Backyards

Just because it's a city doesn't mean we don't have backyards. They're just, well, in the back, which means you generally have to go through the front of the bar/restaurant/apartment in question to see them. The days I don't spend in my hammock this Spring/Summer/Fall, I intend to spend in a backyard somewhere.

Luckily L, one of my best friends has one. (In what is really an embarrassment of riches, she also has a ping pong table in her basement.) Many is the afternoon we've spent out there, eating steak tacos and guacamole, or lobster rolls and hot dogs, or kielbasa and pierogies. That backyard is where I learned to enjoy ice cubes in my wine, both for the chilling effect and the way it enables me to drink for ten straight hours.

If you are not also so lucky as to have a friend like this, never fear. Your life is of course the poorer for it, but you can still day-drink all you want and not have to do it from a brown bag in the park. Even with L's yard, we still sometimes go to a bar two blocks from her apartment and sit in its backyard. What the hell.

A few of my favourite backyard spots:

Sea Witch:
Aforementioned bar two blocks from L's apartment. Inside can be a bit dark, even with the massive fish tank, but outside has a stream with skulls in, lots of blonde wood, and occasional cats roaming by. They also generally have both Left Hand Milk Stout (one of my favourites) and a fine cider or two on tap.

Crown Vic:
The one drawback of L's pool table is that it is, as I said, in the basement. And when it's 75 degrees and sunny, the last thing you want to do is sit in a chilly, mildewy (sorry, L) basement. Crown Vic -- assuming you're willing to play on a table that's been warped to hell in the rain -- solves that problem. Also, in a city where space is so often at a premium, it's nice to have a place where you know you'll always be able to find a seat.

Not coincidentally, three of my other favorite backyards are also three of my favorite bars, period: Ice House, Hot Bird, and Tooker Alley. I have enjoyed each of their indoor spaces, but it's the outdoors that really puts them on the forever list.

Ice House is where you go for $2/$3 Miller High Lifes (always with a slice of lemon), an order of sweet potato fries, and two pulled pork baps ($5). Perfect for après-swimming at the Red Hook pool.

Hot Bird is where you go for good beer, a fire in the Winter, and whatever food you can find that will deliver.

And Tooker Alley is the best cocktails. Done.


...If you're still in Red Hook and want a cocktail though, and don't want to be cooped up in Fort Defiance, hie thee to Botanica. They don't actually have a backyard, and therefore shouldn't be included here, but their front wall pretty much opens completely, so it's like sitting outside, but with good shade.

MAP

RECIPE: Brown Butter Skillet Cornbread, because there are certain things you absolutely need one, decisive, go-to recipe for.