Get Lit

by Jodi Lee Reifer

Staten Island Advance - Staten Island, NY

January 3, 2008

Books, booze & banter: What a novel idea on the bar scene

Boo! Hiss! The writers' strike is dragging into its third month.

For TV addicts, this void of fresh episodes is a major buzzkill. Suffering from "24" or "The Office" withdrawal? Join the club.

Or join a different club.

Once a month about three dozen Lacey's Bridge Tavern (LaceysBridgeTavern.com) denizens indulge in a different type of pop culture pursuit: Reading with cocktails.

"The more you drink, the more you want to talk," jokes retired police sergeant Hank Edgar of Graniteville, 60, who favors non-fiction and Budweiser. "You become more fluid."

Established a little over a year ago, Lacey's Book Club tackles everything from literary classics such as Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" and bestsellers like Jodi Picoult "The Pact" to Marilyn Monroe and Barack Obama biographies.

While Manhattan's KGB... and Rocky Sullivan's... in Brooklyn attract celeb novelists who read while bookworms (tequila anyone?) drink up, Lacey's lets the crowd do all the talking.

The woman-in-charge, Sara Gaither, calls the crew to order from atop a chair, sometimes dropping a few jump-off questions. But mostly, it's the lit lovers running the show over wine, top-shelf shots and a $20 three-course meal. A recent menu: Salad, pasta and pork chops, plus unlimited soda and coffee. The booze is extra.

"People love this club because it's fun and informal and also smart and interesting," says Gaither, 32, of Richmond, who teaches English at the College of Staten Island. "It's really the book club for anyone who thought they couldn't join a book club. Great friends, great food, great conversation. What else is there on a Sunday night?"

The too often long-lost hobby of reading for fun is especially attractive now as new television becomes increasingly rare thanks to the Writers Guild of America strikes, say Lacey's book clubbers, who run the gamut from 20- to 70-somethings.

Noel Ladner, 30, and her mom, Julie, 59, use the club as a mother-daughter bond strengthener.

"I call her up and say, 'Oh, I can't believe this happened,'" says Noel, a quality assurance analyst for a financial services firm who reads on the way to and from her Manhattan office from Annadale. "That's my favorite part -- and her trying not to tell me what happens next."

These non-traditional bar patrons give Lacey's props for fostering new perspectives on topics such as suicide, the subject of Picoult's "The Pact," the November pick. Readers instinctually want feedback and that's mostly not possible with authors. Plus, the club turns them onto novels they might never have picked up.

And in the literary world, that means no re-runs -- ever.

Contact AWE senior writer Jodi Lee Reifer at reifer@siadvance.com.

Lacey's Book Club
Bibliophiles pack this Elm Park pub (75 Innis St.) once a month for informal discussions about a book they choose at the end of each meeting. Reading is encouraged, but not required. The next meeting is Jan. 13 at 6 p.m. This month's pick: "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. No club fees. But the group meets over a $20 three-course dinner -- and cocktails. RSVPs necessary. laceysbridgetavern.com. Questions? Call moderator Sara Gaither at 718-702-3091 or e-mail saracaron@yahoo.com.

 

Roadhouse Revival

by Ralph Knisley

Staten Island Advance - Staten Island, NY

December 20, 2007

A Google map search may be necessary for that first excursion to Lacey's Bridge Tavern in Elm Park. But future visits will be easy once you've discovered what may be a fine example of a local American roadhouse. The building is marked on either side with a sign that says simply "Eat" and an arrow aimed downward to the entrance.

We enter and the place is easily recognizable. The cozy, pine-paneled bar and booths do indeed recall every roadhouse in vanishing rural America. The woodsy backroom has dining tables and knowledgeable, cheerful waitresses in black outfits waiting to greet diners. This is an honest, pleasant eating and drinking establishment. We like it.

We opt for the back room and peruse the lunch menu, available all day, because we couldn't do justice to the family-style meals as advertised on the front window, in the menus and on the Web site. If this roadhouse was in, say, Wisconsin, we would be offered large portions of bratwurst and fish fry. But Staten Islanders crave their southern Italian classics -- parmigiana, piccata, marsala and marinara -- and they get them here with plenty of pasta, if desired. If you haven't been that friendly with your dining companions before the tempting platters arrive, you will be after sharing the delightful food. There's quantity, of course, but definite quality, too.

One evening we shared a delightful spinach salad with thick-sliced mushrooms, red onion hoops, bacon bits and wedges of hard-cooked egg in a tasty maple-sherry vinaigrette. It also contained wedges of wan tomato which perhaps could be eliminated in winter.

A guest desired a cheeseburger which was charcoal-flavored, cooked to medium as requested and offered with good cheddar cheese. It included rough-cut french fries, a trifle salty but that didn't stop us from demolishing the pile.

Linguine with red clam sauce, a good test of an Italian kitchen, was spot-on with properly cooked pasta and whole and chopped clams in a rust, rather than red, colored sauce with a suggestion of Worcestershire that offered a greater depth of flavor than usually found in this dish. The restaurant is also known for its two-pound meatloaf and barbecued flank steak.

For dessert, the cheesecake is housemade but our favorite was a carrot cake, not housemade, which offered a moist base topped with tasty cream cheese icing.

We have had the Bridge Tavern's Sunday brunch on several occasions and we recommend ordering from among the egg dishes. There are several eggs benedict plates, a frittata, Mexican omelet and a create your own omelet. We have tried the cream-cheese filled French toast and the grilled vegetables and mozzarella over tossed salad and they were indeed tasty, but we believe the hen fruit will leave you in the happiest mood.

Sangria was our favorite drink with its robust flavor and fresh fruit. Other classic brunch thirst quenchers are available including mimosas and Bloody Marys.

Each Sunday at brunch a lovely lady named Karen performs vocally with guitar. With her wide repertoire, she finds something to please everyone.

Quibble: Brunch could be more pleasant with a bread basket of good bagels or rolls and freshly baked muffins. Each time we have been there, the basket is less than half-filled with little chocolate donuts, sugary donut holes and small squares of crumb bun.

The Bridge Tavern does a good catering business and is quite involved in community affairs as its Web site can attest. At each visit, dinner or brunch, we have found a family gathering of 25 or more people in the dining room. Obviously, they are doing something right. Maybe it's time for you to venture over there to see for yourself.

Ralph Knisley is the temporary restaurant critic for AWE. All comments or questions should be directed to AWE@siadvance.com.