Tin Fork
Oh, man. Two steps forward, one step back. People have had their hopes raised a lot for this end of East Village. First, Quartyard opened, was a raging success, then it closed. Then that sidewalk …
"Hey, want buy this Bluetooth headset?” Guy’s talking to me. I’ve just come down to sit in the bus stop. “Cost me $90. I’ll give it to you for $30.” We’re at the #2 bus …
"No-o! Not Quartyard! Say it’s not so-o!” The guy with the wailing voice was, uh, me. This was last week. I was staring down the line of lights of the bar near the doggy park …
You can hear his laugh from all the way out in the corridor. It sounds like he’s having some rip-roaring conversation with Jimmy Kimmel and a live audience. This is Ernest. He’s the chef here …
"The southland has much more interesting Mexican food,” says Juan Carlos. “I’m thinking Chula Vista, I.B., San Ysidro. But in North Park the other day, we had been drinking, we needed something to put in …
First off: I challenge anyone to beat my speed-walking time, from Anchorage Lane at Shelter Island Drive to the Kona Kai Club at the southern end of Shelter Island. Ten minutes. A good country mile. …
Canvas sign blurs by. “Matua’s… Islander Grill.” Wha? There’s no eateries in this part of the Barrio. What’s up? I pull the cord on the 901. Sixteenth and National. Whole city of homeless tents stretches …
"Shiny beans,” says Dave. “Sure sign.” He’s talking coffee beans. And he should know. He’s managing this new coffee place-café here kitty-corner to the Firehouse museum at Cedar and Columbia in Little Italy. “Uh, sure …
King Mu of Zhou dreamed of tasting the peaches of immortality. The brave charioteer Zaofu offered him his chariot to carry him there. Eight horses pulled the chariot. One of them ran faster than birds …
Cool evening. Aboard the 934. Swinging east along Palm in I.B. Cruising past 10th, 11th, Florida. I’m craning my neck. “Know any good places to eat along Palm?” I ask the driver. “Like, good, but …
Nuts make you talk. Nuts make you cry. I’m chewing Thai nuts while Phon, Cheri, Lynn, and I talk on about the king of Thailand. King Bhumibol Adulyadej. He died six months ago, but for …
"Never?” “Never.” The three of us stand, jaws on the floor. Cameron, me, Lavonn. “Trust me,” says Eoghan, “Michaela has never eaten a hot dog in her life. Me neither.” We’re standing on a deck …
Gaslamp. Monday night. It’s a concert, for one. Sarah the street violinist has got me glued to her spot on the sidewalk at Fifth and F. Because, hey, she’s playing Umm Kulthum’s “Enta Omri” — …
“Well, look around you,” she says. “It’s real. Close your eyes and we could be in Tehran.”
"Siempre doy gracias al cielo de ser/ Tan afortunado! The Queen of Chiquibaby belts it out with Joan Sebastian. (“I always give thanks to heaven to be/ So fortunate!”) Everybody belts it out with her, …
"Attack of the Killer Pancake. Now Showing.” It’s this movie-house marquee in a painting that hangs above the welcome desk. I’m in this very ’60s coffee house. All stone, glass, and wood. Just got in …