Rumblings Inside Dormant Diner

When I first moved to the "wrong" side of the BQE in Carroll Gardens, the Waterfront Family Restaurant was one of the few going businesses along Columbia Street. But it closed soon after I moved nearby, and has sat stuck in time ever since.

Last week I saw the door open, the lights on and someone rumbling inside for the first time in a decade. No idea what's going on in there. But it was rather interesting to see how little the diner has changed since it entered its cocoon state. 

Ruby's Bar & Grill Is Gone for Good

Ruby's Bar & Grill, a raffish, Coney Island treasure to those who knew how to treasure Coney Island, has closed for good. The landlord did not renew the lease.

I was one of millions who have had a beer or two at the old bar at some point during the 76 years it was open. Those of you who are now reading this, and are just hearing of Ruby's, will never have the pleasure.

No neighborhood in New York has been so shabbily treated by the City over the past decade as Coney Island.

A New Low For Times Square

In an area already populated with obscene "stores" dedicated to merchandising the most horrifying junk food known to man, the Pop-Tarts Cafe (only just noticed by this person) represents a new low. I thought there was no place one Earth where I could feel more nauseated than I do at the M&M store. I was wrong.

The people employed in this cafe seem awfully embarrassed. I suspect they know they are participants in a terribly disgusting enterprise. I can sort of imagine the kind of person who buys an M&M t-shirt, or a Hershey's hat. But who in their right mind wants the wear Pop-Tarts apparel?

There's a cafe with a menu that out to be against the law, such a nuisance to public health it is. Pop-Tart kebob? Pop-Tart pizza? They're all just excuses to eat more than one Pop-Tart at a time.

But, if you've always wanted to see bathroom instructions on the proper disposal of sanitary napkins printed on the image of a Pop-Tart, well, look no further.

Lost City Asks "Who Goes to Capsouto Freres?"

I have always loved Capsouto Freres in-the-middle of nowhere location, and the fact that there are actually Capsouto brothers who run it. I had an idea while dining there. Ever since Montrachet closed, my wife and I have been at a loss for a restaurant in which to have our anniversary dinners. Perhaps Capsouto. It possessed the right tone.

Who Goes There? Capsouto Freres

Capsouto Frères turns 30 years old this year. It's amazing it lasted a month. Situated in the two bottom floors of a beautiful old 1891, neo-Flemish, landmark building on an isolated block of far west TriBeCa, to say it's out of the way is putting it mildly. The wall of traffic leading into the nearby Holland Tunnel all but dares you to try and find it. 

As the name indicates, the restaurant was founded by three brothers named Capsouto. They came to New York from Alexandria, Egypt, by way of Paris, and brought their French culinary traditions and Old World grace with them. Two remain, Jacques and Samuel. Albert passed away in January at the age of 53. They hunkered down on the corner of Watts and Washington years before Montrachet and other pioneering restaurateurs ventured below Canal. They've remained there by doing pretty much what they've done since 1980. "Nothing's changed much since then," said the Maitre D', "which both works for us and against us."

Read more »

Lost City Asks "Who Goes to Two Toms?"

First time I ever went to Two Toms, I ordered pasta and was bitterly disappointed. It was lifeless. Thereafter, everyone told me I had been a dope. Meat was the thing to order at Two Toms. Didn't I know that? This time I did better, ordering the famous double-thick pork chops. There was a side of pasta of course. I still wish it was better. I can make better pasta than that in my sleep. Better sauce, too. Two Toms should be able to out-do me. Still, a gem of a place. One of a kind.

Who Goes There? Two Toms

There are few very few places left in the city like Two Toms, the out-of-the-way oasis of bygone Mom-and-Pop, Italian-American dining on desolate Third Avenue and Union in Brooklyn, a stone's throw from the Gowanus Canal. Mario's on Arthur Avenue in The Bronx is one. I'm talking about the kind of place where the waiter tells you what's available, and there's no menu; where the food seems based on some distant relative's yellowing recipe cards, and is cooked by someone's mother; where the decor—if you could call it that—is equal parts social club, American Legion hall and grandpa's rec room.

Read more »

Home of the Gold Fish Bowl Iced Coffee

I've never written about Serendipity, even though it's a local business, very sui generis, half a century old, and would seem to be a perfect fit for Lost City. Maybe because the gauche, ice cream sundae palace kinda sets my teeth on edge, what with it's chandeliers and riot of dolls and kitschy decor inside designed to make a 12-year-old girl break out in pink and purple spots and go spastic with delight. (Check out it's ridiculously purple "history," complete with—yikes!—a picture of Sarah Palin.)

Still, it's odd enough to have a certain appeal. I was forced to go recently when I suggested it as a place my niece would like, and my sister took me up on the idea. The best, and weirdest part, is the ghoulish hostess, who looked like Morticia's sister, and whom I assumed is part of the family that owns the place. Why else would she be allowed at the front of house, where she could scare all the little children. Another cool thing: the big, cast-iron metal clock inside was salvaged from a local butcher that went out of business years ago.

Like Junior's and the Carnegie Deli, everything on the menu is huge. Christ, the menus themselves are huge. I knew this to be the case with the grossly oversized sundaes. But I've never before been served an ice coffee big enough for a fish to swim in. Even my Goth niece was impressed with that.

Brooks 1890 Restaurant Closed for Renovation

Brooks 1890 Restaurant, one of the oldest and most unheralded restaurants in the City, and one of my personal favorites, is closed for renovation. When it reopens, it will be under new management.

I had met the longtime owner Bill "Brooks" Gounaris just last fall. He had made no mention of his intention to sell the place. Gounaris was not the original Brooks; he bought the restaurant after the real Mr. Brooks died, by his own hand, in the 1970s. (He was reportedly a heavy gambler and got into a bit of trouble.)

Read more »

Modern Snack Bar

I went to this Aquebouge institution with the great name on a recent trip to the North Fork of Long Island. It's a family business, run by the Wittmeier family since 1950. Old fashioned diner, with counter seating and table service. Low ceilings, curtain, pressed-wood tables, tablecloths. Chicken Pot Pie, Long Island Duck, Meat Loaf, and "famous" mashed turnips. They must be really good. Why, otherwise, serve mashed turnips.

Streit's Is Staying Put

Thought I would pass on some happy news.

A year or so ago, Streit's—the old matzo factory on Rivington and one of the last vestiges of the old Jewish Lower East Side—bummed everyone out by saying they were selling their building and clearing out.

So I was surprised to walk by the address the other day and still see matzos being cranked out of the small factory. What's more, there was a sweet little retail store in the space, selling every sort of thing Streit's produces. I asked the man behind the counter what was up. He said the plan to abandon the building had been, well, abandoned. They were staying. The reason he gave was that the old matzo-making machines were 80 years old, too ancient and too difficult to move at this point.

This may be old news. Not sure. But it's new news to me. And good news.

I bought a couple of cans of Streit's soup. Very salty and very good.

Greenport: Home of Great Signs

A stray post here. Just cause I feel like it.

Went to Greenport, Long Island, for the first time last week, and found it a veritable treasure trove of great old signs. Had to share them. 140-year-old Claudio's above brags its the oldest, continually operating, same-family-owned restaurant in the U.S. (I think Antoine's of New Orleans, founded in 1840, and run by the same family, might have something to say about that.)

My favorite is below. Whiskey Wind Tavern is one of the best bar names I've ever heard. It's open every day of the year.