I recently went back to NYC for the first time since I moved to Ashland, Oregon. I'll admit it, I couldn't wait to get back to see all of my friends and old haunts. I know it's only been 5 months, but it feels like longer.
A friend of Jeff's was kind enough to let me stay in his apartment in the Bronx. Lucky for me, Mike had been on a cleaning kick and the place was pretty spotless for a NYC abode, especially one inhabited by a bunch of guys.
The first thing I noticed was the smell. After just a few months in the clear mountain air, my nose wasn't too happy about being back. The rest of me was though. I think I was beginning to get a bit soft in the head from not having enough people around. Ashland is lovely and I do like it, but no place has the energy of NYC and I had been thriving on that for the last 12 years. Is this what withdrawal feels like?
First stop: Meet Mike at Frank in the East Village (5th St & 2nd Ave). This is one of my favorite Italian restaurants in the city. It's tiny, cash-only, and feels like your hip grandmother's dining room. This place gets packed during dinnertime and the wait is usually long (no reservations), so I used to come here on Sundays for lunch. I had my usual: black ink linguine with spicy seafood. Mmm...as good as I remembered.
From there, it was off to have cappuccinos at the Italian cafe around the corner and then Scratcher, a low-key pub in the East Village with Guinness on draft. Hard for a girl to pass up.
I was determined to pack as much as possible into every day & night of my trip so even though it was fairly late already, I convinced Mike to accompany me to Tonic, a club/lounge on the Lower East Side known for experimental music (not to be confused with the Tonic in midtown). It was hard to miss the shiny, giant apartment buildings going up around the little building. Couldn't the architects at least try to give them some character and make them look like part of the neighborhood? This was a huge pet peeve of mine when I lived here. Anyway, we ended up skipping the live act upstairs and hung out in the basement with the DJ and the French movie projected on the wall. I was SO tempted to ask the guy where he'd bought his equipment.
By now I think it was around 2AM, so I was starving again; we walked up to La Esquina on Kenmare at Lafayette. This place is genius--they tore down an old burger stand and put up a restored diner that actually has 3 separate restaurants in one--a 24-hour taqueria, a hidden trendy club downstairs, and a mid-range cafe. The taco stand even delivers around the clock. Now that's part of what I love about NYC. After a shredded chicken & avocado taco with lime and a grilled corn with cajeta cheese, it was time to go home and get a few hours of much-needed rest. It was good to be back.
