Teeny Tiny Teany

On Saturday we had planned to continue our international culinary adventure around New York, but nothing sounded quite right.

We flirted with Argentina or Brazil but couldn't find a recommendation we could agree on. I looked into a few Belgian restaurants but decided to go for brunch some day when I could get a waffle.

In the end, we decided to try Teany. It's not ethnic, but it was an adventure all the same.

We first heard of the restaurant at Little Cupcake. Paul sometimes gets the Teany-brand bottled tea, and it's really yummy. The back of the bottle said the Teany cafe was co-owned by the singer Moby and located in the Lower East Side. We were intrigued.

The cafe not only has 98 kinds of loose-leaf tea, but also vegetarian food and vegan desserts. I even said goodbye to my normal glass of water for the night in favor of the Red Cooler - a blend of raspberry and mint teas and cranberry juice. Tasty.

For my meal, I choose the turkey club (with vegetarian turkey and bacon). It's not many places you can get a sandwich on pumpernickel bread.

The cafe earns its name in another way, too. It really is teeny tiny. The place holds about 20 patrons, tops, and that would be crowded. The "kitchen" was just a corner of the room and was probably smaller than the one in our apartment.

It's probably not the type of place I would eat every week-- or even every month-- but it was fun for a change. It also gave us a chance to walk around the neighborhood a bit. I'd been there once by myself, when Paul was in Columbus in April and I made a run for cupcakes. But it was dark then, and on Saturday we could actually look around.

The Lower East Side is the hip place to live in the city nowadays. It used to be quite sketchy, but now all the 20-somethings are moving in, along with nice restaurants and stores. If I had to compare it to a Columbus neighborhood, I would say it's closest to Clintonville with a dash of the Short North.

And yes, I forgot to take pictures yet again.