Christmas Cottage

Yesterday we celebrated Easter and so today, while I’m still in a holiday mood, I thought we’d celebrate Christmas, let me explain. The other week when my parents were in town we walked past a shop I’ve always been curious about. It’s a little shop on Seventh Avenue called the Christmas Cottage and pretty much all they sell is Christmas items. I’ve always been curious how a place like this survives in the off season, so today we’ll go and find out.

And here we are in Midtown. It's just a couple blocks from here.

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice! Or if you don't feel like practicing, you could just take the N train to 57th Street, like I did.

And here we are at the Christmas Cottage, a little slice of the North Pole in Midtown.

Here's one of the front windows, which is elaborately dressed with Christmas decorations.

If Mermaids are welcome, then I guess we are too!

Let's go in and see what's happening in the Christmas Cottage.

Wow, this is one sparkly store! You immediately get a Christmas vibe walking in here. All of a sudden, I have an urge to buy a Norelco razor for some reason.

Here's the owners of the store, Diane and Paul Prianti. They started this festive business back in 1985 and have been in this location since 1997. They're very friendly people and they take time to talk to the customers who are shopping in the store. It's not at all like your typical impersonal Midtown store and it brings out a nice holiday feeling when you're in here, no matter what month of the year it is. It's a true family-owned business and their sons work here as well when they're not in school.

Here's Sing, who they told me was the Santa Claus of the store. I didn't see a beard on Sing, but then realized he must shave that thing off for the upcoming summer heat. Let's take a little tour of the store.

Here's a quintet of Father Christmas dolls.

Christmas carolers are up on a shelf in the store.

There's vintage prints that would make nice decorations during the holiday season.

And of course there's a fully decorated tree in here.

Santa is looking down at holiday wooden soldiers on display.

Paul told me that the price of the items in the store range from $2.95 to...

Over $5,000 for this piece of art featuring Santa and his helpers. You can't see it in the photo, but the characters actually move and it's very cool.

There's holiday artwork up on the walls featuring a snowman and various Santas.

And there's buckets on the floor filled with holiday goodies and knick-knacks.

Not everything is Christmas-orientated at the store though, here's a display of ceramic mermaids that reminded me of Coney Island.

Unique handmade pillows cover this wall.

Here's some hand-painted signs for your home bar. You seeing these Al? One of these would look nice in your bar in Miami, maybe I'll get you one this year for Christmas if you're a good boy!

There's other items here, but the main draw is Christmas as these two dueling Santas prove. I decided to get something in here myself.

I found this little fiddle marked with the words, "Carnegie Hall" on it. I thought this was kind of fitting since I had just passed it and decided to get it.

But when I took it up to the register, Paul told me I could have it as an early Christmas gift. This place really brings out the Christmas spirit no matter what month it is. I thanked Paul and now I'd like to pass on the Christmas feeling to one of the TMW readers out there. The first person to comment will get the violin as an early Christmas gift from myself, Paul, Diane and everyone from the Christmas Cottage. Ho, ho, ho and a bottle of Rum!

Christmas Cottage (New website coming soon and they ship world-wide.)
871 Seventh Ave. (Between 55th and 56th St.)
212-333-7380

Further Reading: New York Magazine, NY Citysearch and Waymarking.

Santa Claus is coming to town,
Santa Claus is coming to town.

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Easter Sunday at Milano's

I’ve spent the last two Easters at Mars Bar. Well, sadly that’s not going to happen this year. So some of us have decided to meet at what’s probably the next best place to celebrate Easter Sunday at, St. Patrick’s Cathedral. JUST KIDDING! Some of us have decided to have our annual Easter drinks at Milano’s Bar on Houston St., not far from the former Mars Bar location. So let’s hop on over there.

it's a nice day, but a little bright out for my tastes.

Well here's a sad sight, the corner where Mars Bar used to be.

Here's the same corner last Easter. What a difference a year makes!

Hmmm...I wonder who put this up here? Rumor has it that it was Uncle Waltie. Sip Ahoy!

And here we are at Milano's Bar.

Love all the neon signage in the front window.

As I walk in I see some familiar Easter faces from last year.

Goggla, Eric and Hamlet have come to enjoy the Easter festivities at Milano's. Good to see all of them.

And bartender Lisa has her bunny ears on and quickly hopped over with a bottle of Budweiser.

And I'm not the only one snapping photos in here. Down at the other end of the bar some Canadians are taking photos of Lisa as well.

A fan spins overhead and of course a classic dive bar like Milano's has tin ceiling.

Here's a shot of the well-worn wooden bar from the other end of the room.

Lisa topped off Eric's Guinness with a design of an Easter Bunny from the backside. Too funny!

And it's only fitting that Jesus looks down on us and proclaims...

"Come forth and drink my children." And so drinketh, we shall! Thank you, Jesus!

Frankie not only went to Hollywood, he hangs out in Milano's as well.

The walls in here are plastered with photos of patrons from the past, some of them plastered.

These Polaroids made me think of the Impossible Project Space.

I love some of the old newspaper clippings hanging on the wall in here.

Everyone's going Ape!

Check out the classic cash register behind the bar! Very cool!

Finally night time has fallen on Milano's bar.

We broke out some Peeps that I got at Economy Candy before Easter dinner arrived.

And here's Easter dinner, pizza from Lil Frankie's.

A delicious Easter dinner that we shared with the whole bar.

And Lisa offered up a parting shot and it was time to call it a night. Hope you all had a Happy Easter Sunday!

Milano’s Bar
51 E. Houston St. (Near Mott St.)
212-226-8844

Further Reading: Nadie Se Conce—Happy Easter, Bob.

It's different now and when you speak and
Every word means no.

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Bonus Zombie Jesus sent in by Jaws!

Jaws the Cabbie sent in this Zombie Jesus illustration to complement csp's remark. I think it's official that we're all going to hell now. i hope they serve beer there!

Journal Square Pub and Krug's Tavern

Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night Cheeseburger! Starring Krug’s Tavern, with a special guest appearance by James Mollo at Journal Square Pub and featuring the Ready for Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. And now; please welcome our host, all the way from Newark, Krug’s Tavern!

Okay, we'll be taking the Path train to Jersey City to meet my friend, James Mollo at the Journal Square Tavern.

To the Path trains, Batman!

And through the magic of the internet you're spared what was a somewhat uneventful ride on the Path train. It's a pretty easy trip and takes about twenty minutes. Hello, Jersey City!

And here's where I'm meeting James, the Journal Square Pub. I met James here about a year ago, back when I was doing the MAD blog. Deja view!

There's a familiar face at this familiar bar...

My friend and yours, James Mollo! Alright, now the boozing can officially begin!

And on queue, Patty the friendly bartender strolls up with a bottle of Bud. Patty told me that someone from a Jersey City bar guide took her picture a while ago and she was wearing the same shirt. So, just so everyone on the internet knows, Patty has other shirts than this one!

It's a friendly place in here and loaded with characters. This gentleman calls himself Dux and broke out into spontaneous dances now and again during our visit at the pub.

Spellcheck alert!

After a couple of beers, the clock on the wall and my stomach said it was time to get a cheeseburger.

And we're off on the second road trip here on TWM, in case you missed the first one, here's the link to that one.

And we're Newark bound. James estimated it would be about a ten minute trip.

And he was right, ten minutes later here we are at Krug's Tavern. Looks like a nice neighborhood joint.

The bar's crowded...

So we chose to sit at one of the circular tables opposite the bar.

And here's super-cute and friendly, Chrissy serving up a couple pre-cheeseburger beers for us. Chrissy is not only on waitress duty, she's also bartending, so she had her hands full.

A photo hung over our table showed a bride and groom making out in front of Krug's Tavern from years ago. They've been on this block since 1932 and the family that owns the tavern is related to boxer Jake LaMotta, whom Robert De Niro portrayed in the film, "Raging Bull."

There's larger tables in the front room of the bar to sit at and enjoy dinner.

And here's a shot of the bar from the other end. While most of the people in here are all neighborhood locals, everyone was friendly to newcomers, James and I.

And here's Chrissy, busy in motion behind the bar.

And when I get back to the table, dinner is just about to be served!

And here's the burger, I got the Krug's "Taylor Ham" Burger, with cheddar cheese, grilled onions and it's topped with three grilled slices of Taylor Ham. Goddamn, that is one tasty looking burger!

Here's what James got, the prosciutto with fresh mozzarella and roasted peppers sandwich. It looks great too!

And here's the onion rings, which after I saw the size of the burger and James' sandwich, I don't know if we'll make much of a dent in.

The burger was great! after taking this bite though, I had to put it down and east it with a knife and fork, it was too big and messy to eat with my hands.

And after a couple beers for dessert, it was time to hit the road and take the train back to Manhattan.

The Meal
I got the Krug’s “Taylor Ham” Burger and we split an order of the onion rings. I ordered the burger with cheddar cheese and grilled onions and it’s topped with three slices of grilled Taylor Ham. It’s a twelve ounce burger and is packed in a soft, sesame bun and it was delicious. James got the prosciutto with fresh mozzarella and roasted peppers and it came on a fresh hero roll. He said the mozzarella tasted fresh and it was a wonderful presentation and sandwich. Both the burger and sandwich were so enormous that we barely made a dent in the onion rings, but the couple rings that I sampled were excellent.

Krug’s has been a Newark institution in the Ironbound Section since 1932. It's a nice little neighborhood bar and a friendly place where Frank Sinatra songs are most likely playing on the jukebox. They  have five burgers on the pub menu including: a bacon cheeseburger, a pizza burger, a California burger, and the signature burger, the Krug’s Burger which is just a burger on a fresh sesame bun. There’s 20 sandwiches to choose from as well such as: Buffalo chicken, a double Italian hotdog, salami and cheese and a meatball parm. Seafood entrees include: fried shrimp, calamari, mussels and clam strips.

Cheeseburger  Rating
Three Wimpy’s—a great burger in a classic place!

Krug’s Tavern
118 Wilson Ave.
Newark, NJ (Ironbound Section)
973-465-9795

Further Reading: You Don’t Know Jersey, A Hamburger Today and Newark Patch.

Rebel girl, Rebel girl,
Rebel girl you are the queen of my world.

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