12/23/2002: Spike Lee's 25th Hour is a wonderful movie, especially for anyone who spent the post-9/11 period in NYC. Special bonus for those-in-the-know: a bar scene clearly filmed at Double Happiness.
12/21/2002: Ken responds to our Cafe Lebowitz rave with a side of bile: "What did you have there? I had the soup and the steak frites and while it was good (especially the fries), it was no Lucien. Her fish was kind of boring and the artichoke was cold and had a weird mustard gism sauce. (She liked it! Could not put down that mustard gism sauce!) We were sitting next to corporate lawyers on a first date and it may have ruined the experience for me." Fair enough. It should be noted that we do like Lucien better, too... we just got maybe a bit too excited about something new. Just to clear that up.
12/16/2002: Just a few steps from Lebowitz, we finally got around to eating at Cafe El Portal, the Mexican joint that numerous Below 14th readers have urged us to try. Now we know why: it's low-key, low-lit and damn tasty... a perfect 10th-date kind of place. One tip: do not arrive later than 10pm, or you risk a rather pared down menu. One group stormed out after the waiter informed them they had run out of pork, black beans and tomatoes. "What kind of a Mexican place runs out of beans?" the woman huffed. Why, this one does!
12/16/2002: After enjoying delicious $14 goulash in a surprisingly uncrowded, unambiguously cool space after walking in off the street at rush hour (9pm) Friday night, Below 14th crowns NoLiTa's Cafe Lebowitz as our favorite bistro of winter 2002-2003. We've eaten here before but never enjoyed it quite so much. It's a Brian McNally joint, which makes the food/value relationship all the more amazing. (We're all the more heartened that the Citysearch crowd seems to have taken a disliking to the place.)
12/15/2002: Christmas cheer. In the space on the corner of Prince and Lafayette that once housed that dark, brooding Internet cafe, we've noticed a temporary Christmas store has opened: Noelita.
12/6/2002: I like Citysearch a whole lot, but most Citysearch restaurant listings boast a handful of boring user reviews. Not so for TanDa, where 201 people have opined in a most contentious exchange of opinions. Gems like ""Went to Tanda with my husband for a nice evening out. Got there and was greeted by a crowd of snot nose 20 somethings" compete with "TanDa Rocks!!! My friends & I love it. The people are friendly, cool, and well-groomed. Go TanDa!" There's obviously more going on here than just mere reviews. Spot the reviews that could only have been writtten by the owners for bonus points. (Tip o' the Below 14th ski goggles to Conor B., who let us in on this.)
12/5/2002: A chill wind blows at Tenement, the new Ludlow joint we were keen to try out tonight as a refuge from the snow. AAP called the number listed this morning and seemed to have woken someone up: "Yeah, this is Tenement. But you need to call another number for reservations." So she did. No answer at that new number. No answer all afternoon. With daylight scarce and time a-waisting, she calls the first number back and is greeted thusly: " Hello, Liz? I mean, Tenement?" "I'd like to reserve for dinner tonight." "We're all booked for Saturday." "Um... okay, but I'm calling about dinner tonight." "Well, you need to call this other number to reserve." "Yes, I already did that. No one's answering. Do you think it will be a problem if we just come in around 8pm?" "Well, probably. The kitchen is closed."
12/3/2002: Bitter cold nights are all about ordering in. Bless the arrival of Soy, a tiny little LES spot that opened last February. Hidden away on an untrammeled block of Suffolk (between Delancey and Rivington, just a few steps away from a Burger King), Soy eluded me until this fall when alert reader Dara L. emailed to suggest I check it out. It's sort of a Japanese version of the ever-glorious Rice, but with far fewer tables -- and far fewer patrons. The food warms the spirit, and the proprietress is wonderful. Patronage highly recommended.
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