Saturday 15 December 2012

Union Square

Walking around Union Square.

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It seems like most of my life in New York was centered around this area. Traditionally, this is where downtown ends and uptown begins. I almost always lived below Union Square, but worked above it, and it seemed to be the hub of my social life for a good long time. As soon as I walked into the Greenmarket and saw all the thoughtful, brooding artesian pickle makers and the snarky rooftop honey producers, I felt like I was back with my people.

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Winesaps!

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We get so many varieties of apples in France, and winesaps are not one of them as far as I can tell. I happily munched my way through a whole bag of them while I was stateside.

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Every November, a holiday vendor village gets set up in the square where the skateboarders usually are showing their boxers shorts to the world.

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I sniffed out some good food pretty quickly. I seem to have a knack for that.

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The waffels at Waffles and Dingles put anything I've ever had in Belgium to shame.

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And....

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Pork buns! In Paris, they call them "brioche" and I haven't had one that didn't taste like porky hockey pucks yet. Here, even at a street vendor, they are pillowy and soft, with sweet BBQ pork oozing warm in the center. It's enough to make me cry.

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As soon as the sun starts to set (which is thankfully not too much of wait in winter) I headed over to my favorite local place, Old Town Bar.

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They make a generous cocktail, and they make the gimlets with gin, as they should be.

As good excuse as any to meet up with the multi-talented Silent James. WED_0261

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