There’s always room for a beer. Photo by Michael Fajardo

Here are a few bars with something unique to offer along with a pint or a lovely glass of wine.

Frying Pan: This unusual  bar & grill was built in 1929 as a floating lightship to guard a place called Frying Pan Shoals 30 miles off the coast of Cape Fear, North Carolina. At some point in the boats history she was abandoned for ten years, and then sank. After three years submerged, she was salvaged and then bought by today’s owners. In 1989 the boat, with a new engine and completely refurbished, sailed to New York City. Today Frying Pan is docked at Pier 66a in the Hudson River Park at West 26th Avenue. The owners chose to restore the outside of the boat to her original look, but the inside maintains a barnacle covered, sunken ship motif.

Floyd, NY: Owners Pam and Jim Carden took a liquor store and recreated a rural tavern the likes of which can be found in Pam’s hometown of Floyd, Iowa. To create such an atmosphere the Cardens added a jukebox with great Hank Williams tunes and songs from the Bad Liver. The premises sport tin ceilings, a rescued 1870s era bar, and even polite bartenders. Even more impressive is the indoor bocce game, sand and all.

Gallow Green: Talk about street theater- this luscious green rooftop bar features actors who never leave character, chatting up the patrons in a decidedly historical manner. Located on top of the McKittrick Hotel which houses the immersive theater extravaganza “Sleep No More,” a night out at this bar is sure to create lasting memories, and make you smile.

During the past ten years, and especially the last two, restaurants have been popping up like mushrooms along Frederick Douglass Boulevard between 110th and 120th Streets in Harlem. This strip of real estate has been proclaimed recently as the spot to watch as the entire neighborhood begins its inevitable transformation into a gentrified high-rent district.

Yvette Leeper-Bueno, owner of newly opened Vinateria restaurant, commented on the changing feel of the neighborhood.

“My husband Adrian [Bueno] and I have been in the neighborhood for 11 years,” she explains. “And we re-did a brownstone that’s been in the family since the 1980s. My father used to rent the rooms out on a weekly basis, and he would talk about these characters who’d stay there. At that time, the neighborhood was quite downtrodden. There were syringes in the streets, all kinds of crime, drugs, squatters, tons of problems with this specific building. Everything you can imagine.”

Vinateria

The restaurant renaissance began with baby steps with the opening of Melba’s in 2005, and Zoma, a wonderful Eithiopian eatery which opened in 2006. Leeper-Bueno says the real explosion began in 2010.

“One of the first restaurants to be of the new wave of restaurants was 5 and Diamond on 112th and Frederick Douglass,” she explains. “Then Bier International opened, and then it kind of caught like wild fire.”

Since then more restaurants have opened on the trendy street, including Cedric, Lido, a new branch of Levain Bakery, and a bar and cocktails joint, 67 Orange Street. Come visit and become a part of this trendy, up and coming, destination.

SmorgasBar/Burg on the South Street Seaport

Have you been out to the South Street Seaport lately? Check out the new Smorgasburg and enjoy the 300-seat beer garden and eight different hamburger sellers under one roof. From now until October a dozen market favorites including Pizza Moto, Landhaus, Asia Dog and Oyster Bar will be selling their wares at the market on Front Street.

There are two temporary bars created for the Smorgasburg experience, one inside, and the other on top of old shipping containers which bring brews to the patrons of the beer garden. On tap are favorites such as Captain Lawrence Kolsch and Sixpoint Sweet Action. Wines and cocktails are also available. For the teatotalers among us there are slushies from Kevin Natural Slush Company. Prefer your slushie spiked? Bartenders on hand are glad to help.

Location: Front Street in New York’s Financial District between Beekman and Fulton Streets
Hours: Monday-Thursday and Sunday- 11am-10pm; Friday and Saturday 11am-11pm

Its summer, and that means biking, beaching, and, at least for many tried and New Yorkers, ice creaming! Here is a list of some of the best cold licks New York has to offer:

•    Je & Jo—Every one of this lusciously decadent ice cream parlor’s flavors includes some type of cookie dough. Check out one of these: fresh mint with lemon lavender shortbread cookie dough or coffee ice cream with spicy chocolate cookie dough. Either way, you can’t go wrong. 515 West 47th St between 10th & 11th; Spring Hours: 7:30am-8:30pm, 7 days a week.

•    Coolhaus—Do you love ice cream sandwiches? You know, a cookie on top and bottom and some incredible ice cream in between? At Coolhaus they offer potato chip and butterscotch cookie with molten chocolate cake ice cream. Sounds good to me!

•    Chinatown Ice Cream Factory—Have you been to this Chinatown landmark yet? If not then run, don’t walk. You will see what traditional Chinese flavors, like red bean, black sesame and almond cookie can do to traditional ice cream fare. The answer is awesome. 65 Bayard St, New York, NY. Open every day from 11am to 11 pm.

•    Van Leeuwen Ice Cream—For the connoisseurs among us Van Leeuwen does not scrimp on anything. From the basics like fresh milk and cream, cane sugar and egg yolks this specialty ice cream soars to the heights for its flavors. For example, the pistachios come from Mount Etna in Sicily; the hazelnuts are from Piedmont; and Sri Lanka is the source of the hand crushed quills of Ceylon cinnamon. Yumm! 48 E 7th St New York, NY. Open Monday – Thursday 8am to 11pm; Friday 8am to 12am; Saturday 9am to 12am and Sunday 9am to 11pm.

A Flavor for Everyone!

Imagine going to a restaurant and ordering a lobster salad, getting your order, eating it and not even noticing that the main ingredient – the lobster – was amiss.  Well, apparently that has been the case at Zabar’s for the last decade and a half, the grocery located on the Upper West Side.  The crazy part of this is, is that according to a recent article in The New York Times, “apparently no one noticed.”

It was only when a reporter from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, Doug McCash, made a stop at Zabar’s that the omission was noted and some days later a blog in the West Side Rag was written entitled with the question, “Zabar’s Committing Lobster Salad Fraud?”  But this wasn’t enough to phase the 83-year old president and co-owner, Saul Zabar.  He insisted that “selling lobsterless lobster salad, was not dishonest, getting pedantic in his comment, “if you go to Wikipedia, you will find crawfish [that was in the salad] in many parts of the country is referred to as lobster.”  He then went on to read out loud the beginning of the Wikipedia entry for crawfish:  “crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads — members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea — are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related.” Thus, he argued that one could term a product whereby the main ingredient was crawfish, a lobster salad.

Still, the reality is that when one is ordering a lobster salad, they have in mind the Maine lobster.  Indeed, Mr. Zabar did admit that a lot of his customers – while noting the tastiness of the salad – said that it was not a lobster salad.

So, let this be a warning for all those in New York who frequent Zabar’s.  Next time you go and order a lobster salad, ask for a list of ingredients before footing the bill for a lobsterless lobster salad.

Are you a first time visitor to 31489, 1843404, 00.html”>New York and for some reason only have one day to take in the main attractions of this world class city? Well here are some great ideas of what to do and see which will give you a real feel for the real New York. These are sites which go beyond the usual recommendations such as Times Square and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

1.    Time Warner Center is so much more than just a mall. Despite what cynical New Yorkers might say, this mall in many ways says it all about New York. Just check out the fourth floor alone. There you will find among two of New York’s best restaurants, and most expensive, too. Located on Columbus Circle which is at the southwestern corner of Central Park, you can dine in either “Per Se” of Chef Thomas Keller, or have an amazing sushi experience in Masa, named for chef and owner Masa Takayama.

2.    West Village—Take a stroll here and see for yourself what a New York neighborhood is really like. You will find quaint brownstones along surprising tree-lined streets which are basically in the same state they were in when they were new, during the 19th century. Be sure to take a map, the street layouts are not exactly logical; West 10th street somehow magically intersects with West 4th.

3.    Film Forum—Believe it or not, more movies are filmed in the streets of New York than anywhere else, even Hollywood. So it should come as no surprise that there is a place New York film lovers flock to to see the films others can only hope to read about. Among some of the pickings are provocative independent films, documentaries, and foreign art films hand-picked from the world’s most prestigious film festivals. A must see for film fans.

Eating out in New York is more than just a ‘thing to do.’  Eating out is closer to a ritual which New Yorkers partake of almost religiously. With that in mind, here are a few of New York’s best restaurants to make your eating out moments even more rewarding.

Aldea

• Aldea is a Portuguese restaurant in the Gramercy/Flatiron section on 17th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Aldea is a low-key vehicle for one of New York’s most original chefs, George Mendes.  Don’t let the minimalist environment fool you; the food is anything but simple. Try a complicated starter of coconut curry broth leading up to tender baby cuttlefish with sea beans, bonito flakes and mint. Even more known Portuguese fare gets a haute spin at Aldea. (212) 675-7223.

Brooklyn Fare

• Brooklyn Fare is a 5,000-square-foot retail gourmet grocery which includes everything a well-stocked shop would carry plus a menu of ready-made foods created by Bouley protégé Cesar Ramirez,  including sushi, sandwiches and take-home meals. Brooklyn Fare is located in Brooklyn Heights on Schermerhorn Street at Hoyt St. (718) 243-0050.

Minetta Tavern

• Minetta Tavern has been restored with loving care and made into what might be called the first iconic restaurant of post-millennial New York.  The place is a-buzz with people who must be as drawn by the happy atmosphere as the food, which is impressive. Try the incredible blackened veal chops surrounded by crisp sweetbread nuggets. Aside from the Black Label burger at $26, the prices here are reasonable. However the burger is worth every penny, being as tender and fatty as foie gras. Check it out at 113 MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village. (212) 475-3850.

Aldea