Day 320—Thursday, November 25th, 2010
Ryan's Daughter
It’s Thanksgiving and before I go to tonight’s bar, I’m going to have my Thanksgiving dinner. My friend Joanna invited me to her dinner last year after finding out I had no place to go to. It turned out to be a lot of fun, good food and a few drinks as well. She invited me back this year and so that’s where the bar crawl will start out. And then I’ll waddle over to tonight’s bar, Ryan’s Daughter, which I’ve been meaning to go to and it’s just about five blocks from Joanna’s apartment, so it works out perfectly. Okay, time to put on the old feedbag and start up Thanksgiving!
I love Manhattan on Thanksgiving because everybody leaves to go somewhere else for Thanksgiving and the streets empty out for once. Joanna lives on the Upper East Side, so let's go hail a cab.
It seems you can't escape TV sets these days, they even have them in cabs and they ruin the scenery.
So I'll glance out the side window and ignore the thing. As you can see, it's a bit of a rainy day outside, but it's better than snow. That'll be here all too soon.
And through the magic of the internet, here we are and Thanksgiving has begun! Here's the lovely hostess Joanna with her two daughters, Winkin' and Blinkin.' Let the festivities begin!
The table's all set and the turkey will make its appearance in due time. First let's meet some of the other guests.
Here's Jason whom you've seen on this blog before, but usually he's pictured with Zioum Zioum, but she's all the way back in France. Maybe that's why Jason looks so glum. Cheer up, Jason, it's a holiday!
And here's Sebastian, who's motto is: "An apple a day, brings another week's pay."
John poses with Blinkin' who's transformed herself into a combination of Santa Claus and a catwoman.
While the rest of us have a drink or three, Joanna's busy making a string bean dish that was the hit of the evening.
Hey, it's Thanksgiving, time to put this Halloween shit away!
And the first course is served! John made this dish of fresh antipasto and it's made from an Italian family recipe that's been handed down through the years. It was delicious and I ate too much of it.
A few beers later and it's turkey time! The bird looks beautiful and I'm not sure, but I think Sebastian supplied the apple.
Gobble...
Gobble...
Gobble...I'm not a mind reader, but I think Joanna's thinking, "Will you put that goddamn camera down and eat your dinner?"
Gobble...
And of course since it's Thanksgiving, somebody had to flip the bird, so I decided to be the guy.
Okay, now everyone is completely stuffed. A wonderful Thanksgiving dinner!
These two watched the festivities rather nervously fearing that they may be the next birds in the oven.
And the tryptophan kicks in, part I! I thanked Joanna and everyone and headed out for tonight's bar before I fell asleep.
And here we are, Ryan's Daughter, let's see if anyone else is out tonight.
As I suspected, not a huge crowd, so there's plenty of places to sit.
Mike the friendly bartender serves up a vodka and orange juice. I was afraid if I had another beer on top of all the food I'd explode.
The bar is known for having free bags of potato chips scattered all over and here's a pile of them.
And here I am with a bag of them. I didn't open them as I could barely fit a few drinks into my filled to the brim stomach.
Joe was having a drink at the end of the bar and had a duck umbrella handy in case he didn't find any turkey. Luckily the turkey was found and the duck is safe for another year.
A poster of the movie that the bar is named after hangs on the wall.
And just in case you don't happen to see that one, another poster hangs next to it.
There's a pool table in the back and on most night's its probably pretty busy. This isn't most nights it's Thanksgiving, so it's not in use.
Tables and stools sit opposite the pool table.
A shot from the opposite end of the long, wooden bar. Hey two more people are down there, let's go say hi.
The two lovely women are Peggy and Shana. But who's Mickey?
Why it's none other than Mick the bartender who just came on duty to relieve Mike. In accordance with the bar's theatrical name, they also have a theatre company and they put on plays in the space above the bar occasionally. Mick's a thespian in the group and told me their last play was titled: "A Man Walks Into A Bar." I wish I could've seen that one, as usual my timing is great.
Mashha lives in the neighborhood and told me she loves the bar.
Joe told me he was part of some Scandinavian group, but my notes are garbled and I couldn't find the website. Feel free to put it in the comments section, Joe.
And the tryptophan kicks in, part II! Okay, maybe the drinks had something to do with it too. Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving and goodnight, everybody!
Review
Alright, I have the day off and I have a ton of things to do, so I’m going to copy and paste the review of Ryan’s Daughter from New York magazine. And here it is!
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Among the crush of the UES frat-boy establishments (the Big Easy, Aces & Eights) is this pub venerated by neighborhood old-timers. And by old-timers, we mean an over-30 post-work crowd and longtime Yorkville locals. Movie memorabilia—mostly from the namesake seventies David Lean film about an Irish girl smitten with a British soldier—line the walls, along with vintage photos of Dubliners and assorted tchotchkes like a collection of beer steins, cast-iron pots, and a saddle. Two prosthetic legs hang from the ceiling behind the bar. The twelve-inch TVs with dodgy reception have finally been replaced with flat-screens, but the Chuck E. Cheese–style basketball game still stands in for darts. The staunchly anti-gimmick attitude (unless you count the free bags of chips on tables in the back) and slightly dated aura make Ryan’s Daughter the sort of cozy neighborhood haunt you’d want on your block. Try their amber house ale on tap—it’s somewhere between a Guinness and a Sam Adams. — Abbe Benson & Rachel Wolff
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I really want to thank Joanna for having me over to another wonderful and fun Thanksgiving feast! A great time was had by all!
Ryan's Daughter
350 E. 85th St. (Near First Ave.)
212-628-2613