COFFEE and ???: COFFEE PASTRIES AND A CATHEDRAL

Sunday, April 7, 2013

COFFEE PASTRIES AND A CATHEDRAL

The HUNGARIAN PASTRY SHOP

113th STREET and AMSTERDAM AVENUE

NEW YORK, NY

ACROSS THE STREET From The Beautiful

CATHEDRAL of St. JOHN THE DEVINE

Well just came out of the World's Most Beautiful Cathedral, The Cathedral of Saint John The Devine. As always the visit was magnificient and "Awe Inspiring," Truly! I've been in many beautiful Churches and Cathedrals around the World, not all but many. I've been to the famed Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, to one in Montreal as well, to St. Peter's in Rome, The Cathedral of St. Marks Venice, The Sagrada Familia in Barcelonam Beautiful Churches in Positano, Vernazza in Cinque Terre, Gorgeous Churches in

Rio de Janiero, and even there exist a Beautiful Cathedral in believe it or not Newark, new Jersey. And of all these beautiful Churches and Cathedrals, I've never seen any, that in My Mind, is as Beautiful and Awe Inspiring as the Cathedral of Saint John The Devine way up on 113th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in the Columbia Heights section of "Guess What? New York City.

What's that you say? You're from New York, and you've never heard of this Magnificent place. Don't worry! you're not alone."

I'm sure 90% of all New Yorkers have never heard of this almost Secret Gem of Manhattan. I've been there more than a dozen times in my life, and every time I've ever taken anyone there, it had been their first trip and they were all absolutely "Amazed."

Anyway, I can ramble on-and-on about the place, its Beauty and Awe inspiring Magnificent and you might seem like I'm some kind of nut. That old cliche of "Words Can't Describe" the beauty of this place may have never run truer. Words can not do justice to the feelings you'll get when inside. But speaking of Words, all you have to do is take my word and go there. At least once in your life. You'll be Amazed! Truly!

Now, on to the Hungarian Pastry Shop across from the Great Cathedral. The place is awesome, and without a doubt, one of New York's Great Cafes, as well of one of my picks for World's Best Cafes. The place has everything a great cafe needs in order to be considered great, plus one thing many don't have. They make all their own pastries, cakes, cookies, and absolutely thee Best Croissants in all of New York. OK, they got that, which isn't a requirement to be in the Great Cafe Class, but it's definitely a "Plus." OK, a great cafe also needs a wonderful cozy comfortable ambiance, Great Coffee, a Cool Eclectic Client which includes artists and writers etc., along with a Great Vibe. A must! So yes, The Hungarian Pastry Shop has all of these and in Spades. The place is filled with Columbia and Barnard University students and a sprinkling of faculty I guess. There are writers, local residents, and usually anybody who goes to a cafe, by definition has "Something Going On." And being a cross from the Cathedral of Saint John The Divine, there are tourists, and let's Thank God for the tourists because other than the parishioners of the church there wouldn't be many to admire this Great Wonder of New York. As stated earlier, New Yorkers for the most part, don't even know this Gem of a Cathedral even exists. What a shame. But the tourists do, more so even than the natives. Oh well.

Back to the pastry shop. It is really a wonderful little place. it's filled with life. The tourists stopping in for a Cappuccino and some sweets, the students studying and what not, writers writing, artists contemplating, and locals having their daily Cup of Joe. I Love it.

Don't get to go there that often, it's so far away, about 115 blocks. I live in the Village, the most wonderful neighborhood in new York, and I pretty much have everything I need there.

But Saint John's is so absolutely wonderful that I think I should try to make a point of shooting up there once every 4-6 weeks. Go into the Cathedral, feel the Majesty, then bop over across the street for a cup of Coffee and a pastry or two. And listen, "You should too. At least Once in your life!"

The Cathedral of Saint John The Divine and the Hungarian Pastry Shop are both at Amsterdam and 112-113 Street in New York, NY

The 1 TRAIN Station is 2 blocks away, and You can take

The C Train at 110 Street and Central park West, about

4 blocks walk. Make a whole day of it. Go to Cnetral Park, the Cathedral of course, You can go to "Tom's" of SEINFELD fame 2 blocks away on Broadway for a Burger, Breakfast or whatever, and a must visit to the Hungarian Pastry Shop Cafe for a Great Day in Columbia heights NY, NY

by Daniel Bellino Zwicke

photos Daniel Bellino Zwicke

The CATHEDRAL of SAINT JOHN THE DIVINE

Is BEAUTIFUL and Awe INSPIRING

And If You've Never Been There

I Highly Recommend You Do

No Matter Your Faith

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LED ZEPPELIN "RAMBLE ON" and Why Is Nobody Making Any GOOD MUSIC These DAYS???

Ramble On, Song of the Week!!! Without-A-Doubt one of Rocks All-Time Rockingest Rock Songs Ever, "Ramble On." This song Rocks like you can't believe! back in the Day when there was an abundance of Great Music being made by Hundreds of Great Artists, The 60's and 70's !!! Can someone tell us why there is "Barely Any Good Music" being made at all these Days!!! Just a bunch of a lot of Crap! Probably because the younger generation has such awful taste? Or is it just an Abundance of Lackluster Performers, or a Combination of both? I doubt seriously if there will be more than a handful of Musical Artist from the last 15 years or so who will Stand The Test of Time and be Loved 40, 50, 60, and 70 years down the road as artist like, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, led Zepplin, Elvis, Dianna Ross, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Stevie Wonder and on and on are doing and will do. The music of this Day and Age is quite literally Crap.

Someone please Kill Hip Hop the way you Killed Disco (which is Superior Music to Hip Hop Rap) so long ago. How much more of this Shit do we have to endure! Are there any Good Musical Artists out there at all? Please step forward and do your thing!!!

Daniel Bellino Zwicke

CORNER BISTRO Voted # 1 and New Yorks "BEST CHEESEBURGER"

Happy to see Corner Bistro's Burger can still make it to # 1 Best of New York list these days. I've been eating Cheeseburgers there since 1984. Yes 26 Years of Bistro Burgers. Back then, the Burger at the Corner Bistro was for Year-After-Year thee perennial favorite, # 1, Top, Best Burger in New York, rated by the Top and most Powerful food Authorities of the day, New York Magazine, The NY Times, Cue Magazine, The Post, The Village Voice, GQ, Bob Lape on 7's Eyewitness News, The Daily News, so on and so forth. Nine out of ten people, newspapers, and news agency's, The Bistro Burger was always "Tops," # 1. It no longer is. And it was tops for some 30 years. Quite a run. Sadly the quality of the Burger has gone down a bit, and there are numerous chemistry better, tastier Burgers in town. Shake Shack get my Vote for the Top, New York's best Burger, with Bills Bar and Burger and Peter Luger not far behind. But the Shake Shack Burger has all the proper elements that come together and make for perfect chemistry of, dear I say, "The Perfect Burger." Well if not the perfect Burger, New York's Best, or at least amongst the Best, everyone has their opinion. Some not as qualified as others. As I've been eating the East Coast's Best Burgers since childhood, and being a former Chef Culinary Professional, I have greater qualifications than most.
The Shake Shack Burgers elements that make it so good, are: Top Quality Beef, Just the right size and thickness, not too thin nor too thick, which unfortunately many think makes a burger is better, the thicker it is. Not so. A 6 oz., 3/4" Burger is Best and it has to be cooked on a Flat-Top Grill cooking in its own fat to qualify amongst the best. Cooking on a grated grill, just won't do. You'll often get terribly overcooked hard spots, losing all important beef fat for the burger to cook in. You'll need a good hamburger bun, toasted preferred, not too fancy, and a major No-No is the use of an English Muffin. Though i Love them for breakfast, English Muffins are a terrible choice, pairing to a Burger. the Burger has to be properly cooked
And one of thee most important rules to a great Burger, it can't cost more than $6.50, and about $4.50 is even better. The Shake Shake burger meets all these requirements, even exceeding them.
Back to the Bistro Burger. For nostalgias sake and Price to value ratio, combined with the great old New York Bar ambiance, The Bistro Burger always makes it on my Top 10 List. As the Post states, to be able to get a great burger for just $6.50 with Beers at $2.75 in one of New York's few remaining Bohemian Bars, and in Greenwich Village? A combination that just can't be beat.
by Daniel Bellino Zwicke

"The SCENE" in The Lobby of The ACE HOTEL, New York

Yes, Makin the Scene at the Ace Hotel. Got my Coffee, "Stumptown" of Course, my Laptop, iPod Tkouch with Camera, my Cel, money in my pockets, I'm all set.
The "Scene" in the Lobby of The Ace Hotel, New York, 29th Street between Broadway and 5th Avenue. Great Lobby, the equivalent of the Alogonquin Hotel Lobby when it was front and center, New York's Literary Hotel in the days of Dolly Parker and days of yor.
Yes the "SCENE" in the Lobby of the Ace Hotel. It Rocks. Supposedly this is thee Rock-N-Roll Hotel, Home Base, Seattle.
This place is filled everyday, from Dawn to Dusk, with Writers, wound be writers, Screen Writers, Playrights, Web and Mobile Delepoers, tourists, and dear I say "Rock Stars." Don't know. All I can say is I've delt with quite a few Rock Stars in my days as Maitre'd Manager at the Once "Hottest Celebrity Spot in Town," Da Silvano's.... Yes it was, until Graydon Carter (who Frequented Da Silvano 5 or 6 Times a week) opened the
"Waverly Inn" and stole a Most of Silvan's immense Celebrity Crowd. Everyone went there: Movie Stars, Rock Stars, the Fashion Set (Designers & Models), the Movers and Shakers in Publishing, the Magazine Business, and on and on!
David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Gwyneth Palthrow, Calvin Klein, Uma Thurma,and Richard Gere, to name just a few. Everyone went there.
Anyway ....

by . Daniel Bellino Zwicke ....