Foodies, LES-ers, everyone, here's an excellent way for you to put your mouth where your heart is: The Taste of the Lower East Side next Thursday, April 15, which has thirty-four restaurants raising money for the Grand Street Settlement. The Grand Street Settlement offers a number of programs for the Lower East Side community's kids, teens, and seniors, ranging from after-school to career help.
Restaurants include: 71 Clinton Fresh Food, AKA Café, Alias Restaurant, Apizz, Azul, Bao III, Carnevale, Chubo, Clinton Street Baking Co. & Restaurant, Dish, Doughnut Plant, First, General Store, ‘Inoteca, Industry (food), Lavagna, Le Tableau, Le Zoccole, Mojo, Natchez, Oliva, Orologio, Paladar, Petrosino, Prune, Public, Pylos, Rice, Starfoods, Suba, Tenement, Verlaine, Veselka, WD50.
And here are some of the dishes:
- Bigeye tuna tartare w/ a rice noodle crisp from Kuma Inn
- Pot au chocolat and Mille Feville of coconut tapioca with fresh mango from General Store
- Crispy sea bass tacos w/ mango, avocado, cilantro and red chile creme fraiche from Mojo
- Braised short rib & smoked wild mushroom ravioli, truffled herb salad, corn jus from Natchez
- Roast Suckling Pig, blackeyed pea salad, pickled tomatoes, Georgia Mountains Sourwood Honeycomb from Prune
- Butternut squash - tamarino soup, scallop “cous-cous,” lemon paper from WD-50
Tickets are $85-$300, and can be purchased via Ticketweb or buy printing out and mailing this invitation.
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I'll be up that way next Thursday evening. Which establishment is the pick of the litter? Servings of suggestions always welcome.
I've had nice experiences at 71 CLinton, WD-50, Paladar, and Oliva. Prune also has a nice brunch, if you're here on the weekend.
Also, check out Lockhart Steele's Below 14th for more downtown info on where to eat and drink.
im hungry...
Much obliged. Always looking for something new when I come to town.
I don't think the LES has been gentrified long enough for me to think of anything appetizing when I hear the words "Taste of the Lower East Side."
the les has been gentrified since 1995!
I had a good experience at 71 Clinton (except the bill--so this is a opportunity to try it). I also had good experiences at aka cafe and 'Inoteca--though for the latter, it was the wine and good service (server/somalier[?] had excellent wine knowledge and zero pretension) that really made it worth it.
Actually, the gentrification started in 1991 when the NYPD sent 400 cops in riot gear into Tompkins Square Park to round up all the homeless people who had been living there in a shanty town (complete with teepees). The yuppies who had started buying up the buildings around the park were very grateful for their property values going up as a result. The LES / East Village has been in decline ever since. Its sad, walking down St Marks Place, remembering how badass it used to be. Now its full of franchises and annoying pseudo-edgy rich college kids and vegan restaurants.
I love to read your columns, especially about restaurants. I read the gothamist when my dad lets me, because I am only seven. My favorite restaurant when we come to New York is Fresco by Scotto. Hi, Jennifer.
Yuppies suck to be sure, but what's so great about homeless people shacking up in teepees in the park?
Topic? That description of sea bass tacos with red chile creme fraiche sounds really good. Also, why the hell is Velselka on the list? I can get a lot of damn pierogies for $85!
I feel duty-bound to note that the backbuzz from last year that reached my ears was negative, cf item three of this post. Though the menu looks great.
Eep - thanks, Lock. I'm not going to be able to make it, but thought that it was a good cause for money one would usually spend on too many drinks.
Nonono. Actually, the gentrification started in 1626.
The Dutch settler Peter Minuit purchased the island of Manhattan from the Algonquian natives for 60 Dutch guilders' worth of trinkets (US$24).
Anyone who lived on the LES after 1626 is no more a "rightful" resident than anyone else.
Nueveau Amsterdam, that's a good point. Gentrification (and the elitism, it carries along with it) is relativistic.
The Dutch don't use guilders anymore though, right? They're in the Eurozone now, so 60 guilder is like 20 Euros, right?
Thats just cynical. My point was that the city is becoming homogenous, its boring.
It's not just New York that's becoming homogenous. Other cities across America have steadily become more sterile.
Notice that despite quality-of-life laws, smoking bans, and ever-rising rents, there's still a good number of people who insist on never letting the current state of the city beat them into submission.
Name one other city that is magically resistant to gentrification and homogenization... I'll pack my bags and move from this "boring" place to that exciting utopia that has a bigger and better music scene and more passionate underground arts scene.