Looking for a Lost Paradise in Three Parts – Part 1 New York’s Lower East Side and East Village Bars by Stephen Curran

For those of us of a certain age and a penchant for visiting New York, Manhattan’s Lower East Side conjures up a certain dirty, gritty, “real” New York.  This wistful view of the good/bad-old-days is summed up in Anthony Bourdain’s season 12 episode 7 of his show “Parts Unknown” where he looks back on his druggie days in the Lower East Side — a look-back made more poignant because this was Bourdain’s last TV episode, airing after his 2018 suicide.

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Tiki Bar Review #28 Otto’s Shrunken Head, NYC

Otto's Shrunken Head

Hey, this used to be Barmacy!

When I first walked into Otto’s Shrunken Head, I felt like I’d been there before. I lived in New York back in the early 2000s and before Otto’s was Otto’s, it used to be Barmacy. Barmacy was a bar that was supposed to be a pharmacy that turned into a bar. Pretty interesting idea, but a Tiki bar is so much cooler!

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