Day Date on the Lower East Side

Fridays are special days around here. Because Sundays are like work days for us, Fridays are the new Saturdays. And it works out great, because we drop off Jameson at daycare, finish up a little work, and then have the day to relax, enjoy each other, and hopefully enjoy something new in the city.

This past Friday we headed down to the Lower East Side in pursuit of “the best pancakes in the city.”

These wildly popular pancakes come from a place called Clinton Street Baking Co. & Restaurant. Are you hip to this? If you get there on a weekend, you can easily expect a two hour wait. People start lining up 30 minutes before they open for their first seating. And the pancakes are in such high demand, they offer them all day long.

A weekend visit to Clinton Street would mean bringing Jameson along, and a two-hour wait with that guy would be an absolute recipe for not enjoying the experience at all. So Friday we arrived with hungry bellies and high expectations. We were told the wait would be 55 minutes, so we grabbed a coffee from their bakery counter, and our names were called within 20 minutes of checking in. Things were looking good. (Can we talk about how the rain drizzle outside decided to not let the right side of my hair be great?! Them curls gave all the way up. Anyways…)

Jordan gets pensive when he’s borderline hangry…And then the glorious moment arrived, when the blueberry pancakes landed at our table. And friends, these really are the best pancakes in NYC! WHOA. I posted an Instagram story a couple weeks ago about how the best pancakes have a crispy edge (thanks to our faithful friend, butter), while also being light and fluffy. These are all that with the best flavor. Pair that with fresh fruit and the warm maple butter sauce, and it doesn’t get any better!

We split the pancakes and also split the Spanish Scramble, so we could get a good mix of sweet and savory. This dish didn’t disappoint either! Clinton Street seriously might have ruined me. While we devoured our food, we shared funny stories, interesting things we recently read or heard, and of course there was talk of Jameson (funny how you look forward to those breaks away and then end up talking about the little buggers a ton.) At one point Jordan shared an exercise he’s found life-giving, where each day he asks himself “the 4 C’s”:

Cares: What has me worried today?
Carnalities: What tempts me today?
Consolations: What joys find me today?
Christ: How is Christ my hope?

I’m thinking this is really good, so I’m going to try it out too. With full bellies, we walked the streets of the Lower East Side without any real agenda. This worked out well, because we had time to take in the randomness that is found in the photo below. A dog wearing a Yankees hat, a red puffer coat, and booties, all while riding a skateboard. Very well then. We also made our way into the Tenement Museum gift shop and browsed the cool things they had related to the history and diverse culture of NYC. There were old photos of immigrant communities, a ton of interesting books, and interesting knick knacks. Going on one of the Tenement Museum’s walking tours is high on our list of things to do. Jordan suggested I needed this pair of socks for nights when we’re sitting on the couch and he’s explaining his fantasy basketball strategy to me. We walked a bit more, making our way to Soho to look in a few shops over there too.

And then we headed back uptown on the train, listening to a recent episode of This American Life. Two important things here: 1) The episode was #612: Ask a Grown-Up, and I think it’s one of my favorites. Like I-wiped-away-a-couple-tears-while-on-the-subway favorite. 2) Jordan would rebuke me if I failed to mention we were able to listen to the podcast without being awkwardly tethered together, because we used his fancy Apple AirPods. Admittedly, when two people need to listen to something, those things are pretty great.

So there you have it. Pancakes. Street art. AirPods. Artifacts. Dope city. The best company. Great date.