Friday, May 28th, 2010—Bar 138
Day 138—Thursday, May 27th, 2010
Temple Bar
Ding, ding, ding! Yes the PayPal donation buzzer is once again ringing and it’s a generous donation from Shannon Kennedy, who yesterday sent in $2.70 to tip the bathroom attendant and it turned out there was indeed a bathroom attendant at the bar I went to (Hiro Ballroom.) Shannon writes stories in her blog called, Green Monkey Tales and yesterday she wrote a moving piece about her son Kerry. You can read it here: Over The Rainbow. I left a comment and Shannon sent in a more than generous donation of 27 dollars with the stated purpose of: “Cheers to Kerry.” Thank you so much Shannon and your blog got me thinking about life and its twists and turns and it was a good set up for the bar crawl that happened on Thursday. I’ll explain in the next paragraph. But before that, "Cheers to Kerry, indeed!"
To me, life is an ever-changing intersection of people that you meet along the way where your journey leads you. Some of these people are just a nod and a smile and I’ll never see you again people and others that you meet have a profound effect on your life and they even change the directon of it. This week I heard from three people that changed my life in oh so many ways and I always wonder if they really know how they re-directed the course of my life. Here’s the story morning glories.
In 1993 I had been publishing, editing and writing a magazine called People of Peoria in my hometown of Peoria, Illinois. It was a magazine where pretty much anything went and the three templates I borrowed from to create it were the National Lampoon, Mad magazine and People magazine. Sometime that year I got a call from a woman named Julie Reynolds who had moved back to Peoria from California. She had seen my magazine and wanted write for it. So we had lunch and I was the type of editor that if you agreed to have lunch with me, you could write for my magazine. I don’t know why all editors don’t operate like this, but I guess it’s just the way of the world. So we had lunch and she told me she had written for the Pekin Daily Times a newspaper in a neighboring town and that they used freelancers. Julie said the editors there were cool and I should call them and maybe try and write for them.
Now while I was doing my own magazine, deep down I really did want the validation of being published by a newspaper or magazine. I wanted to see my name in a byline in a publication that I wasn’t paying to produce. So I took Julie’s advice and called the paper and talked with one of the editors, Kevin Kaufman. Kevin was a great guy and liked my magazine and my writing and agreed to let me write a story on three private investigators in Pekin, Illinois. I wrote the story, turned it in and then Kevin introduced me to the Editor of the paper, Kent Davy.
Kent’s a nice guy, who isn’t an overwhelming person, but when he says something, it usually is worth hearing. One of the things he said to me after seeing my wacked-out Peoria version of People magazine was, “Have you ever sent this to Dick Stolley in New York?”
I answered back, “Who’s Dick Stolley?”
Kent simply said, “Sit down.”
He then explained that Dick Stolley was the founding editor of People magazine and he was from Pekin, Illinois. And he started writing for the Pekin Daily Times when he was 16-years-old. Kent said he’d probably get a kick out of my magazine and my stories from the Pekin Daily Times and I should send them to him.
So I did.
I ended up meeting Dick Stolley and he turned out to be a great guy and a good friend through the years. In our first meeting he asked how my magazine was doing and I confessed that it was doing horribly because I couldn’t sell ads for it, even though the newsstand sales were good. He said to me, “Have you ever thought about moving to New York?”
And I hadn’t. But then I did. And soon I cashed in my pension fund from a job I had worked at for 13 years, moved to New York, Dick got me interviews at People, Entertainment Weekly and In Style and I learned that I wasn’t Time, Inc. employable, but I was in New York City. I started freelancing and snared bylines in some of the weekly papers and then two of the dailys, and some magazines. I got a night job, started another magazine which became a cult hit, but bled money like magazines can do, wrote a couple books, learned how to do websites and now I’m going to 365 bars in 365 days.
And it all started with Julie Reynolds suggesting I call the editors at the Pekin Daily Times. Life is full of weird twists and turns and if you're reading this, you're sharing one of the many twists my life has taken in the last few decades.
Well, tonight, the man who suggested I send Dick Stolley my magazine is my special guest star on the bar crawl. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s my honor to introduce...
Kent Davy the man who gave me my first newspaper byline, seated in my apartment enjoying a can of Budweiser. Kent is now the editor of North County Times in California. Check the newspaper out online here: North County Times.
Kent and I enjoyed beers and a dinner at the Chat 'n' Chew restaurant which will be featured soon on this bar crawl.
We were going to The Temple Bar to meet some friends of Kent's and along the way we walked by my first place of employment, 611 Broadway. I worked for nights here for Sarabande Press owned by Joe Freedman. The building always brings back memories and I showed Kent where Sarabande used to be located.
I spent a lot of time in the hallway, smoking cigarettes in this building, here's a reenactment.
Okay, onto tonight's bar crawl destination, The Temple Bar.
It's old school New York wooden and red velvet ambiance inside here.
And we were greeted warmly by Jessica who quickly served up two bottles of imported beer.
Kent receives a text saying his friends are on the way.
And through the magic of the internet, here they are! From left, Kent, Eric, Varinda and Jinda. They're great people to hang out with and you need to check out Eric's coupon website here: 10 Local Coupons.
The Temple Bar is a nice place for cocktails and converstation. Here I'm telling Varinda, Jinda and Eric about the 17,009 hits of acid I took while in high school. That's right, I single-handedly put the "high" back in high school.
The side room has a lounge atmosphere with tables and comfortable velvet couches.
Kelley was enjoying a drink and waiting for her friend Alex who has written and is starring in this play: The Common Air. I plan on seeing this play and will feature it in an upcoming crawl episode.
Just some of the top shelf liquor available at the Temple Bar.
Christine was the other bartender on duty. She's a knowledgable mixologist and is studying to be a wine sommelier.
Popcorn!
Christene and Michael were on their way out, but graciously posed for a picture before they headed out. Michael's a DJ, check out his website here: Salsa-Berlin.
Varinda and Jinda, two beautiful and fun sisters who brightened up tonight's bar crawl.
Pedro was enjoying a martini at the end of the bar. Cheers!
Kent edits my notes and you can see how well I take direction. It was great to see Kent again and meet his wonderful friends! Goodnight everybody!
Review
The Temple Bar is an elegant, red velvet and dark wooden two-roomed bar that is somewhat quiet and the staff is friendly and the vibe inside is comfortable and relaxing. The bar in the front room zigs and zags in a wooden curly-cue fashion, the music is low-key and it’s a good place to sip cocktails and enjoy conversation with friends and patrons of the bar. There’s tables in the back room for larger groups and dining. The Temple Bar is a perfect first date bar with lighting guaranteed to show you at your best. Just watch out for that early morning light the next day though, it can be a killer.
The Temple Bar has top shelf liquor with eleven international vodka choices, twenty different bottles of gin and an extensive wine list. The bartenders are talented mixologists and can help guide you with a choice of a specialty drink or explain the wine list to you. The bottled beer choices include: Victory Storm King Stout, Sapporo, Grolsch and Chimay Grand Reserve. The Temple bar also has a generous selection of specialty drinks including: Black Crow Cocktail which is, vodka, kahlua and Vietnamese coffee; The Pisco Sour which is a mixture of pisco, lime juice and egg white and a Ginger Highball which is gold rum, lime, lavender and ginger.
If you want a little food to soak up some of the cocktails, the kitchen is open till midnight and some of the choices for snacks include: Temple Bar Guacamole, Steamed Chinese Dumplings, Potato Pancakes and Organic Deviled Eggs.
Happy Hour runs Monday through Friday, 5pm-7pm, featuring $8-$9 specialty cocktails and free bar snacks. The Temple Bar is a nice, elegant bar with a friendly, attitude-free staff that makes for a nice enjoyable night on the town.
Temple Bar
332 Lafayette St. (@Bleecker St.)
212-925-4242
3 References
Reader Comments (21)
hey was gonna do a plug. but.. nice story nuff said
Great review and a great crowd you had crawling with you.
Thanks for posting Shannon's link.
I read the story about her son Kerry.
It moved me to tears.
What a wonderful tribute.
I read it more than once, each time with "blurred" vision.
The crawl is so much more now.
It's more a "Crash" of people, of lives and emotions.
This project is the best thing you've done and it has become so multi faceted now.
Proud to be a small part of it.
Cheers.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend.
Let's indeed remember those whose memories we still cherish.
Amen.
"Boris"
Thanks Nick and "Boris," this was a special crawl indeed!
Oh Marty! This has to be one of my favorite reviews you've done. How friggen awesome for you! I love how much 365 is growing and bringing people together like this, Im just glad to be a part of this by getting to read all about it.
Great crawl. Loved Shannon's touching story and your tale of how you got to New York! I agree with Boris, this thing is is a multi-layered project you got going on. To Kent, Kerry and to you, Marty! Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone!
great story!
I have been reading your posts from a couple of months and this one was what most surprised me.
thank you for share the crawl with us.
Fernando
Fantastic review, one of your best. I like how you always keep things lively and different yet similar. The bar review to this bar is so perfect in detail that I wish I was there right now at the Temple. This is the kind of bar that I like, dark with lots of wood. Every review ive read so far follows a certain guideline but they are all very unique. Also I like the fact that you sprinkle a little profanity in there to keep it real. You seem to give every bar a chance unless the staff is rude, then all bets are off, which is very fair.
wow, this was sure an emotionally charged post, from kerrys story at shannons green monkyey blog to your tale of movng to new york and your friend kent. and what a fitting video at the end, it actually made me teary eyed, but in a good way. and i love the temple bar. keep on the crawl, im loving it!
Ahhh... a quiet get together with cherished friends you haven't seen in God only knows how long surrounded by the quiet dignity of old school men's club style wood paneling and red velvet...what a rare and lovely way to spend an evening. And the beauteous bartender babe-age parade continues at 365. Great post, man!
this is by far my favorite post.... that being said, I'd be sneaky if I didn't confess its the second I've read and I'm in it. Thank you for bringing Kerry into the light. Out of all the things I've done to memorialize him I think this ranks as one of his favorites - if you happen to see a green monkey along your travels or a penny tale side up OR an " in your face 27"...thats a sign from Kerry!
His death has taught me a lot about living and I'm glad you TOO see the bigger picture - its about the people and the experiences and the lessons learned..... and love :)
One of the things I've done to honor Kerry is to go to Burning Man - this will be my 8th year. It's a long story - it starts at "why Green Monkey" - at the top of my blog. My intention is NOT to promote me so much as it is to talk Kerry. Love talking Kerry :) because he really isn't gone...I swear!
Burning Man is a crazy place to go when you're a mother from Connecticut (a security specialist no less) but the events and people I've met here have had a profound effect on my life. and, I'm proud to say, I continue to grow and learn ...deliberately.
Glad to read about Julie, Kent and Kevin. Good friends indeed! its almost martini time here in Greenwich... hey, there are some interesting bars here if you care to catch the train! just a suggestion ... :)
I'm happy to spread Kerry's good word, Shannon! And I'll try and work a stop in Greenwich on the crawl, I'll let you know! To Kerry!
Your friends have GREAT smiles!! Same with everyone else at Temple Bar. Looks like a really nice place filled with happy folks. Perfect place to hang out. Doesn't hurt that they have guacamole (me likey). And that Ginger Highball sounds delicious. You could probably even dab a little behind your ears and use it as a cologne! Anyway, glad you had fun with old and new friends. Hope you have a great three-day weekend (you don't have to work, do you?)
Beautiful words, Shannon. Cheers to Kerry, indeed!
@Biff: I am off! Hooray!
Beautiful post Marty
what about the MONKEY BAR!!! just me sticking my neck out
wow, I read Shannons story about her son and just cried..So glad she was able to share.
And Marty thank you for opening up your life this year for everyone to come together. it all suits a purpose.
Thanks Gidget and to all for leaving such nice comments today. Sometimes some of these posts are a little magical and this one truly was.
Thank you for sharing Shannon's blog link with us. Her blogs are so very moving and quite enlightened.
Temple Bar looks like a wonderful place to enjoy the company of nice friendly people and great drinks. I am with Biff, I LOVE guacamole!
It was so wonderful that Kent Davy could join you. I like the picture of the note editing. LOL!
Thank you
@Tiki Bar Susie, you're more than welcome! Happy to have you along and appreciate your nice commentary!
Really Nice story, Marty! and Oh yes : "I always wonder if they really know how they re-directed the course of my life"! I often wonder that too!!
And also, I wonder if Marty Wombacher know how he re-directed the course of my life? ;) LOL
You helped me allot through my writings with my zioum blog, I was near to give up at the time and you helped me to find self confidence again, even with all the very bad critics I got for this project. I don't write anymore since you re-directed the course of my life again by introducing Jason to me!! My love life was a hell and you showed me the door of the paradise!
But zioums are not dead, they just got mute and went back to their planet since too much subjects are still....... "%$& shhhhhh.... &%!!! shut the fuck up zioum zioum!!! biiiiip HALT Sarkozy Land! Censured!" .... Well, you know that since you are a writer too, But the difference is that I can't write cool things like you do and I'm too much crazy, cynical and I just can't stop to write about what's going on with this world, so It's better if I stop to write before to get an anal jesus hole probe !!! So I'm not sure to be a famous writer like you in my life, so I'll become a famous translator, and I could translate your books into french, spanich and russian soon!! or maybe a famous painter? I went back to my paintings,and my zioums extraterrestrial look great in painting :D
I'll take the time to read Shannons blog tomorrow :)
TO MARTY! Cheers!!!
Good to see you back here, Zioum Zioum, I look forward to seeing you on the bar crawl soon!