September 29, 2008

Tasty and Not Overpriced






Greenwich Village, NY - Jake and I ate at a Pan-Asian restaurant on Sunday evening. The name of the restaurant is forgettable. I’ve been there twice and still can’t recall it. It’s on E. 8th and University. The food, however, is disproportionately good for the price we each paid — $11 for a “tasty sampler” of 3 items. It was perfectly light and satisfying fare for Sunday evening.

The restaurant proved one axiom wrong especially considering our location: That things New York are Tasty and Overpriced. Someone said this about another restaurant and I think it’s good enough to be generalized about living the life New York. After dinner, we dashed across E. 8th to Australian, an ice cream store, and shared one scoop of ice cream for $3.50.

Maybe the ice cream was overpriced. Still, Tasty and Overpriced as an axiom holds true. It represents the internal conversations about compromises or trade-offs New Yorkers make in their purchase habits living in this financially vulnerable time. We are all “squeezed.” Take me as example: I am searching for the job of my vision. Or take Jake: He owns a co-op on 5th Avenue and has been trying to sell his place for months with no buyer in sight. Yet Jake and I went to a movie, ate out, and shared ice cream. Make choices we must. Survive and thrive we must.

And I just remembered: The restaurant is Cafetasia.



Photo by Sean Dreilinger under Creative Commons License
http://flickr.com/photos/seandreilinger/