, which are coated with chocolate. The drip-its are
the medleys of fruits, which are drizzled with chocolate.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3hFOkbB8_Lo/UEe1Z-KzbpI/AAAAAAAAA5s/08kAUhl6HlI/s1600/Forbidden+Fruit+Menu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Dip it or Drip It with your favorite Forbidden Fruit at this spot that is New in New York." border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3hFOkbB8_Lo/UEe1Z-KzbpI/AAAAAAAAA5s/08kAUhl6HlI/s320/Forbidden+Fruit+Menu.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
The dip-its include strawberries, pineapples, bananas, and
apples (in wedges). The drip-its include fruit sticks, fruit cups, berry boats,
and clementines (in wedges). The chocolate comes in the customary white, milk,
and dark. You can add coconut or walnuts. Or sprinkles, but just on bananas.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A manager gave me chocolate fruit. This was especially generous,
since a clerk had already given me chocolate fruit. The manager gave me all
dark chocolate, which is the correct kind. Everything was delicious. The bananas tasted like
chocolate-covered banana ice cream.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So Forbidden Fruit has the product. Then again, so does
Edible Arrangements. But Forbidden Fruit is different from that global fruit-bouquet
chain. It has no Grand Confetti Fruit Cupcake or SpongeBob Bikini Bottom
Bouquet. It has no fruit growing out of footballs. It’s not about arrangements.
It’s about a snack.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jCHRsa3tIOc/UEe1wfNJUzI/AAAAAAAAA50/N-bklg9PuD4/s1600/Forbidden+Fruit+Pineapple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Forbidden Fruit includes chocolate covered pineapple, of course it does." border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jCHRsa3tIOc/UEe1wfNJUzI/AAAAAAAAA50/N-bklg9PuD4/s640/Forbidden+Fruit+Pineapple.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The idea for the snack reportedly came from a fountain — specifically, the chocolate fountain at Dylan’s Candy Bar. Abbas Devji saw lots of people there waiting in line to dip things. He was uneasy
with the public dipping. He envisioned fruit predipped.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FoEmUsxDxsQ/UEe2D0xOA3I/AAAAAAAAA58/gOkDJkjQO2I/s1600/Forbidden+Fruit+Bananas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Other New York treats can't shake a stick at Forbidden Fruit's chocolate dipped bananas that are certainly New in New York" border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FoEmUsxDxsQ/UEe2D0xOA3I/AAAAAAAAA58/gOkDJkjQO2I/s640/Forbidden+Fruit+Bananas.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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He enlisted a creative director, Matthew Higginson, to create
a store. Matthew led a six-month quest to develop the look and the menu. He
dipped many fruits. He found that some of them didn’t agree with chocolate.
Those included watermelon, cantaloupe, and grapes. They are the forbidden
fruit.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kCEjODedDEU/UEe2dNf6VOI/AAAAAAAAA6E/78zbSFZ6Zxs/s1600/Forbidden+Fruit+Strawberry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The classic chocolate covered strawberry gets the Forbidden Fruit treatment." border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kCEjODedDEU/UEe2dNf6VOI/AAAAAAAAA6E/78zbSFZ6Zxs/s640/Forbidden+Fruit+Strawberry.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Matthew wants to see Forbidden Fruits from Boston to L.A.
Meanwhile, he’s planning <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a Chocolate of
the Month for New York City. And he’s just added a Fruit of the Season. The first
one is the cherry, which, of course, has had a long and successful relationship
with chocolate.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BP663dEo_PU/UEe2yaTI89I/AAAAAAAAA6M/50XUEA1b6W4/s1600/Forbidden+Fruit+Line.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The new in New York spot, Forbidden Fruit, is already a popular destination for locals." border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BP663dEo_PU/UEe2yaTI89I/AAAAAAAAA6M/50XUEA1b6W4/s640/Forbidden+Fruit+Line.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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For now, though, the star fruit is the banana, which is
convenient, since the banana is the symbol of Forbidden Fruit. You might not
think it would work with a chocolate peel, but it does. As Matthew puts it:
“You could cover a rock with chocolate and it would taste good.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ybxAu7Y1uG4/UEe3FDBLpSI/AAAAAAAAA6U/sEg2Btyu8PE/s1600/Forbidden+Fruit+Outside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Cartoon fruit welcome those looking for a special Forbidden Fruit treat at this New in New York space." border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ybxAu7Y1uG4/UEe3FDBLpSI/AAAAAAAAA6U/sEg2Btyu8PE/s640/Forbidden+Fruit+Outside.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Take a dip at <a href="http://forbiddenfruitnyc.com/">Forbidden Fruit</a>, 106 MacDougal
Street, between Third and Bleecker streets, in New York City.</span></i><!--EndFragment-->
Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7471307103235274057.post-4380081344114491232012-08-29T00:12:00.001-04:002012-09-19T09:19:08.767-04:00Old New York: Colony Records Packs Up the Beatles and Elvis<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I_QBygWQu5A/UDvdndwLnZI/AAAAAAAAA3o/Q1rndLqCe18/s1600/Colony+Records+Sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img style="MBVNY says goodbye to Colony Records the Old New York record shop." border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I_QBygWQu5A/UDvdndwLnZI/AAAAAAAAA3o/Q1rndLqCe18/s640/Colony+Records+Sign.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">By Mitch Broder<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The “Yellow Submarine” lunchbox will cost $650 till the end.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Colony never changed anything, so it’s not about to change that.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pDFVO7h-msA/UDvfuzeKD0I/AAAAAAAAA3w/jywgNe5LZN0/s1600/Colony+Records+Yellow+Submarine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="You won't find nostalgia like that which is on display at Colony Records anywhere else in New York City" style="border="0" height="298" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pDFVO7h-msA/UDvfuzeKD0I/AAAAAAAAA3w/jywgNe5LZN0/s400/Colony+Records+Yellow+Submarine.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The Colony is Colony
Records, a Theater District treasure-hunt of sheet music, recorded music, and musical relics.
It’s been around since 1948, but now it appears to be closing, possibly in just
two weeks, though at the Colony you never know.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Michael Grossbardt, the CEO, told me that on September 15<sup>th</sup>
he will shut down the store that his father, “Nappy” Grossbardt, opened
sixty-four years ago. He also assured me that he will conduct no
going-out-of-business sale, which is appropriate for a store whose legend has
rarely involved bargains.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Years ago, I experienced Colony as a frustrating place,
because it had things that nearly took my breath away at prices that finished
the job. But the problem was me. As soon as I started thinking of the place as a
museum, I could go in knowing that the things I wanted were there only to look
at.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--xfxR6vyeCw/UDvgQ9ezl6I/AAAAAAAAA38/9ba5ERmTxyg/s1600/Colony+Records+Elvis+Streisand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="This Old New York classic record store is great to look at but not touch some of the incredible memorabilia" border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--xfxR6vyeCw/UDvgQ9ezl6I/AAAAAAAAA38/9ba5ERmTxyg/s640/Colony+Records+Elvis+Streisand.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Colony will end its storied life as a museum indeed, a shop
that gave in to CDs in the nineties but to nothing much since then. It’s worth
a last visit, since the lack of a sale is keeping the place intact, and since
you will never, at least in this city, see its likes again.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BknXJiA43vE/UDvgqT7C5HI/AAAAAAAAA4E/vCFI4HJCCpY/s1600/Colony+Records+Sinatra+Elvis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Colony Records celebrates classic Old New York performers like Sinatra and Elvis" border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BknXJiA43vE/UDvgqT7C5HI/AAAAAAAAA4E/vCFI4HJCCpY/s640/Colony+Records+Sinatra+Elvis.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Stroll past the tourist trinkets, and find new CDs and DVDs
selling for $25 and up. Then find old LPs selling for $35, $40, $75, $125 and up.
Then find some LPs selling for $15. They are the same ones you have in your closet that
you couldn’t pay your local record store to take.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cZ-HUUA0qPA/UDvg-KneVqI/AAAAAAAAA4M/HnmhMXg_RLY/s1600/Colony+Records+Sheet+Music.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Colony Records is a great place for a musician to stop by and thumb through the sheet music and songbooks that adorn the walls" border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cZ-HUUA0qPA/UDvg-KneVqI/AAAAAAAAA4M/HnmhMXg_RLY/s640/Colony+Records+Sheet+Music.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Much of the rest of the space displays sheet music and
songbooks, recalling the days when songs were born in the Brill Building, which
has long housed the store. But look deeper and find the display cases hoarding
remnants of music history that you won’t find in real museums because they can’t handle the Colony’s markup.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n6TAufMnl3w/UDvh3Y4RsyI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/JrN4O1jRBxU/s1600/Colony+Records+Elvis+Doll.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Treasure hunters will find a trove of Old New York classics at Colony Records including this Elvis doll" border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n6TAufMnl3w/UDvh3Y4RsyI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/JrN4O1jRBxU/s400/Colony+Records+Elvis+Doll.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
Top prizes include that Beatles lunchbox at $650, and an
Elvis-in-uniform prototype doll, at $1,800. Among other treasures are a Fabian
pillow ($150), a Dick Clark “American Bandstand” Secret Diary ($200), and a
Supremes Special Formula White Bread wrapper, priced no doubt for its irony,
at $600.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As fascinating as the artifacts are the display cases
themselves. They are not, to be gentle, meticulously maintained. The case labeled “Elvis” holds the Beatles stuff. The case labeled “Beatles” holds no
Beatles stuff. The case that holds Elvis stuff has no label and, besides the
Elvis stuff, holds the Michael Jackson Cordless Electric Microphone.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The “Streisand” case has a Streisand bag, but it also has TV Guides
with cover photos of Chad Everett and Louise Lasser. But the “Frank Sinatra”
label is accurate. Its case offers unused Sinatra tickets and unused Sinatra eight-tracks,
which are about equally useful.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If Chad Everett and Louise Lasser don’t ring a bell, just
know that they are hot stars compared with some others for sale. On high
glass shelves, which incidentally display the dust of the decades, are the Burns &
Allen Coffee Server and a poster for the Popsicle “Parade of Stars,” whose
stars included Dick Haymes, Arthur Godfrey, and Fanny Brice.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-phwqksSNTYc/UDviRAEAJSI/AAAAAAAAA4g/Ai45Y6uNTzQ/s1600/Colony+Records+Supremes+Bread.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="It doesn't get much more classic then a Supremes Special Formula White Bread wrapper that you'll find for sale at Colony Records." border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-phwqksSNTYc/UDviRAEAJSI/AAAAAAAAA4g/Ai45Y6uNTzQ/s640/Colony+Records+Supremes+Bread.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Keep looking up and see 8-by-10s of the likes of Leonard
Nimoy, Daryl Hannah, Phil Donahue, Demi Moore, and Paul Hogan. They run around
$100, though Demi is $200. They may all have been autographed once, but the
evidence has often faded.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X06qYshmPvg/UDvjOOAK5RI/AAAAAAAAA4o/hSwCDda4W0o/s1600/Colony+Records+Doors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The doors to this Old New York establishment are now closed, but Colony Records served the city well." border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X06qYshmPvg/UDvjOOAK5RI/AAAAAAAAA4o/hSwCDda4W0o/s640/Colony+Records+Doors.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The Colony, of course, wasn’t always like this. It was a rockin’ place, as most places that
sold records once were. It opened at Broadway and 52nd Street and soon became a musical landmark. It had a famous DJ named Symphony Sid spinning platters in the window.<br />
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The music that played in the store also played out on the street. Getting heard on the street speakers could make a record a hit. The store continued to rock even after it moved
in the seventies. Sinatra and Lennon shopped at the Colony on their way to
becoming display cases.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UAxE3SqFSAE/UDvkDidZURI/AAAAAAAAA4w/YjQ3yHDopuw/s1600/Colony+Records+Alligator.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Patrons were left with a great feel of nostalgia when Colony Records closed it's door left with only the simple saying "See You Later Alligator"" border="0" height="476" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UAxE3SqFSAE/UDvkDidZURI/AAAAAAAAA4w/YjQ3yHDopuw/s640/Colony+Records+Alligator.jpg" width="640" /></a>With the seismic changes in the music business, the Colony courted tourists. But apparently, what got it in the end was rent. The
owners, Michael said, could once have bought their building for $250,000. It was
last sold five years ago for about $150 million.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Michael told me that what doesn’t sell in the store will just
get boxed up and eventually put back on sale online.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So go now to look or to buy — but not to save. And if you’re
really well off, and you really like this blog, keep in mind that I really want
the Dick Clark Secret Diary.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OnFfggPpywo/UDvkX1qTgEI/AAAAAAAAA44/jdiCQFA9Ou4/s1600/Colony+Records+Dick+Clark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Old New York will always remember Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve and as the founder of American Bandstand, he just so happened to keep a secret diary that could have been purchased at Colony Records." border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OnFfggPpywo/UDvkX1qTgEI/AAAAAAAAA44/jdiCQFA9Ou4/s640/Colony+Records+Dick+Clark.jpg" width="476" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><i>Take
a last spin at <a href="http://www.colonymusic.com/">Colony Records</a>,
1619 Broadway, at 49<sup>th</sup> Street, in New York City.</i></span><!--EndFragment-->
Mitch Broderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13302360115689566047noreply@blogger.com5