Well, I missed the St. Patrick's Day parade on Fifth Avenue today (darn that day job of mine!), but I made up for it tonight by meeting Nick, Reny, Sia and Jay at the Landmark Tavern down on 11th Avenue and 46th Street.A lively, unpretentious neighbourhood gastropub, the Landmark Tavern has been open since 1868 and even though it is on what is now 11th Avenue, it used to sit right on the shores of the Hudson to better serve the dock workers. (In those days, there was no 12th Avenue -- the shores of the island of Manhattan have been built up to create more real estate.) It's one of the oldest, continually operating establishments in New York City.
The man who originally built and operated the pub built a second and third storey above the saloon where his family could live -- the space remained as such until prohibition when the third floor was conveniently converted into a speakeasy.
When I arrived tonight, Nick offered to grab me a beer from the bar. I quietly admitted that I don't actually even like beer (something you want to keep fairly quiet in an Irish pub on St. Patty's Day), and Nick admonished me with "You're not going to make me order one of those fruity drinks in a martini glass, are you??"
Um, not any more I'm not. Rum and coke, please.
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