I chase a bottle of Veuve with a Sparks...Three hours later I leave a bar in NoLiTa...


Chinatown, 1 AM 

Kinda bored, so I bounce...but I'm really hungry. Think Lombardis is still open, but to my dismay, they close at midnight. At this point, I realize what I really want is some dumplings...

So I wander south down Mott street...every storefront is closed...there's a foul smell all over the place...and shady characters lurk on every stoop...

I finally hit Canal street, and I knew there had to be a dim sum spot SOMEWHERE open past midnight...after a few blocks I see a bright light in the middle of the block just north of Bayard...and, of course it was an all night dumpling house...I was in business.

I walk in, and, natch, I'm the only white guy in there except for some coked out, Lou Reed looking photographer and his shaved head apprentice...I am seated at a table with 5 rough looking Asian motherfuckers...despite all the curious looks, they leave me alone.

At this point, I WISH I could say I stumbled upon the best dumplings I've ever had...but in all honesty they weren't that great...Fried...and better than your standard fare...but really nothing that blew me away.

So I eat and leave...walk up Bayard towards Bowery to catch a cab...and I pass a bumping karaoke joint with a sign outside claiming it was the place William Hung got his start...


Chinatown, 1:45 AM 

Now true or not, that place really put its balls on the line to stake that claim...I mean, is that something to brag about? Needless to say it intrigued me, but I wasn't about to bust into a karaoke bar in the heart of Chinatown by myself...simply not my style.

I grab a cab near the Manhattan Bridge and head home. An early night, but an adventurous one nonetheless.