Went over the weekend to Sylvia’s for soul food… if I only had the capacity to eat both a plate of ribs and a plate of chicken & waffles. Will have to save the chicken & waffles for another day. But Sylvia Woods herself actually came into the restaurant.
Haven’t been to Harlem in a while - had read about the gentrification, but reading about it and actually seeing the Starbucks, H&M, and American Apparel on the street are quite different things. Favourite sales pitch: guy trying to get people into a cellphone store “we got G1, iPhone, Sidekick, Blackberry, blueberry, strawberry, Halle Barry…” And Obama paraphernalia up and down the wazoo. I wanted an Obama “HOPE” T-shirt, with the Shep Fairey design, but the smallest size they had was an L.
Other food establishments sampled thus far on this trip: Mary Ann’s (Mexican, Tribeca), Queen of Sheba (Ethiopian, Hell’s Kitchen), Goodburger (burgers, Midtown East), Garage (Modern American, the Village), Brio (Italian, Upper East Side), and Brasserie 360 (French/American, Upper East Side). Also, I have to say I like the OpenTable system - very civilised. Next up, because someone reminded me of it: Chikalicious.