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(Editor's Note: This article was written circa 2000, prices have changed.)
Lunch for under $10, a stroll in the neighborhood, with a stop for dessert and coffee.
An East Village Adventure...In Broad Daylight
Benny's Burritos
93 Ave. A (at 6th St.)
New York, NY 10009
212 254-2054
Veniero's
342 E. 11 St (enter between 1st and 2nd Aves.)
New York, NY 10003
212 674-7070
The Prologue
Frankly, I was afraid to go to the East Village. Down through the years, in what is known as Alphabet City, there had been all manner of bad PR about drugs, crime and general anarchy. Plus, as an aging baby boomer, I was afraid I might not be "kewl" enough to get in...that I'd be treated like Piggy in "Lord of the Flies"...or at the very least...ordered to leave. So, I just slunk around town avoiding the place. Then, things started to change. A truce was struck between the city and squatters in and around Tompkins Square, Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Rent, set in the East Village, hit Broadway (selling out at practically every performance), and, unfortunately, real rents sky-rocketed. If you're lucky, you can now find a studio apartment (one room) in the East Village for under $800-900 a month.
The Overture
I got there a few minutes late and beamed when I saw Diane sitting at a table in the front window, sipping on a margarita...with her black mink coat draped over the back of her chair. Seeing Benny's for the first time, In Broad Daylight, one gets the full effect of the eye-opening color scheme of bright reds and chartreuses (then they do what a lot of us do...when in doubt, just paint it black). The tables and bar are covered in lively patterned Formica from the '50's. Many other objects from that period (my childhood) are used as accessories throughout.
Normally, I don't like to drink in the daytime, because a couple of hours later I turn into a slug. But, seeing Diane, and her margarita, I thought, "hell, I'm in the East Village, I should be a little lit." So, we sipped our drinks, ordered lunch and began to gossip. A few bites into the lunch I looked at Diane and said, "this food is really good"!
Benny's serves what they call Cal-Mex food...San Francisco style. The menu says: "no preservatives...no lard...no microwave...no MSG", causing one to wonder what a little microwaved lard with MSG sprinkled on top might do to one's system...especially if eaten on a daily basis.
Each day Benny's serves a special lunch from 11am-4pm
- homemade soup (black bean or special of the day)
- a 10" burrito filled with chicken or beef, pinto beans and rice (brown rice is available)
- salad of chopped Romaine lettuce, plum tomatoes, homemade guacamole and animal rennet-free sour cream (tofu sour cream is also available) served on the side
- and a fountain soda.
All For $5.50!!!!
(At these prices, if you read and follow this column for five years, I figure you'll save about a million dollars).
Everything is made from scratch at Benny's...all beans, lentils, rice, salsa and guacamole included. Nothing is canned or frozen. The food is mildly seasoned with cumin, cilantro, garlic and small amounts of various peppers. Additional heat can be provided by bottles of green or red chili sauces that are on every table.
The lunch menu is extensive enough to please all palates...carnivores like myself...and people who will eat nothing that ever had a face. All the food is wonderful and is a true bargain...day or night. And, the portions are not skimpy. This place has a heart and a soul. (p.s. margaritas are $5)
The Show
The show begins outside your window-table. Diane and I began a running guessing game as to whether the twenty-somethings on the streets outside (at1:00pm) were just getting up or just getting in from the night before. Thingsmove a little more slowly east of Broadway and south of 14th Street. And, remember this was...Broad Daylight!
Then, it was time to say good bye to Benny's and hit the streets ourselves...where the show really takes off.
What we did that day was to stroll up Avenue A and into Tompkins Square Park, which is between Aves., A & B, and 7th and 10th Sts. The 16-acre square, which dates back to 1834, is a really beautiful space; with nice playgrounds and sports courts for kids young and old. The primarily 19th-century, low-rise housing around the square gives off the aura of an American "Bloomsbury". On the north side of the park sits a beautiful branch of the New York Public Library. A quick look at the community bulletin board on the first floor of the library will tell you more about the East Village than any guidebook. (Travel Tip: there are also public restrooms in the library...which are sometimes difficult to find around town).
We continued our stroll...taking it all in. Stores of all kinds: selling Ukrainian Easter eggs; "antiques" from the '50's (a low blow for baby boomers); vintage clothing stores where pretty girls (and boys) can come out looking just like Jackie-O or Babe Paley; and, of course the ubiquitous tattoo/piercing parlors. One, Andromeda, at 33 St. Mark's Place, advertises piercings for $20 above the waist, $30 below the waist, $5 for jewelry insertion (jewelry not included) and $10 for stretching (I was afraid to ask). The 4x6-foot ad, just inside the front door, shows full-color photos of all the pierces available...underscoring the fact that you are not standing in the middle of Kansas. (Go inside...I dare you...in Broad Daylight).
Afterglow
Our ultimate goal was to reach Veniero's for dessert and coffee...which has been on 11th Street, between 1st and 2nd Aves., since 1894. By the time we got there our sweet tooth(s) had turned into fangs. Plus, we needed a little cappuccino to slap ourselves back into shape. After all, Diane had a big job interview at an architecture firm later on that afternoon (p.s. she got the job).
Veniero's has been in the same family since it opened, and is now run by Robert Zerilli, whose grandmother was a Veniero. Robert supervises 60-70 people at the bakery where again, everything is made from scratch...even the ladyfingers for the tiramisu. My favorite though...is their New York cheesecake...made with cream cheese. They also do a killer Italian version with fresh ricotta. If heaven is anything like Veniero's...then I'm going to start being extra good. Every cake, cookie and baked good imaginable is displayed on the way in and can be eaten in the cafe or taken away. A cannoli and coffee is only $2, take out. One thought would be to take the cannoli and coffee back down to Tompkins Square Park and eat it there. But, even though crime is way down in New York City these days...I might mug someone sitting in a park to get a cannoli from Veniero's.
(As an aside, I was invited to a pal's house for dinner this past Thanksgiving. My job was to bring pies. I went into Veniero's about a week in advance and ordered a pumpkin and a deep-dish apple and picked them up on Thanksgiving Day, about four hours after they had been baked. The Thanksgiving dinner was perfect, and the apple pie was voted "best thing", unanimously, even by the host...and he's the best home cook I know.)
As Diane and I were getting ready to leave Veniero's, a wonderful, older gentleman came in and sat down next to us. He was obviously a regular customer and the waitress was extra nice to him. When she placed his order in front of him, it consisted of two large wedges of slightly different layer cakes. The man methodically, slowly, lovingly, savored every bite...proving what I had hoped for all my life...that it is possible to have your cake and eat it...even in Broad Daylight!
Please, you gotta stick with me, because...I'm Out to Lunch in New York.
Clint Brownfield
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