a slice of weiss

do you ever feel that there is just more out there in the world?

well, here we go again, I'm unemployed as of 9am this morning. Friday was my last day of work at AvWeek and it was sad, because I really did like (almost) everyone who I worked with there. We had a lil cheesecake, they gave me a card, and thus, I said my goodbyes.

so the other night night, my best gal and i ate at Bamonte's, which is right around the corner from my place in Billburg. It's an incredibly old establishment that's been around since 1900 in the same exact location and now it's being run by the 4th generation of the Bamonte family. The place is so old school, like ollldddd school. Many of the tuxedoed waiters have been there for 30+ years, and I can't imagine the stories that have to tell. From my understanding, the place used to have service a lot of mafioso's back in the day, and as you sit at your table you just feel like you are a background player in some Scorcese film or some bad shit is about to go down...Lost City has a good lil review on it...The place is really an institution. 

My building is located right around the corner from Bamonte's and it's only 8 months old (well, it was a warehouse for decades before it was converted into luxe apt's), but seeing all of the gentrification in the area, it amazes me that a family run establishment like this has survived for such a long time. Restaurants in New York have an very low success rate (something like 1 in 10 make it past a year), and Bamonte's has been around for 109 years. Madness!

When anyone asks me what my fave restaurant in the city is, I automatically say Republic. It's 100% reliable, the food is always stellar, the service is fast as hell, and the food is cheap. I've taken friends there, my parents loved it, and it's the go-to place for my gorgeous friend Lauren and I to go whenever we want to catch up. What never ceases to amazing me though is that the place has been open for 10 years (which is a bit of an anomaly in restaurants, so you can imagine how I feel about Bamonte's!), and it's always PACKED. Everytime Lauren and I go there, the place is filled to the walls with diners, and we usually will go at like 6:30 or 7 on a Wednesday or mid-week. It's just a testament to how good it is, and if you have something that works, you stick to the formula. I would hate to see Republic or Bamonte's succumb to this horrid economy like so many others are doing these days. As much as I am a foodie and I love new places, I believe it's establishments like these that are really the heart of the New York culinary scene. Places you know that you can always go to, feel welcomed, and always leave with a full belly and a smile on your face

things need to change over time. i get that. sometimes you need to reinvent something that is either not working, can be more efficient or needs to just be refreshed. Sometimes change is good, and what you need to succeed. Its a smart move to, sometimes it bombs with a loud thud, other times the people behind the reinvention realize their mistake and own up to it.

What is passion? How does one get it?

It's been a long time since I've written a blog, hasn't it...a lonnnng time. Why the re-emergence on the New York Blogosphere scene you ask? Well, I think it's just time. For those of you who have been with me since back in the day, you know that I write this blog because...well, I just like it, ya know? Sure, I may have four loyal readers (myself being two of those), but part of the reason for this blog is not only to keep you entertained, but to keep myself occupied as well!

what to expect: well, really i don't think that i need to have an agenda or anything of that nature, but I am definitely going to consider my content and my audience more this time around. I realized that I may have gotten too personal about the stuff that I posted, relationships, friends, all of that. however as much as this is my blog, and I reserve the "right to write", I do plan on censoring myself more. Life is for the unexpected, and that's really how I get by each day. I never know what's going to happen, and neither will you! I can't guarantee that I'll write every day or every two days, but it will be fairly regular. Bookmark me!

The template I am using is a bit wonky, and everything may shift to the right side of the screen if you have a square monitor...also you may see some text all over the place, but hey, i'm all over the place, so i guess it's apropos, no?

Until my next post, in case you have yet to see it, I encourage you all to view the Top 60 Ghetto Names. In a word: Racist. In two words: Racist and Brilliant.

my former blog, I'm A Publicist, can still be found in it's entirety and in it's old format here: I'm A Publicist. It's also archived on this site...feel free to take a look back at what my life used to be like...