Hungry vs. Helpings

Jalapeno poppers are not on the South Beach Diet. Inherently I know this, but at midnight at the WHITE HORSE TAVERN (West 11th and Hudson) I chose to ignore this nugget of information and am now wondering how the South Beach Diet will work for me.

I started this diet on Tuesday, post Morandi, and I was plugging along quite well until I went out to meet a friend on Thursday. At the beginning of the diet I made one caveat, that I could still have alcohol. In this mindframe I decided to go to WINEBAR (2nd avenue btwn 3rd and 4th) with aforementioned friend. We had had a particularly pleasant experience there a couple of weeks back so it was with happy assuredness that we chose this spot once again. And it was delightful once again.

First of all, we all know how impossible it is to land a table outside once the warm weather rolls into New York, add a trendy neighborhood (in this case the East Village) and you are surely signing up for at least a 20 minute wait. But both times I have been to Winebar I have been seated right away and, to follow in this same thought, I have never been hassled to leave.

We had the olives which are marinated in olive oil and served with mini toasts. I avoided the toast but did partake in the olive consumption with gusto. The olives are so flavorful and not over-marinated to the point where you are left with a thick slick of olive oil on your fingers. The other dish was a cheese platter. There were about six different types of cheeses with two triangles per cheese. I am unsure as to whether they customize the amount of triangles for the size of the party, but for two people there was surely an ample amout of cheese--along with almonds and quince paste--which is satisfying since at $21 it costs a little more than the average cheese plate. We enjoyed both of these plates over a crisp white Semillon ($36). I highly recommend this place for a first date.

After a brief stop to meet friends at THE SPOTTED PIG (West 11th and Greenwich St.)--which I found out has a happening bar scene, particularly on Wednesday night--three of us ended up at THE WHITE HORSE TAVERN in search of a burger. It is here that my South Beach Diet arrived at some further caveats. A cheeseburger? Totally fine if I did not have it served with a bun! Jalapeno poppers? But of course, how could I not accept a vegetable just because of the way it was prepared! It was a glorious feast and at the time I was quite happy for my clever thinking but the next day I realized two things: 1) Maybe the alcohol caveat was not the wisest choice 2) I need to avoid The White Horse Tavern--one of my favorite haunts--for the duration of this diet.