Diners’ Journal
This summer some of the best eating is outdoors Warm, long days, gentle nights – summer is the time of the year to kick back and enjoy all that the season has to offer. Even though the kids are still in school and the official start of summer isn’t until June 21, area restaurants and Northern Manhattan’s parks are teaming up to take advantage of the pleasant weather to offer some unique dining opportunities. On Friday, June 12, in collaboration with the Parks Department, Moose Hall Theatre Company has pulled in some of the most notable restaurants in Inwood for a fundraiser for the 10th Anniversary of the Inwood Shakespeare Festival. Called “Sup and Sack in the Sunset,” for $30 guests can dine on a selection of food from Bistro Marrakech, Carrot Top, Garden Café, Guadalupe, Indian Road Café, La Estufa, and the New Leaf Restaurant and Bar and listen to the tunes of the David Kolker Band – all in Inwood Hill Park. Dinner is served from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. and, as a bonus, guests can stick around for the company’s production of Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” at 7:30 p.m. To round out the weekend outdoors, on Sunday, June 14, the Friends of Ft. Tryon Park Trust will hold a $10 per-person pancake breakfast from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Linden Terrace. The event runs concurrently with a Neighborhood Yard Sale on the Stan Michels Promenade overlooking the Heather Garden. Sup and Sack tickets: 212-567-5255 ext. 4 Pancakes in the Park: 212-795-1388 or online at https://www.nycgovparks.org. Under the sun – on the sidewalk For a little less drama but still summery outdoor eating, two Inwood restaurants will be offering outdoor seating in the near future. Café Tabaco and Ron, the new eatery on 10th Avenue and W. 213th Street, has applied for an outdoor café license, as has Little Apple, the healthy eatery on W. 207th Street, which garnered the support of Community Board 12 at the May general meeting. Other sidewalk cafes in Northern Manhattan include X Caffe at Broadway and W. 169th Street, Coogan’s Restaurant at Broadway and W.168th Street, Il Sole and Mamajuana Café on Dyckman Street, west of Broadway, and Dyckman Express on Dyckman Street near 10th Avenue. Out of the sun, but still hot A new Mexican restaurant, Villa Patron, has opened on Dyckman Street near 10th Avenue. Located in the site where Coral seafood restaurant quickly opened and closed earlier a few months ago, Villa Patron offers low-priced traditional Mexican/Tex-Mex fare. The most expensive individual item on the menu is $13.50 – the Paella con Mariscos, which is made with lobster, shrimp, scallops, spicy chorizo, artichoke, onions “a bit of bacon” and saffron rice. The best deal, however, may be the Picada Familiar, marinated grilled strips of steak and chicken with sautéed peppers, onions, guacamole, pico de gallo, gold and soft tortillas. A serving for two costs $12.50, and a meal for four $25.00. Manhattan Times staffers ordered off the menu for lunch and gave an unqualified thumbs up to the delivery time, price and food. The location is seeking a liquor license, but was not given the support of Community Board 12 because of inconsistencies on the application and other lingering questions. The State Liquor Authority uses the board’s input when deciding whether to grant a license. Villa Patron, 104 Dyckman Street, 212-567-3966, open seven days a week 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Cheap eats east of Broadway Also easy on the wallet is Café Kolmaro, a breakfast and lunch spot on Sherman Avenue and W. 204th Street that is working out the kinks after its soft opening. The most expensive item on the menu is the $7 Kolmaro Burger, a bacon cheeseburger topped with guacamole and corn – and that’s after adding $2 to make it a platter with French fries and optional lettuce, tomato and pickle. A choice of vanilla or banana pancakes tops the breakfast menu for $3.50 and $3.95 respectively, and a BLT egg sandwich will set you back just $3. In addition to burgers, sandwiches include buffalo chicken and Salsalito turkey varieties, along with regular turkey and roast beef. (On a roll: $3.95; on a sub roll: $4.95.) A variety of paninis finishes off the lunch selection at $5.50 each. Café Kolmaro, 185 Sherman Avenue, 212-942-0136. Delivery starts the week of June 8. Fast Food – Guatemalan style A Pollo Campero, the massively popular Guatemala-born fast food chain, has set up shop on W. 180th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue. The location is the fifth in New York City – the other four are in Queens. On its Web site, Pollo Campero claims to be the leading restaurant chain from Latin America, serving 75 million customers per year. The Manhattan Times is the bilingual newspaper of Washington Heights and Inwood.
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