Wandering: West Village

The weather this past weekend was still a little chilly (where did the warm weather go?), but never the less, Tess and I got out for some wandering.  Let me explain.  A couple of months ago (late last summer actually), my friend Tess (who writes her own great blog)and I met for some delicious cinnamon buns in the East Village.  It'd been a while since we hung out and wanted to catch up.  Outside of the first stop at the cinnamon buns shop (Jane's Sweet Buns - which were delicious btw), we had no actual plans.  Instead, we ended up wandering around the EV making stops at Three Cups, DBA and lastly, momofuku noodle bar (which was AMAZING).  Since we had so much success at the last wandering, we decided to tackle another neighborhood this time.  The West Village.

Stop #1: Meatball Obsession

Stop number one was at Meatball Obsession.  It's brand new (literally, just opened last Wednesday) and a pretty simple concept.  It's a walk-up window and they serve the meatballs in a cup.  Makes for pretty great wandering food (unless you are Tess who orders 2 cups).  I got the Turkey Meatball with the Parma topping.  The Parma topping consists of Pancetta, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and some fresh herbs.  It comes in a cup with sauce and a big slice of bread.

Look at that pancetta.  Yummy.

I enjoyed mine.  I thought the turkey was moist and nicely seasoned.  The sauce was also pleasantly flavored and the toppings delicious (who doesn't love crispy pancetta?).  I wish there had been a bit more sauce because once I finished the meatball and wanted to dip my bread in the sauce there wasn't enough left for the whole slice.  Tess got the Beef meatball with the Parma topping and a pork sausage with the Genoa topping (fresh herbs, toasted pinenuts, extra virgin olive oil and pecorino romano).  I tasted both of Tess's selections and really enjoyed the Pork Sausage meatball.  Tess has also been to The Meatball Shop (which I have not tried yet, so I can't compare) and while she liked these, she did tell me she enjoyed the Meatball shop ones better.  I'll have to try it out soon to be able to declare a winner myself.

Despite the way it looks, I DID NOT lick the cup (although I thought about it).

Stop #2: Street Fair!

Next we moved south on Sixth Ave, again, with no real purpose in mind.  While wondering, we ran into a street fair along Waverly Ave.  This was my first street fair of 2012.  I always enjoy street fairs.  There is typically some delicious street food on site.  Since we had just eaten meatballs, weren't looking for food (plus I was pretty full).  However, I did have room, and clearly needed, something sweet.  We found the Sweet Chef Southern Bakery.  Tess bought some pies for a dinner she was going to afterwards and I got a mini pecan pie for later.  I also grabbed a german chocolate cookie to eat then.  I've never had a german chocolate cookie before, but I love the cake.  It was good.  Soft and perfectly cooked.  Personally, I would have liked more chocolate, but it was still good.

Cookie time

Pecan pie (eaten later)

Stop #3: GMT Tavern

After the street fair and stocking up on sweets, we stopped in at the GMT Tavern at Bleecker and Laguardia.  We were just looking for a place to sit for a bit and this looked nice.  I'm not going to waste too much talking about this place (I'll explain why in a couple of sentences).  We both ordered bloody mary's to start.  They were decent.  The problem came when we went to pay.  Apparently their credit card machine wasn't working.  It's annoying, but happens.  But my problem was the bartender.  She could have cared less.  Just swiped the cards, said it didn't work and then asked for cash.  After both of us explained we didn't have cash on us, she just shrugged her shoulders and said there were ATMs on the corner.  No 'I'll get my manager, see if we can fix it'.  She then told us it had been happening all day.  Maybe you should tell people when they sit down that your credit card machine isn't working before they order food.  Anyways we found an ATM and paid, but didn't leave a tip.  I have no qualms about it.  She was rude and completely unhelpful.

Stop #4: Popbar

After the crappy-ness that was GMT Tavern, we shaked it off with a walk to Popbar for some gelato.  Popbar has gourmet gelato on a stick (like a popsicle) and toppings.  Neither Tess or I had ever been to it before.  I had hazelnut gelato dipped in dark chocolate with coconut flakes on top.  Tess got raspberry sorbet with white chocolate and coconut.  I really liked mine.  The dark chocolate paired with the hazelnut was a good combination.  It was delicious, but expensive for a popsicle ($5 bucks a pop), so not sure how often I'll be having it.  Something to check off the list though!

Look at all those pops!

Excellent choice

After Popbar, Tess needed to head to Brooklyn for her dinner party and I headed home.

Not sure where we'll head next, but I'm it'll involve food and drink!