Stirring it up

EAST SIDE OBSERVER

BY ARLENE KAYATT

Strawless in the city — Seattle’s doing it. New York could be next. Plastic straws are on the way out. Think about it — sipping and slurping will never be the same without plastic straws. Paper straws are no substitute. A recent visit to Pennsy Hall, the food mecca above Penn Station, found me at the newly opened Dumbo Taco. Pretty candy-colored drink offerings included margaritas with a choice of strawberry or other fruit juices. Although still in use, Dumbo Taco has replaced the plastic with a paper straw. Unfortunately, the frozen grainy slush libation just doesn’t make its way through the straw, easily or otherwise. It never gets from straw to lip. Anyway, frozen margaritas were meant to be sipped. Not held in an uber icy glass. Just doesn’t work. Same for a spoon or a sippy cup. Not — that’s plastic. Back to straws. Taco Dumbo’s paper straw is forget it. And speaking more about straws — Although I had no idea I was walking into a straw story when I got to Pennsy Hall, it was starting to gel. Later that week, at DTUT, a casual wine bar on Second Ave on the UES, doesn’t serve frozen drinks. So we ordered wine and a non-alcoholic Diet Pepsi. When asked for a straw for the soda, the bartender assured that “You can have one if you want one, but I don’t give a straw,” because of their effect on the environment. Compliant, guilty thinking of sea turtles, I skipped the straw and sipped the soda. Going forward, however, I will not use a paper straw. If New York passes a law banning plastic straws, I will stick to unfrozen drinks. Maybe something stirred or shaken. And a no-straw law may not be too far off. Earlier this year City Council Member Rafael Espinal held a press conference and announced that he was planning to introduce legislation banning plastic straws. If the bill passes, restaurants that continue to use plastic straws/plastic stirrers would receive a warning. If they don’t stop, there will be a fine. Exempt from the bill would be anyone with a disability or a medical condition that required use of a straw. A little tricky for restaurants if it’s unlawful to stock straws. And who remembers to carry a straw with them?

Exit mom and pop — A recent edition of Eater, an online foodie site, noted the departure of mom-and-pop restaurants in Manhattan’s Koreatown on East 32nd Street just west of Fifth Ave. The restaurants were owned by moms and pops who emigrated to New York City in the ‘80s and found a business home in the heart of midtown. In the ‘90s, the stand-alone restaurants began closing and the spaces taken over by conglomerates from Korea. These corporations generally combine several businesses in their portfolio — usually food and beauty products — and open businesses in more than one location along the street. Fighting back so as to preserve the mom-and-pop business model for Korean business owners, local restaurants are looking beyond locating their restaurants only on 32nd Street and only on the ground floor level. By expanding to nearby streets and “stacking” their restaurants as they do in Seoul — one restaurant on top of the other on different floor levels in the same building makes rents affordable. Good preservation plan to keep moms-and-pops viable. Hope it works. Haeng-un-eul bil-eoyo = good luck.

Reader read-back — Haven’t heard from any Democrats about the distinction between being a Reform Democrat — as this East Side Observer column noted Council Member Ben Kallos describes himself in his constituent newsletter — and a progressive Democrat as Mayor Bill de Blasio describes himself wherever he goes. Have heard from some Republicans and Conservatives who say that “Socialistic” replaces “progressive” and that “Reform” still means “Liberal.” Another reader wanted to know if Kaia, the South African wine bar/ restaurant on the UES, reopened after being closed down as the result of a dispute with state tax division. A week after the closing Kaia was up and running and back in business. Welcome back, Kaia.