I see that the yet-to-be-released Vampire Weekend album makes a lot of Top of the Year-lists. I was really excited when I realized that they were going to play a free daytime gig at Columbia University, while we were in NYC in August. And not only that; the awesome hip hop duo Clipse was going to headline. Two great acts for free, just around the corner from where we stayed on 112th St.
Unfortunately, on the day of the gig, I woke up at two in the afternoon in a flat on 3rd St and Ave A after a long night in the East Village. Yes, that’s 109 streets and a lot of avenues away from the show, which was just about to start. I was very hung-over and heavily sweating on this boiling hot summer day, and could barely transport myself to the kitchen for a glass of water. We decided to go to Russ and Daughters instead.
Russ and Daughters on Houston Street is the greatest place for smoked and pickled fish I’ve ever been to. Kaj Röjers rökeri in Hallavara, Skåne might be up there too, but Russ is the shit. Chip and I ordered a “Super Heeb” each – a divine bagel with whitefish salad, double-whipped horseradish cream cheese and wasabi covered fish roe. According to Chip, a Dutch food magazine picked this as the second best food in the world. Maybe it wasn’t as good as Bill Oglethorpe’s grilled-cheese sandwich at Borough Market in London (which another famous food writer claimed was the best food in the world) but not far from it.
It wasn’t a Dutch food magazine! It was Heeb Magazine, for which the bagel sandwich was named.