A Good Sign: Bloomingdale's

It's obvious, I know. But, for some reason (probably because it's obvious), I've never set it aside for distinction. So here it is. Hard to deny the Art Deco triumph of these awnings.

This Was Gino

Not a stitch of evidence of what uses to be at this address. Work going on inside. The world does not need a single additional cupcake joint, I say.

Nom Wah Tea Parlor Finally Revamps

I've spent the last couple years watching Chinatown's classic Nom Wah Tea Parlor be repeatedly shut down and opened up by the Department of Health, and wondered, with a sick heart, how long it would be before the 90-year-old place closed for good. So the article that appeared in today's Daily News was like a balm to my worries. 

Wilson Tang—whose uncle Wally Tang bought the place in 1974, worked in the eatery for 60 years, but retired last year—has left his job in finance to take over the tea parlor. While he preserved the original dining room, Wilson renovated the kitchen, a process that took six months. He is keeping things as they've always been, but making critical changes which I think will help ensure the joint's longevity. 

"With Wally's blessing, some additions will be made to both the tea and food menus," reads the article. "Wilson is keeping the same 10 traditional Chinese teas that his uncle always served, but is thinking about adding some more Western flavors, like Earl Grey. Tea is integral to the dim sum experience, Wilson explains, because it washes away the oily taste of the dumplings before the next dish.

"Nom Wah's food menu is being expanded. It used to feature nine traditional items — including ha gow (a traditional Chinese dumpling), woo gork (taro root dumplings) and lo mein (traditional wheat flour noodles) — written on the back of a business card.

"The new menu includes a fried or steamed dim sum sampler with eight pieces, as well as roast pork buns, fried sesame balls, and sweet and sour spare ribs."

Wilson is also going to take advantage of his trendy neighbor, the cocktail lounge Apotheke, which is  planning to open a Mexican restaurant called Pulqueria in the vacant space between it and Nom Wah.

Picture of the Day: Second Avenue Deli, Where is Oughta Be

A Second Avenue Deli van parked right opposite where the deli used to be, a space no occupied by a Chase bank branch. Courtesy of EVGrieve.

McHale's: Five Years Gone

McHale's Bar—the closure of which Times Square watering hole led to the creation of this blog—has been gone for five years.

It was pushed out in January 2006 after 62 years in business by the rent hike of a greedy landlord. There was hue and cry from its clientele and the air rang with protests, but it was all for naught. Owner Jimmy McHale (above), son of his father (also named Jimmy), who founded the place, moved out quietly and let the condo tower known at Platinum NYC rise on the northeast corner of Eighth Avenue and 46th Street. The monolith stands there still, offering no hints as to the intersection's former resident. The stagehands who had made the bar their home moved grudgingly around the corner to the Playwrights Tavern.

At the time of the shutting, Jimmy McHale made some vague comments about the bar reopening some day. But nothing came of that. The chef moved on to Rendezvous, an eatery across Eighth Avenue, and for a time that place advertised McHale's burgers on their menu. But soon enough, that place closed as well. Jimmy said he was saving much of the interior and the classic neon sign. However, in 2007, one of the McHale's signs turned up in a Chelsea antique shop. And in 2010, Lost City discovered that the biggest of the McHale's neon signs had found a new home in Emmet O'Lunney's on W. 50th Street. The owner apparently made an offer on the sign in the days before McHale's closed, and Jimmy McHale took the deal. The sign was restored and installed. So, I'd say there is zero chance of a new McHale's rising from the ashes.

I wonder what became of up the joint's long wooden bar, which hailed from the 1939 World's Fair. I hope some bar somewhere is using it. If anyone has any news of it, or of Jimmy's whereabouts, please write it.

I still have the McHale's t-shirt Jimmy himself gave me on my final visit to the bar. I don it only occasionally. I don't want to wear it out, because I know there won't be any more coming to me. 

Lost City: Providence Edition: Olneyville New York System Weiners

Unique ways of eating hot dogs is a New England tradition. I learned this during my 2009 jaunt to Troy.

Providence, Rhode Island, has it's own peculiar frankfurter traditions. First of all, their called weiners. Don't call them anything else. And they're served automatically with mustard, meat sauce (really, a kind of chili), raw onions and celery salt, unless you specify otherwise—and you would never do that.

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Me and Me Egg Roll Reopens Today

Me and My Egg Roll has been a quasi-institution in Carroll Gardens for the past quarter center. It's had a rocky couple of years, closed off and on for health reasons and such. It's due to reopen today. The menu has been revamped. In addition to Chinese grub, they'll have Vietnamese sandwiches and Bubble Tea. Also, the place isn't the dim, closed-off space it once was. The window are uncurtained and the interior clearly seen. (Photo courtesy of Pardon Me For Asking.)

In other neighborhood news, the revamp from Naidre's to Maybelle Cafe, at the corner of Henry and Sackett, is complete. There were selling coffee this morning.

This Morning in Carroll Gardens

Almost a bucolic scene, the sight of these berried branches enveloped in white. Every branch in the neighborhood was bent under at least a couple inches of snow. Quite a pristine scene, the blinding whiteness persisting even as we approach noon and much of the shoveling and plowing has been done. Good snowball snow, too.

Last Night in Williamsburg

Driving snow at 10 PM in north Williamsburg. Not a car on the street. Bamonte's shuttered up well before quitting time. People walking down the center of the street. And some fool standing around taking pictures of it all.

Lost City: Providence Edition: Little Rhody and The Dunk

I never thought I could feel tenderly toward the Dunkin' Donuts chain until I visited Providence.

Providence loves donuts, and consequently loves Dunkin' Donut. There are more Dunkin' Donuts per capita in Providence (a city of 170,000) than there are in any other city in America. They are so prevalent and so beloved that they are used in giving directions, as in "You go straight and then take a right at the Dunkin' Donuts." In fact, I am told, people actually give directions based on where a Dunkin' Donuts used to be.

Dunkin' has returned the love. The bought the naming rights for the indoor arena that became known as the Dunkin' Donuts Centers. Locals call it "The Dunk." It all contributes to that rare phenomenon in which a national chain actually feels like an integral paint of the local cultural fabric. I still don't like Dunkin' Donuts. Don't like their product, their obnoxious signs, their ubiquity. But I kinda like that Providence likes them.