Restaurant Felix

I shot this photo of Restaurant Felix on the corner of West Broadway and Grand Street last week. I've never eaten here before but I understand that it's an expensive restaurant with hipster cred(ibility).

So how do you categorize yourself? A hipster? An intellect?

The Other Rat Mural

Here is the other rat mural I saw last weekend in SoHo on Spring Street near West Broadway. This rat looked a lot cuter than the one I posted yesterday. He even has a 'I *heart* N Y' t-shirt. Apparently, he was caught red handed drawing a mural of a rat. How brilliant is this?

So what is your plan for the weekend?

N.B.: Apparently, the two rat murals are by British artist, Banksy. Here is his website: Banksy.

West Broadway & Beach

I took this photo specifically to remind myself of the names of streets where I was at. But the photo turned out quite nicely so I'm posting it today. As you can see, I was at the corner of West Broadway and Beach Street in Tribeca. I was a block away from the bench with flowers from yesterday's photo.

So do you also take photos of names of artwork or streets wherever you go?

Houston and West Broadway

The street along the bottom of the photo is Houston Street and the street where the yellow cab is turning into is West Broadway. SoHo (short for South of Houston Street), a highly desirable shopping district, begins here.

New Yorkers like to give acronyms to the districts in the city like NoHo (North of Houston Street), Nolita (North of Little Italy), Tribeca (Triangle Below Canal Street) and DUMBO (District under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass).

So does your city have an acronym?

Mellow Yellow

This photo was taken in front of Cipriani Downtown, an Italian restaurant on West Broadway and Bloom Street in SoHo. Exactly a year ago, I featured a photo of the same restaurant and here it is again. It was purely coincidental because I chose to post this photo before I realized the date of photo posted last year. It was a total surprise.

So when was the last time you had a coincidental moment?

Memories of the Past

I was strolling down West Broadway in SoHo and suddenly caught a whiff of something sweet and spicy but indeterminately familiar. I stopped, turned around and saw these stalks of empty cigar boxes on the stoop of the O.K. Cigar store.

Although I'm not a smoker nor have I ever smoked, I do like the smell of fresh tobacco. It has that inherent musky woodsy smell of earth and the forest after a heavy rain. It reminded me of the few times I went hiking in the woods when I was in college.

Smell or aroma has a weird way of triggering old memories from the past for most people. Does it cause you to think back of the past?

Mange Al Fresco

The weather this weekend was absolutely gorgeous; we had 75˚F (24˚C) temperature, low humidity and plenty of sunshine. It was our first warm weekend of the season and everyone was outside enjoying the weather, including me. One of the most thrilling things about warm Spring weather in NYC is al fresco dining. Few restaurants have outdoor seatings but those that do, are always packed with a hungry crowd.

This photo, taken outside of Cipriani Downtown, shows the waiter spooning freshly cooked pasta onto individual serving plates for the diners at the table. Cipriani Downtown is one of the most popular and expensive restaurants in one of the most popular and expensive neighborhoods (SoHo) in Manhattan. Most of the diners, I assume, are wealthy European expatriates who can afford $25 for a plate of pasta. But then again, it only costs them €18.