Bad Day

It’s eleven fifteen on Saturday morning. Julie and I are sitting on a park bench waiting for the restaurant to open. Javier was supposed to unlock the doors at 9:30 but hes missing in action. The busboys and kitchen staff are milling around the front entrance...

Hard & Soft

I’m at the dog park with Buster, my joint custody pooch. Sitting on a park bench and drinking coffee out of a Styrofoam cup, I’m shooting the breeze with Mike, a retiree and fellow dog owner, enjoying a glorious spring afternoon. Overhead the sun burns...

Fancy Place

“Hello and welcome,” I greet my new table, a prosperous looking couple in their fifties. “And how are you this evening?” “What are the specials?” the woman says, not gracing me with eye contact as she rummages through her purse....

Microwave Dreams

It’s a rainy, miserable Sunday night. I’m watching a chocolate lava cake as it strains and bubbles under the electromagnetic ministrations of the dessert stations industrial strength microwave. You have to be careful when nuking prefab desserts. If you let...

Et Tu Telepan?

Addendum: There’s a video for this story. Go to this link and click on “Dial Up/Broadband” at the top of the page to see the video. (Must have Real Player) It seems the managers at Telepan, an eatery on the Upper West Side, are being accused of...