Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Pour it on at Pier 11

Although I am not actually a fan of the cocktail per se (I'm a beer drinker), I love the art of the pour.

Remember Tom Cruise in the movie "Cocktail," tossing glasses and bottles around with great elan and scary coordination? Hell, even a stodgy old fart beer drinker like me, parked at the bar, can appreciate the fun of a good performance.


Rich, aka Nacho Bizznez, who holds forth on KMUN, and used to be at The Schooner on 12th Street, is a cocktail artist (read about him here). I do not say this lightly. Not only that, he's a nice guy.

So naturally I was horrified when The Schooner put up the announcement on the door that all they would be serving was breakfast.

I'm sorry, but who gives a crap about breakfast? Where's the fun? Where's the show? Where's the bartender?

He's at Pier 11, at the bottom of 11th Street in Astoria, that's where he is. Hallelujah.

Click here to see Elleda's photography at the Astoria Photografpix web site

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I ran across your blog while trying to chase down current information on Pier 11. My family used to stop there regularly on trips home from the coast, had great fun playing spot-the-otter from the tables by the window, and enjoyed the food.

It has, however, been at least a couple of years since we've stopped -- or tried to; judging by your comments I think it must have been closed and/or between operators the last time we tried.

Now I gather that it's at least back in action, although it does not seem to have its own Web presence. Can you give an idea of what the present incarnation is like, as it's not unlikely we'll be passing through Astoria again in the next couple of months?

Elleda said...

You are right, it's been through a few incarnations in the last few years. No, they don't have a Web site, which I will mention to Rich (the bartender extraordinaire) next time I see him.

The place looks essentially the same, minus the long wooden dragon (Cecil the Sea Serpent) that was in the large dining area, which is residing in a local used furniture store with a huge price tag on it. The important part, the view, is the same.

I can't say that I've eaten there, but I've certainly seen the plates go by, and what I've seen looks yummy. And I can say that one of my best friends comes to Astoria every year for a month to stay with us, and lunch or dinner at the Pier 11 Lounge is at the top of our "must" list this year.

So I hope you'll give it a try.

And, if it's on a Sunday, hope you'll stop by the Sunday Market, too.