Thursday, August 9, 2007

Shopsin’s

VANISHED: Yes...and then No



The Greenwich Village Shopsin's that struck fear and joy in the hearts of many closed last year. Calvin Trillin pretty much said it all about Kenny Shopsin and his restaurant in a 2002 New Yorker essay. Here's my favorite excerpt from the Trillin piece:



Defying the odds, Shopsin's reopened (in a smaller size) last month in the Essex Street Market. Today's positive New York Times review warns away the weak of heart (and the stupid):

...some aspects of the place, like Mr. Shopsin’s brand of extemporaneous philosophizing, will sit better with some than others. Holding court from a chair in the hall outside his stall on a recent Thursday morning and addressing his comments to no one in particular, he asked, “Did you hear that Whole Foods sold out of those ‘I Am Not a Plastic Bag’ bags in 15 minutes?"

"I guess people really aren’t that smart,” he glumly summarized before rousing himself to return to the kitchen.

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