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MICHAEL STIP & R.E.M. at BAR CICHETTI

NEWW YORK CITY

1999

BAR CICHETTI

Business Card

1998

CHEF DANIEL BELLINO-ZWICKE

CAMERON DIAZ

BAR CICHETTI

NEW YORK

One night way back when, Michael Stipe bopped in. It was at my restaurant

BAR CICHETTI, (America’s 1st Venetian Bacaro). He was with Peter Buck and Mike Mills. They were going to see a Ted Demme movie at The Film Forum across the street from Bar Cichetti. They stopped in early in the evening then went to see the movie. After the movie was over, they came back to the restaurant. Things had slowed down, so I got out to the kitchen and went to the bar. Michael and Buck & Mills were there too.

Michael Stipe and I struck up a conversation. I was in my chefs uniform, and he asked me if I made the rice balls (Arancini). I said “yes, I did.” “Love those,” he said. He was sipping on glass of wine. I asked him what he was drinking, and he said Chianti. I loved Chianti myself and I tole him about the Chianti he was drinking, where it was from (Castello Verrazzano), and whom made it, my good friend Cavelier Luigi Cappellini of Greve where Verrazzano is located. I got a glass of wine myself. Also the Verrazzanno Chianti. We clicked glasses and cheered each other. “Nice to meet you Michael,” I said. “Nice to meet you Damiel,” Michael retorted. We drank wine, and had a nice little conversation, and I started to teach Michael a little bit about Italian wine. He was very receptive, and even interested. I poured him a little Vino Nobile to taste. Vino Nobile, like Chianti is made of Sangiovese, and it comes from the town of Montepulciano in Tuscany.

At one point, my buddy Raoul called me on the phone. He said that he and Lisa were at Peter Luger’s. “Guess who we ran into?” he asked. I don’t know, who? “Cammy,” Raoul said, meaning Cameron Diaz, who Rauol knows pretty well, but I had never met. “We’ll be there in 20 minutes,” Raoul told me. “OK” About 20 minutes later, they arrived: Raoul, Lisa, and Cameron Diaz. When they walked through the door, Cameron spotted Michael. “Hey, what are you doing here, ” she said to Michael. Michael told her that they (R.E.M.) went to see the ted Demme film, and that they stopped in here (Bar Cichetti) earlier, and liked it, so they came back after the movie.

We were all having a great time. At one point Michael asked me if I had a piece of paper and pen. I gave Michael the paper and pen, and he proceeded to write a song at my bar. Then Michael Stioe, Peter Chuck, and Mike Mills jumped up on our large buffet table, and started playing the song, that Michael had just written. Everyone in the place were going wild. They couldn’t believe their eyes, or ears. There, before their very eyes, in. Bar Cichetti were R.E.M. and they were playing a song.

I brought up a couple bottles of Champagne and poured a glass for Michael, Cameron, my buddy Raoul and Lisa, and as they say “The Boys in The Band.”

Needless to say, it was quite a memorable night. The Night I met and hung out with Michael Stipe and Cameron Diaz at my restaurant Bar Cichetti. Wow? Yes quite a night.

I might as well talk a bit about some of my other celebrities at my place Bar Cichetti. Ed Harris was shooting the movie Pollack, and he was in the star role, playing Jackson Pollack. He had lunch with another guy (Maybe the director?). When Ed finished, I was standing at the bar, he came over to me to say “thanks, I really enjoyed that.” Wow. Thanks Ed. A couple days later, he came back again.

My old pal Fishcer Stevens came with Marisa Tomei one night, and another time with Rosie Perez. “Thanks Fischer.” my friend Matt Dillon, who’s also good friends with my old buddy Raoul, who actually introduced us would bop in once in a while. Also John Lurie who’s a friend of ours as well, and Debi Mazur as well.

Well, anyway? That’s that. It was quite nice to meet Cammy and Michael. Yes a real treat. And those are some special memories for me and my restaurant (Bacaro – Osteria0 Bar Cichetti.

“Basta” !!!

Daniel Bellino Zwicke

ITALIAN FOOD & TRAVEL

ROME VENICE PIZZA PASTA & ?

by DANIEL BELLINO ZWICKE

AMAZON.com

R.E.M. at BAR CICHETTI – NEW YORK

Michael Stipe, Peter Chuck & Mike Wells

ME & SOME of MY FRIENDS

L to R – Daniel Bellino Zwicke, Raoul M., Lisa, MATT DILLON

ABBY, JOHN LURIE & GLENN O’BRIEN

BAR CICHETTI

NEW YORK CITY

PABST BLUE RIBBON BEER

New York & The $3 PBR

“IT STILL EXISTS” !!!! 2022

2025 update $4 for a PBR at 7B BAR

Still a Great Deal

New York and the $3.00 PBR, Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer has been a God-Send to many New Yorkers. As you all know, the US Economy has been in the Shitter for the past 5 years or so.

Many people are out of work, and many who are working, are taking home Half-as-Much Money or more of what they used to make. People have had to buckle down and give up or curb many things they enjoyed previous to the current state of our economy, which is in almost a Depression Era State.

Yes, everybody says that we are not in a Depression, we’re in a recession. Those are the Rich and Well-Off, The 1%-ers talking. To many, the state of our Union and their feelings are of Depression.

So, because of the Terrible State of our Economy you have given up eating out 3 times a week, you buy less clothes, spend less on Entertainment and any number of things. You haven’t had a vacation in the past two years, maybe more. You’ve given up a lot. We all have.

Now when it comes to socializing, going out for a few Beers or Cocktails with some friends, you’ve had to cut back on that too. But hey, you gotta draw a line somewhere, and everyone is entitled to a few drinks to unwind every now and then, and to be with friends. Yes times are bad, people are hurting, you need your friends more than ever. And having a few Beers or Drinks is one of the most common adult ways to do so. It’s natural and part of everyday life. You should be able to have two or three drinks or beers and not have to spend a small fortune doing so. You should be able to have 2 beers for about $10 including tip, and about $16 for tow drinks including tip. That’s reasonable. That’s what most people pay around America, and even less. But we don’t live in America, we live in the greatest City in The World, New York, and Cocktails and Beers here can be oh-so-dear. “Expensive!” Expensive as Hell, “Ridiculously Expensive.” It’s absurd and outrageous, with many places thinking it’s normal and OK to charge $16.00 or more for a measly little Cocktail made by a friggin so-called “Mixologist.” Ha!

It’s not OK, what’s a person to do? So yes, we live in New York, and having a couple cocktails here can be a costly undertaking.. What is a Poor Working Guy or Working Girl to do??? Well Boys and Girls, let’s Thank God for that great thing of wonder and the Bars and establishments who so graciously and kindly serve it, The $3.00 PBR, That’s right, a $3.oo Beer in The Land of The Over-Priced $16.00 Cocktail, Manhattan, New York, NY….. It’s quite Sad, Greedy too, not to mention “Ridiculous Ludicrous and Insane.”

Yes, Thank God and let’s thank the Kind-Hearted proprietors who serve $3.00 PBR’S or any Beer for just $3 or $4 in a New York Bar. You are doing your fellow man a public service and we thank you for that. Whoever you are, you are to be commended, and Shame-On-You, all those places that serve $14 PLUS Cocktails. “RIP-OFF” !!! Wish the masses would Boycott these places and patronize places like Blue & Gold Bar, 7B, and anyplace who has a heart. Bars that serve 3 and 4 Dollar Beers.

I just have to say, it’s great to go to a place like Blue and Gold Bar on East 7th Street and know that you can have 3 or 4 Beers for just $12 to $16, accounting for a Buck a Pop for the Barkeep. Now that’s pretty good. I have had the best times hanging at Blue & Gold with some friends. You sit at the Bar or get into a nice comfy booth, drink your Beers ($3 PBR’S), relax, listen to the Music, Chit Chat, and just enjoy, and it’s not going to cost you The Shirt Off Your Back.

Yes, you can have 4 Beers, tip included for the price of 1 Rip-Off Drink at one of those Rip-Off Joints. And if you are Dumb enough to have four drinks in one of those places, guess what it’s going to cost you? About $75 my friend.

Well, do the Math, and if you can afford $75 for only 4 drinks, God Bless You. And if you can’t, you’ve got an alternative. Right, your local $3.00 PBR Joint. They’re a God-Send.

Daniel Bellino Zwicke

Copyright 2008 Daniel Bellino Zwicke

PLACES To GET A $3.00 PBR in NEW YORK

BLUE & GOLD BAR in the East Village, on East 7th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues. Blue & Gold has long been a favorite of mine ever since I lived in the East Village from 1982 to 1994. It’s just a cool ol normal old style bar with a pool table, standard 50’s 60’s Bar Decor, and Best-of-All $3.oo PBR’S and $6.00 Cocktails. I love it.

7B “HORSESHO BAR”

7B a.k.a. The Horseshoe Bar, also in the East Village, a bastion of cheap and fare prices in Manhattan and Land of The $3.00 PBR and other $3 and $4 Beers. 7B is located on the corner of Avenue B at 7th Street ..

2025 Update – a PBR is now $4, still a great deal, at one of New York’s most historical dive bars.

7B HORESHOE BAR

by the Artist BELLINO

GET a FINE ART PRINT

Frome FINE ART AMERICA

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a $4 PBR

At 7B HORSE SHOE BAR

by Bellino

GET a FINE ART PRINT of This PIECE

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At 7B

Copyright Daniel Bellino Zwicke

SINATRA SAUCE

COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK

His FAVORITE ITALIAN RECIPES

PASTA – MEATBALLS – CHEESE CAKE

And MUCH MORE ….

AMAZON.com

AMERICA’S FAVORITE FOOD

And SECRET RECIPES

BURGERS TACOS BURRITOS

SOUP SNDWICHES BBQ

And MORE …

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LUCY

“LUCY’S BAR”

135 AVENUE A NY NY

Lucy’s Bar is the most aptly named bar in New York. For Lucy—the quiet and small and sweetly proper Polish owner with the well-coifed gray hair and floral blouses—is who you’ll see when you go there, and Lucy is the one who will serve you. If there are other employees, they’ve hidden themselves somewhere in the back.

Though Lucy’s is undeniably a dive (and one of the last in the neighborhood), it feels more like your aunt’s aging rec room, a place where you’d never think of disrespecting the house’s hospitality. It’s also one of the last vestiges of the Polish community that was once made up a significant part of the East Village’s character.

Ludwika “Lucy” Mickevicius moved from Poland to New York in the late 1970s and soon got a job at Blanche’s, a bar on St. Mark’s Place run by another Polish woman. She became such a fixture that people began to think of the bar as Lucy’s, and, when Blanche retired, she sold the place—by then located on Avenue A—to her bartender.

Lucy’s life doesn’t range much further than the twin poles of her joint and Poland, which she visits regularly, shutting up the tavern at a moment’s notice and disappearing for weeks at a time. Most nights, she stations herself at the far end of the bar near the ancient cash register. (It’s cash only here.) One recent evening, the Halloween balloons hadn’t yet been taken down. Then again, assorted Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations were already out. Maybe none of the decorations are ever packed up?

Lucy doesn’t budge much behind the bar, but she keeps herself busy for a woman in her mid-70s. She will draw you a pint or a glass of tequila. And, if she likes you, she might pour you a shot of żubrówka, a Polish bison grass vodka, on the house. When the place gets stuffy, she’ll swing open the door to let some fresh Avenue A air in; just as quickly, she’ll close it if it gets chilly.

The clientele ranges from a less-intense sort of downtown hipster, who exchange a few friendly words with Lucy—who, even all these years later, still speaks in broken, accented English—and then retire to their personal conversations, to old Polish regulars. In fact, on another recent night, a young couple came in to show Lucy their young child. All four spoke entirely in Polish and a delighted Lucy let the little scamp climb atop the pool table. As they left, she handed the kid one of the old Halloween balloons. For those few minutes, Lucy’s was a family bar.

2022 and You Can Still GET a $3 PBR

LYS MYYKTA aka “The SLY FOX

142 2nd Avenue, New York NY – The EAST VILLAGE

LYSMYKTA aka “THE SLY FOX” is a Ukranian Bar in a Ukranian neighborhood in

New York’s East Village. There’s a Ukranian Restaurant in the back, serving delicious Ukranian Food and very reasonable prices. Yes this is thee main neighborhood of Ukranian peoples in New York City. The restaurants great, and any bar that serves $3 PBR Beer is great in my book too.

If you can go some place for drinks (beers), to hang and chit-chat and have 3 Beers, and not have to spend more than $15, that’s a place for me. You shouldn’t have to pay $40 plus for just 2 drinks (or $60 for 3). People who don’t make quite so much money as Lawyers, Wall Street Guys and whoever, should be able to afford to go for 2 or 3 drinks and not spend an “Arm and a Leg” to do it.

The SLY FOX is a place where you can do that, and thank God we have them, and a few other joints that we can do so.

$4 BEERS at “SOPHIE’S”

East 5th STREET Between AVENUES A & B

The EAST VILLAGE NYC

I’ve been going to Sophie’s, along with Lucy’s, Blue & Gold Bar,

the Holiday Lounge and others since first moving to The East Village in 1982.

Prices have gone up in a lot of places, and now in many places – cocktails cost are

in the high teens, Twenty Dollars, and even up to $29 for a cocktail, as I witnessed when

a friend and I went to The Chelsea Hotel a couple weeks ago. Yes, $25 and $29 for a cocktail. Damn?

We spotted a nice looking bottle of Cote du Rhone for $78 a bottle. Not cheap, but in comparison to $29 a cocktail. Four drinks would have costs us $114, so we got the wine for $36 dollars less than 4 drinks, and put that $36 into a tasty Cheeseburger. The Burger came with Fries, and we had them cut it in half. It was Super Tasty. We loved it. Even Better than Burgers at Minetta Tavern. “Seriously” !!!

I’ve been at Blue & Gold recently, as well as “MILANO’S” – Sophie’s, and 7b Bar. All serve $4 beers. Thank God for these places. I’ve said it before. I can go into Andy one of these places and have a couple Beers and live a respectable $4 tip, and walk out just spending $12. Not bad. Two cocktails plus tax and tip at The Lounge Bar at The Chelsea Hotel would be at least $50 for the two drinks plus $4.50 tax plus at least $10 for tip for a grand total of about $65, as oppose to $12 at any of New York City’s awesome Dive Bars.

Don’t get me wrong. Yes, we’re comparing Apples & Oranges. When I went to The Chelsea Hotel, I knew it wouldn’t be cheap, and I was prepared to pay for the privilege (of being there). My friend and I had a great time. We were there for a couple of hours BS-ing about this and that. We killed that bottle of Cote du Rhone and got another glass of wine each ($22 a glass). The check was about $170, not including tip, which was another $50, for a grand total of $220. Not cheap, but we had a “Great Time” and we were happy. You gotta treat yourself sometimes. But most times will be spent at a good dive bar.

“Thank God” for Good Dive Bars”

New York City

LUCKY’S BAR

168 Avenue “A” New York NY , East Village

Get $3 PBRs at LUCKY’S BAR

168 AVENUE “A” NY NY

EAST VILLAGE

JOHNSON’S BAR … 168 RIVINGTON STREET, LES NEW YOIRK NY

Inside JOHNSON’S BAR

$2 PBRs

PABST BLUE RIBBON BEER

Johnson’s Bar

NY NY

MORE PLACES to GET $3 PBRs

CATS SPORTS BAR – 96 GREENWICH STREET at RECTOR NY NY $3 PBRs

WALTER’S BAR – 389 8th Avenue Near 32nd Street and MADISON SQUARE GARDEN .. $3PBR

DOC HOLIDAY’S 141 AVENUE “A” East Village NY NY – $2 PBRs

MILANO’S

MILANO’S

51 EAST HOUSTON STREET

NEW YORK NY

One of the last authentic old-school bars in NYC. How old-school? Milano’s opened in 1880, and maintains a no-frills comfortably old-fashioned atmosphere.

The SPRING LOUNGE

aka SHARK BAR

45 SPRING STREET NEW YORK NY

The SHARK BAR

SPRING STREET at MOTT

Back in the day, when it was an ITALIAN NEIGHBORHOOD here.

Where it GOt its NICKNAME “SHARK BAR”

Nobody “In The KNow” calls it Spring Lounge, only Green Newcomers to Downtown New York would ever call it SPRING LOUNGE. For years it was a neighborhood “Shot & Beer” Joint. It became treny about 20 years ago (1999)

Those “In The Know” like me, only ever call it “The Shark Bar” … It got this name from

the fake SHARK hanging over the bar, and that’s that!

You can’t get $3 Beers here, but we incuded it anyway. And although it’s a Trendy so-called Hipster Bar, those of us Old Timers who still call it The Shark Bar, it still has a special place in our hearts.

Basta !

GOT ANY KAHLUA ?

The BIG LEBOWSKI COOKBOOK

Daniel Zwicke

AMAZON.com

169 BAR

Lower East Side

If Clockwork’s happy hour special seems too good to be true, you’ve got a little good old fashioned neighborhood competition to thank. Located right around the corner, 169 has been in operation since 1916. And its 11:30am-7:30pm HH is among the best in the city. $3 will get you an “Old Man Can/Bottle” of beer (PBR, Carling Black Label, Schaefer, Genesee Cream, High Life/Miller Lite) and any well shot. Subtly New Orleanian environs (window shutters look like they’re fresh off a Creole cottage; beads are strung here and there; there’s crawfish on the menu) evoke genuine good times.