Greek Frappe
Summer is a mixed blessing for New Yorkers accustomed to winter's comfortable conditions for sleep, sex and thinking. But the city's infamous heat and humidity, and that duo's proven genius for turning healthy people into wilting botanical life, is only the beginning if you live in a neighborhood known for its eats and drinks. Add noise and commotion: sidewalk seating, open patios, louver windows and patrons-terrible patrons-frenzied in all directions, like a turned-out hive.
But despite all this, local hangouts sometimes prove capable of transcending their seasonal problems. Avenue and Grande Cafes on 30th Avenue in Astoria are two incredibly lively joints, open all day and late night for restorative bolts of caffeine, food and cocktails.
Both are an easy 15-minute trip from 42nd Street (on the N or W line), and pair nicely with a visit to the Museum of the Moving Image a few blocks east; although no respectable outer borough explorer should need an excuse to experience the "Greek Frappe," a frothy mix of Nescafe instant coffee, cold milk and sugar that is more ubiquitous than silverware on tabletops all over Queens. This is particularly true at Avenue and Grand, and part of the reason the two cafes look so similar.
They both occupy corner locations just a block away from each other, and attract gobs of clientele best summarized by movie titles like "Crazy/Beautiful," "Dirty Pretty Things" and "Friends with Money." Both serve American-sized portions from a fundamentally Mediterranean menu, with options from sandwiches, wraps and paninis to personal pizzas and outsized deserts, priced between $6 and $14. Finally, both achieve a resort atmosphere with surround-sound speakers, two walls open to the street and subtly tiered seating that favors people watching-a pastime which is consistently more interesting and diverse in Astoria than any zip code in Manhattan.
The people inside Avenue and Grand are equally interesting and wonderful creatures, but here is where the commonalities between these two cafes end. Avenue is more resoundingly Greek in every dimension and attracts a more audacious, young crowd. Breakfast and brunch options include savory and sweet crepes, Greek yogurt concoctions and waffles with caramel, instead of egg dishes of any kind. Lunch and dinner plates are also unashamedly international and variously dashed with traditional Greek garnishes like hummus, tabouli, feta cheese and olive oil. The sandwich meat board includes basics like turkey, chicken and steak, but also extends to roast pork and sausage, and almost everything is served in pita pockets or between thick slabs of a sweet sesame bread called koulouri.
In contrast, Grand's menu, while tasty and well-done, is dominated by predictable dishes readily available in every standardized food chain from here to Vegas: turkey, chicken, tuna, Caesar and veggie wraps, paninis or salads offer a good sketch of the menu.
Food junkies will most likely be compelled to reward Avenue's risks by paying them a preferred visit. For example, while Grand offers a perfectly passable $10 weekend brunch, the energy I feel eating Avenue's "Mona Lisa" crepe of Nutella, bananas and Baileys Irish Cream is life affirming. It's an edible alternative to the Bloody Mary, with just as much "hair of the dog."
The people at Avenue give off a wattage, as if somewhere, deep in their brains Greece is perpetually winning the World Cup in a flood-lit coliseum. As for me, I don't fit in, but I feel welcome. The fact that over the winter, when things were deceptively quiet, I moved into an apartment across the street from this carnival might have made me bitter. But sometimes it pays to join the crowd.
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