PETITE ABEILLE

466 Hudson Street (among other locations)
[1, 9 to Christopher Street]
Spent some sunny day (post disappointing Good Friday service) gorging on more Belgian food with Mom, Nonas and Tam. The portions are nice enough to share, so I got to sample Noni's burger, my omlette ardennaise, Tam's salmon sangwich and a bunch of my Mom's mussels - mmm. Then we made pigs of ourselves by splitting a (what else) Belgian waffle with all the fixings. The place was teeny tiny, but I just glowered at the people in our would-be seats for a few minutes from outside and boom!, we were in. They also thought nothing of serving my Mom a super pint of Stella on a Thursday afternoon. Classy. Cash only, tho.

CHA-AN

230 East 9th Street
[6 to Astor Place, N/R to 8th Street]
www.cha-an.com

"A Japanese tea room?" said Aaron. "I took a girl there once - good night."
There's almost nothing as seductive as the close surroundings and hushed atmosphere of Japanese tea rooms. Giorgio just happened to luck out - he'd wanted to go, and not alone. The establishment takes full advantage of its location; you literally feel above the city, even if you're only one flight above Astor Place. The waitstaff is indulgent, if not informed; after we baffled the waiter with our simple query ("Uhm ... what is this?"), he scurried back to the kitchen to bring our reply with a fresh pitcher of hot water (it was a Red Bean Macaroon). Also note: tea is far more complicated than we thought - it is, yes, I daresay, wine-like in its body, layers and blending. Will wonders never cease?
Finally, I have to mention the neorest toilet in the bathroom, with its naughty, bidet style sprayer with its temperature control and positioning remote, not to mention the 'oscillating' and 'pulsating' functions. Ma Donna Santa.

LE PAIN QUOTIDIEN

100 Grand Street (among other locations)
[A, C, E to Canal Street – after that, you’re on your own]
www.painquotidien.com

Generally I hate the French. And not that I-hate-because-I-love kind of hate. But even I can’t hate on their daily bread, or their bowls of coffee (how French of them! Just watch out for the large), or their adorable staff, made up of the wispy (but not waspy) kind of girls who LOVE to do their undergrad coursework in French. My first voyage to this country kitchen (where you can sit alone, or mingle with strangers at one of the larger tables) was a job interview, but later I managed a pleasure trip: Scott and I split the French rolls and a croissant which came with butter and what we yanks would call some right peculiar fixins. A praline spread the color and consistency of peanut butter, but tasting like straight hazelnut? Red current as the fourth fruit in the jam? Apricot so and so? [Le sigh] Go. Just go. And bring me back some of that praline thingy. Mm.

UCB THEATRE

307 West 26th Street
[northernmost car of the A, C, E to 23rd Street – its right on 8th Ave]
www.ucbtheatre.com
I think there’s a plot going on to destroy everything I love. First, Ben and Jerry decide to discontinue White Russian ice cream. Then, Upright Citizens Brigade is moved to the afternoon, where I definitely can’t watch it. Thank heaven for UCB Theatre, a colony for sketch & improv comedy where no show costs more than $8 per person. Scott did improv in college, so I made super easy reservations on the website and we laughed our asses off at Buy, Beg, Borrow or Steal: The "Dark Side of the Moon" Show.

THAI CAFÉ

923 Brooklyn Avenue
[G to Greenpoint Avenue, or a $6 cab ride from the Bedford Ave L station]
So I got schooled here about three ways over: I learned to give Brooklyn a chance, respect my elders and certainly, not to fuck with Thai people. And yes, it was a stupid move to respond “very” when they asked how hot I wanted my pad thai. Those infamous brown noodles [NB: they were born white. WHITE. Do you know what you have to do to make brown noodles out of white ones without a wok? DO YOU?] actually destroyed a tastebud that has only just begun to forgive me. At least Sean had a laugh. To be noted: I didn’t have to eat the spicy squid pad thai [the food is unreasonably cheap: my soup & pad thai + Sean’s spring roll & basil chicken cost a whopping $22 + tip]: it was a matter of national pride. Somewhere, my Jamaican ancestors are snorting at me behind their jerk chicken.

VOL DE NUIT

148 West 4th Street
[southernmost car of just about anything to West 4th Street Station]
www.voldenuitbar.com
Amreeta invited me to this belgian beer lounge over Christmas break, which was awesome first and foremost because I got to see the Mathais for the first time in way too long. Then the actual bar hit me: beers a plenty on tap, intense (but somehow not severe) décor, music of many nations and what should be the national belgian dish – mussels + frites. Being more wine than beer based, I felt super hip bringing Scott to sip merlot and admire the scene.

LEMONGRASS GRILL

2534 Broadway (among other locations)
[1, 2, 3, 9 to 96th Street]
www.lemongrassgrill.com
If I said I had a Thai food problem, would that be bad? The hell if it is – Lemongrass Grill was super speedy (once we got seated … but Val was great company and we needed to catch up anyway), the soup was filling, the waiters were nice and AND, there were other Asians in there, which means we were in the right place.

SAHARA EAST

184 1st Avenue
[Take the L from 14th Street to 1st Avenue and walk down]
I may just be here too much, but I literally walk almost past it every time …
The first time I hit the hookah here was Sophomore Summer; my roommate/soulmate Lyd and I were stomping Little Italy, stalking soccer players, when we whimsically decided to call Andrew, whose roommate/soulmate Ben told us we had to had to hit this place. So we met up with NYC local Val and visitor Jordan and proceeded to smoke ourselves silly over red wine and mint tea (served in a glass!). Since then, I’ve been: belligerent over men, race, and the male race with Sal and Biscuit and then on a couple group-date-ish-sorta-maybe situations. One of my favorite Sahara East stories is how I recognized the infamous Leigh (Lee?) on the bathroom line; it was the damnedest thing: three of my friends knew him, I'd never even seen his picture but I knew I knew him. When they talk about a collective conscious, they are not joking.
A really fun time to go is in the early afternoon: after much cancellage, Sean and I finally got it together (both late, thanks to the magic of cell phones) and shared Apple + Mint shisha until dark. Make super nice with the super nice staff and you just may get some free baklava.

COFFEE SHOP

29 Union Square West
[L, N, R, 4, 5, 6 to 14th St/Union Square]
Apparently food is served upstairs. Breakfast even. How bout that.
My mom maintains that the women are all models and no bras, but I didn’t see any of that. Largely because I was in the super posh but v. small loungey-bar downstairs that we hustled our way into by going in, two by two in attractive guy/girl pairs. I remember … drinking a Cosmo that was literally blonde and searching the teeming masses on the plush couches for friends.
Oh, and incidents we'll never speak of again.
Natch.

RICE “N” BEANS

744 9th Avenue
[C, E to 50th & 8th; 1, 2 to 50th & Broadway]
http://ricenbeansrestaurant.com/media/websiternb.html
Between my passion for all things Brazilian (Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Portoguese) and my passion for all things Thiago (who was – and still is – Brazilian), I got mad about this place. Thiago and I kept trying to meet up for lunch (and not lose our jobs or go broke) while working during the summer. Also, Thiago was trying to show off his country to me – or at least, their cuisine. After a false start (notably a super expensive and way haughty Portuguese restaurant that shall remain nameless), Rice N Beans became our mainstay; not to mention a running joke we held against all Latinos forever.
Its narrow, intimate and cheap; kind of reminds me of me. Oh – and I LOVE their hot sauce; I almost had to sing about it. But I won’t.

NEO SUSHI RESTAURANT

2298 Broadway
[1, 9 to 86th Street]
www.neosushi.com
I’ll always be more than a little nostalgic about Neo because it was the culmination my last big New York night. It was also the first time I’d tried to drink while eating only sushi. Man, was THAT fun.
If memory serves, Amreeta and I were sitting outside, throwing back great sushi and variety of martinis, trying to stave off college and the reality of adulthood as long as possible.
Call me crazy, but I think its still working.

AMSTERDAM BILLIARD CLUB

344 Amsterdam Avenue
[1, 9 to 79th Street]
I’m not one for pool – in fact, the last time I played, my nickname was scratch. And there was another place near school where we’d go en masse to shoot pool – until it closed. But for shooting some balls and complaining about our boyfriends (complaining to Maddy anyway; Sally was just SOOO happy with Chaz), this is the place. Later, Val, Lyd, Jordan and I closed the place down after Jordan and I somehow managed to win best out of three. Just don’t sit on the table; they hate that.

PANORAMA

1640 2nd Avenue
[4, 5, 6 to 86th]
I’m super sweet on Panorama because I had my first underage Bellini there some frigid day in March for Amreeta’s 16th (?) birthday. It was Em Clayman’s spot and her favorite drink at the moment – she was ringleading and all. Just us girls, getting giggly and stupid over … I’m recalling a chicken cutlet, is that about right? Mostly I remember the freezing walk to 2nd Avenue and my fearless walk through the park to get home. Anywho, I went back last summer with my family for a serious brunch; my Mom kept referring to it as “that place where Alanna got drunk in high school.” I guess bubbles go to my head?

VILLAGE KARAOKE

27 Cooper Square
[6 to Astor Place or N, R to 8th St/NYU … apparently]
I can never remember how I got to or away here.
Why, you may ask? Well, its quite simple!
BYOB.
I assure you, Stuy students and their friends have been BYOB’ing here for generations. But I made some great friends there under, let’s say, very interesting circumstances. But they all have lovely singing voices.
So BYOB, stuff the room to capacity during the summer without air conditioning, and ALWAYS send a busty girl for ice; she knows who she is.

FLOR DE MAYO

484 Amsterdam Avenue (among other locations)
[1, 9 to 86th Street]
Oh Esteban and his passion for all things Latino. We had our last dinner out of his New York City trip here; we should have been fighting, but we couldn’t; the Peruvian chicken and avocado salad are just too good. He was in fine spirits because he could speak to both the Chinese and the Peruvian waiter in Spanish. I was in fine spirits because, for the first time in his whole tour of the Northeast, he didn’t have to order half the menu to get full. All the same, most of my Flor de Mayo memories are family based – we basically lived across the street and filled out our meals with their red and black beans, avocado salad and, of course, the yellow rice that I would not learn how to make until after I turned 20.

CAFÉ LALO

201 West 83rd Street
[1, 9 to 86th Street]
www.cafelalo.com
Lemme get this straight: You love waffles? Dessert? Coffee? Europe?
So what are you doing still reading?
When we lived in New York City, we did brunch here once or twice – like most places, brunch is packed. Better to go in the evening for dessert, like Val and I did some night over some break – Christmas? You can’t lose with the waffle, any time of day. But the number of cheesecake and coffee options is just staggering. Oh, and it’s a great people watching spot; its close and intimate enough for you to be full on in someone’s business and quietly gossip to your companion… Well, I hope I was being quiet.

OLLIE’S NOODLE SHOP AND GRILL

1991 Broadway (among other locations)
[1, 9 to 66th Street]
It feels silly to choose just one Ollie’s when I’ve literally been to just about all of them. I’ll always feel squelchy about the one in my old neighborhood, even after its Maoist makeover; it was the first place my Dad sent my baby sister and I out to on our own. In high school, it was all about the Lincoln Square location, with the Friday afternoon dinner and a movie bit. College so far also belongs to Lincoln Square – Noni and I had a helluva lunch with Julien and Trevor; I’m sure there is a reason why we never got those guys together in the first place. Also, it’s the only place we can lure Amreeta out to when she’s got family visiting – that’s where she met Mel over Thanksgiving and stood us up over Christmas.
Ollie’s is rock solid, which is why we keep going back: the food is super fast and dirt cheap, but doesn’t taste like either.

CARMINE’S

2450 Broadway
[southernmost car of the 1, 9 to 96th Street]
www.carminesnyc.com
Back in the day, my Dad would order in Carmine’s and (after we found space in the fridge for the huge tureens of pasta and meat) we’d eat for a week. I know we went there once or twice and I was floored that they had focaccia instead of bread on the tables. Carmine’s is an awesome place for a big dinner, so we had a mini high school reunion there over Christmas Break 2004. We ate a ton, drank a lot of red wine and incriminated ourselves but managed not to go broke. What can I say; it’s that kind of place.

It Never Sleeps.

It took my little sister for me to understand why I lived in “the city so nice, they named it twice,” but it took my moving out of the city and into the wilderness (and young adulthood) for me to understand how to do it.

Let’s never make that mistake again.

Please comment;
add your footprints to mine and we'll see where we've been.