East Vill: Drink at Lunasa

Heck, drink AND eat at Lunasa. On the east side of First Avenue near 7th St. you will find Lunasa in all of its pubbish glory. Everything a bar can be including indoor and outdoor seating, happy hour Mon. - Fri. 4 - 7 p.m. (featuring half-price drinks and appetizers), $10 brunch Sat. & Sun noon - 4, and Soccer Sunday wine specials. Not only a great local spot but also worth travelling to from afar. And Scott, resident bartender extraordinare, mixes a mean Sangria to which I can attest, seeing how I drank five glasses of it yesterday afternoon.

RUB BBQ: W. 23rd St.

RUB (as in: Righteous Urban Barbeque) BBQ, is brought to the good people of NYC, and specifically the lucky neighborhood dwellers of Chelsea, by Paul Kirk the "K.C. Baron of BBQ."
Now, I have to admit that I am in no way an expert, or even a novice for that matter, on the ins and outs of BBQ. So I will comment on the restaurant itself before getting into the food.

The space is where the former La Nouvelle Justine was housed in the late 90s - everyone's favorite S&M bar that featured a "Wheel of Fortune" where volunteers would be straped on, spun around and whipped by a dominatrix or two. So right off the bat, you know the place has got to have lots of good karma.

And as you can see from the photo (left side), RUB is rather casual. But with the bar and visible kitchen, it's casual in a good way, like "come on in and eat, drink, b.s. until you feel like leaving." I visited on Sunday for brunch with Brian Perrone, who was recently named the Conquistador of BBQ by...well, by me, but anyway he's that as well as the Chef at Slows BBQ in Detroit (which you should also visit when you take the family on that much needed two-week vacation to...DETROIT?). So we had a grand time avoiding the typical New York City Sunday Brunch Crowd, eating meat and babbling with the staff.

As you can see by the pictured Plate of Meat we noshed on brisket, ham, ribs, chicken and sausage to our hearts cholesterol-filled content. It was certainly high in protein, however the DEEP FRIED OREOS that we subsequently devoured were probably not. Needless to say I didn't eat one single thing for the rest of the day.

I shall return, at least once, as I am now dying for their BLFGT (Bacon, Lettuce, Fried Green Tomato sandwich), which they were out of at the time.