I’m Becoming a Cave Man

On Saturday night, I was having a very typical debate with my beautiful wife: what should we do? Comedy? Dinner? Games? Drinking? Then we decided to do them all, and the only place you can accomplish that in Long Island City is The Creek and the Cave at 10-93 Jackson Ave and 48^th. One of LIC’s originals, like its other founding father,  Sweetleaf, this one-stop shop for a great evenings worth of activities has no trouble balancing its life as a stand-up comedy venue, a Mexican restaurant, a bar, a theater and a pinball alley.

As we walked into the space, we made a left-turn one door too soon and walked into their comedy venue; a dark, low-ceiling space that was warming up for the evening’s main attraction: “Old, New, Borrowed and Blue” a set of seasoned improvisation vets coming together. Later on that evening, around midnight, was a live reading of the movie Resevoir Dogs. As it was only 8 o’ clock, and we were starving, we retraced our steps and walked into the second door, which lead us into a brighter Mexican Restaurant, notable for its burritos, delicious margaritas and lively scene.  The place isn’t decorated with particular flair – it relies on its Cal-Mex menu and its surroundings for its scene. The bar and kitchen were towards the back of the space;  a stair case lead downstairs (more about that later) and there was a door that lead into the comedy venue. The night was tee’d up for us to have a great time.

Upon sitting, we were immediately given chips and salsa – a nice way to start the meal. We ordered a large guac ($6.95) to accompany it. There were some drink specials for the evening, including a free PBR for any attendees of the comedy (very special note: otherwise, tallboys of PBR were $3!). My friend ordered an $8 Pineapple Margarita which actually appeared (and tasted) to be fresh. Something that caught our eye immediately was the menu’s explicit mention of the fact that substitutions were ok. It reinforced the idea that everyone was just here to have a good time. The rest of us each ordered a Singlecut Lager ($6). A respectable amount of time later, we each received our food: me the “Taco Al Carbon” platter ($12), three generously filled tacos served with brown rice and beans; my wife the Yoga Burrito ($10) served with avocado, corn, red onions, tomatoes, black beans and chicken; and for my friends an order of more-Texas-than-Mexican chili ($8) and an extremely large “Burrito Extremo” ($9) served with flavorful ground beef, cheddar and jack cheeses, pico de gallo, lettuce and sour cream.

Just a few more words about the food, since this review is trying to be encompassing of the experience. It was all delicious. Really fulfilling – both sating and satiating.  I think that when a person or a place tries to be a jack of all trades, it becomes the master of none. In this case, the Creek and the Cave hasn’t mastered Mexican Food per se, but it doesn’t want to be. It just wants to be great and that it is. None of us were able to finish our plates and we all agreed that Cave food is worth coming back for. But we were ready for more.

So we ventured downstairs with full stomachs seeking out a way to digest, and we found it in the form of seveb pinball machines, all in pristine condition. Each game was $0.75 or three credits for $2. The nerd in me immediately went to the Star Trek game, but we also went to town on the Simpsons machine, the Walking Dead and the Wrestlemania game. There’s something about playing an old-fashioned pinball game that brings back that inner kid in you; it’s that sense of tangible satisfaction that no ipad or xbox game can give you.

Behind was a well-stocked bar with a few choice beers and a delightful assortment of tequilas. The entire basement had a cozy, if not somewhat crowded feel to it, but not obnoxiously so. There were frames of the original brick, but otherwise, the place was renovated with painted dry wall to complete the ‘cave’ effect. Adjacent to the bar was a closed-door, but completely transparent room, about 200 sq. ft, that was home to an ongoing open-mic night for aspiring comedians.

The Creek and the Cave was a success for us: a delicious, affordable and extremely filling meal, tasty drinks, fun pinball, hilarious comedy and an easy walk home. It’s rare to wrap that all up into one place and do it well, but I guess they have the benefit of time on their side and I can only hope that the proprietors continue to offer it all up to LIC’ers, both new and old, for many years to come.

I Can’t Believe that I haven’t Eaten at Testaccio Yet.

Last night, I put to rest my curiosity about Testaccio Ristorante, the unassuming Italian establishment on Vernon and 47^th. Lured by the menu displaying items such as “Calamari in Gratella” and “Chitarra Alle Vongole e Bottarga,” we ventured in past the bar that hosts a happy hour worthy of its own review and into the spacious and rustic main dining room towards the back of the space.

The space is lit, but on the dimmer side, just enough to accent the white bricks and wooden beams. It’s a good clean and spacious restaurant, a place where you can carry on a conversation with your family, friend or better yet, date.  What’s refreshing, especially compared to many of the Italian spots in Manhattan, is the quality of the service. Our waiter was friendly beyond the call of duty, extremely knowledgeable about each item on the menu (and between my mother and my wife, we grilled him) and patient, a trifecta of virtues that is rare in the service sector.

After putting our waiter through the ringer, we settled on the Minestrone soup ($8) made with wood-oven roasted veggies and an order of meatballs ($9) as appetizers. Not that I had orders’ remorse, but I could have been easily talked into the Carpaccio di Pomodoro ($12). After taking our order, the waiter thoughtfully brought out an assortment of breads with olive oil as well as three different bruschetta: a traditional tomato, extremely fresh pesto and mozzarella with truffle oil. We each knew that we were filling up on carbs, the classic rookie mistake, but we didn’t care. We were pot committed. The Minestrone soup was a delightful balance of hearty vegetables and lite tomato broth and tasted the way you would expect your Italian grandmother to make it. The meatballs came served in a dish smothered in tomato sauce. The serving of two could easily have fed a family of six on their own.  Likely a blend of veal, pork and beef, the texture was more solid than fluffy – the kind you would want stuffed in a perfect hoagie or hero. I can’t even imagine having a full serving of the delicious meatballs, I was happy for the help.

Just as my stomach was giving me very explicit indications to stop eating, a 12” Diavola pizza ($15) was placed in front of my bulging eyes. Served on a very thin crust, the tomatoes, freshly sliced (and not shredded) mozzarella, spicy Italian Salami and oregano melded into an elegant, authentic and supremely tasty pie of happiness.  My wife ordered the “Baccala in Umido” ($22), a chunky codfish steak sitting a fresh tomato broth with onions, potatoes, capers and artichokes swimming around. The broth makes the dish look more like a stew or chowder, but it was actually really light and approachable. Normally, I wouldn’t want to mix the tomato broth with the fish, but they blended well together, almost as if the piece was braised. The order winner for the evening was my mother who naively thought she could take down an eggplant parmigiana with a side of angel hair pasta ($18). Now most things that are breaded, deep fried, topped with rich tomato sauce and include generous portions of fresh mozzarella are delicious. This was no exception, but it wasn’t heavy as I expected. Quite the opposite in fact – almost dainty. Despite being feverishly full, the flavor profile was so vivid that she couldn’t stop, and neither could I.

By the end of the meal, we were each inadvertently leaning back, rubbing our bellies, relishing a fantastic meal and looking forward to a digestif that would help us get home. The meal came in under $100 for the three of us (without drinks) and we all agreed that we would happily return. I’d recommend that you give it a shot if you haven’t already.