Always in search of a great food experience, and no less as I prepared for a trip last week to my old NYC stomping grounds. Had in hand all my favorite NYT restaurant reviews -- saved for chances like this -- and was mostly focused on Korean fare, which is not found much in Miami. And since I will be going to Greece soon, I wasn't thinking Greek food either -- even though I have never been to the highly-acclaimed Molyvos on 7th Avenue.
My friend Ann :) |
So I made the rounds: Coffee and hamentashen (!) at the Palace Restaurant (off Lexington at 57th), dinner at the Westway Diner (9th Ave & 43rd), breakfast with my dear friend Altanna at her Lyric Diner (3rd Ave and 22nd St, complete wih a long conversation w/Mina whose mom is from the tiny island Amorgos), and a bowl of greasy chili for lunch with my good friend Eddie at the Washington Square Diner (West 4th & 6th Ave). I subsequently loudly rued the day that the Sheridan Square Diner (off Christopher St & 7th Ave) had become a Starbucks. And Manutus on Bleeker St has been shuttered for good, part of the rather horrifying upscale degradation of much of the West Village!
Lyric Diner Breakfast Special |
But I do really miss those Greek diners for all the reasons mentioned above. And when I say "kalimera, ti kanete" (Good morning, how are you?) to the affendiko, it gets even better. Try it some time!
NOTE: There are few such places in Miami. The fabled S&S Diner ( NE 2nd Ave & 18th St) was originally owned by Greeks who sold it a few years back. Just not the same now, not to mention that their Breakfast Special formerly $4.95 is now $6, and the coffee is too often made to stain your teeth and ruin the experience. Someone tried to tell me that the Cuban-American cafeterias are essentially the same as the Greek coffee shops. No way!
Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network.