New York City

Remember when I said the mac and cheese at Delicatessen hurt my stomach. Well, they must have read that and laughed in my pretty face because the creative masterminds behind Cafeteria and it’s Soho sister have launched their newest ode to America’s cheesiest staple – Macbar. Between Delicatessen and McNally Jackson on Prince street you will find a glowing orange light. If you’re distracted trying to catch a glimpse of Chuck Bass, you could very well miss it. It’s teeny tiny.

Macbar sort of reminds me of the Rice to Riches of mac and cheese, albeit smaller and more futuristic. There are three, maybe four two top tables on the left, a standing bar or trash section on the right and you order due south. A flat screen menu highlights the day’s mac and cheeses, and your order shoots out on the right. They have duck confit mac and cheese, lobster mac and cheese, chicken mac and cheese with chipotle or cayenne pepper or something spicy that has since slipped my mind. There is a pizza-esque mac and cheese with basil and tomato sauce. Pick that one. That one is good.

Then you can add some ranch (gross) or bacon and breadcrumb (gross again) or pepper (okay, we’ll take it) and head out. Yeah, you have to head out because it’s teeny in there. So why love Macbar? Mainly because it’s open late, so after you have too many cocktails you can stuff your face with noodles rather than tacos. When you have on six inch heels La Esquina seems very far away. However, no guarantees you won’t wake up with a belly ache.

Macbar 54 Prince Street between Lafayette and Spring; 212-226-8877

Emma Dinzebach

Remember when you had a t-shirt that said “Team Aniston” or “Team Jolie”? Imagine one with a corn on the cob sketch and printed on the bottom “Team Habana” or “Team Esquina.” Which one would you buy? I know; it’s a really hard question, but one I was set on solving. Having resided in Nolita for the past five years, I’ll give it to Cafe Habana for being the neighborhood corn making veteran. But this is New York! And what are we if not competitive. So along came La Esquina and their hoity toity downstairs and Yukons parked outside and yadda yadda and John Mayer looking all fine.

Unfortunately, it took me a while to warm up to the idea of friendly on top, snobby on bottom. (And being a neighborhood regular, I never even experienced the snobby on bottom first hand. Thus, it took me a bit to warm up to “Skeener,” as my brother calls it. But once I did, I realized there are some wonderful palate pleasers Skeener does that Habana does not. For instance the soup and the chicken tacos with cabbage. On the other hand, no one rivals Habana’s mole or the rice and beans or the Cuban pork sandwich.

Ah, such the dilemma. Well, fortunately there is enough difference – after all, Habana is Cuban – that one isn’t forced to make a decision unless, you want corn. If you have never had the corn, then honestly, you are not a New Yorker or you’ve had braces since moving to Gotham. It is buttery, spicy, limey deliciousness dipped in Mexican cotija cheese. So here it goes, the face off, the battle, the true but biased, somewhat honest testament to years of research on who has the best Mexican corn.

Personally, I like when the corn is a little charred on the outside, and sometimes Cafe Habana doesn’t really get enough char action for me. Buuuut… the guy who makes it and has that big barrel of corn and just keeps grilling it and grilling it all day long is just so sweet. I don’t think they sell as much corn at Skeener, but it could also be because the order comes with just one corn, not two. At Cafe Habana there are two corns per order, which is an advantage unless you’re ordering by yourself because you will eat both. Don’t let the word corn fool you. It may be a vegetable, but Mexican corn is no health food.

Delivery: Cafe Habana wins hands down. I think the foil paper La Esquina wraps their corn in keeps the heat in too much making the kernels a bit mushy. I live super close to La Esquina, so if it gets mushy in the block and half to my apartment I can’t imagine living on Houston and Mott.

But when someone asks me which I prefer, right off the top of my head I say La Esquina. I’m not sure why. Maybe because it is always perfectly charred…? Or maybe because it’s closer to me. If Cafe Habana could consistently char their corn properly every single time, then maybe… Ah, hell. It’s a tie.

Bring floss.

Cafe Habana  17 Prince Street @ Elizabeth; 212-625-2001 

La Esquina 106 Kenmare @ Lafayette St; 212-613-7100

Emma Dinzebach     

In my all but futile attempt to save $12,000 I’ve had to give up some luxuries and scour the internet for deals. My latest mission: how to get a fabulous frock for just a few bucks? I know the traditional New York City discount haircuts, which include The Aveda Institute‘s $20 dos cut by semi-seasoned students and Bumble & Bumble‘s slightly edgier Monday night cuts, but decided there are some things a girl grows out of and cheapy haircuts is one of them. Plus, once I tried the whole $20 haircut and ended up sitting for three hours while the poor student slowly snipped away strand by strand.

I browsed a bit on Craigslist’s “free” tab and saw some dollarless offers, but each required sitting for a certain type of cut – bob, perm, with curly hair, with cowlick, without color, etc. I just wanted my long layerish cut shaped up minus the style restrictions. Free things don’t always come easy my friends, so if you aim to score something awesome without opening your pocketbook, some patience will be in order. And in Recessionville, USA, you better start looking a few weeks before you need the actual cut and act quickly if you see anything that might suit you. In the follow up emails you can evaluate the legitimacy, inquire into their experience and the salon and measure your instincts. But in the initial email just say your name, number and when you are available. They have a lot of responses and won’t reply if you ask a barrage of questions off the bat.

One Saturday morning, I saw an ad from a hairdresser asking for a long-haired model for promotional purposes. From my understanding, the salon was hurting for business and decided offering free cuts would increase marketing via word of mouth. It turns out the Oscar Bond Salon I visited around the turn of the millennium changed face to a Sam Brocato Salon where I was to meet the hairdresser.

I walked in and was greeted like any paying customer. They offered water, lemonade, coffee, tea and wine! (I had the wine, duh.) Then she lathered and massaged my noggin, questioned my hair’s aspirations during a very thorough consultation and began cutting. I was in and out in an hour, which was perfect since I went at lunch. It was wonderful and honstesly one of the better haircut and styling experiences I’ve had. It turns out, she has worked in that salon for six years.The following week, I had a friend who owns a nearby salon ask if I’d sit as a hair model for one of his employees just for a blow out. I was short on time that day, but reluctantly agreed. Well, when it comes to your locks, trust your gut. I ended up being there for two hours, one and a half of which was spent actually drying my fine mid-length hair. I for sure smelled it burning at one point. Needless to say, a free blow dry is probably something to pass on. If the person doesn’t even know how to blow dry hair, you don’t want to go to them.

However, if you see an ad for a hair model by a woman named Yasue Ida at Sam Brocato Salon, jump on that. She’ll rock your locks.

Last Saturday there was a queue 200 people long at the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. Like the queue on their website, Saturday’s line snaked out of the park and down 23rd street on the park’s south end. Notorious for brutal lines, Shake Shack did add a “Shack Cam” to their website so you can view the horrendous line. The tag line reads “Save Time, Check the Line,” but I’m not really sure if that saves time or just deters people from going at all. Lucky for line haters, the wonderful Shake Shack expanded to Upper West Side.
Note: For those of you living underneath a rock, Shake Shack is Danny Meyer’s pet project, fast food stand that opened in Madison Square Park (right near his beloved Tabla and 11 Madison) in the steamy summer of 2003. Shake Shack salutes Meyer’s St. Louis heritage by using frozen custard rather than ice cream for their sundaes and shakes and grilling thin burgers that mimic places in St. Louis like Steak ‘n Shake and Carl’s Drive In. They also have portobello and chicken burgers, hotdogs and Pooch-Inis for you for your four legged friend.

For loyal Shackers, here’s some new news that you might already know. It might be quicker to take the subway to the Upper West Side and wait in their, always shorter, queue. In fact, it is. On Saturday afternoon when my brother and I saw the 200 person line, I hopped on the subway UWS bound to see if I could beat him. I ordered to take away and had a nice little chat with fellow patron Blake DiMarco about the whole Shake Shack expansion experience. She said, and I quote “With their pillow like potato bun and fresh ingredients, ShackBurgers do not disappoint.” Then she went on to say that the UWS staff are friendlier – probably because they don’t have to deal with sweaty, tired line-waiters. Upon her suggestion, I ended up also getting a caramel frozen custard concrete with almonds, brownie bites and other health food accessories. It was well worth the belly ache.

Then I hopped back on the subway to meet my brother, hoping our perfect timing would allow us to eat together. Um, not the case. He was still at least seven people from ordering. Moral of the food reviewer’s story: Shake Shack is so delicious that I took two subway rides to get my fix. So go on…shack up.
Note: Met’s fans can shack up at the new Shake Shack Citifield!