Alphabet City

It seems appropriate that I should begin this alphabetical adventure on Avenue A. Alphabet City is located on the lower East side of Manhattan. It is called Alphabet City because it exists where the avenues turn from numbers to letters, namely avenues A, B, C, and D. It is bordered on the South by Houston St. and the North by 14th St. When people first started living in the neighborhood in the 1800's, it was mainly populated by immigrants. In fact, the name of the area used to be "Kleindeutschland" or "Little Germany." In the 1960's the neighborhood dynamic changed as thousands of Puerto Rican immigrants moved in. "Loisaida" became the home of several important Puerto Rican intellectuals and artists and became the birth place of the "Nuyorican" movement. In the 1980's the creative atmosphere and - more likely - low rents drew (white) artists to the area. It was then that Alphabet City became the bohemian quarter made famous in Jonathan Larson's musical, RENT.

Nowadays with rents just as high as anywhere else on the island, the area has become more well to do. I encountered many yupsters as I wandered the avenues. Yupsters with tiny children and even tinier dogs. My first stop was a restaurant called Supper. I didn't actually have supper in Supper; I went there for brunch. It was Superbowl Sunday and I wasn't going to miss the Giants kicking the Pats' butts.

I found Supper online and I'm glad I brought the address with me because I'd never have found it otherwise. There was no sign and the black awning in front of the restaurant was unmarked. I walked through the front door, only to encounter a large, green, velvet curtain blocking the entrance. The velvet was bunched up and it was impossible to tell where to pull back the curtain. I tried the left side, no luck. I tried the middle, no joy. I stopped fumbling at the curtain at this point because I realized what it must look like to the patrons and workers on the other side. Probably something similar to what I see when my cat goes on a bed sheet safari.

I gave up and waited for someone to exit the restaurant while I pretended to check my cell phone. As soon as someone left, I grabbed the curtain and dashed inside.

I approached the host and, before he could ask, I told him I was a party of one. He seemed confused and a little afraid of my singleness and gave me the option of either a large table set for 6, or a seat at the counter. I opted for the counter.

The restaurant was very charming. All the tables were long and wooden, the walls were exposed brick and the light fixtures were chandeliers made of colored glass. The counter I sat at was separated from the kitchen by a short pane of glass. I was thrilled by this because I got to watch the chefs at work cooking omelets and frying up polenta.

I ordered the eggs benedict. I know that by doing so I broke a major commandment of Anthony Bourdain, but I was really hungry and they sounded awesome. After the waitress took my order, she gave me a plate with bread and a kind of white bean salsa. I usually stay away from the legume, but as I said I was starving so I gobbled up a few bites. It was surprisingly tasty!

My eggs came pretty quickly. I only noticed this because the food of the woman to my left did not and she watched me take practically every bite. Just to mess with her, I made an extra effort to enjoy my food. As I nibbled, the place filled up with people. Apparently, everyone likes a good white bean salsa.

After I finished my meal, I paid quickly and hauled butt outside. As a quick aside, I'd like to mention that my bill was $15.66. I gave the waiter $20, and he only gave me $4 back in change. I know what you're thinking, "Lauren, it's just 34 cents," but it's the principle of the thing! Give me all my GD change! I contemplated giving a slightly smaller tip to make up for the loss, but in the end I couldn't do it. I used to be a waitress and I could never under-tip.

I hit the streets and started winding my way through the avenues. I noticed that the closer one got to avenue C, the sketchier the street traffic got, so I started to stick to Avenues A and B. I made my way over to the Nuyorican Poets Cafe on 3rd St., hoping that there would be some sort of reading or event I could check out. Sadly, it was closed. I guess there's no call for poetry slams on a Sunday. However, in the fire escape above the place someone had spelled out the word, "joy" in Christmas tree lights. Seeing this left me feeling happy, so I guess you could say the cafe did its job.

As I wandered the streets, I noticed that there were little gardens everywhere! It reminded me of the private gardens in London, only London's gardens don't have giant sculptures made out of wooden horses like this one in the 6th & B Garden.

There were also tons of painted murals...

Even a public service announcement mural...

I entered Tompkins Square Park and headed over to the dog run. As I got closer, I saw a group in the center of the park, shouting and cheering loudly as if they were watching some kind of event. My first thought was there was a dog fight going on, but then I remembered that yupsters probably wouldn't cheer for that. In fact, it was a bean bag throwing competition. Teams of two would compete against other teams by attempting to toss red and blue bean bags into wooden boxes. Everyone - competetors and spectators - got really into it. Whenever someone would get a bean bag in, the whole crowd would whoop and cheer. All the proceeds for the event went to charity. I'm not sure which one, but I'd like to think it had something to do with beans.

I exited the park and made my way to my second stop of the day, Life Cafe. Life Cafe was made famous by the musical RENT. The first act ends with all the characters singing and dancing on the tables of the cafe. Musical theater geek that I am, I couldn't resist stopping here.

Boy was I surprised when I entered the place. It was so small! The walls were painted with chalkboard paint and, therefore, covered in drawings and sayings like, "Eat life sip life nibble life," and the whole place smelled like stale beer. I took a seat at the bar and ordered a cup of coffee. I asked the bartender if he had soy milk (Made from soy beans). I'm not sure if that was a good question to ask considering the menu has things like salads topped with steamed tofu and "marinated hijiki." (Have you ever found yourself saying, "You know what I could really go for? Marinated hijiki."?)

I thought about ordering a small thing to eat, like a plate of wheat gluten or something, but I started to feel a little sick to my stomach. (Damn you, eggs benedict!) I also couldn't help feel like The Man when I looked around at the cafe's clientele. I was the Benny in this scene of RENT. I left a few dollars and any dreams I had of being a bohemian on the counter.

Shortly after I left Life Cafe, I headed over to the subway to return home. I liked the funky, dirty, beany neighborhood, but I have to admit that when I got to ordinary old Astoria I felt a little relieved.