The Hat And A One Dollar Hot Dog

The other week when I went to Economy Candy and passed the Essex Street Market and stopped in to see if there was any possible story ideas for future episodes of TWM. As I walked around, I spied a "Barber" sign, but it had a closed sign and said it would reopen in an hour. I made a mental note to check into this place and found out that the place is called, Aminova's Barber Shop. Jeremiah Moss wrote about it back in 2007, worried that it might be vanishing. It's a one chair, one barber shop, which is a rarity, so I thought it would be fun to go there, get a haircut and meet the man behind the barber shop!

Okay, here we are at the subway stop at Delancey street.

And now we're up and on Essex street, the market is just about a block away.

Here it is, The Essex Street Market. It's a big place inside with separate markets, specialty meats, bakeries and fish mongers and that's why I find it's curious that there's a barber in here.

Let's go inside and see what his story is.

Here's the barber shop, it's in the back of the market. Well, this turned out to be a big disappointment. I went in and there's the barber (I assume his last name is Aminova, but I couldn't find it anywhere online) sitting in a chair reading a newspaper. He's an older fellow with gray hair and a big moustache. I walked in and told him I wanted a hair cut and he just grunted at me. Then I asked if I could take some picturs afterwards and talk to him about the barber shop and he didn't like that at all. He half-yelled at me that he didn't like cameras and told me to leave. Well, there's not much you can do in a situation like that except...

Leave. I'm really bummed out, I was hoping he'd be a real character and his shop is cool and he has all kinds of clocks in there. Oh well, time to improvise.

I wandered around the neighborhood and found myself on Ludlow street and remembered that one of my favorite restaurants is just a couple blocks away...

Some call it, El Sombrero...

But I've always called it, the Hat.

And today I'm also calling it a sanctuary to lick my wounds after the disappointment of getting yelled at by the barber of Essex street!

The place just opened up and I'm the only one in here...oh, Gumby's here too!

I decided to have a margarita to dull the sting of the day's disappointment and the lovely Josephine was quick on the draw, love her smile. I feel better already!

Cheers!

Here's the dining room behind the bar. Some of you may remember I came here on the 365 Bar Crawl.

The decor in here is simple and comforting, two sombreros flank a piece of Spanish art on the wall.

As you can see, the place really lives up to its name.

Ketchup alert! I wonder if that's Heinz in those bottles...probably not! (See the "Questionable Link" at the bottom of this post for more ketchup fun!)

I'm still the only customer in here and Josephine and her co-workers seem to be having a meeting at the end of the bar. I'm not sure what it's about because they're speaking Spanish. Maybe they're discussing the crazy man who wandered in with a Gumby bag and is taking pictures everywhere.

And behind the bar, the Virgin Mary gazes lovingly at a bottle of Ashby's Gin. All is well again and the grumpy Barber of Essex street is just a dim memory.

I thanked Josephine and her crew and head out the door.

On my way home, I saw this deli advertising one dollar hot dogs. We had one buck pizza slices the other day, so let's go see what a one dollar hot dog tastes like.

I'm waiting at the counter while this gentleman assembles the hot dog.

Hmm...three words: "Rotate the stock!"

Oh my, it doesn't look very good and it appears to have exploded at either end.

I took one bite and about threw up. I decided to leave the other 75 cents worth of the hot dog here, maybe somebody else will want it. See you all tomorrow!

El Sombrero/The Hat
108 Stanton St. (@Ludlow St.)
212-254-4188

Further Reading: Grub Street, Too Much Glass and Lost City (Third photo down.)

Hats off to Larry,
He broke your heart,
Just like you broke mine when you,
Said we must part.

Surprise link, click on it, I dare you!

---------------------------------
This Week's Questionable Link!
It's time for another round of questions between DJ Gidget and myself over at her blog, check it out here! If you liked last week's ketchup post, I think you'll get a kick out of it! And don't forget to tune in to the "Secret Weapon" on Woody Radio, where "Boris" picks the tunes and DJ Gidget spins them, go listen, it's on the air now!

---------------------------------
Bonus CBBM Mutation Sighting by Ragin' RR!
Ever wonder what happened to commenter and quote giver, ragin' rr? Well, he's still here, behind the scenes, his home computer blew up and he can't comment till he puts it back together again. But he's still reading and he sent in this scary CBBM sight of how they breed. CBBM porn. It never ends!

---------------------------------
An International CBBM Sighting by Lex!
My friend and guest star on both the 365 Bars and MAD blogs (she's rumored to maybe making an appearance here on TWM in June, stay tuned!) was recently on vacation in the Galapagos Islands and saw this frightening sight when she was out to eat! The world is not safe anymore, I'd say run and hide, but it's apparent that's just not an option anymore. Lay down and accept your doom quietly. Aaahhh!

---------------------------------

Bonus Cartoon By Jaws!

Jaws the Cabbie sent in this cartoon to cheer me up after my bad barber experience, thanks Jaws!