Going to the Russian and Turkish Baths that have stood on 10th street since 1892 is nothing if not a unique experience, especially for anyone shy and WASP with a limited comfort zones. You step into the building and offer up your valuables to a private lock box, in return you're handed a key that opens a locker and can be used like a room number for any special treatments you decide to charge. It's best to bring a bathing suit to change into because you'll be getting wet, wet, wet and next time I'd bring along my own flip flops because the ones offered up are monstrously big.

Starting in the main room, just below the locker area, you'll step into the semi public showers in a room that also houses a freezing cold dunking pool. Several sauna rooms lie off this main room. In the Russian Sauna room, you'll get hotter than you've ever been in your entire life. Huge white buckets of ice cold water are available to throw over your head to keep yourself from overheating. It's an extreme experience but even with the water poured regularly over my head, I couldn't stand the heat for longer than a couple minutes. Slightly more bearable is the heat from the Turkish Room that smells of eucalyptus and has a refreshing cool shower to step under by the door. The aroma therapy room was the most popular the day we visited and filled with a warm steam that is quite invigorating once you get used to breathing it in.

But the experience of the baths cannot simply stop with the saunas. If you're going to go you may as well go for it all the way and try the singular experience of one or two of their treatments. You'll be pressured to book a massage, oak leaf beating, or scrub even as you are getting changed in the locker room. While it's tempting to give in immediately, take your time to get relaxed and situated in the non-fancy, un-self conscious environment before you commit. Waiting will make you feel more in control of your destiny because once inside the little steel rooms, you belong to your masseuse.

Experiences vary greatly from person to person. My lady Rose must have sensed that I was a sensitive one, because in my dead sea salt scrub and subsequent massage she treated me like a new born babe. She even went so far as to offer small tokens of propriety by covering my crotch with towels. The treatments are not terribly cheap, so if you had to choose only one, I'd go for the spectacular scrub that features lots of water rinsing and left me smelling like baking muffins and returned my skin to baby softness. My massage was gentle and lots of slimy (in a good way) lotion further softened my skin.

Jim and Adam however, had quite a different experience, one that I'm proud of Jim for being so open about – though he really didn't have a choice. Their dude offered no towel, you're going to be swinging and swaying with your legs spread, your body twisted (at one point to Jim's horror his neck was cracked like an apparent attempted Mortal Kombat finishing move) and your breath nearly knocked out as a burly man crawls across your back. Jim will admit that any hang ups were his own, his dude couldn't have been less concerned with our uptight American bodies than a Pet Co employee is concerned with cleaning puppies. In the end it was fun, it was different, but it's best to be prepared for something wilder than you may be used to. Go with knowledge — or even better: with someone who's gone before.

Lastly, to complete the whole experience, you must take advantage of the sun roof deck. I laid down watching the clouds go by (an activity not always easy to do while living in the city) for about an hour. The total cost will be higher than you might expect (taxes and gratuity must be added) but for such an extraordinary experience, it's worth it. Still, an open mind and a willingness to go with the flow no matter where it takes you are absolutely necessary to appreciate it. The squeamish need not apply.

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Posted on July 13, 2009

? Why do I mention it now?

Because Back Forty has been a staple for my friends and I. We eat here more than any other restaurant together. Also, their famous Crab Boil is going on all month, but reservations are in high, high demand and have been known to sell out within two minutes. To try your hand at it, go to their website the Wednesday before the Tuesday you want to attend.

Here's what I said back on 1/7/08:

This New Years Eve, rather than our typical outing to Mike and Shaun's with Prosecco, Scrabble, and the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon, we all decided to go out. Marcus was awesome enough to find the spectacular deal at recently opened East Village restaurant Back Forty, which for $55, we enjoyed a family style meal and one free cocktail.

We chose the shaved fennel and pumpkin salad and fried Wellfleet oysters to start. Both were excellent. The fried oysters were declared by everyone at the table to be the best any of us had tried. They were crunchy, salty, and very fresh. The fennel and pumpkin, which came with a lemon tumeric vinaigrette, was a refreshing combination of contrasting flavors and textures.

As our mains, we chose the rotisserie suckling pig and the whole grilled Catskill trout. The pig was good, but surprisingly the trout stole the spotlight. I think the preparation of this dish alone restored a passion for fish in at least a few of us at the table.

For sides, we chose parsnips with white anchovy and Aleppo vinaigrette, a dish I was particularly excited about, but was the only slight disappointment in the whole meal. The parsnips were simply not flavorful enough or tender enough for my taste. Little matter though, because the brussel sprouts with dried cherry butter was simply amazing. French fries, nice a hot with rosemary salt rounded out the savory part of the meal.

The amount and quality of the food was really impressive, especially for the price, which was at least twenty dollars less than other spots which didn't even include a drink. We were well sated before dessert came, but of course, could not resist the sweet selections.

I had fresh donuts with apple cider glaze and they were as yummy as expected, but the real prize was the stout float – a complex taste sensation of bitter and sweet. It was a highlight in a very special meal and worth a trip to Back Forty for alone.

They seemed in general to excel in beverages. Aside from the Stout Float, other offerings from their small but well thought out drink menu included a cask ale beer, creamy and delicious, The Loisiada Sling, a sweet cachaca, ginger and chipotle concoction, and the cocktail favorite of the night, the Back Forty, a wining combination of Ezra Brooks whiskey, maple (though none of us were sure what this meant exactly) and lemon. A real winner, that one.

It was a grand place to finish out the new year. Bustling, but not too loud, with Willie Nelson and The Violent Femmes playing in the back ground. The service was excellent and the setting was refined and a bit rugged chic. The term back forty, refers to “the acres a farmer sets aside from his regular crop, for planting whatever he fancies” according to the New Yorker and it seems Chef Peter Hoffman fancies good, hearty food, spectacular cocktails, and an easy atmosphere.

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Posted on June 15, 2009

The lack of fresh seafood to buy in my neighborhood makes the prospect of a great dish from the sea all the more appealing and The Mermaid Inn, which has been on my list to try since I was able to pay for a nice meal out, is a great spot to indulge in the craving.

We shared oysters to start, a nice selection of East and West coast, the best we've had in a while. I have to give particular praise also to my hot and dirty cocktail – an ingenious combination of a dirty martini and hot sauce, complete with a banana pepper garnish. Why I've never thought of it before is a mystery, but it is certainly a drink I'll be making myself in the near future.

The space is warm and naturally lit with a staff that perfectly balances upscale service and genuine personality. It's little wonder that the restaurant is a neighborhood favorite, everything is just about right from the food to the price – which is maybe a little high for everyday grub, but far less than comparable places.

They even have a recession deal (before 7pm) that knocks the classic lobster roll down to twenty dollars plus a free Blue Point beer. Jim was psyched. My equally good meal of a perfectly pink, big salmon was set off by excellent accompaniments: asparagus, yellow squash, tomato hollandaise, yummm.

The meal was finished with an off the menu complimentary chocolate pudding with cream and the cute signature freebie of a Fortune Telling Fish that told me I was “in love”.

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Posted on May 25, 2009

from Build A Green Bakery, 223 First Avenue

Okay, first my apologies regarding the BAGB website: the non skippable intro is looooong. The short version: The concept behind this bakery is to build more environmentally sound shops to match the organic foods and goods being served. Which is all well and good, and fortunately the cookies are also well and good – in fact they are awesome. Possibly one of the best gooey chewy chocolate chip cookies I’ve had in years. The store looks mysterious in an art project kind of way and got people talking at New York Magazine and several foodie blogs: here and here. The project is part of The City Bakery, whose website also has an insufferable intro.

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Posted on January 30, 2006

Everything on a stick.
This place is so authentic, I half expected to be called back from retirement to hunt down four Replicants.

What, no Blade Runner fans here?

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Posted on November 28, 2005