A seeming ChipShop hanger-on, this Euro-pop style bar on Atlantic is a venue in its own right. Floyd serves unexpectedly decent wine and has a great selection of beer (precious Guinness taps included) and whiskeys. The bar’s space is Brooklyn-like - long, wide and spacious enough for a bocce lane. A close cousin of bowling, bocce is arguably one of the most perfect Brooklyn pass-times. Read more…
Best known for welcoming late night East Village party crowds, this 24-hour eatery provides steady, hangover-healing meals. Early Sunday afternoon presented an opportunity for at least 2 in our 7-person gang to put Yaffa’s comfort food menu to a test. We were lucky enough to find a table in the backyard. Read more…
Favored by the perpetually broke NGO workers, NYU students and locals alike, Hi-Fi is a notable East Village attraction because of its generous happy hour, its large and goofy space, and its good selection of draft beers. I would be lying if I said that the always-friendly bartender mixes a good drink. Any vodka or whiskey order should always be put on the rocks with juice/pop omitted for the sake of preserving the original purpose of drinking – i.e. enjoying it, and the original purpose of a liquor drink – i.e. having a taste of the relevant liquor. Read more…
Now that the Open has finally come to a close, I can speak freely about the anxiety and other chaotic feelings that I experienced a week or so ago. I never thought of myself as much of a sports’ fan with an exception of soccer and occasionally gymnastics and figure skating. Of course during the Olympics I show my national pride by rooting exceptionally for the Motherland and resorting to heavy vodka drinking when the Russian hockey team doesn’t get into the finals. While the biannual celebrations of sports are in session, I also love to send obnoxious emails to my international friends and say things like “Did you see how we totally kicked your ass in that last race?” So I guess I do get into it. And tennis, due to the recent Russian invasion of the sport, has been my obsession.
My job is not very exciting, so to spice things up I began streaming Air America, NPR and my Yahoo station over the gorgeous speakers inherited from my predecessor. The good part is that no one can really hear me – the cube walls are so tall and the air so thick with the dust of a public institution that I can blow out the speakers on Al Franken and Soterios Johnson and still, hardly anyone will notice. The bad part is that my little “operation” might get shut down by the IT department at any moment. So I might as well enjoy the radio while I can get to it! So today the major world developments that caught my attention were the mind-boggling diabetes statistics of India and a jerky reaction of Starbucks workers to a creative, money-saving fix by some coffee-savvy customer. Read more…
ChipShop has been on my list of neighborhood places to visit for quite some time. So when the infamous Myer Lemon graced me with an after-work drink offer, I took her there eager to impress.
The size of the crowds lurking by the ChipShop at night made me convinced that the place was entirely a drinking establishment with an occasional takeout. Apparently not – the ChipShop, long and narrow, is a pub-restaurant, adorned with an old wooden bar, cool Brit posters, and two TV sets. Read more…
I was introduced to KGB by a fellow Eastern European when I first began investigating NYC alcoholics’ scene. Last weekend I decided to take my new Russian friend there. It turned out that Andrei – who recently moved here from Berkley and went to my high school in the motherland – heard of the place from a New York acquaintance of his. We went mostly to sample imported Baltika – aside from fine porcelain and equally fine views, the best thing to ever come out of our beloved Saint Petersburg. KGB is about the only place in Manhattan that serves it, which is exciting enough for me. Also exciting was the theory that Andrei’s friend had about the bar’s name Read more…
Having wine and cheese in Central Park has become one of my favorite NYC activities. After loading up appropriately at Trader Joe’s, I met up with Jo-Anne – the wine-in-the-park originator – and we headed northward on the B train. We entered the park near Strawberry Fields and plopped ourselves on the slightly wet grass in a perfect spot to be viewing runners and bicyclists and reminding ourselves of our own unhealthy indulgences. In three hours, our meal of cheese, chocolate and crackers finished, and our moods lifted by two bottles of cheap wine (props to Trader Joe’s Black Mountain Pinot Noir), we were ready to head home. Read more…