New York City – the unofficial capital of the United States. Just ask anyone from another country which city in the US they would love to visit, and I guarantee New York is going to be first, or at the least in their top 5. Visitors mostly come for the traditional stops: Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, and Times Square. There is so much more to NYC than this though and each district touts a very different personality. If you can’t find something you like in this concrete jungle, you are probably not cut out for the city life.
The diverse nature of NYC leads me to focus in on two of my favorite neighborhoods for this edition of C3: East Village and the Lower East Side.
Neighborhood Vibe
So I am going to start off by saying some may consider it blasphemy that I am grouping these two districts, mostly because those from East Village tend to have a lot of neighborhood pride and can easily be a C3 on its own. However, I didn’t have enough time to explore them both as fully as I would have liked.
To be fair, East Village was once just another part of the Lower East Side, until it started becoming a neighborhood that attracted artists and students that made it a bit more vibrant than other portions of the Lower East Side. It is still like that today, but has become much more a place for young professionals and has lost some of its hippie charm. On the positive side, the influx of income has also made this a popular neighborhood for bars, restaurants, and coffee shops.
The Lower East Side (LES) shares some of the same characteristics with East Village, but at a lower level. The dividing line between swanky East Village and the Lower East Side is Houston (pronounced HOW-sten, not HYOO-sten like the Texan city). The Lower East is a bit less up-and-coming as East Village, but its diverse history has made it home to a lot of good restaurants and shops. The spirit of East Village has also started to move down into LES as rentals in East Village became more expensive and in demand.
Anyway, enough about the history, here’s the good stuff.
Coffee: WhyNot Coffee [icon name=’google-maps’ size=’small’]
Ditch the Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks coffee and try something a bit different while exploring NYC.
WhyNot Coffee is a New York-based chain that serves up some seriously delicious coffee and espresso drinks. The baristas are knowledgable and you can tell they are really into coffee. They serve up Blue Bottle Coffee, a very well known and popular from Oakland, CA known for their high quality and standards. People actually are known to fly into San Francisco or Oakland from other countries, just to buy up Blue Bottle inventory and resell in their home country.
Other than the coffee, the interior is beautifully decorated with lots of wood furniture and art of local artists. It really makes the location feel warm and homey vs the cold, slick feel of a lot of modern coffee shops. This is definitely a good place to meet up with a friend or date.
Cuisine: Katz Deli [icon name=’google-maps’ size=’small’]
I am going to be honest and say this is a bit of a cop out. Every tourist and their mom knows about Katz Deli thanks to “When Harry Met Sally”. I would say it is worth visiting at least once, just because the sandwiches are pretty good. Just be prepared to handle long lines and wait times, especially on high tourist seasons.
I don’t have much to say on this spot that you couldn’t find on the Wikipedia page, other than definitely go for the pastrami on rye. Yes, the other options are pretty good, but the pastrami on rye is their flagship sandwich. They are pretty generous with their portions, so come hungry and leave happy.
If you are not a Deli person, perhaps this is worth skipping. There are a lot of good eateries in LES and EV, so don’t feel like you have to go just because it is a tourist point. Swing by on your way to Whynot Coffee, look around, take a picture, and move on. Simple as that. On the plus side, it is very accessible from many places, since it is right on Houston.
Cocktails: Death & Co. [icon name=’google-maps’ size=’small’]
On a cold and snowy night, I was wondering East Village looking for some place warm to pop into. I was walking down 6th street when all of a sudden, I was almost knocked over by some people coming out of an unmarked wooden door. At first glance, it looked like some weird shop, so I started walking again. Then I heard it. The faint sound of ice hitting the shaker. That’s when this Californian knew he found some place to escape the hell that is single-digit degree weather.
Enter Death & Company. This speakeasy-esque bar is not only a staple of East Village but is a well-known name across the US. I’ve seen their cocktails served as far west as Portland. Their fame is only further spread by the success of their book, Death & Co Modern Classic Cocktails. Between the bar and the book, they are not short on awards and nominations.
I can’t offer any specific cocktail recommendations, since… let’s just say by the fourth cocktail in, I was enjoying them a bit too much 😉 However, I will say that I was not disappointed with any of the drinks I was served. That is saying something, since I’m not shy to let a bartender know when I am not happy with a drink. Unlike a lot of popular bars, I felt like the service was fast and the bartenders were attentive, which makes all the difference.
Another nice addition to their menu is they separate it by dominant spirit and shaken or stirred. My recommendation for the first drink is to pick your favorite spirit and just try a drink from that section. Don’t worry about all the different ingredients or weird sounding combinations, I promise that you will like your drink. For your second drink, look for something that makes you think “wtf” and try that. My favorite drink at this bar was through that method.
That wraps up this edition of C3. While there are plenty of other places to visit in these areas, I am sure this trio will not let you down. If you are from LES/EV or frequent it, please drop a line about your favorite bars, restaurants, or coffee shops. I am always looking forward to my next adventure in NYC!
Next time on C3, we will be exploring one of my more recent destinations – Copenhagen (København), Denmark.
Until then, Cheers
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