ANTHIDOTE

I was in NYC last month working for a few days and a local friend of mine suggested I go check out a place in Soho called La Esquina for dinner.  I was on my own that night and decided to shoot down to Soho to find this place and see what all the fuss was about.  After talking the subway and walking a few blocks in the NYC night I made it.  I was told to try to get down below because there is a room that is pretty cool and sometimes you run into people like Slash and Lenny Kravitz and who knows who else.  When I got there two big bouncers met me at the door and literally blocked my way to the downstairs area.  They asked me if I had a reservation (I did not).  Then they told me without one I had two choices – upstairs at the window bar or 10 feet around the corner and their cafe.  I said I’d go to the cafe.  They said “we guess you will”.  I love the matter-of-factness of NYC.  The food was excellent and for NYC frankly it was cheap.  $10 and maybe $20 with a little extra.  The room was very cool, dim, full, and with a floor to ceiling collection of LP records.  And best of all they served my favorite Mexican drink – Agua de Horchata, a sort of milky sweet rice water with canela.  If you have time in NYC, you ought to check this place out.  It was possibly the best flavored Mexican food I have had outside of Mexico.  Next time I’m booking a table in the basement.