Angelica Kitchen is Closing
April 6, 2017 9:44 AM Subscribe
Oh man. Back in the early 90's I was dating a lady who was going to NYU and was a hardcore vegetarian. That was a great place for us to both have stuff we liked. I rolled into there after more than one CBGB hardcore matinee.
RIP
posted by lumpenprole at 10:13 AM on April 6, 2017
RIP
posted by lumpenprole at 10:13 AM on April 6, 2017
I totally worked there in the fall of 1999, and totally bussed Mike D's table.
posted by ducky l'orange at 10:38 AM on April 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by ducky l'orange at 10:38 AM on April 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
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posted by defenestration at 10:45 AM on April 6, 2017
posted by defenestration at 10:45 AM on April 6, 2017
One of the first places I ate when I first moved to NYC 17 years ago.
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posted by mochapickle at 10:46 AM on April 6, 2017
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posted by mochapickle at 10:46 AM on April 6, 2017
_ _
(it's a pair of personal chopsticks, brought by the customer)
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:48 AM on April 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
(it's a pair of personal chopsticks, brought by the customer)
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:48 AM on April 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Kicking myself for missing it when I lived there.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:05 AM on April 6, 2017
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:05 AM on April 6, 2017
The Austin version of this place was Xalapeño Charlie's. It only lasted a few years, but we were across the street from 2 auditoriums, so I fed Billy Zoom from X, all of Peter Gabriel's band, The Cars, & Billy Gibbons was a regular. Certainly others I've forgotten. The whole place was staffed by absolute freaks -- whenever someone walked a tab, the moment the wait-person noticed, they'd shout "RUNNER!!" & we'd all take off into the parking lot in hot pursuit, often with half the customers in tow, ready to kick some ass.
The kitchen had stucco walls painted lime green, graffiti'd all to hell. We lost our lease so they could build a high rise on 12/31/83, & they bulldozed it about a month later. I drove by the pile of rubble, stopped, walked to the top of the mound, & picked up a piece of the kitchen wall that sits on my desk at home to this day.
posted by Devils Rancher at 11:32 AM on April 6, 2017 [8 favorites]
The kitchen had stucco walls painted lime green, graffiti'd all to hell. We lost our lease so they could build a high rise on 12/31/83, & they bulldozed it about a month later. I drove by the pile of rubble, stopped, walked to the top of the mound, & picked up a piece of the kitchen wall that sits on my desk at home to this day.
posted by Devils Rancher at 11:32 AM on April 6, 2017 [8 favorites]
My favourite place to eat in NYC, seems almost unimaginable that the next time I'm there, it won't be...
The cookbook they published a few years ago is just fantastic...
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posted by remembrancer at 11:35 AM on April 6, 2017
The cookbook they published a few years ago is just fantastic...
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posted by remembrancer at 11:35 AM on April 6, 2017
Oh no! This makes me sad.
My most vivid memory of Angelica's was a very stressful meet-the-parents post-graduation-from-college dinner about a decade ago.
It involved my grumpy parents, Moby sitting behind my dad (which made the entire dinner very surreal), a nervous girlfriend, her ex (!) (who hated me & happened also to be eating at Angelica's right then, staring daggers at me from a few tables away), and a supportive sister.
Needless to say, the dinner didn't go very well, but I hold a lot of affection and gratitude for Angelica nevertheless.
posted by suedehead at 11:49 AM on April 6, 2017 [4 favorites]
My most vivid memory of Angelica's was a very stressful meet-the-parents post-graduation-from-college dinner about a decade ago.
It involved my grumpy parents, Moby sitting behind my dad (which made the entire dinner very surreal), a nervous girlfriend, her ex (!) (who hated me & happened also to be eating at Angelica's right then, staring daggers at me from a few tables away), and a supportive sister.
Needless to say, the dinner didn't go very well, but I hold a lot of affection and gratitude for Angelica nevertheless.
posted by suedehead at 11:49 AM on April 6, 2017 [4 favorites]
“Well, aren’t I on the street right now?” I asked.Pedantic bravery worthy of a MeFite!
posted by brainwane at 12:24 PM on April 6, 2017
I really enjoyed this warm, loving recollection, especially of the author's coworkers and tiny triumphs.
posted by brainwane at 12:30 PM on April 6, 2017
posted by brainwane at 12:30 PM on April 6, 2017
I lived in central Connecticut until I was 17. In the mind of a teenager who considered herself far too worldly for her drab suburban confines, the only thing worth doing in central Connecticut was to leave it as often as possible--get a ride to New Haven, take the Metro North train to Manhattan, and head immediately to the Village. First stop, Washington Square Park, to buy weed and mushrooms. Second stop, St. Mark's, to go to Trash and Vaudeville and Manic Panic. Third stop, food at the Angelica Kitchen.
I'd become a vegetarian and then a vegan when I was 15, in 1990, after randomly picking up The Vegetarian Epicure in a bookstore while browsing and reading the introduction[1]. I was the only vegetarian/vegan I knew for a long time, and to this day no other life choice has invited more unsolicited words of judgment and disdain, not infrequently from total strangers.
Angelica Kitchen was my first experience with a restaurant at which I could order anything on the menu. My first visit was nothing short of a revelation, and I'll never forget the lesson--no matter how alone you believe yourself to be, there are people like you out there in the world and it will feel amazing when you find them.
Thanks, Angelica Kitchen, for being there for me when I felt alone.
[1] "Good food is a celebration of life, and it seems absurd to me that in celebrating life we should take life. That is why I don't eat flesh. I see no need for killing."
posted by jesourie at 4:28 PM on April 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'd become a vegetarian and then a vegan when I was 15, in 1990, after randomly picking up The Vegetarian Epicure in a bookstore while browsing and reading the introduction[1]. I was the only vegetarian/vegan I knew for a long time, and to this day no other life choice has invited more unsolicited words of judgment and disdain, not infrequently from total strangers.
Angelica Kitchen was my first experience with a restaurant at which I could order anything on the menu. My first visit was nothing short of a revelation, and I'll never forget the lesson--no matter how alone you believe yourself to be, there are people like you out there in the world and it will feel amazing when you find them.
Thanks, Angelica Kitchen, for being there for me when I felt alone.
[1] "Good food is a celebration of life, and it seems absurd to me that in celebrating life we should take life. That is why I don't eat flesh. I see no need for killing."
posted by jesourie at 4:28 PM on April 6, 2017 [2 favorites]
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It frightens me how much of New York we're losing.
posted by gusandrews at 6:58 PM on April 7, 2017
It frightens me how much of New York we're losing.
posted by gusandrews at 6:58 PM on April 7, 2017
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posted by larrybob at 10:11 AM on April 6, 2017