Refrigerator staples of the downtown twenty-something: a Brita pitcher, beer, string cheese, ketchup and a Crif Dog’s “Eat Me” weiner magnet featuring a babe in a bikini riding a hot dog. That’s some Infatuation friendly marketing right there. When I think about Crif Dogs, I’m brought back to the blackout of 2003. How amazing was that? NYC turned into one big block party. The night it all went down, Crif Dogs was the only place in the East Village that had power because they were smart enough to have a backup generator for exactly such occasion. So while everyone else was sweating it out while food spoiled, Crif’s happily cooked up dogs and topped off beers (on the house!) for the whole neighborhood. A classic NYC moment for sure, and a fond memory I’ll never forget.
Whether you realize it or not, you’ve probably eaten a ton of Sullivan St. Bakery’s bread. Over 250 of New York City’s restaurants and markets serve this fine yeast, from Babbo to Dean & Deluca to Murray’s Cheese. When you dominate NYC’s dough scene, why not start a pizza joint? Co. (aka Company) is the hip, quasi-new addition to the Sullivan St. Bakery monopoly, and features a more complete menu than other next level pizza-throbs like Motorino and Keste. While the pizza is damn tasty, it’s not of the traditional variety. It arrives in awkward shapes and plays out more like awesome bread with toppings than actual pizza…which is by no means a bad thing.
We have a new rule here at Immaculate Infatuation. No taking escalators to dinner. Why? Think about where are you likely to be if you’re on an escalator – an airport, an office building, a filthy subway, Disney World…or maybe a mall. In none of those situations are you likely to be scooting your way to an awesome meal. Guess what the Time Warner Center is? A mall…with a really expensive food court.
Considering this new rule, we have adjusted our scientific rating formula (see The Meatball Shop) to reflect a minimum two point deduction for making us ride an escalator to a meal. Therefore, every restaurant located in the Time Warner Center will receive a maximum 8.0. What’s that you say? Per Se is located in Time Warner Center and it’s the best restaurant on earth? It’s also 200 yards from a J-Crew and on the other end of a three escalator ride. No 10 spot for you.
A few things prompted today’s review of P.J. Clarke’s. First of all, we’re fired up for the upcoming Season 4 premiere of Mad Men, and P.J. Clarke’s is one of the few places in town that still feels like a relic from that era. If you want to get your Roger Sterling on and hit on ladies from the office while pounding dirty martinis, there is hardly a better place to do it. Show producers even wrote the restaurant into an episode as the setting for a scene in Season 1. Second, we recently read an article in another publication stating that only recently has New York become a good burger town, now that Pat LaFrieda owns the city and Shake Shack has adopted Chipotle’s expansion plan. We’d like to disagree. P.J. Clarke’s has been rocking a good burger for decades, as have some other NYC classics like Old Town Bar and J.G. Melon. Let’s give the elders some credit. The only thing we don’t like about P.J. Clarke’s is that it’s almost always insufferably busy. Most of the time the after work crowd is so big that it spills out onto the streets, and the tourist traffic on weekends can make it tough to get a seat.
As we’ve said before, finding quality Mexican food in New York City is like finding something on MTV that doesn’t make the planet dumber. Mexico Lindo is the needle in the haystack, and we’ve been satisfying our Mexican cravings there for years. A true family run establishment, Lindo has a homey feel, be it a quirky one. The best dishes in the house are the standards (tacos al carbon, fajitas, and enchiladas), although a few surprises on the menu keep things interesting. The black bean soup comes garnished with chopped red onion and banana, and is ridiculously good. Any steak dish is a winner, and the guacamole and salsa are very good. Note, if you’re looking for a pomegranate margarita, then you’ve apparently stumbled into the wrong place on your way to Tonic East. Mexico Lindo is for those out to drink a few Pacificos and put a hurting on a giant plate of fajitas. Now you know.
