How doth the little crocodile...

... improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!"
--Lewis Carroll

I don't partake in hookah myself, but now that the weather has warmed, I see more of it! Horus Too (offshot of Horus in the East Village) opens its doors as patrons enjoy their pipes. Or however you say it. Anyway, it always makes me think of the Alice in Wonderland Caterpillar.



Except with gum disease, and lung cancer. See, even though most people believe hookah to be less harmful than cigarettes (not a great selling point to begin with), it can be just as detrimental to health, in part because smoking sessions tend to be so long.

Excuse me, didn't mean to get preachy. It's just that I did research. On Wikipedia. Because I wanted to use smart, with-it words to describe the scene at Horus. But the article doesn't mention that in some cases, you might turn into a butterfly. (Could be the start of brilliant career getting your picture taken in Times Square).

Reunion Surf Bar Opening

Reunion Surf Bar Opening via Daily Candy

"Notice hints of tasteful tiki while hanging ten: Dark ’n’ Stormies (in highball glasses designed by Ashe) come frozen, as do the Coronas (a secret ingredient ensures a superlative chill). Bottles of rhum arrangé are infused with lychee, papaya, and mangosteen.

A small menu (served late) offers beachy snacks gone global: braised short rib burgers with Sriracha and kimchee, and “sandy” clams — dredged in sweet potato-and-semolina flour spritzed with kaffir lime. "

Sign me up!

Brick Oven Pizza on 44th - Slice Harvester totally dug this

There's a lot of good pizza in this neighborhood, but there is also so much bad pizza that sometimes I feel too discouraged to try a new place. However, the gentleman at Slice Harvester has doing that work for us!

Backstory: Colin's mission is to have a slice of pizza at every pizzeria in New York City. He began making his way down Manhattan sometime year, and he's recently been through the Theater District (I wept for him during that painful phase) and Hell's Kitchen. You can read about all his adventures at sliceharvester.com.

Slice Harvester has very exacting standards about what makes a good pizza, and he doesn't hold back when a slice fails to meet his expectations. As I've read about his Hell's Kitchen experiences, this review caught me by surprise: Brick Oven Pizza, on 44th Street btwn 9th and 10th Aves. I think this is actually a sort of Annex to L'Allegria restaurant on that corner of 9th (per this yelp.com entry).

I finally tried it yesterday, inspired by SH's glowing review. I sat at the bar with a friend, watching the pizza maestro make the pies and put them in the brick oven right there in front of us. With a 3 second trip from the oven to our plate, our margherita pie was steaming hot, and so delicious!

One thing I do disagree with: the pizza maestro is so nice.  SH makes it sound like he's gruff and brusque but I promise that was not the case when I went.  He is a strong, silent type, ok? But still totally nice!

"Spanish Cuisine" coming soon to 9th Ave!

On 9th Ave. between 46th and 47th Streets:

I don't know what kind exactly, but the neon lighting presages great potential for greasy spoon awesomeness. ¡Vamos!