Food and Drink: January 2005 Archives

While I'm not hot on the street number as naming convention, I am pretty hot about this new place on Smith Street (138 Smith Street, to be exact). Though seemingly set up to attract a dining crowd, all the action last night was at the bar. Beers--about eight on tap--were $4 and $5, and specialty off-the-menu mixed drinks were $8. Being the lush that I am, I sampled four (OK I had help from my sister): a pomegranate martini, a lemon drop martini, a mojito and an espresso martini.  It's worth noting that the bartender didn't actually make any of the drinks, but a man who looked like he was running the show mixed them to perfection.  The pomegranate was a nice surprise. Instead of being made from super sweet POM juice, it used a (homemade?) pomegranate syrup, leaving only a light hint of the fruit. It came garnished with a floating orange round topped with pomegranate seeds. The space is beautiful but relaxed--dark woods, white and blue tiled bar, some artfully placed tall dried vegetation and a spacious dining room. The too brightly lit downstairs houses a pool table, foosball table and a couple of arcade games.  We didn't sample any food, and I've heard mixed reviews from friends, but most of the items were pretty simple. such as mini pizzas, mussels, burgers, etc. Still, gotta give it credit for being open and serving food until 3 a.m. Not many places in the neighborhood serve food after 12 a.m, much less 2 a.m.

You can find Apartment 138 is at 138 Smith Street between Bergen Street and Dean Street. Phone is (718) 858-0556.

Other online mentions: a quick note in New York Daily News, a mention in Ain's List, a photo of the game room at Noah Kalina, a blank menu at Brooklyn Menu Guide.

OK, maybe I'm stretching the restaurant definition a bit here, but the new bagelry does serve omelettes and sandwiches, in addition to bagels and muffins and some Krispy Kreme doughnuts. The bagels are baked on the premises (according to the clerk) and they are gigantic. Not my favorite kind of bagel--too big and too bready--but an acceptable one. The real charm lies in the store's extremely thorough homage to the subway and the Smith and 9th Street stop. Blue tiles spell out the stop among the white subway tiles on the wall, and various signs about the store reference the F train. There's even an F-Lines sandwich with beef salami, tomatoes, olive oil and basil. Though only open a week or so, the store was doing a steady business this morning. Will the skanky coffeeshop across the street go out of business? Is this another small step in Smith-9th gentrification? Or will the shop's fresh and shiny surfaces soon be covered in neighborhood-appropriate graffiti?

From the people who brought you the esteemed 70s-themed Polly Esther's and 80s-themed Culture Club comes (drum roll please) Nerveana. (Yes, spelled just like that.) It's a 90s-themed dance club that promises to "capture the spirit of the 1990's decade"!!! One gem that's sure to get attention inside the "90s theme park" (not my words) is a Sharon Stone-themed room. According to the press release, one of the three portraits of Stone's character comes from the movie's legs-open scene but "with a puff of smoke billowing from her nether regions." Perhaps all this is a bit more palatable after sucking down a John Wayne Bobbit cocktail, described as a "cut above the rest."

Words fail me.

You can find Nerveana at 179 Varick Street.

UPDATE: Blogger Verbose Coma's take on the whole Nerveana phenomenon.

That's the question a friend and I half-jokingly posed to one another after hearing about Bombay Talkie, "a teahouse inspired by Bollywood and the street foods of Indian." Sounds a bit like the idea behind the previously visited Earth. Hopefully Bombay Talkie does the street foods as nicely as Earth did. Bombay Talkie is at 189 9th Avenue.