At Lamia’s Fish Market, head busboy Samy at the raw bar. Photo: Arlene Kayatt
Judging from restaurants - This year’s Judicial Convention for Manhattan Judicial Delegates is on Aug 5 at its usual venue at the School of Visual Arts on West 23rd St. Masks, vaccines, you name it, you’ll need it to get in if you’re a delegate. It’s when the candidates for the two open NY County Supreme Court seats of Justice Raymond Bruce and Justice Tony Cannataro will be nominated to appear on the ballot for the November election. Judge Bruce is leaving the bench because he has reached the mandatory age of retirement. Judge Cannatoro has been appointed and elevated to the Court of Appeals. In the months before the convention, the judicial candidates seeking the open seats meet with delegates at forums, Democratic Club meetings, and finally, in the final days, at restaurants. This year’s candidates are Margaret Chan, Lisa Sokoloff, John J. Kelly, Louis N. Nock, Paul A. Goetz, Sabrina Kraus. After a year’s long shut down and good weather, it was nice meeting at restaurants throughout Manhattan ...with Judge Chan at Suteishi at the South Street Seaport ... Judge Nock at Londel’s in West Harlem ... Judge Goetz at the East Side’s Follia ... Judge Kraus on the deck of the Baylander Steel Beach Boat which is docked on the pier ... Judge Kelly at OrtoMarte on the Upper West Side ... Judge Sokoloff at Sexy Taco in West Harlem. Judging by restaurants alone would undoubtedly result in a tie, ranking or not. But only two of the candidates will make the cut this year. And then, on to next year with additional contenders.
Aquatic dining - Lamia’s Fish Market, located on busy Avenue B on the Lower East Side, has been open and operating throughout the last year. On the outside there’s the now ever-present dining shed. But to experience the true delight of Lamia’s my advice is to eat inside where it feels like you’re dining on the sea. The entire restaurant’s painted in a light turquoise. Global lighting is encased in heavy roped fishnet, decorative port holes span the walls. The all-aquatic ambiance really enhances the dining experience. There’s a Summer 2021 menu with two chef’s specials, one a hefty two lb. black sea bass for two, and a Hamachi Nobu. Whole fish like branzino or sea striped bass or black sea bass. can be grilled or fried or butterflied. The raw bar is fantastic, brimming with fresh oysters and clams and there’s a backdrop of a wines. Apps include ceviche, lobster tostados. Flatbreads feature a seafood, a prosciutto and fontina, and one with truffle. There are meat dishes and pastas. One dish I was happy to see on a seafood menu was the Baked Oysters covered with yummy oozy cheese. I’ve lusted for that dish, usually baked clams, in Italian restaurants. Glad to see it on a seafood menu. There’s mussels, clams, salads and sides and desserts. Lamia’s owners, Marcus and Lamia, also own Omar’s Kitchen on Clinton St. and Skorpios on West 54th. Don’t know if they’re seafaring.
Where’s the bus stop? - Lately, it’s a question that gets asked more and more as construction continues to burgeon throughout Manhattan. Think the M’s 101, 102, 103 on Third Ave starting at the east corner of 34th and Third where there’s a towering apartment building under construction and bus stops for all three routes have been relocated to 31st and 37th Sts. Moving on uptown to 79th and Third where there’s street-fixing at the corner of 80th and Third requiring relocating the 79th St. stop to 84th St. I get that this type of street work is inevitable. All that the MTA has to do is give notice to bus riders at the old bus stop of the location of the temporary stop and notice at the new temporary stop. As for the relocated 79th St. stop - before you get there, you have to make your way through a boarded pathway to avoid the construction of the towering apartment building being constructed at 83rd and Third. At least here there are are arrows painted on green boards pointing where to turn to get out. But MTA has to get with it by posting signage at the bus stops so that riders know where to get on the bus and when to get off. Any bus riding regular knows that, unless they hit Stop Request when they want to get off, the driver will keep riding if there are no pick-ups at a particular stop. And you may have to take another bus and start looking for the bus stop.