One decade into the new millennium, and still no flying cars. Yet, as far as consolation prizes go, we did pretty well in ’10. Alcoholic ice pops. Giant rooftops. Eataly. Okay, pretty great. Below, we take a look back at our favorite stories of 2010. As voted on by nobody but us.
New York has always been a city of secrets, hidden mysteries and off-menu burgers. But things changed with the Mac and Cheese Burger. Hereford beef. Four melted cheeses. Elbow macaroni. All combined into one buttery and structurally unstable patty. Soak it in.
If we had only been given tequila snow cones this year, it would have sufficed. But instead, both alcoholic juice boxes and beer pops were gifted to us in a veritable boozy bounty of reimagined childhood favorites. One can only speculate what 2011 will bring. Don’t rule out illicit Flintstones vitamins.
The war on drugs took a turn for the delicious in 2010, when an illegal grilled cheese dealer moved into the East Village. Low-profile handoffs in a nearby park. Unmarked bills exchanged for brown-bagged goods. The streets were flooded with some of the finest uncut melted American on the market. Like New York in the ’80s.
There are pizza parlors. There are Italian restaurants. And then there are city-states like Eataly. Batali and Bastianich proved that if you build it, and it takes up almost an entire city block, they will come. Also, hot sopressata and mozzarella panini helps.
They don’t make rock-and-roll clubs like they used to. Which is precisely why Nur Khan and Paul Sevigny (impresarios behind Kenmare) thawed out the decades-old Don Hill’s. All it took was a fresh coat of paint, some new bar-top stripper poles and an APB to nearby models before it was business as usual again.
For a fleeting moment this summer, New Yorkers cared about soccer. A pop-up World Cup stadium helped. There was a giant screen to watch the beautiful game, an open bar for hydration and plenty of speaker wattage to experience the mind-numbing hum of several hundred vuvuzelas. Or as you call it, eardrum hooliganism.
There’re a few crucial ingredients to a successful rooftop lounge: 360-degree views. Seasonal cocktails. Generous salumi plates. Now take that, blow it out by 3,000 square feet and throw in a wading pool and a bunch of couches. The result: a roof deck that roof decks want to hang out on.
Reimagining a classic: never an easy feat (hence why Hollywood has yet to remake Weekend at Bernie’s). But the Lambs Club (leather-wrapped handrails and all) making a triumphant return to the Manhattan power lunch scene: well played. Hardboiled eggs and Old Fashioneds never go out of style.
