Casimir, Ray's Candy Store and The Blarney Cove

Once in a while, I go out and kind of forget that I have to take pictures to document the night for this blog. That kind of happened with this post. I went to Hi-Fi and met up with Biff and Paul who you saw in yesterday’s blog and Goggla and Ed showed up as well. I forgot to take any pictures of this. Then my good pal, Shawn Chittle invited us over for a drink or three to his apartment and then we went to dinner. As we walked into the restaurant I realized, that I needed to start taking photos, so this blog starts at this point in time. And it’s awaaay to that point in time we go now!

We decided to go to Casimir, which is right next to Manitoba's, which is where we were the other night. I forgot to take a photo of the outside, so I borrowed this one from New York Magazine's website. Thanks, New York Magazine!

Okay, now my inner blogger takes off and I remembered to start taking photos. Here's the bar in the front of the restaurant.

Since it was Friday night it was packed inside, but we still managed to get a table.

And here's our table, from left, Shawn, Biff and Paul.

Biff displays her iPhone at the table.

Shawn and Biff share an iPhone moment as I recoil away in horror.

An annoyed Biff defiantly looks at her iPhone at the table despite me taking mocking photographs.

This painting gave me a Marjoe Gortner flashback and then I was slightly embarrassed that I have Marjoe Gortner flashbacks. Anybody else remember him?

Then...suddenly...bread appears! And I have a David Gates flashback. I'm really hating these flashbacks tonight, why can't I have a good old fashioned acid flashback like Joe Friday used to promise I'd have?

And now, a quartet of "S" foods, first up, snails.

And then...steak...

Steak...

And even more steak. The food was delicious and it was a great Friday night dinner.

Afterwards we stopped over at Ray's Candy Store for dessert.

And here's Ray in action behind the counter, whipping up a chocolate egg cream.

And here's Ray posing with Paul and Biff. You gotta love Ray!

And because of my horrible directional skills, we kind've walked around in a big circle and happily landed at the Blarney Cove for a nightcap or five. This is Biff's last night in town and it was great as always to hang out with her and have her be part of the blog! Paul may make an appearance in tomorrow's Cheeseburger Saturday Night, so tune in tomorrow for that. Have a safe trip home, Bifferoonie and I hope to see you soon!

Casimir
103 Ave. B (near 7th St.)
212-358-9683

Ray's Candy Store
113 Ave. A (Near 7th St.)

Blarney Cove
510 E. 14th St. (Near Ave. A)
212-473-9284

Further Reading: NY Times, Fork in the Road/Village Voice and Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York.

No one gets it, no one sees,
So here you stand beloved freak,
You’re not alone.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

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Bonus Photo From Tompkins Square Bagels!
As Biff, Paul and I were traveling to a deli to get some beer to take to Shawn’s apartment, we ran into Chris from Tompkins Square Bagels and he showed us the sign that he was going to debut today in front of the store. The Bloomberg Special! Ha ha ha! Order The Wombacher and get a free drink!

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Bonus Art From Jaws!

Jaws the Cabbie sent in this "Boris"-inspired piece of art in a response to my comment from him today. Nice work, Jaws! And check out all the different items the art can be found on at Jaws' Printfection Store.

Cash Mob At Odessa

Last Monday there was a post at Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York about a cash mob at Odessa. I’ve never heard of the phrase, “cash mob” and was intrigued. It seems that what it is, is a gathering of as many people as you can gather with the sole intent of infusing some cash into a local store. I think that’s a great idea and a fun excuse to meet people, have fun and help out the local community. Tonight’s first cash mob takes place at Odessa in the East Village. It’s going to start out for dinner and drinks at the light Odessa and then the crowd will move next door to the dark Odessa for more drinks. It sounds like a good plan to me!

And here we are at the "light" Odessa. I'm early as usual, let's see if anyone else has shown up yet.

Odessa is a classic diner with great people working here.

And here's Spike seated at a booth. Not quite a mob yet, but the two of us are enough to cause a little trouble in here!

After I sat down with Spike I found out that they were setting up an area in the back for us. Goggla had talked with Danny earlier and told him there'd be a group tonight and this is the space for us. Very nice!

Here's Danny, the friendly fellow who manages Odessa. He's a great guy.

And here's Spike at the table. Now where's this mob?

Okay, here we go, people are starting to show up. That's Claire to the left and Melanie playing dueling cameras with me. Let's sit down and get to business!

And here we are. We were a couple people short of a mob, but it was a great group of people to meet for dinner at a classic East Village spot.

The food starts to arrive, here's Goggla and Melanie seated across from me.

I got the EV Grieve Special a.k.a. the grilled cheese on Odessa's homemade Challa bread. Delicious!

Just as we were finishing dinner the Duncester showed up to help us mob up.

And here's Danny with the cash from tonight's cash mob dinner.

And it's over to the dark Odessa for a few nightcaps.

This is a nice, relaxing bar. Classic rock plays in the background and it kind of feels like you're sitting in someone's basement bar. A nice place to hang and shoot the shit with friends.

Leon was one of the bartenders on duty...

And Mike was the other. Nice guys and quick with a bottle of beer!

And the mob grows as Lindsay shows up...

Along with Shawn. Alright, let's get this party started!

I love the red ceiling and half-lit chandeliers in here.

A shot from the other end of the bar.

The cash mob at the bar.

Lindsay, Shawn and I were the last ones left at the end of the evening and Mike poured us shots on our way out.

Cheers!

And it's out the door to greet the evening.

One of the great things about Odessa is that it's right next door to another East Village institution, Ray's Candy Store.

And here's the man himself, Ray with the night's final nightcap, an egg cream.

Ray dug out a photo of Lindsay and Bob Arihood, a nice moment to end a nice evening! Thanks to Jeremiah and Goggla for setting this up. It was a great excuse to hang out with nice people and spread a little cash around to businesses that need it. See you all tomorrow!

Odessa
117 Ave. A (Near 7th St.)
212-253-1470

Further Reading: My Private Coney Presents: It Was Her New York, Musings by Melanie. Gog in NYC and One More Folded Sunset.

Tunnel to the other side,
It becomes daylight,
I say he's mine.
(Hat tip to Duncester for the link!)

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!