Mission accomplished (not)

I had four goals today: Get coffee and a muffin at the new coffee shop in Tribeca; get a haircut; buy shorts (for an upcoming trip to Mexico) and khakis; eat lunch at Szechuan Gourmet in Midtown.
It didn't seem like much of a challenge. I had all day to shop and a few bucks in my pocket, and the weather, while overcast, was dry and fall-like. Piece of cake, right?
Goal 1 quickly went by the wayside when I saw the new coffee place, Kaffe 1668, packed with the stroller crowd. I'd rather have a pitcher of steamed milk thrown in my face than put up with a roomful of screaming kids before I've had my a.m. caffeine fix. Besides, walking three blocks down the street to Duane Park Patisserie hardly constituted a sacrifice, and the cranberry-walnut scone was sufficient reward. I tied the score at 1-1 with my usual $13 haircut up the street, and hopped the 2 train to Macy's. That's when things began to go horribly, horribly wrong.
First, there were no shorts on display - not a big surprise in November. Then I saw what appeared to be the perfect khakis. All cotton? Check. Wrinkle free? Check. Plain front? Check. Price? Nothing marked. There were no price tags on any of the khakis; no signs; no sales help available. Well, I have principles! I don't give my business to stores that play games with prices. So I walked. Why not? Jos. Bank up on 45th and Madison was having a sale on pants and sweaters, and Szechuan Gourmet was a few blocks up the street. Except Szechuan Gourmet wasn't open yet, and it was beginning to rain. So I called an audible and hit Han Bat on 35th for some Jayook Bokum (above). Thinly sliced pork, sauteed vegetables, spicy sauce, pungent kimchi - that hit the spot.
On to Jos. Bank! Except now it was pouring. Walked two blocks, ducked in to Starbucks, bought a coffee, saw there was no place to sit, headed back out, got wet. Managed to grab a cab on Madison and entered Jos. Bank ready to spend. Then I tried on their khakis. The waist came up halfway between my belly button and my chest; I felt like a 75-year-old who had shrunk 2 inches. The salesman insisted that that was how all plain-front khakis fit, and I figured that was my cue to head back home and admit defeat.
I salvaged a measure of respect by finding a nice cotton sweater for $14 at Syms a few blocks from my apartment, and splashed home a 3-1 loser - my ambition once more exceeding my grasp.

Photo of the day

Barnes & Noble Tribeca

Essex Market and Porchetta, with a bonus screed

What to do on a blustery fall Wednesday? Drink coffee, eat lunch, and see a movie, of course.
First stop: Rainbo's Muffins in the Essex Market for a kitchen-sink muffin. Who knew that mango, raisins, walnuts, and banana could share the same muffin without conflict? I go out of my way to come here once in a while, and every time I do I am reminded of the lame state of NYC's markets.
Compare the Essex Market, Union Square Greenmarket, or any other market in NYC with the Jean Talon Market in Montreal or the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia and you wonder what the local market organizers are thinking. For those of us who aren't interested in cooking - I daresay a big chunk of New Yorkers - these markets hold very little appeal. I want a market I can eat at, one where I can grab lunch or graze or stuff my face with sweets or baked goods. Compare the prepared food options at Essex or Union Square to Jean Talon or Reading Terminal, and it's joke. At Essex, you can buy cheese, fruit, or prepared sushi - whoopee! The Paradou sandwich shop there was closed today (permanently?) so forget that option. Shopsin's? Even if you want to give your business to someone who doesn't seem to understand that the merchant serves the buyer - not the other way around - it's a sit-down restaurant, which violates the spirit of market eating.
The Union Square market is great is you're a locavore-loving chef; otherwise, it's just a parking lot full of tourists and mediocre baked goods.
Another thing about the Essex Market that burns me: It's closed on Sunday's. Give me a break. How can you be a serious market and be closed on Sundays - one of two days of the week that most people have the time for leisurely eating or shopping?

Porky pork


No, I didn't eat the whole thing. This is a porchetta, and it's what is served at the Porchetta sandwich shop on 7th St. near 1st Ave. If you like porky-tasting pork larded with moist fat and studded with crisp skin, you'll go for this place. Check out this post on Serious Eats, which has everything you'd ever want to know about this place.
Down 7th St., at 1st Ave., is Abraco coffee nook, which like Porchetta has been blogged about within an inch of its life. The cortado was fine, the drip coffee strong, and the folks who run the place cool.
The movie? Never made it. Buzzed on caffeine and chilled from the hawk, I figured I had done enough for one day to justify an afternoon on the couch.

First try

So I figure at some point I'm going to want to blog. Maybe it will be private, maybe for public consumption. I'm not even sure what I want to blog about, but - what the hell? - I figure I can just mess around here and see how it goes.