Sunday at Lelabar

Hungarian Pick Salami, Tasso Ham, Beef Loin, Coppa
from Lelabar

I finally made it to Lelabar.



This visit required the right amount of synchronicity to occur. On Sunday I met up with a friend before he took a road trip. It also happened to be the day before his birthday so quality face time was in order.



The last few times we'd seen each other, we went out for wine. And every time, I kept mentioning a wine bar in the West Village but I couldn't remember where it was. I knew it began with an "L" but that's all I had. This time around when I was off the clock, I was off the clock. My brain just couldn't remember. As we walked west along Houston St my friend pointed out Burger & Barrel as a possible place for us to go for our fix de vino. We both wondered about the New Yorker-to-tourist ratio and kept moving.

Race Relations in Motor City (Bar)

Last night, I ended up at Motor City Bar. I like that the vibe there is never pretentious, it's a great mix of clientele and it'll be the setting for my upcoming photo shoot (see: Graffiti Butt)

I had conversations with interesting men at the bar -- maybe because we didn't know one another we were more direct, more quickly. The underlying theme of our conversations: race.

"So whereabouts in Brooklyn are you from?"

I answered his question but later it hit me -- I didn't tell this man I was from Brooklyn. I asked how he knew I was "from Brooklyn" and he said he's been in NY for 25 years and has learned to "just tell". Moments before that, I tried to pinpoint the origin of his brogue. I guessed Ireland, he's Scottish.