Sleep patterns are slowly stabilizing and although woken at times during the night did sleep in until 6:15 am which meant I missed the Facetime window:( I do love the HBO on Demand channel so watched some Real Time – when I wanted to! – while waiting for temperature to slowly rise. It was going to be a clear cold day – maybe even bone chilling at times. Today was Brooklyn 4 hr foodie tour ticking off at 11 am so plenty of time for a light breakfast first. Time to try Ess a Bagel on 3rd Avenue. One always tries to get the ordering lingo right in places like this because the staff are not always the most friendly I find – maybe world weary is a fairer description of their attitude. Had settled on the Bacon and Tomato bagel for $4 when out of corner of my eye saw this poster for “try our famous Reuben Sandwich” and I thought why not. The price of $12 should have been the first clue. The look from the staff was certainly the clincher – like “for breakfast man?”. So 15 people ordered and picked up before my feast was cooked. As someone who has eaten LUNCH at Carnegie Deli I know what a hunk of pastrami looks like. This was not at that level but was it still ridiculously large for breakfast. The question then becomes do I man up and admit I fucked up in a brief senior moment or just eat it all because naturally I knew what a Reuben sandwich was duh! Common sense took over and after almost eating half – and it was delicious – I sauntered slowly over to the refuse bin and emptied the rest out while scanning for the man who had served me. Our eyes locked, I smiled, he rolled his eyes and the moment lingered. Flashed him a gang sign – Maryhole Mr Mayhemers – and he quickly and sheepishly looked away. Works every time
So waddled home for a brief respite and to really test out the max weight loading on the elevator. Funny thing about this cold weather is that it shrinks your clothes. Apparently. The E train to West 4th street had me there in plenty of time to mix once more with the great unwashed. The first test passed when everyone was their on time. About 14 people on a 30 seat bus so plenty of room. Much like the Chicago foodie tour I did last year I was the only non American on board so naturally I bumped the average IQ for our group by 5 pts. First up an appetizer near but not at Katz Deli but still took opportunity for photo in case don’t get back. Then it was Polish sausages and sumting tasty before moving onto Sunset Park for a Cuban sandwich. The sandwich was great but the highlight was walking to the top of the park for the view back on what was a simply glorious day. Now, speaking of IQ limitations I was clearly aware this was not a walking tour but certainly do prefer them especially on a day like this. Could have stayed there for 30 mins but had to move on – to Pizza. And finally some alcohol. Topped off with some cannoli. Tres yummo. Hypoglycaemia was looming so we then headed to the original Jacques Torres store for some “wafer thin” delights. Bucket! Last treat was along this street, down this lane and voila – the magnificent backdrop of Manhattan in all its beauty with the bridges in front. And floating ice on the river. Back on bus to drop off point and a quick detour to Washington Park to see where Harry told Sally to piss off before one quick beer at The Slaughtered Lamb.
I said to CLP before I left. “All I want is one clear, booteeful blue sky day with snow on the ground”
Today was it.
flashman181 