Welcome to another adventure in the Kitchen With Ken and this time around I was in the mood for something akin to fish tacos. I’ve long been a taco fan but only ever had a fish taco when I went to an area McCormack and Schmidicks restaurant for their Happy Hour. The particular concoction from the kitchen of PiercingKen is probably only a fish taco in name based on the overall difference. The rationale behind this was to use some stuff in the fridge so it would not go bad and had a little bit of an idea to make my own little treats. So wash your hands and help out as I take you through this one, I promise to be brief since this was on the easy side. You will first need a small pan to bake some of our fish products in.
The other day while adventuring around the city on the way to the Book Expo America, my buddy Skeleton Pete and I saw a literal caravan of teenagers who were carrying and handing out cookies no less. This was apparently a promotion from one of the nearby hotels and they were having a blast of a time surprising the New York City workaday travelers with their offerings. Some were shouting and others singing and it was all in the name of the cookie. Not a bad way to get some attention. This was truly a great way to start the day and I made sure to secure my cookie in my bag for later consumption. I figured that it was better to be able to enjoy it while sitting down and relaxing after a hopefully productive day of journalistic tasks.
The band of merry travelers of the cookie actually handed me a couple of them, and I was not going to argue about this at all. It’s packaging was appealing to the eye and spirit and cited that “stressed spelled backward is desserts”. Talk about your level of Socratic wisdom. Once home, I did open it up to let you see just how well it was baked. It was a chocolate chip cookie and it had a lot of chunks of the stuff which is something I always prefer at the end of the day. As you can see by the image below, this was a very sizable treat and I used a penny to give you a sense of scale. Don’t worry I didn’t eat the penny in case you were wondering about that.
I’m sorry if this made you jealous but it really was not my intent. I only felt like sharing this small bit of good fortune with you readers. It sure was tasty though. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
I was coming home from a relatively fun afternoon with the singer of the band Naked who hail from Finland and once “Muff” had and I had parted company to continue along in our own adventures I happened past this big board of a wall sign. It was proudly announcing the “Coming Soon” of the Bowery Diner. Obviously it’s going to be a conventional diner but I like the idea of having someplace new to eat before or after shows at places like The Bowery Ballroom and its nearby Bowery Electric or Poetry Club.
Coming Soon: Food!!!!!!
This is the best shot of the sign that I could get based on my distance from it and need to get back to PiercingMetal HQ, but it did manage to excite me just a little. I love new places and while this furthers the upgrading of the Bowery region, it has indeed changed a lot since the closure of the legendary C.B.G.B.’s so why not just embrace some of the more interesting things that the area offers up at this time. All I know is that they better make a damn good burger as I will be Yelping about them for sure if they don’t.
I’m sorry, I just felt that you readers deserved to know that I was instantly made hungry by this single photo of the White Mana Diner in Jersey City this afternoon. It amused me that I found this image after having shot it about seven months ago while helping a friend move some of their things from an apartment to a storage unit, but here it was – just sitting in a folder of hundreds of shots that I had yet to determine a use for.
I took the photo while riding “shotgun” in my friends car, and I had the little Sony point and shoot camera with me, as I am often apt to have be the case these days and as we hit a red light, I drooled and said “Mmmm burgers”. Of course she was in a rush to finish moving her stuff so this was all I would see of the place and that bothered me after the fact when I learned it was in fact a historical landmark and is associated with the 1939 World’s Fair. I am not sure that my friend ever tried it but she did make mention that it was well-known and that made me look further into it. Too bad we didn’t have a few extra minutes because stuff like this just gets the curiosity going.
Read all about its interesting history via the Wikipedia entry HERE.
Now the only question I have left is who is up for an adventure out to Jersey City with one of the purposes being to visit and eat something from here? Summer is good exploring time.
“You have to be joking!!!” is what I said to my friend when he said that he had learned that the popular Acme Bar and Grill over at 9 Great Jones Street had closed it’s doors after twenty five years in the location. I cannot tell you how upset that this news makes me. Oh wait, yes I can and I will as that is what the blog is for. With that being the case, the closure of Acme Bar & Grill really bummed me out because it was a place that I had been enjoying for about six years.
A Shuttered Acme
I realize that I had not been coming here as long as some other folks but I sure made good for it over those number of years that I had. I first ventured into its doors when the band Blackfield was playing at the Bowery Ballroom. I was hitting that show with Skeleton Pete and he suggested it as a dining choice. Having enjoyed the Cajun style of food I was totally down for this. I actually remember what I ordered that day for some odd reason and it was a chicken fried steak, with their mashed potatoes and some black eyed peas. This would become one of my favorite dishes at the establishment and a fail safe order for me in the event of indecision.
Acme By Night
There was so much good about this place and after that night it became one of my continual picks as a spot to hold media discussions with press friends, enjoy the company of lovely dining companions or just chill out with buddies who were just wanting a good dinner and drink night out. The food never disappointed us nor did their wall of hot sauce. I wish I had photos of that in my archives but I never shot images of them because quite honestly I never thought I would be lamenting the restaurant’s having gone away. The place would start its diners off with an order of freshly made corn bread and while that is not the most calorie conscious kind of thing, it tasted so good that few would argue.
I also enjoyed their house brew which was a red ale of some kind. It was not too heavy and had a nice bite to it. Sometimes they would do $2 pints of the beers and that always managed to make for a fun night. I found the waitstaff for the most part to be friendly and on a number of occasions I met some interesting people in entertainment. Some were dancers while others musicians or actors and actresses. A typical New York situation. The other aspect of the restaurant was that it was also the home to the once called Under Acme Rock club which eventually became Ace Of Clubs. In my adventures as a music journalist I had covered a few shows at the space and also just went to rock out when the time was open for me to do so.
There was a rumor that Acme was going to reopen after being worked on but that doesn’t seem very likely since I read postings on popular regional blogs that said the whole staff had been terminated and that what all knew and loved as Acme was gone for the foreseeable good. I will miss the place for sure since it was such a good memory for me and those who enjoyed being here with me. The upside of being in NYC is that you can always find a new place and they can eventually become a favorite. That sure doesn’t take away the sadness at this restaurants closure. Thanks Acme, I will miss you very much.
