Tea Cups and Biker Bars

Day 20 of the T-90 Project:

MaineMan flew out on Wednesday, June 2, but not without one last meal. His parents came into the city to take us out to lunch at P.J. Clarke's on the west side. They'd frequented the original P.J. Clarke's decades ago when they lived in the city so it was a walk down memory lane for them, I hope. They'd wanted to go to the one on 3rd Avenue, but when they found out I couldn't take that much time off work they were sweet enough to relocate lunch to the west side by my offices. I never had a lunch hour working in news. On the rare occasion where I did sneak out to grab a bite I'd always look at my watch like a lunatic -- paranoid that my coworkers would wonder where the hell I was, when in fact I'd get back from lunch and nobody had missed me.

Lunch at P.J. Clarke's was great, though it took so long I had to walk out with my lunch half-eaten in Tupperware. I ordered a Caesar salad and tater tots and the tater tots were to die for. I'd never seen them on the menu before. Mr. MaineMan ordered us a huge plate of oysters that we sucked down in a flash. When I got back to the office and opened my container of tots my coworkers descended on me like vultures, "What are THOSE?"

After work I met up with MaineMan outside my office. It was a treat to see him waiting for me at the front door. He only had a couple of hours until his flight and he demanded a few beers before takeoff. We wandered over to The Sunburnt Calf (related to The Sunburnt Cow in the east village) because I'd wanted to check it out. It was pretty blah, minus the Aussie bartender. We were the only ones there at three o'clock and I was not feeling it. It had a long bar, it was pitch black, boiling and it just wasn't a cozy, welcoming space. The bar had a weird orange and black color scheme going on and I could not wait to down our drinks and leave.

Our next stop was the Ding Dong Lounge. After five years of living across the street I'd probably been about five times. MaineMan was appalled. How could I not have been frequenting this place? We often miss what's right under our nose, I guess.

After a couple of beers, it was that time again. Time for me to say goodbye to MaineMan, although it didn't really feel like goodbye. I was flying out to L.A. in a couple of days for a job interview. Whew! No tears.

Day 19:

I organized a dinner at Kefi with a few of my closest work friends. I don't think we spend enough time letting off steam after hours so I was hoping to squeeze in one last session before I left. We were welcoming some newbies to the neighborhood from Boston and I was excited to share Kefi with them. I think they were pleased. My coworker and I both got the bulgur fritter sandwich, which, to this day, remains one of my favorite sandwiches in New York City. The sheeps' milk dumplings are a crowd pleaser as well.

Day 18:

My friend and mentor at work @CPLawJ loves sweets and tea almost more than I do. We discovered our mutual affection for tea several months ago and we'd take occasional breaks in search of it near our office. One such trip to Alice's Tea Cup had a sad ending - the place was a zoo and there was no way we would be able to wait for a table, eat and get back to our office in an hour. We made it our mission to get back someday.

That day came in my last two weeks at ABC. We returned with our fingers crossed that we would get a table. When the hostess said, "Right this way!" I nearly jumped for joy.

The tea menu is overwhelming. They have pages and pages of different teas and unless you narrow it down to a color (they have every color of the rainbow listed), you're going to have a tough time. I went with the Energitea -- a green tea with rooibos, ginseng, linden and orange. It was superb. The presentation is the highlight. Each tea drinker gets his own individual tea pot.

@CPLawJ noted, "They really have this thing figured out down to a science."

"Yes they do. Look at the little foam to catch the drip. And the kitties on top!"



@CPLawJ ordered a curried chicken sandwich that he really enjoyed and I ordered the croque madame. Their veggie version had grilled gruyere with mayo and mustard on semolina bread. Grilled cheeses in restaurants are very hit or miss and this was a definite hit. I can't believe I'm only just discovering this sandwich. The late discoveries seem to be a recurrent theme of the T-90 Project...

Days 17-16 (in Calif.):

On my last trip to Los Angeles before I move I discovered a new favorite hangout, or rather, MaineMan did. Much to my chagrin, he has gotten a little motorcycle crazy this past month and he looked up biker bars in the area. On a drive back from The Beachcomber at Malibu Pier, where we discovered this bad boy:


we stopped at The Rock Store. I absolutely (shockingly?) loved it and I cannot wait to get back. I can't promise MaineMan that it will be on the back of his motorcycle (if and when he finds one he likes), but I can promise that I hope to return very soon to this great spot along Mulholland. It had a terrific vibe and the staff was super friendly -- something I never expected at a biker bar.