Thursday, January 6th, 2011—Bar 361
Day 361—Wednesday, January 5th, 2010
Slate
First off, another last minute donation, from friend, commentator, blogger and DJ extraordinaire, Gidget! Gidget sent in a generous donation with this message: “ok 20 bucks for you back home in peoria. and an extra five for good measure.” Thanks Gidget, that’s very generous. For those of you that don’t know Gidget started the 365 Facecrack fan page and maintains it with our resident artist, “Boris.” And she has a great radio show on Woody Radio, check it out here: Woody Radio.
I got a nice write up today on a friend of mine's blog. Check it out here: Groovyrick's Blog. Thanks, Rick, I'll see you soon on the bar crawl!
Okay, I’m not working tonight because tomorrow I’m traveling. Yes, that’s right, I’m traveling, as in flying out of New York City. What’s going on here? Well that’s for me to know and you to find out. Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah! Anyway, I need to find a place nearby because I still need to pack and get to bed early because my car service to the airport is coming at the ungodly hour of 7am. Yikes! Luckily I remembered a place I’ve been meaning to go to for a while, Slate on 21st Street which is just five short blocks away. We’ll be there before you know it. Watch.
See, here we are, let's go check it out.
Wow, a long and winding bar. And since it's four in the afternoon, there's tons of seats. You should see this place on the weekends, it's three deep at the bar then.
Here's Jamie, the friendly and pretty bartender serving up the first beer.
I'm keeping it down to my minimum of three beers tonight, because I still have to go home and pack. I need to keep my wits about me, my last trip I forgot my cell phone and camera charger. But I guess that's better than the time I left my suitcase at the Hilton Bar across from the O'Hare Airport and showed up at my parents house empty-handed at Christmas. Whoops! I think I'm the only person in the world who's mom says to him before he travels, "Now don't leave your suitcase at a bar on the way home again."
Peace, love, beers and cheers!
As you can see, it's a full bar in here, I don't think they're going to run out of booze anytime soon.
The bar from my point of view.
Louie was seated next to me at the bar. He's the manager/operator of Slate. He was very supportive of the 365 idea and was happy I chose Slate as my last New York bar. Last New York bar? Did I say that, well, never mind.
Here's a shot of the bar from the other end.
I found this lively crew up front by the door. From left: Abby, Carla, Nerissa and Colin. Nerissa is part of a blog called, Magenta Speakers that's part fashion, part music, part fun and part sex. Well I gotta check that out and so should you, here's a link to the blog: Magenta Speakers.
Here's the lit-up stairwell that leads to the pool tables and games on the second floor. "And she's buying a stairway to...billiards?"
There's lots of tournament style pool tables down here.
Foosball!
Ping pong!
And if you don't feel like playing games, you can always play the piano! I'm having a Bill's flashback.
Meanwhile back at the bar, Jamie's taking care of business.
Okay, my third beer is done, I have to go home and pack. God I hope I don't leave my luggage in a bar tomorrow. Goodnight, everybody!
Review
Alright, as I said up in the introduction I’m traveling today. And no I’m not saying where, but I don’t have time to write a review because the car service will be here any minute. Here’s a review from New York magazine (it's a critics pick).
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Like playing games with your date? Well, whether you're looking to work through dominance issues or you just want to meet up with friends to shoot some pool, this is the best billiard joint in Chelsea. Though it's not the cheapest place to rack 'em up, this well-lit bi-level pool hall maintains its tables beautifully. And unlike with many of its competitors, there's more than enough room between the tables: You'll actually spend more time between shots conversing with your own group than enduring the inevitable drama at nearby tables. There's also food available in the attractive upstairs dining room.
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Okay, I’m off! Stay tuned to see where my travels are taking me. Cheers!
Slate
54 W. 21st St. (Near Sixth Ave.)
212-989-0096
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Bonus art from The Chief!
The Chief who runs the fine Peoria Bar Review, sent in a piece of art he created at our Christmas stop, The Last Chance. The drawing is of someone I took a photo of. See if you can match it up! Thanks for the artwork, Chief!
6 References
Reader Comments (25)
Four to go, man. Safe travels, and Cheers.
@Fat Al: Thanks, I'm at the airport bar right now, tapping into their wifi. Cheers!
Marty, DON'T TELL ANYONE, but once when I arrived home for a visit, I opened my suitcase to unpack and a roach jumped out! "Greetings from The Big Apple!"
Caught him quick. Otherwise it'd probably be like a sitcom episode where the snake/guinea pig/pet rat escapes and hilarity ensues.
So much for the final destination being a secret ... Groovyrick's blog just gave it away !!!
@Grade "A" Karen: Your secret is safe with me!
@GENE: It really isn't much of a secret, I've pretty much told everybody, hello Peoria!
@Marty: You told me you were going to Australia and visiting Clacky's bar ???
Looks a nice bar to go to.
Have a good flight.
I just love that Overlook Hotel backlit bottle thing. Any friendly bar with lit up bottle display has my vote...one more down and four to go...Hoo Hoo Hoo...BOOYA!!!
@GENE: Someday I'll get to Clacky's bar and maybe the BBC will join me!
Great stop on the crawl and it's actually it is your LAST New York night out on it
(outside of the airport, weather, missed flights etc.)
I look forward to tagging up with you in the new few days.
Be safe.
Hope you remembered you PHONE this time!
Be in touch!
Nice one and cool that they have a piano in there. Add Jamie to the pretty bartender list and have a safe trip! To the final four!
@ Grade "A" Karen; There's a story in my second book, 'Two Fisted Customer Service Tales' involving a lady cab passenger and a cage full of rats similar to your roach story...HA!
@Jaws: that's what I thought when I saw the back of the bar,,,Overlook,,,the Shining,,,something about glass shelves and bottles. I like the curve of the bar also.
Wow! That's a serious game room! I don't think I'm good enough at anything to compete up there, but I wouldn't mind taking a seat at the long and winding bar. Those look like comfy seats and everyone seems super friendly in there. Plus, with that booze selection, I could order anything my little heart desires! Maybe I'll take in Ol' Mr. Boston and just start at page 1.
Safe travels, Marty! Four more bars. Holy crap.
4pm in a bar. That's my kind of schedule but foosball is pretty dull with one person and I don't play piano.
@365 and BBC: The bar is always open.That would be fucking awesome!! I'll go out and stock the bar!! Anyway you'd miss a day in transit and have to start all over again...
If only we could have got Letterman to countdown the last 10.
wait...wait...365 hits slate than he's on a skate outa nyc new york state...safe travel dude...before i get way off topic and really kill the komments...365 and the BBC at bunt custer would be really far out...hope to see that one day...slate a very interesting stop...the zig and zag of the bar...guess i would have to hit this place at 4 in the afternoon too...it's photo galley sorta shows it does get jammin'...KOC
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Pretty place. Awesome game room, lots of stuff to keep you there for a long time. Hope you had a good flight and have a nice visit back home to finish out your crawl.
Bar 365 at Bunt's! Sensational! I'll get in my car now and drive over. NSW coast right? Let me know the address!!!
@Clacky - will need a few beers to handle the disappointment of the Ashes campaign.
Marty !!!!!!! where are you goiiiiiiiing !!!!????? !!!!!!
Suspense!!!! suspense !!!!!!
Oh, personnaly, I went to school without my schoolbag when I was 13!! (we don't have school locker in France, you have to carry your stuff all long day!) The teachers called me "the Tourist" all long day and the principal punished me : I had to write 300 times "I don't come to scholl as a tourist" ... Since, I've become an alcoholic! AHHAHA
@Brooksy: Let me know, mate! The bar is (usually) open. I'll put some Coopers on ice....and, yes, Newcastle, NSW coast.
@ Zioum Zioum; That's ok Zioums, there's lots of alcoholic tourists around, Go knows, I've had enough of them for Passengers!
@Everyone: Thanks for the comments and nice wishes, I'm going to be internet-challenged for the rest of the bar crawl, so I won't be able to comment back as much as I usually do, but I appreciate all of you chiming in. Three to go!