Tea Lounge - Cobble Hill

My search for the perfect study coffee shop continues.

Today, as I had an extra two hours after dropping off my babysitting client at her dance class, I ventured around Cobble Hill looking for a reasonable coffee shop to study in. This really involves a lot of walking, peeking my head in the window, and counting the number of laptops per total number of tables. If the ratio is close to 50% or higher, I deem it a constructive study space. Seems to work.

It seems my non-beloved Park Slope Tea Lounge has a second location on Court Street (Cobble Hill). And, by my humble opinion, they got it better the second time. I have many issues with the Park Slope location, including the place being too dark, loud, and even the smell of some couches.

The Cobble Hill Tea Lounge is a pretty standard comfy couch- art on walls-coffee and snacks- cool music coffee shop. Nothing too unique, but that's why it was great. There is a certain comfort in the beat up couches and familiar music sensibilities. It taps into that side of me that used to actually get homework done back in college. Good productive vibe, specially with plenty of natural light, fresh air, and lots of people in study mode.

I ordered a regular coffee and an Italian panini. The coffee was good enough for my limited palette, though I do wish they would let customers sweeten their own drinks. Getting the right amount of sugar and coffee is a labour of love that needs to added slowly to mix better. The sandwich was tasty, and it was basically a glorified grilled cheese with tomato and basil. It was fresh tasting, and really hit the spot.

I don't see how I'd make it back. Cobble Hill is not my neck of the woods, but I'd highly recommend it as a neighborhood coffee shop to others.

Andrew's Coffee Shop

Don't go here. Seriously. Don't.

To be honest, I am not even sure how I ended up in a this midtown diner having bad pizza. All I know is that after spending way too long on a shopping spree with my mother, we needed a break and a place to sit. Somewhere with comfy chairs where we could regain our energy, grab a bite, and prepare for the rest of the afternoon.

Since we didn't want to go to another deli like the two previous lunch outings (as delicious as most delis are, the chairs tend to be a bit more uncomfortable), we ventured into Andrew's Coffee Shop allured by the primal comfort of the diner atmosphere.

Big mistake.

In addition to service being slow, they brought us a magherita pizza without basil, and when we inquired about it, the waitress basically said, "well, they just sprinkle it on anyway, you don't want it." And when we pointed out that we did, indeed, want it, she simply brought us a small plate with three basil leaves with instructions to shred it and sprinkle it ourselves. And we might have been cool with this, we were hungry after all, if she hadn't charged us for refills on our drinks.

Seriously? A diner is charging for refills on overpriced soda without alerting their customers? Unacceptable.

In retrospect, we should have gone for the deli. Good, dependable and varied food, and they are everywhere in midtown.

photo courtesy of Susan S. from www.yelp.com

Spring

It seems that spring is finally showing itself, or that at least some plants finally got the memo. And, on a totally unrelated note, I am learning to use the macros and manual focus on my camera.

City Girl Cafe

I've been babysitting a third grader this week. I pick her up from school in Carrol Gardens, and walk her around to her after school activities. Today, I dropped her off at NYC Elite, a gymnastics center in Soho. And it gave me an hour and half to continue my "studying in coffee shops" series.

I found City Girl Cafe almost by accident. After walking around Soho and resisting the window-shopping temptations, I saw the sign saying Espresso. Then I stuck my head to the window, saw a couple of other tables with laptops, and went inside.

It was really busy, which impressed me. Yet I managed to find an open table, no easy feat in a small 7 table cafe. Most people in line were getting their coffee to-go. I liked the vibe, lots of big windows and very good light. And the music was conducive to studying as well.

The only distracting thing was all the people. Good for business, but I kept people watching. People watching is great, but a bit frustrating when is attempting to get through something as boring as the LEED handbook.

photo by Konstantin Sergeyev ............................................................photo by Natalia Olivera

Gonzales y Gonzales

Dear Gonzales y Gonzales,

Thank you for helping me have a great birthday "party", where I somehow convinced a bunch of friends that the best thing to do on a Saturday night was to have margaritas and go salsa dancing. The margarita part was an easy sell, it's the willingness to accept salsa dancing that amazed me more. Thanks G&G for giving me a good meeting place.

Not that you didn't try valiantly to mess it up several times, G&G. Good thing you came through in the end. When our table was about an hour late, you made it up by giving us a great location in the middle of the dance floor area. Despite having the cheesiest 90's and top 40 music when we first arrived, you fixed it with the solid Latin band for the rest of the evening. We'll need to talk about the loud dj music though, I wasn't a fan of that. And though your service was horrendously slow, it was okay because it gave us the perfect excuse to hoard our central location.

In all honesty, I dont know how the night would have been if our table wasn't so well located. Good real state is hard to come by, specially in a dance club. Sure, it was louder than the "dining" room and harder to talk, and our appetizers never arrived, but it was an anchor in the storm, an island where to lay our stuff, a home in the the wilderness of the dancing crowds.

I am not sure if I'd go back to G&G, the type of crowd wasn't fully my scene. But the dancing was awesome, the drinks good, and my birthday was fun. In the words of one of my friends, it was a Salsa Moshpit. And I'm pretty sure he meant it as a compliment.

Perilla

I really meant to write this sooner, but my mother was in town for my birthday, and I was wonderfully distracted by actual human interaction and entertainment. Who needs to blog when you have family in town?

And on occasion of my birthday, we had dinner at Perilla Restaurant, a wonderful place that I will from now on recommend to everyone I know.

I'd been curious about the restaurant for a long time because of it's Top Chef connection. For those of you who follow TC, Perilla is first season winner Harold Dieterle's restaurant. He was great in his season, seemed like an inventive and accomplished cook, and I am glad to see that he was a deserving winner and used his moment in the spotlight to further his actual career as a Chef.

The restaurant is really small, only 18 tables, and the layout gives it a very homey and comfortable feeling. Good lighting too, which is incredibly important in a festive setting. I tend to base whether I will return to a restaurant based on the atmosphere (this must be why I am an architect and not a foodie), and purely based on the building, I will definitely go back. Of course it helps that the food was delicious.

We started with a Hamachi Crudo appetizer. Then for the main course, I ordered Sauteed Rosefish with quinoa, cauliflower, snap peas and a sweet & sour eggplant-basil sauce. The sauce lived up to it's sweet/sour name, and provided a tasty balance to the fish. I liked the snap peas as well, which I usually would have left on my plate. I guess this is the thing about restaurants with accomplished chefs, all the elements in the dish complement each other. My mom ordered the roasted duck breast, with basmati rice, garam masala & gooseberries; while Nate got grilled prime hanger stead with sunchoke creamed spinach, red shallot puree and natural jus. I tasted all three dishes, and am forced to admit that Nate's was indeed very tasty, and I might try it next time.

But mostly I will go back because of the great service, which I will address in four different examples. 1) They took our coats when we arrived. Small detail, but it was so nice (and free). 2) Though we had made a reservation, they took over a half hour to seat us. Which was annoying though understandable in busy restaurants. Yet as a token of appreciation for our patience, they gave us free hamachi appetizers. Great. 3) Waiter was friendly and always around when we needed him. That's nothing that earth shattering, but is nice nonetheless. 4) I ordered a glass of limoncello for dessert. Upon finding out that the restaurant was out of L, the waiter gave me half a glass "on the house". Which considering how strong limoncello is, was actually the amount I truly wanted.

Uh.... if I had a rating system this is the part where I would give it three forks, or 5 stars, or 10 points, or whatever it is that people do when they really like a restaurant.

Brooklyn St. Patrick's Parade

This afternoon we went to the hardware store to buy a fly swatter, and voila, there was a parade down on our street. It was fun. Lots of bagpipes, kilts and people wearing green, and many schools and local chapters of armed forces represented.

We had no idea there was even a parade scheduled on our street, so it was a happy surprise. Lucky for me, I had my camera with me, so I took some pictures.

A night in Greenwich Village

Saturdays are my favorite. I can wake up late, go to bed late, and not worry about having to be anywhere early in the morning the next day. This is partly why last night, Saturday, we ended up being out much later than originally intended. I don't know how it became a bar hopping evening. The originally plan had been to meet up with Nate's friend Leonel at a coffee shop, maybe go grab a beer or two, and try to avoid the St. Patrick's Day craziness. Next thing I know, we've gone to three separate bars, grabbed felafel, and ended up taking the subway back at 3:30 am. At least we didn't deal with St. Patty's crowds.

Greenwich Village Bistro. This was our meeting place with Nate's friend Leonel. We got there late on account of the Q running local, and I my having some trouble making it out of the house. The place is great; looks truly like a small bistro place, with expressionist paintings adorning the walls and cozy welcoming atmosphere. Highlight of the night: a jazz band was playing. It was fun, they were doing their thing, we were having beer (I ordered a Pilsner). A very chill vibe, but we didn't stay very long because within a half hour of our getting there, the band finished out their set and called it a night. It made me really bummed that we got there so late.

Peculier Pub. Of course we came here. Where else can you find an fun vibe, lots of beer, the feel of a college bar, yet still have plenty of room to hang out? I'm sure there are lots of bars that fit the description, but somehow I end up at Peculier's more often than I intend to. And what can I say, I really like the place. It feels like I am "out" while still being the type of establishment where everyone wears jeans. The lighting is dark, though bright enough to notice the bottle cap mosaics decorating the walls. It's this type of DIY decorative style that reminds me of college bars, and feels very welcoming.

We hung out at Peculiers for a while. Nate likes to order Delirium beer here, and I think this is a big factor in his initial endorsement of the bar. Myself, I ordered a Blue Moon and kept it predictable. The Delirium stuff goes straight to my light head, and no one wants that. Least of all me the next morning.

Pieces Bar. I am not exactly sure how we ended up here. Let me rephrase that. I know that Leonel suggested the Pieces, but I'm not sure why we decided we had to leave Peculier's or why we came here specifically, so many blocks away. I know we were trying to get away from the excess of NYU students, and whatever bar we went to needed to have some type of coat/bag check, since Leonel was hauling his laptop around. He suggested Pieces, and I'm glad he did, as it was a very fun experience.

For starters, to get to Pieces we had to go on Gay Street. No kidding, it's a one block street, more of an alley really, but street signs don't lie. Gay St. it is. Once we got there, it had all the gaudy awesomeness that a proper gay bar should have. Except that this wasn't the martini fabulous type of gay bar. More of a mixed drinks, pool table, t-shirts and Christmas lights scene. It made me think of Indian meets Chinese restaurant decorations, except doubly awesome. One guy, who I assume was pretty toasted, went up to me and said, "Has anyone ever told you you look like Famke Jessen?" In all honesty, no one has EVER told me that. Probably because it isn't true, but I believed him last night because I was having a pretty good hair day. People always get fooled by good hair.

My drink was good. I like my cocktails weak, and Pieces didn't disappoint with the excess of soda. Best way to make sure not drink too much is to order watered down cocktails. Works for me every time.

Buy the time we left Pieces, it was 3:30. I don't know how it got so late without our noticing. I think my internal party clock still expects bars to close around me at 2 am, like in Texas, so I'm not supposed to decide on my own to call it a night. I'll get the hang of it at some point.

Long Tan

I've been getting used lately to ordering Thai takeout. It's nice, we don't have to cook, and we pick up the food ourselves since the place we like is only four blocks away. Then I can just eat in my PJs while we watch The Daily Show on Hulu. What can I say, I'm living the dream.

The thing is, Long Tan, our current favorite Thai takeout, also happens to be a great location. Which really raises a conundrum on nights when we want to go out and have a nice dinner. Why should we go to a restaurant that serves the very food we like to pick up when we are feeling lazy?

Because we like the food. This is the answer I've come to.

Whatever. I like the place. It feels very modern and hipstery. Dark red walls, minimalist wall decorations, mood lighting and candles, bamboo plants as place settings. It feels very urban and chill. It also helps that they have a pretty good music selection. Just today we were serenaded by The Shins, Elliot Smith, Interpol and Led Zeppelin, from what I recognized.

I ordered a glass of white wine and Thai fried rice with chicken. Nate got a Yuengling beer and pad Thai noodles. My rice was good and tasty, and was in fact so large that I took some home with me. Nate finished his whole plate, and I'll trust him that it was good since I don't eat peanuts. This menu is really affordable, and it's nice to have a nice night out in a place that exudes fabulousness without breaking the budget.

We also took a bunch of silly pictures. I've been trying to discover all my Minolta's different options and settings. I inherited this camera from my father a few months ago, and though it's not my dream Nikon SLR, but it's definitely an upgrade from the previous one I had. I've been attempting to figure out all the manual settings, aperture, focus, f-stop and exposure. With mixed results, but it was still fun to take 50 pictures of the glasses and coffee.

Ozzie's Coffee - The Third Place

In Urban Design, there is a term for informal gathering spaces, coined by Ray Oldenburg, called the Third Place: “a setting beyond home and work (the “first” and “second” places respectively) in which people relax in good company and do so in regular basis.”

This becomes that hub in a community, the place where people go to meet people, to be aware of what is happening around them, to see and be seen. Such as coffee shops, community centers, bars with the same regulars for happy hour, that type of place. I have been fascinated for a while by the ongoing discussion of how Third Places fit with modern cities. Modern American city planning encourages nesting – think of suburban homes becoming larger and larger, including private pools, movie-viewing rooms, space for a full bar, private decks, etc. Entertainment becomes a private notion rather than being in a public setting. Even suburban clubhouses are private in nature, as they require a type of membership for use – living there. I have an entire schpeal about suburban city planning, but I wont kick a puppy while it’s down, as suburban developments haven’t been doing well lately.

Some people also feel that the Internet acts as a Third Place. I find this concept to be very interesting and spent, in fact, an entire semester of graduate school discussing this in class – digital communities, social networking, forums, multi-user games, etc. And though I agree with the functionality of the web as a tool for socialization, personally I crave physical proximity. Third Places persist, as they are in many ways a vital part of how we interact with the world. We still find coffee shops and places that are of a public nature, where we can democratically intermingle with the community.

Oldenburg said "The character of a third place is determined most of all by its regular clientele and is marked by a playful mood, which contrasts with people's more serious involvement in other spheres. Though a radically different kind of setting for a home, the third place is remarkably similar to a good home in the psychological comfort and support that it extends…They are the heart of a community's social vitality, the grassroots of democracy, but sadly, they constitute a diminishing aspect of the American social landscape.”

I realized today that Ozzie’s, a coffee shop in my neighborhood, might just be a perfect Third Place by every definition.

I wrote about Ozzie’s a few days ago, in my search for good coffee shops in which to study. I went today to the main location on 5th Avenue, a few blocks from my house. The 5th Avenue location is larger, brighter, with bigger tables and more windows, a nicer model to the smaller location in front of my house. And as I discovered today, it is also a great community hub.

For starters, a major characteristic of Third Places is that they tend to be from the community to the community. Ozzie’s is locally owned and only has two locations, both in the neighborhood. They also have a major wall to a bulletin board advertising everything from guitar lessons, moving services (“a guy with a truck”), to tutoring and computer services. Nothing too crazy, but it’s always nice to see home made ads. There is also a bookshelf for free book exchanges, free wi-fi, computer and printers on a pay as you go basis, a full table with local magazines and newspapers, sandwiches, and board game night on Thursdays.

The thing that really got me, though, was that people were using the space. I was sitting across from a young hipster mommy group. Six or so young mothers and their babies, drinking coffee and conversing about movies or whatever, all the while breastfeeding, burping their children, and balancing them around with expert ease. Yes, the kids were a bit loud, but no one complained. This is a child friendly establishment. Probably because the rest of the clientele was, respectively, an old couple reading the newspaper, a group of teenage girls giggling about boys, 6 or so tables with students and their laptops, some young people reading books, 3-4 tables with kids being tutored in math, and some parents who were waiting for their kids to meet them there after school. Everyone had a stake in the place. And it made me realize that Ozzie’s, along with selling coffee and pastries, is providing the community with a basic gathering point. People know a meeting space is their at their convenience, and this is powerful knowledge.

It was one of those moments where all the things I learned in school clicked in a whole new personal way. The nerdy urban designer in me had a totally exhilarating moment. My “cool” façade betrayed nothing. I feel like I could geek out on this for hours, and go into my excited rants of how amazing it is to live in a medium-density vibrant mixed-use neighborhood, but I think I should finish.

After all, my reason for coffee shop searching was to study for LEED. And I still need to get some reading done tonight.

Lincoln Park Bar and Grill

After another great volleyball game, where we kicked a$$ and won all three games, we had to go celebrate. And since it's Tuesday, and it's late, we went to Lincoln Park Grill, on 9th Avenue (b/w 56th and 57th st.)

This is a nice dependable pub that serves food. Slightly recessed, it has the dark feeling of an urban pub. Which coupled with a dependable beer selection, and a healthy crowd of young people, makes for a good bar. It's not spectacular, but its exactly the type of place you want to go relax and grab some beers with your friends after having a volleyball game. Also, and this is not a small issue, they have discounts for Big City Volleyball groups.

I ordered a Hoegaarden and miniburgers. Usually we order a couple of pitchers of Hoegaarden, but it seems people are still recovering from their weekends. Their loss.

The miniburgers are truly teeny teeny tiny. The minimum order is three, and that's a relatively small order. Each weeburger can come with cheese, and they are served in little tiny toddler sized buns. Truly adorable. Also good, because they are two bite burgers , so no more dealing with a huge burger that falls apart when you set it down to get fries. Maybe I've just been burned in the past by structurally unstable huge sandwiches, but I just dig this bite sized concept. Good pub fare. They come with a choice of French fries or waffle fries, which are also good bar snacks.

Overall, I like this place. If I lived in the neighborhood, I might even come to watch a game every once in a while. Whatever game, I'm not much for televised sports anyway.

Tarzian Hardware

So this didn't actually happen today, but since I didn't go to any place in particular, I figured I'd reach a little and talk about a Saturday errand. I am really trying, as much as possible, to keep this weblog primarily about "places" I go to. Its a good way to keep me busy and actively explore the city.

I don't make it a habit to go to the hardware store, in all honesty, though I love them. Tarzian is that typical small neighborhood place, everything is really crammed and they have a little bit of everything. Granted, when we painted the living room or when we've had major home repair projects we made the trek to home depot. I love local stores, but what can I say, when push came to shove, Home Depot has move wood and tools. And we've gone to HD a few times, I think both Nate and me tend to like DIY home stuff. (On a side note, I hope to someday make my own coffee table. But that'll be some other day.)

Tarzian is that perfectly dependable place that has everything you need if it's just a couple of items. Over the months I have purchased tape, nails, hooks, putty, different sized screws, cables, light bulbs, paint, and the like. I don't think I can say enough how much I love my neighborhood and having a hardware store nearby that actually has products I need. Sometimes, if I'm not careful, I go several days without leaving Park Slope, and that's not really good for me either.

Last Saturday we needed twisty ties. There's a back story. I woke up in the middle of Friday night with a terrible splintering migraine, and I went to the bathroom desperately looking for my meds. I hate my migraines; they are the bane of my existence. And that very night our bathroom shelf (which we had put there) decided it was time to fall off the wall. On top of me. It wasn't the wall connection that failed, it was the black wire shelf itself. So despite the dramatics, I only ended having a huge bruise on my arm, and a little bruise on my nose (that looks only like badly applied eye shadow, thank god). Still, I totally freaked out about it, and Nate wisely decided we needed some reinforcement for the shelf. We also got a couple more brackets to attach the shelf to the wall.

All I have to say is, good thing the bathroom floor had been recently scrubbed, and we are lucky the toilet seat was down. : )

Bad picture of my arm bruise, that's my elbow at the bottom. And the new reinforced shelf is back up. Just need to put all the towels and stuff on it.


Tarzian photo courtesy of PSFK

Union Hall

Last Night, after having dinner at Aunt Suzie's, I went to grab couple of drinks with J. We had bunch of stuff to catch up on, and Union Hall is a good bar. It's always good to catch up with friends, we get so wrapped up in our schedules that time just flies by, and sometimes I just need a state of the union type outing.

One of the greatest things about living in New York is not having to worry about drunk driving. I know I sound like such a lush with that statement. But its just so nice to be able to move around without needing a car. Union Hall is within walking distance of my apartment. It is wonderful to be able to go to dinner, and then grab a drink at a "cool" bar, and then walk home. All without having to leave the neighborhood. Granted, drunken walking isn't pleasant either, but at least it doesn't harm other people.

Drunk walking was a non-issue last night. At least not when I went to Union Hall. I had a Purim party later on, so the beers were just for an hour or so. Then J and I parted ways, I went home, changed for the party, and we headed out. Still in Brooklyn, but a different neighborhood.

I ordered a glass of wine, and J had a mixed drink and we sat at the bar. I guess it was early, because it wasn't very crowded. I have been there late at night when the place is so hopping it's hard to even find space to stand.

The greatest thing about Union Hall are the bocce ball lanes. I'm learning that this isn't the only NYC bar with bocce ball, that in fact, it might even be hipster thing to do. No matter, I hadn't seen bocce lanes since I was a kid. I remember being at the Regatas, in Lima, and watching the old men in their guayaveras, drinking beer and playing bocce. I also remember thinking that it looked really boring, like bowling without the excitement of knocking down pins. I must say, hipster bocce is awesome. These guys, in their fabulous ironic outfits, drinking nice Belgian beers, and being so earnest about their game, they crack me up. And they have skills. To this day I haven't ventured to play because every time I go its really late, and the sign up list is pretty full. It's not a big deal to wait, but since I've never played bocce ball before I'd rather not do it to a full audience. I also hear they have a boccce league, which seriously? brilliant.

Museum of Art and Design

Every once in while, our hectic schedules work themselves out in wonderful ways. I had a volleyball game at 9 pm on Thursday; which was a bit annoying because Thursday is not our usual game night, and man, that's late. I like earlier games since then it's more likely everyone will go out for happy hour.

Then I saw on the Internet that Thursday nights are pay-as-you-wish nights at the Museum of Arts and Design from 6 to 9pm. And this museum also happens to be at the closest subway stop to my volleyball game. This would give me plenty of time to check out the exhibit for a couple of hours, and then head off to my volleyball game at 8:30. I was very excited, the MAD just opened it's new location in September of last year, and after walking by it when construction was wrapping up, I was really curious of what was inside.

I know there's been some controversy over the Museum of Arts and Design building. In all honesty, I don't feel qualified to fully weigh in since I didn't see the old building and how it fit in it's urban and historic context. What I can say is that every time I go to Columbus Circle, I feel part of that old New York glamour I used to see in the movies. This is also because of the Time Warner center, despite some urban design issues, is a glamorous building I really like. I don't see how the old building would have fit there.

The MAD building looks alien, it's massing and fenestration feel a bit arbitrary (does it really say HI on the facade?), and it reminds me of the New Museum. From the first time I saw the building, I could tell it was new and probably polemic, since it seems to be purposely not blending into its context. I have mixed feelings about this. From all the pictures I've seen of the old building, it seems like it lacked presence and the ability to energize the area. This new building is making a statement, and after all, isn't that what we need and expect from art museums?

If an art museum isn't allowed to be bold, weird, controversial and potentially ugly, then what is?

I am a preservationist as much as the next person, but mostly, I believe that cities need to move forward and re-energize areas with new building and public infrastructure. However, we need a comprehensive urban plan, so taht the "new" doesn't complety destroy and compromise the existing. The "existing" needs to be protected, as it carries with it history, community, and an intergral part of urban identity. That fine line between preserving the past and embracing the future tends to be filled with public outcries from every possible place. I get intellectually stimulated with these kinds of discussions. I could geek out for hours.

But I was talking about the Museum of Arts and Design

The exhibition space is not that big. I'm glad I went on the "free" night. I was completely underwhelmed by the permanent collection, and felt that though it was pretty, it was nothing I wouldn't be able to see at an upscale furniture and craft store. Same for the jewelry permanent collection, though there were a few pieces that I would love to wear.

The current exhibit, Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary, was amazing though. I loved it.



from the MAD website:

The exhibition features work by 50 international established and emerging artists from all five continents who create objects and installations comprised of ordinary and everyday manufactured articles, most originally made for another functional purpose.

I have long held a fascination with refurbishing objects in new ways. Reusing materials- be they found objects, recycled or trash- and given a new useful purpose. Not just a contemporary art installation, but an actual daily function. There is a beauty to bricolage. I find this type of creative use of materials, re-envisioning their texture, shape, weight, color and properties, to be incredibly creative and very invigorating. Its a form of recycling, where the original object doesn't lose it's original integrity, it just changes function and identity.

Among my favorite pieces: chandelier made of eyeglasses, dress made from latex gloves (picture above), collage of garment worker made with clothing labels, Mona Lisa made with sewing thread (detail above), pyramid from plastic spoons, LP record butterflies (picture above).

The other current exhibit was "Totally Rad" a collection by designer Karim Rashid of new inventive radiator designs. Really elegant ideas, and very beautiful. I would take one of those radiators any day over the dirty generic one I have. There is no reason why functional appliances can't have an inherent design integrity of their own.

photos courtesy of Museum of Art and Design

Ozzie's Coffee

Today was one of those days where I just didn't want to leave Brooklyn. The way my transit card works right now, is that it costs me less long term to pay per ride than to get the monthly pass. It's fine, but it has the undesired side effect that sometimes I just don't go to Manhattan unless I have an actual reason, otherwise it costs me 4 bucks to get there and back. Four bucks add up, man.

This is partly why I ended up at the coffee shop in front of our building. Literally, it's right across the street. I love Park Slope so much. I am still in full study mode for the LEED Exam. If Obama is right, most of the new construction coming up will be sustainable design, and I gotta make myself competitive as a candidate. And I trust Obama, I really do.

I have very mixed feelings about Ozzie's. I want to like it because it's a coffee shop right across the street. My parent's thought it was the greatest place when they came to visit last year. But other times I've gone, I've had super slow unfriendly service. One time I tried to work with my laption and I couldn't get the wi-fi to work. Then again, I haven't fully given it a chance because something always seemed a little off to me about it. Nate goes there on Saturday morning and picks up coffee and bagels for us. They are usually good enough. So I should like it, right? It's this weird thing where I want to like it and I want to not like it, and faction of my aesthetic subcontious are battling it out.

Stop. I'm waxing philosophical and that never leads anywhere productive.

I just want to say: I think I am an Ozzie's convert. I like the place. I had a great experience there. And I think it's an important distinction to see which types of coffee uses it can have, and what things it's just not so good at. Specially in comparison to the Tea Lounge, which from the surface was my preferred place. I feel like because I went to them back to back recently with the specific purpose of studying, I can only judge one in comparison to the other.

The thing is, Ozzie's doesn't have couches. It doesn't have that cozy vibe where you envelope yourself in indie coolness and have yerba mate to chill around. In many ways, Ozzie's is more of a utilitarian coffee shop that reminds me of an old pharmacy converted to a cafe. You know the type, it's an established prototype. It has lots of windows, and teeny tiny tables that are really best for no more than two people. The morning service is terrible, but the afternoon guys were pretty chill. Probably because they work in the afternoon, and the morning guys have to be there at 6 am, and really, who could be in a good mood when they get up so early in the morning.

The main thing I like was that I got a lot of work done. A lot. There was a utilitarian aspect to it that really vibed with my mood. Every table was full, and though people kept leaving and new ones took over their tables, I didn't feel weird for staying for over 2 hours nursing my same cup of coffee. The guys sitting closest to me was a a bit annoying, as he kept answering his phone, but not that big a deal in the grand scheme. The people were good, not pretentious, not there to see and be seen. They seemed to be there because they wanted to sit and have coffee. There were some people reading the newspaper, some reading books, a couple of people with sketchbooks, about 5 -6 students with textboks and laptops, two tables with parents and babies, and a couple of table with single people making time until their friends showed up to join them. A good diverse crowd, both in age and activity. As an urban designer, I coudln't ask for more.

Ozzie's, I owe you an apology. I though you were mediocre. Now I realize that I never gave you a chance. I was caught up by superficial BS. I never allowed myself to sit for a long time and observe you. I dismissed you because of bad bagles, and that is unforgivable. I hope you understand. I hope you take me back.

Because, really, I have soooo much LEED studying left.

Dive Bar

Tonight was a volleyball night. And we won!!!! It was seriously one of the funnest games I've played in a very very long time. Intense, full of energy, everybody was on and having fun, and we were playing as some type of bizarro cohesive unit. The other team was pretty cool, they were fun to play against. Sometimes we have to play hyper-competitive douche bags who sap all the fun out of the affair.

So on to celebratory beers. We went to Dive Bar mostly because it's pretty much the only bar around 97th and Amsterdam, where our game was. I feel like we've tried going there before and it was always crowded, so we coudn't get a table for 8 people and left. But since today it's been freezing all day, there was no way I was going to freeze my ass to walk to the bars below 80th street. And what would you know, we managed to get a booth. I think it helped that there were only six of us today, so we could actually fit in their booths.

Great vibe, good beer. I ordered a Hoegaarden, so it's not like they could have messed it up too badly. I don't remember having Hoegaardens in Austin, I was more of a Live Oak Hefeweizen drinker. (Which, on a side note, I have to give a mad shout out to the Austin Live Oak Brewery for giving me many many memories to treasure forever. It's almost like they sponsored parts of my mid 20's, along with Trudy's Mexican Martinis). But since discovering it, it is fastly becoming my favorite beer - light, tasty, and doesn't give me hangovers.

There was music, but it wasn't too loud. I like a bar where I can have conversations with friends without having to shout accross the table, yet the music is prominent enough that we can break into a rendition of Tiny Dancer without looking like total lunatics. And mostly it just felt like a bar. Certainly not a dive bar by any stretch of the imagination; this place is very clean, had a food menu and lots of professional looking people milling around. I guess when I hear the words "dive bar" I expect some old timers, winding down from their union jobs, and drinking bud light or whatever is on tap while munching on peanuts. Then again, I don't know what type of divish customers you can find in the upper west side.

The food wasn't as good. I'll go back there for drinks, but not necessarily for their pub grub. My mac and cheese felt too cheesy, if that's possible. P got tacos, which looked underwhelming. Then again, I have turned into a total tex-mex snob. A got beef fajitas, and they were the oddest fajitas I've seen in a while. I commend Dive Bar for including both sour cream and guacamole, which is always good, and trying to make pico de gallo. But the actual beef was swimming in some really salty gravy (really? gravy with fajitas?) and just didn't seem right. T got a burger that looked delicious. If I end up there again at dinner time I'll definitely order that. And since the place is so close to one of our volleyball gyms, I have a feeling that I'll be back fairly soon. : )

Tea Lounge

I am studying for the LEED exam. The deadline before they change the test format is March 31st, and I have decided that I need to take the old test before the shift happens (so everything I did for the LEED Holiday Inn Hotel doesn't become irrelevant.) It's gonna be a big study crunch, the likes of which I haven't done since college. I have a reference binder - huuuuuuge - with over 400 pages of information to go through.

Back in college I used to frequent coffee shops to study. I have font memories of Spider House, Metro, Flipnotics, Mozart's.... those were the days. I would find a place where I could just read and chillax. You know, get some coffee and serenity.

I've gone to the Tea Lounge a couple of times before. I want to like it, I really really do. I want to adore this beautiful place that's only four blocks from my house. Sometimes I think the coffee shop culture of New York doesn't quite mesh with the coffee shop vibe of Austin, because there is just something a leeetle off. Not sure what it is.

The Tea Lounge is theoretically great. Plush couches, some tables & chairs, dark lighting, and most patrons are on their laptops. They have a pretty good coffee and herbal tea menu, as well as many sandwiches and pastries. Supposedly they serve alcoholic drinks in the evenings, though I haven't taken advantage of that yet.

I ordered a large coffee and a small grilled cheese sandwich. The coffee was a little bitter, nothing spectacular.  My sandwich was okay too, and managed to really hit the place that a grilled cheese should. It had cheddar, so you can't really go too wrong there. And for $3.25, it was more than acceptable.

The problem to me is that all issues with food an coffee taste are irrelevant if there is a good vibe. After all, that's why I go to coffee shops. I know there are some lovely coffee snobs out there with exquisite palettes who will crucify me for saying that. And I understand that there area really good types of espresso, and that the crap I usually drink is but mediocre brown water with tons of milk and sugar. Whatever. I like the vibe. I aim to find the right combo of people watching, couches, interesting music, and that je ne sais quoi that usually somehow allows me to focus on getting work done.

And for some reason the Tea Lounge doesn't quite serve the purpose. It should. The decor has that perfect slacker indie sensibility. It really reminds of Ruta Maya (mostly the old downtown Austin location), but a little smaller. There are many things that could have been my problem today. Maybe it's that the it was so full that the only place to sit was an overstuffed couch that I had to share with another guy in very close proximity to many other people. Maybe it was that my seat smelled of B.O. as if a homeless person had been there for many hours. Maybe the weird smell was the guy sitting across from me. Maybe it's that there were too many laptops, and after a while it crossed the threshold where there just weren't enough human voices (that last part is not the Tea Lounge's fault, just something more that has changed since my college days). Maybe it was that my table was way to low for me to set my binder down and read comfortably.

Not sure what it was, at some point these seemingly insignificant things added up to become an actual issue. I'll be back for sure, specially to check out the bar, but I'm not sure about trying to study there. I'll try some other places and see if they work better.

Snow

In all my years living in Texas, we never had a true "Snow Day". Sure, we had days when school was canceled because of inclement weather. Times when a wet cold front would come in, and the temperature stayed below 32 degree, prompting the city to shut down because of the dangers of ice on the roads. On such days, we would even be able to make little 6 inch tall "snow" men, and look around in wonderment at the icicles on our cars.  And let me stress that we wouldn't driving at all, not even to the store because we didn't have snow tires and the roads never got salted.  All this for 30 degree weather.

New York is a different beast. Since I moved here a year ago, there have been many, many days when the temperature did not rise above the freezing point. In fact, I remember a solid week recently were the temperature never rose above the mid 20's. Seriously.  Unacceptable.

And yet, through this whole freezing wonderland (with snow on Christmas, imagine that!), there was never a Snow Day. It was never deemed miserable or dangerous enough to shut the school system down. Which really made me wonder, what would it take to declare inclement weather?

Apparently a whole lot of snow. About 8 - 10 inches, to be precise. It snowed all of last night and this morning. And it covered everything. Though I must say that I was a bit disappointed in the whole snow "storm" denomination. In Texas, rain storms are full of thunder and lighting, and rather theatrical. This snow storm was kinda lame. It just snowed. Continuously. For many hours. In a gentle lovely way. No wind. No thunder. Just snow.

And THAT is apparently how you get a snow day.