Manhattan

 A very dear friend of mine is leaving the city this weekend. The hustle and bustle is not for everyone I guess, and I truly respect her desicion- as long as she is happy I’m happy for her. So we decided to drown our sorrows and have our last New York City dinner tonight with some fantastic sangria and tapas at Pipa.

We’re not quite organized enough to reserve a table so we had to wait about an hour at the bar. (NOTE:Learn from my faults please, calling ahead is ALWAYS a great idea). The bar was crowded and some weirdo old guy kept reaching over my chair and knocking my purse down, so I didn’t have much opportunity to take the whole scene in yet.

When we finally got our table and sat down, I noticed that the entire ceiling was dripping in diamonds. There may very well have been a hundred chandeliers hanging from every square inch of the ceiling, dimmly lighting the large room and casting a moody, enchanting shadow. These very unique chandeliers also had price tags dangling between the glimmering crystals. All of these fixtures, as well as the tables we sat at, were for sale. Those clever cats over at ABC Carpet & Home, stocked the casa de yum with glammed out goods all available for purchase. Although they were a bit out of my budget, what fit perfectly into my budget was the delectable tapas we washed down with lots of sangria. We opted for the melt-in-your-mouth scallops, tangy and hot calamari, and fabulous garlic shrimp.

 Parting is such sweet sorrow, but getting full (and a little drunk) at Pipa is definitely a joyous occasion.

Pipa, 38 E. 19th St, 212-677-2233

You Spin Me Right Round, Baby.

Right Round.

Theme restaurants are très cheesy. They invest all their energy into creating a space-age, grease-lightening, or prehistoric atmosphere while the food is so-so, and you end up feeling silly for hanging out in Barney’s V.I.P. room. So when a friend suggested brunch at VYNL this past weekend, I was reluctant, but pleasantly surprised.

All three convenient locations: Hell’s Kitchen, UES, UWS and Chelsea have just enough “vynl” to be funky and fun without drowning you in some roller-disco, tripped out amusement park of a café.

Plates were about ten bucks each, fabulously yummy, and were interesting enough without being weird. The service was great and not one server said “groovy” or offered to take a souvenir photo.

They have generous drink specials Mon-Sun including $3 draft beers and $6 Absolute concoctions- not too shabby for The Vogue Cit-ay.

Grab a bite and see for yourself, or hit their bar for some chart-topping bevs. Click on www.vinyl-nyc.com. Rock on!

Xx

L

Pay whatever you wish Fridays from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Whitney Museum of American Art (800-WHITNEY [944-8639]; whitney.org ); Thursdays from 5 to 9 at the Jewish Museum (212-423-3200; thejewishmuseum.org ); and Fridays from 6 to 8 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (212-423-3500 ; guggenheim.org ). Pay what you want every day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Cloisters (212-535-7710 ; metmuseum.org ). The Museum of Modern Art (212-708-9400 ; moma.org ), meanwhile, is free from 4 to 8 on Fridays.

It sure seems like it’s getting harder to eat for cheap these days: even a slice of pizza costs more! (Side note: remember to be tactful when you’re on line at a pizzeria. Don’t grumble about the new price. It’s not the fault of the people who work in the pizzeria that the price of milk–and thus cheese, and thus pizza–went up). You can still eat for pretty darn cheap in this town if you know where to go, and that’s nothing to grumble about. One of the best ways to eat cheap is to go ethnic. Ethnic eateries have the best ratio of cheap and well prepared (well, most of the time). Here are a few you shouldn’t miss.
Pho Sho’

Vietnamese cuisine is among the best there is. It’s flavorful, healthy, satisfying, and usually quite cheap. At Pho Bang in Chinatown, you can get a scrumptious bowl of pho–rice noodle soup–$4.95. There are 13 different versions of the soup to be had here, so bring friends so you can try them all. 157 Mott Street between Broome and Grand.

Cheap Chicken

No one serves chicken like Pollos a la Brasa Mario (or Pollos Mario, as locals call it). This Colombian joint serves up delicious rotisserie chicken at an unbeatable price–$4.25 for half a chicken. That’s enough for two, maybe three meals, but at that price you don’t have to ration. They also serve Colombian specialties like camarones a la plancha, avocado salad, oxtail soup and more. The seafood soup is believed to have curative powers, so if you have a bad sore throat, order up a bowl. There are several locations in Queens, all conveniently located and easily accessible by subway: 81-01 Roosevelt Avenue, Jackson Heights; 82-03 37th Avenue, Jackson Heights; 40-19 Broadway, Astoria.

Uzbek? U bet!

Uzbek cuisine might not inspire much in your imagination, if anything, but Uzbekistan’s national cuisine can hold its own in a fight. Head to Vostok (wich means “east” in Russian) and try lamb pilaf for $6.50 or delicious beef kebabs for only $2.� 5507 13th Avenue at 55th Street, Borough Park, Brooklyn.

Curry Me

They love baseball at Go!Go! Curry, so it should come as no surprise that the food is a homerun. Fill up on shrimp, chicken, pork or sausage curry with white rice while you watch the game. 273 W 38th Street.�

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