Going to New York this weekend, so no blogging from me between Saturday and Tuesday. On Wednesday we start cooking the yearly bouchee a la reine and I brew an imperial stout.
About the trip, some radio show about food told me that Little Owl in the West Village definitely has the best dinners at a modest-scale restaurant in the entire Manhattan area. Obviously they’re right, and any NY area readers are welcome to agree completely in the comments.
Are you going somewhere cool? Acting as home base for the annual family reunion? Drinking heavily? Have at it.
Alex
Tim — what kind of food do you want? I can make a bunch of recs if I know what kind of thing you like, and how adventurous you want to be.
Dreggas
Well this will be my first xmas alone since the wife and I split and all my family is back east so I will most likely spend it nestled all snug in my office chair killing things on a pixelated screen.
Krista
Not going anywhere cool — just running around the Maritimes visiting friends and family. By this time next year, our new home will be constructed, and I’ll hopefully be enceinte, so everybody can just damn well come visit me for a change.
Have fun in New York — I can’t wait to go there again.
Never went to Little Owl, but for non-modest-scale? Get thee to Babbo.
Zifnab
New Years in Austin! Woo!
cleek
on XMas eve, i get to end my self-imposed month-long abstinence from alcohol. so that should be glorious.
then we’re going to Wilmington, NC. to do some vacationing.
Tim F.
As long as you narrow it down to relatively modest places that will accept late reservations and won’t cost more than my cirque du soleil tickets, I’m open for anything. My favorite kind of restaurant is one where I try something that I haven’t seen before.
bystander99
Little Owl has huge lines waiting and waiting.
Kitchen Club in Nolita is a Japanese/Dutch/American fusion, always good, reasonable prices, great atmosphere, with superb dumplings, sake cocktails, and Chibi, the French Bulldog Diva.
Cols714
Goto Cafe Mogador in the East Village. The best lamb tangine I have ever had and for only $16.
Bubblegum Tate
Such an obvious attempt to initiate a good nerdfury, Tim. It makes me so angry that I’m going to tell you all the restaurants you would know and love if you weren’t such a troglodyte when it comes to NY eateries….
Jen
I’ll be right here at Balloon Juice, trying to figure out why incontroladoS thinks I am a grandfather and Green Acres fan.
I’m kidding.
I will be at home with the family, testing out the voice-activated Sharper Image R2D2 Santa is bringing.
Does Santa kick much butt, or what?
jcricket
I will be avoiding the shopping district and hoping that the wind doesn’t blow down my HDTV antenna here in the wonderful PNW (Seattle).
And, since this is an open thread, I recommend you all watch this photo/audio documentary about some junkies in NYC. It’s hard to watch in parts, but really moving.
The Grandest Panjandrum
More proof that you are a living god! We’re not worthy. Oh, that’s Arrogant Bastard, right?
Family from as far away as Massachusetts coming to New Mexico for merriment, tequila, firearms, brown acid, derision of the Former Cheerleader, and other treacherous activities. Have a good’un and Merry Chrifsmas.
The Grandest Panjandrum (the blogger formerly known as Cinderella Ferret, because I decided it was time for a serious blogger name)
Tamsyn
I’m spending my Christmas at home studying for comps. Agghhh!!!!!!
I foresee margaritas in my future.
Jack Roy
Am I the only E.Vill.’er who likes Hummus better than Mogador? Either of them is better for breakfast/brunch, IMO. If you’re strolling through the East Village for dinner, might I suggest Perbacco, on 4th and about Ave. B. EU’s across the street from Perbacco and reportedly the new chef is excellent. Mario Batali’s place Otto, on 8th street just off of 5th Ave (a block or two above the arch in Union Square) is pretty good, too, and remarkably affordable. If you can make it to Jackson Heights in Queens, the Indian food at the better places there will rival anything in the entire subcontinent.
There are, of course, approximately eleven thousand other excellent places in the City that I’m overlooking.
Teak111
I’ll be at home with the wife and kids and dogs and guests for a typical shorts and tee shirt SoCal xmas. I will also be avoid the glowing red hot and throbbing AmEx bill in my in box (lights up the entire house at night). Every where I go, I see it out of the corner of my eye. Merry Festivus, Balloon Juicers. Drinking, goes without saying?
Billy K
Five consecutive days off. Planned to drink a lot of beer and work on the bike, maybe play some guitar. But I may be recovering from oral surgery, so possibly just a big Vicodin haze.
grumpy realist
Drive out to a part of US where cellular reception is less than what you’d get with two tin cans and a piece of string. (Ditto for computer network capabilities).
Running around seeing friends, family. Hope sufficient snow to go cross-country skiing at some point.
Dreggas
In NYC I highly recommend (if it’s still there) La Mela (sp?) in little Italy.
Sstarr
I get to fly from the cold and soggy Pacific Northwest to cold and snowy Lincoln, Nebraska to visit my parents. They’re a pair of nice, churchgoing, teetotaling lifelong Republicans who quite suddenly last year decided that they despise George W. Bush and the entire Republican “DC Establishment.” Now they’re making fun of Huckabee. We live in strange times….
demkat620
I just found out I will be off from Friday the 21st until January 2nd. We got the kids a Wii and I plan on doing little more than cooking, eating, and watching the kids play video games. This will be my longest vacation ever.
Merry Christmas!
Davebo
Cooking at home for the family (as usual….).
I predict much Wii bowling and that alcohol will cause my skill level to plummet drastically.
The Other Steve
We sometimes get Baltika over at the local liquor store. I’m not a beer drinker, but people are often impressed with the #9.
Punchy
75 BJers in su casa. You just bought yerself a very loud, very argumentative Xmas. TZ and John coming to near-blows over Hillary’s influence. Tim out-lexiconing everyone who dares talk to him. Mike bitching about taxes, natch. PaulL wearing his Duke jersey. Congrats.
Krista
And that would be different from every other Christmas…how?
(Although maybe I’m masochistic, but the idea of having all you guys over for Christmas actually kind of sounds fun.)
tBone
1) Excessive alcohol consumption
2) Wii Sports
3) Guitar Hero III
4) Possibly some solo Mario Galaxy or Bioshock if other family members get tired of being p0wned.
5) Repeat
tBone
Even Dreggas isn’t that masochistic.
Jen
Since I am alleged to be TZ’s alter ego, can I fight John instead?
Oh, no wait, I don’t like Hillary either.
jcricket
I need to get a Wii. Feel so left out without one.
jcricket
I just don’t get the Hillary hate. I really feel like people are employing a different standard regarding her “calculating” or “shrewd” (see how it’s like shrew?) behavior when compared to other politicians. I think too many just bought into the media narrative.
Again, she’s not my favorite (I like Edwards and Dodd), but I just can’t get my Hilary hate on. As Matt Yglesias points out, having a woman president (finally, we’re like the industrialized nation to do so) would be pretty significant in and of itself. Of course the same could be said for Obama.
Again, I’ll vote for anyone the Dems nominate, but would prefer it be Edwards. My reasoning comes from the general sentiment Kevin Drum argues here. Just having Dems in control makes a night/day difference in everything – doesn’t make everything perfect, but makes a huge difference. We progressives/liberals have to stop making everything a “shoot the moon” play.
skip
Michigan for John. I hear EVERYONE who is anyone in WV is packing for Michigan ;-)
One hopes, for the UP.
demkat620
My six year old tried to explain to me how a Wii works, “See you hold the ‘troller thing and then you hold the mover thing and kinda, wiggle and slide and…”
Let’s just say I had to try really hard not to laugh. She was dead serious.
Jen
Oh, I’m with you, little cricket, I will vote for her, too if she’s the nominee, and I said so yesterday. I just don’t really like her, and while certainly she represents a change from Bush, she doesn’t represent capital C change for me. I’m with my homegirl Molly Ivins when it comes to Hillary.
Jen
The Onion once had a solar-powered Wii on it. It showed people outside, playing tennis on the Wii. It was cute. Can’t find it. Might’ve dreamed it.
Billy K
You have a wii AND an XBox?
I hate you.
Dreggas
Actually sounds like fun, and I’m not really a masochist.
grumpy realist
Eh, I think the reason a lot of us (even of the female persuasion) don’t like Hillary is because there’s nothing she says that hasn’t been triangulated to the point of being a gooey mess. You can see “the polls! the polls!” in everything she says.
Nothing is more dispiriting than watching Hillary talk out of both sides of her mouth at the same time.
tBone
If you saw my 4-year-old humilate me in Wii Bowling, or how ridiculous I look rocking out in Guitar Hero, you’d pity me.
tBone
All right, fine. Party at Krista’s. But don’t blame me when TZ ignores the safe word.
tom.a
This season I’m catching up on games I’ve had on the shelf now for ages, Oblivion and Civ IV, and making lots of our traditional homemade Bailey’s:
1-3/4 cup Irish Whiskey (cheap stuff is fine)
1 14-ounce Can condensed Milk
1 cup Whipping or Light Cream
4 eggs
2 tablespoons Chocolate syrup
2 teaspoons strong Coffee
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 teaspoon Almond Extract
Blend and refrigerate (shake well before serving).
It’s really quite good once you get past the raw egg thing.
jcricket
I’m not a cynic, per se, but I guess I don’t really care about the campaign rhetoric from the politicians and think they’re all playing games, in their own way. Think Obama’s “I’m all about Change” is just a natural thing for him? Or Edwards’ folksy shtick. Hillary’s calculated-ness (is that a word?) just doesn’t bother me, the same way it didn’t bother me that Bill was similarly “slick” in his poll-tested responses to questions.
I care more about who we elect to congress, especially within the Senate, in terms of policies.
Again, Edwards is my favorite, not just for rhetorical reasons. But I really think it will matter less which Dem ends up in the WH than how much more control we can take of Congress, and how we utilize that control. What levers/pressure we put on (or don’t) has a far bigger chance to shape the agenda than which “brand” of Democrat gets elected to the WH.
jcricket
Reminds me of that Family Guy episode… “The safe word is… banana”
Can’t find the clip online anymore. Damn you copyright!
demimondian
Heh. Since the demibunker contains an XBox, a 360, a PS2, a Wii, and a variety of other monstrosities (we have an 18-year-old, a 13-year-old, and a seven-year-old), we feel excessively well provided for.
Then again, this is the first year when we actually are acting as “home base” for the family, since the oldest is coming home from college after his first semester as a freshman. That’s a very odd feeling…
Psycheout
Am I the only one who thought this was a Mike D. post upon reading the title? You’re slipping, Tim.
demimondian
Psycheout, may I be the first to wish you all the happiness you deserve in the next year, and as Merry a Christmas as you have earned? May I also wish you exactly the mercy you have shown others when you face judgment, all the charity you have given when in need, and all the comfort you have provided to those who suffer?
Jen
Very nice, Demi.
— Jen aka TZ
kidding
demimondian
I take it you were kidding about the aka and the “nice” description…
Jen
No, I was kidding about the aka.
I was not kidding about the nice retort to Psycho. He is some kinda weird Christian.
RSA
This Christmas I’ll be at staying at home, for the first time in years. (I think the only less-than-usual place I’ve ever spent Christmas was in a hotel in the former Yugoslavia, as an ill-considered short vacation.) When a member of the family is recovering from brain surgery, travel options are limited. . . It’ll be a thankful Christmas, all in all.
Psycheout
And you too, friend. Merry CHRISTmas!
Psycheout
No doubt.
Psycheout
That’s got to be hard. I hope the best for you in this difficult time. Seriously.
demimondian
Indeed.
RSA
Thanks for the good thoughts. A full recovery is in the cards (three benign meningiomas were removed in two operations), so we’re happy, all things considered. (And BJ turns out to be a good place to blow off steam, for me.)
Randy Paul
Tim,
What Jack Roy said about Jackson Heights. I might add that it’s more than South Asian cuisine: they have great Argentine, Uruguayan, Peruvian and Ecuadorian food.
Woodside has Donovan’s Pub which IMHO has the best burgers in NYC, but if you go to Woodside, the real treat there is Sripraphai, an incredible Thai restaurant.
Indeed, if you want to eat well – and different – take the 7 train. Get off in Woodside, Jackson Heights, Corona and Flushing. You will dine well.
Psycheout
RSA, you can be sure that B4B is praying for your family member. That’s what we’re all about. Without loved ones, what do we really have?
Randy Paul
Tim, another recommendation for lunch: Despana Soho. We had bocadillos, sodas and chocolate with churros for about $25.
Surabaya Stew
HelloTim,
Speaking of New York dining, I can strongly recommend Cafeteria on 7th and 17th, as well as Tello on 8th and 19th, for fun atmosphere, great service and tasty yet moderate priced American and Italian food. Furthermore, I can second all the advice re: Jackson Heights and other Queens neighborhoods for an amazing variety of world cuisines. I shall conclude with a shameless plug for my favorite Indonesian joint outside Jakarta; its called Minangasli, a few blocks from the Elmhurst Ave. G and R station.
Merry Christmas and happy eating in my city!
Jules
If you are going to be in Greenwich Village, try El Faro (http://elfaronyc.com/). My favorite restaurant in the whole world. In Chinatown, I suggest Ping’s or Golden Unicorn for dim sum, Big Wong for Chinese BBQ. The 2nd Avenue Deli just reopened at 33rd St. near 3rd Ave (yeah, I know, not on 2nd Ave, but Madison Square Garden is nowhere near Madison Square). For a fancy lunch, try the prix fixe at 11 Madison Park. Papaya King for franks; Kossar’s for bialies
rts
NYC restaurants on the affordable and interesting side:
Dae Dong on 32nd Street between 5th and 6th. Open late (maybe even 24/7) Korean barbeque joint. Like regular barbeque only different. Cheap too. The Bul Golgi (beef tenderloin) and the pork version are both excellent. I bring lots of non-NYers to this place.
Celeste on Amsterdam and 84th. Italian, cash-only place. Small and jammed packed together. Inexpensive and very good. Good wine list with excellent value. You can get a good bottle of wine for $25 here. Great cheese plate for dessert. Owner/manager is a nut but in a good way.
Brown Cafe at 61 Eldridge St. near Chinatown. Inexpensive and interesting American greenmarket food. Excellent brunch too.
Wondee Siam – 9th and 54th Street. Excellent Thai food for next to nothing. There are two Wondee Siams across the street from each other. The one on the west side of 9th Ave. has more seating and is a bit more comfortable.
The Stanton Social – on Stanton Street in the Lower Eastside. Eclectic food (kobe beef sliders, etc.) in very cool setting. Lots of fun.
Cafe Katja – 79 Orchard Street, LES. Austrian cafe and bar. Great Austrian beers and wines. Best of the wurst.
El Mercadito – 7th Ave. South in Greenwich Village. Tasty mexican small plate specialist.
Boqueria – 19th Street and 6th Ave. Great tapas place.
That should about cover any possibility.
Happy eating!