This archival post was migrated from an old Facebook album, so please excuse the choppy writing and odd formatting.
The Leadbelly on Orchard Street, a bar snacks and mixed drink joint on a somewhat deserted stretch of Chinatown. We enjoyed some excellent oysters at ludicrously cheap buck-a-shuck prices, which worked out well since the rest of their menu was on the expensive side.
The bathroom at The Leadbelly, which was very bizarre in that it made me feel like I had accidentally entered a chicken coop that had been artfully decorated by a hipster Martha Stewart.
The interior of The Leadbelly, photo taken as we left to avoid further embarrassment. I can say with authority that “Farmhouse Chic” is now the reigning style of hipster NYC. I sat on a milking stool.
Interior of our room at the Nolitan Hotel in SoHo. The building is very new, less than a year old, and the interior is very trendy with exposed concrete, wooden floors and industrial steel-plate walls. But it kept things pretty simple wasn’t trying too hard to be cool.
Another interior view of the Nolitan room. The shower opens into the bedroom but unlike the Standard, they at least give you a curtain you can close should you desire some privacy.
Our view out the the window of our hotel room.
Outside the third floor elevators at the Nolitan Hotel. A weird thing made of cedar that smelled nice, and a free New York Times.
The lobby of the Nolitan Hotel.
The exterior of the Nolitan Hotel. There just happened to be an old car being towed past when I took this, it looked cool but I know nothing more about it.
Josie can barely contain her excitement at the chicken and waffles from Hill Country Fried Chicken.
The order counter at Hill Country Fried Chicken. Down home, etc.
I try to avoid closeup photos of plates of food, but… FRIED CHICKEN AND WAFFLES!
The very tiny Gimme! Coffee in SoHo, where I grabbed coffee on our first rainy morning. Not bad at all, though a few seats would be a nice addition. Like, maybe, one seat.
Approaching Yankee Stadium after exiting the 161st St stop in the Bronx. Looking a bit rainy…
Josie on the 300 level of Yankee Stadium, near our would-be seats.
Me on the 300 level of Yankee Stadium.
And… the grand finale, an official rainout, right after I paid for overpriced plastic panchos. Boo.
Some interesting colourful artwork made of rope in Madison Square Park.
Me in Madison Square Park.
When our baseball game was rained out we went to the MoMA instead, which was even busier than normal due to everyone looking for indoor activities simultaneously. But it still worth fighting the crowds.
Looking down on West 53rd from a window in the MoMA.
Josie inside the John Dory, which is chef April Bloomfield’s oyster bar in the Ace Hotel. The place was very cool and had a nice vibe, though I think the warmth of her Spotted Pig pub can’t be beat.
After devouring a stellar dozen raw oysters (our second such dozen in two days) we ordered this razor clams dish, which was insanely delicious and complex. We could have eaten 10 of these.
The exterior of the very hip and pricey Ace Hotel, which contains The John Dory, Stumptown Coffee, and another April Bloomfield restaurant called the Breslin.
The menu board and dapper barristas at Stumptown Coffee in the Ace Hotel.
My stellar espresso from Stumptown Coffee.
The view from the window of Stumptown Coffee.
Les Halles on Park Avenue, Anthony Bourdain’s last restaurant where he slaved for years before becoming a spoiled celebrity. We passed by it by mistake, we’ve never eaten there.
This small dog was locked overnight in a sparse but swank art gallery in SoHo. He was barking angrily. Performance art?
This is a “taco shack” in SoHo, which we did not visit but photographed due to its photogenic qualities.
Mighty Quinn’s BBQ on Second Avenue, opened wide to the street. We had dinner here on Sunday.
The cafteria-style ordering counter at Mighty Quinn’s BBQ.
Okay, we’d already attacked it by the time I took this photo so it’s not very appetizing, but it was a delicious brisket sandwich, and a half rack of spare ribs, with assorted slaws. The meat was excellent, probably the best pure BBQ we’ve had.
Josie was a big fan of this easy-drinking Colette Farmhouse Ale from the Great Divide Brewing Company, based in Colorado.
Outside Mighty Quinn’s BBQ on Second Ave, full of meats.
We went back to the Shake Shack yet again, honestly, the burgers are so good we’ve lined up thrice for them. Photos of the Shack would have looked just like last year’s, so instead I took this picture of our feet in the line.
Anti-fracking signs just north of Union Square.
This crazy ugly hideous limousine from hell was cruising around West SoHo cranking deafeningly loud dance music. Who? Why? Nobody knows but many idiots such as myself were taking photos of it.
One year after I took a similar photo, the One World Trade Center building now has a spire and almost all its glass. It’s definitely a landmark easily visible for miles around, especially down the avenues on the west side.
On Monday we enjoyed a great meal and drinks at the bar of the Blue Ribbon Sushi Izakaya, which is located in the Thompson Hotel near Houston and Orchard St. We’d been to the Blue Ribbon Bakery a few times, and we like izakayas, so this seemed like a perfect match. This was much quieter and more upscale than the shouty places in Toronto, but there was no attitude and our bartender was great.
A couple wonderful mixed drinks at the Blue Ribbon Sushi Izakaya. I don’t recall the details, but mine had bourbon in it, and it didn’t last long…
Josie enjoys a drink made with matcha (green tea powder) at the Blue Ribbon Sushi Izakaya. As promised, it tasted much like green tea ice cream, only more intoxicating.
Part of a lobby or lounge at the Thompson Hotel which adjoined the Blue Ribbon Sushi Izakaya. Fancy.
Josie descends the stairwell as we exit from the Blue Ribbon Sushi Izakaya.
Passing by Congee Bowery on the Lower East Side, a place that looked like a totally old school Chinese restaurant but has apparently only been there since 2005. Oh, well.
Some people were playing sports at night in the well-lit Sara D. Roosevelt Park on Rivington just east of the Bowery.
A cool old industrial building near the Bowery, as seen from Rivington passing through Sara D. Roosevelt Park. The lighting on this building (I think from the nearby park) gave it a weird artistic glow.
Engine 55, a FDNY station on Broome St near our hotel in SoHo. It is still an active firehall today. This is also the station where actor Steve Buscemi, a former firefighter, returned to after 9/11 when he wanted to volunteer in the recovery.
A faded poster to the right of the Engine 55 doorway, it says “The Bravest of the Brave, FDNY, 9.11.01 WTC”. I believe it was to raise money for a cause after 9/11. I found this image of the poster from when it was less faded.
The bartender at Randolph at Broome was holding down a busy bar all by himself, expertly mixing crazy drinks for a quiet crowd of young people who looked like they’d just come from a prom. Which made it all the weirder when Josie recognized the actress Chloë Sevigny trying, and failing, to get his attention.
An expertly mixed and dangerously delicious Negroni and Manhattan at the Randolph at Broome. Only after I ordered the Manhattan did I realize that is probably a dorky drink for a tourist to order in, well, Manhattan, but I like ’em. The Randolph also has a new beer hall aptly called Randolph Beer a few doors over; we stopped in there on our first night, but I think this smaller original bar had a bit more character.
The view through a SoHo window of a store that seems to sell very expensive and useless things, such as this horse statue and a fake model of a wooden airplane.
This is me waiting for a subway at Spring St, the closest stop to our hotel. It ranked up there with the smellier subway stations I’ve spent time in.
The early morning truck-unloading activity on Kenmare St. This is one of my favourite things about NYC, the way every business in the city seems to restock frantically in the early morning hours before it all becomes impossibly congested.
The interior of the Little Fox Cafe, where I grabbed coffee on our second and last morning.
Josie enjoys her last tea in NYC at the Little Fox Cafe, before we checked out and headed to the airport. Always a sad moment but… there will be next trip!