[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: August 11, 2016]
Playing catch-up with the ten years ago diary, I find myself surprised at how disappointing Tom Colicchio's west side venture Craftsteak was. As a total convert to Craft, I welcomed an option I expected to be easier to book (Craft was still a tough table in 2006), even if half the menu was given over to long-aged steaks.
In fact, Craftsteak offered a bewildering variety of steaks, in terms of origin, cut, and how long they'd spent in dry storage.
This was also the week I launched an expedition into Brooklyn and Queens to check out some curious old bars referred to in Charlie LeDuff's excellent sourcebook for NYC drinkers, Work and Other Sins. It just so happened that three of these places were near F train stops. And so I found myself drinking at the legendary Prospect Park barn of a bar Farrells, where the beer (Bud) is served in lare styrofoam containers and a fight had broken out by six o'clock.
From there I headed to Denny's Steak Pub in Kensington, memorable for the fact that it serves no steak--no food at all, in fact. But it did have an interesting smell. The one keeper on the list was the fabulous Pedro's Spanish American in DUMBO. This underground Dominican-Puerto Rican operation serves a lavish and inexpensive buffet of Pan-Latin food, cocktails shaken in individual shakers, and cheap beers. It's still there, and worth a look, but it's since been swarmed with local gallery goers. It's not the blue collar/hospital worker secret dive LeDuff described.
And finally, as the heat crept to 100 degrees, the back garden at Gnocco in the East Village where the mandatory order is the eponymous gnocco (gnocci?)--not dumplings, but deep-fried savory beignets with a platter of cold cuts. I ate some orechiette too. Why not?
PS: Wait--what about the Red Krayola mystery? The experimental band led by guitarist Mayo Thompson. My diary says I saw them play The Knitting Factory ten years ago. I have no recollection whatsoever of ever having seen the band. I hope it was a good show.
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