brunch at Smorgas

My anticipation to take Cuba to the Prospect Park Pug meet up last Saturday morning went a rye when I came to my senses: even the delight of watching her bound around in an abundance of wrinkles and portly bellies-- is not enough to drag me out of bed, at 7am, on a weekend morning. I decided to hop on a train and take her to Washington Square Park, another hinted pug fest.






A gorgeous afternoon in the city, no jacket needed- boots important. It seems that the majority of the parks should have their saw dust changed more frequently. Cuba seemed to prefer the larger dogs to the pugs- perhaps because she is still in her energetic puppy-phase whereas the other pugs were typical lethargic beings?




After she had her fill and I was exhausted by small talk with a woman on American Apparel style and design, "I love your dog's tee shirt."

"Thanks, she picked it out at American Apparel"

"I love that store! If I lost all my clothes, I'd only buy from there. If you get fat you can still wear your clothes!"

At which point I nodded and trailed off towards Cuba- as I was attempting to corral her out of the pit of urine soaked saw dust, awkward guy hitting on me and coddling my dog- (who was clearly pretending to have a dog- and using the venue to pick up girls...) A Chinese woman stopped me to ask if she could take a picture of my dog. Cuba decided that she simply would not sit still and the woman corrected that she wanted to take a photo of me with the dog- I complied as a route of escape and met up with Vadim.

We enjoyed the hints of Spring and a few Coca Colas in retro bottles while perusing the store fronts and Cafes of the West Village. We happened upon Smorgas, a cozy Swedish restaurant with layers of yellows and grays. Vadim asked for a table on the street front where we could enjoy brunch with Cuba.


















We chose the Swedish Meatballs & Lingon Berries served with chive mashers. Amazing...beautifully integrated flavors- rich, but not overdone. We also opted for the Blue Shell Mussels with Frites in a white-wine cream broth with shaved garlic, shallots and tarrgon which taunted words of perfection. As faithful as I am to BXL and the freshness of their shell fish, I would almost like to admit that Smorgas wins my vote. We sipped Carlsberg, Lingon Berry Bellinis and the Swedish Bloody Mary (it is the brand of Vodka which labels the drink 'Swedish'??) The service was well-balanced, the manager was present and contributing, offering us rustic bread served with chive butter- presented on a stone. He even brought Cuba a dish of water in between in numerous saunters down the street.

Smorgas is the ideal Saturday afternoon- a late brunch- quiet, consistent- straightforward with slight turns of excitement with each flavor. The taste was on par with my Swedish mother's cooking- but with the edge of a West Village cafe.