Consignment/Thrift Shops Fort Lauderdale area

Below are some consignment/thrift shops in the Fort Lauderdale area. Do you know of others?

Another Chance

6125 Stirling Rd., Davie

954-584-5150

Tues.,Thurs., Fri.: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Wed. 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m. 4 p.m.

Sun., 12-4 p.m.

Bohemian Style

1309 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale

954-759-9144

Bohemianstyledesign.net

Couture Upscale Design

2939 N. Federal Hwy.Fort Lauderdale

954-565-4348

Coastal Consignments (furniture)

5435 N. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale

954-533-7505

Déjà vu, a Consignment Experience, Inc.

452 South Cypress Rd.,Pompano Beach

dejavuconsignment.net

M: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Tues-Fri: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Sat: 10 a.m-8 p.m.; Sun: 1-6 p.m.

954-942-5700

Hanky Panky’s

At Festival Flea Market – 2900 W. Sample Rd.,

170 Parade, Pompano Beach

954-973-2882

Hankypankys.com

My Sister’s Closet Consignment Boutique

2665 E. Oakland Park Blvd., Fort Lauderdale

954-563-5559

Out of the Closet

1785 E. Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale

954-462-9442

Outofthecloset.org

Mon-Fri: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m

Sat, Sun: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

The Prissy Hen

1825 Cordova Rd. (Harbor Shops),Fort Lauderdale

954-462-4484

Mon-Fri: 10 a.m.- 6 p.m.

Prissyhenconsignment.com

Thriftarella’s

4300 Davie Blvd., Davie

954-587-0818

Tues- Sat: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Thriftarellas.com

Twice But Nice

5229 W. Broward Blvd.,Plantation

954-581-6423

Mon.-Sat: 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sat.: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Vintage Diversity

236 W. Prospect Rd., Fort Lauderdale

954-566-7678

Tues.-Fri: 12-6 p.m.; Sat: 11 a.m. 6 p.m.

Vintagediversity.com

Worth Repeating

1732 N.E. 26^th St., Wilton Manors

954-563-4443

Worthrepeatingconsignments.com

Mon-Sat: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.


Tags: Consignment shops Fort Lauderdale, consignment shops Plantation,

Café Fiorello, NYC - Classy fare, setting near Lincoln Center

Café Fiorello

1900 Broadway – between 63 and 66^th Sts, across from Lincoln Center

New York, NY 212-595-5330

www.cafefiorello.com

Open lunch and dinner

Brunch on weekends

By Jane Feehan

Café Fiorello, across from the Lincoln Center, draws theater goers and loyal customers from the neighborhood and nearby businesses, including CNN.

Ideal for pre - or post-show dining, Café Fiorello offers a large semi-circular antipasto bar where a waiter will choose a few dishes to bring tableside or where diners can sit and and order their favorites for a light meal. This area of the restaurant features a great view of Lincoln Center.  

An elegant menu, with an array of fresh seafood, traditional Italian dishes, prime steaks and other meats, matches this restaurant’s classy dark wood interior. It’s expensive but thoroughly enjoyable right down to divine desserts. The café offers al fresco dining in warm weather. Service – good. Not a great place for kids, especially at night. For transit directions, visit: www.hopstop.com.

Tags: NYC restaurants, pre-theater dining near Lincoln Center, post-theater dining near Lincoln Center, Italian restaurants NYC

American Museum of Natural History, NYC: Our Global Kitchen - it's all about food

American Museum of Natural History

Central Park West at 79th Street

New York, New York

212-769-5100

Amnh.org

By Jane Feehan

I could not leave New York City without stopping by the American Museum of Natural History, the queen of museums. It was like stepping back into history – my history. It was a frequent field trip destination for my grade school in New Jersey.

Much appeared the same at this museum founded in 1869 (President Ulysses S. Grant laid the first stone in 1874), starting with the gigantic prehistoric elephants stationed near the entrance of the first exhibit. But there have been many additions. The Hayden Big Bang Theater presented a nifty four-minute video projected on to a sunken, circular screen introducing the Rose Center for Earth and Space and its examination of universe and earth through time.

There’s so much to see here – and so many toddlers, and babies in strollers. Why do parents drag young kids to these places? Children younger than seven don’t appreciate - or understand - these exhibits.

I sought refuge from the parade of strollers in an exhibit less traveled and paid an additional $6 to see Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture (amnh.org/our-global-kitchen). This was worth the trip – and the extra money. It’s a terrific exhibit featuring: how food is grown around the globe; how it’s traded and shipped (did you know 30 percent of the world’s food is destroyed in transit?); how it’s cooked in different countries; and the central place food takes in cultural celebrations. Tastings are provided by Whole Foods Markets.  There’s also an interesting collection of international cook books, edible plants grown hydroponically, spices, and a table movie showing chefs’ hands creating a variety of familiar dishes (more boys at this table than girls).

Our Global Kitchen also includes food in history: ancient irrigation systems, spices along Asia’s Silk Road, and models of crops grown hundreds of years ago. Lastly, the exhibit examines future food sources and the role some may play in eliminating world hunger. Enough food can be grown to feed the world now, the museum claims, but politics and natural disasters are among the causes that undermine the ability to feed all. Food for thought …

General admission tickets to the museum run $19, special exhibits additional. If traveling by subway take the B line during weekdays and the C train on weekends. The 81^st street subway exit features wall/tile art apropos of the museum. There are several restaurants and gift shops in the building as well as  restaurants in the neighborhood.

For transit directions, visit: http://hopstop.com

Tags: NYC museums, food exhibits, food history, natural history, prehistoric food,natural history, things to do in New York City

    

Coppelia, Greenwich Village: Luscious Latin food in this "diner"

Coppelia CLOSED

207 West 14^th Street

New York, NY  10001

www.ybandco.com

Open 24/7 – Catering also available

212-858-5001

By Jane Feehan

One may question why Coppelia bills itself as a diner. It’s not a prefabricated building. It’s not one long train-like dining car. But a counter dominates the main room and it does serve breakfast 24 hours a day, five days a week with brunch on Saturdays and Sundays.  

Coppelia is much more than their description as a New York-style luncheonette with Cuban accents. It dishes up some luscious Latin food for breakfast, lunch and dinner and offers house-made desserts and breakfast sweets that alone would be worth a visit. Cuban coffees and Latin music punctuate a menu of

Huevos Rancheros; Pan France or Challah French toast heaped with fresh fruit; empanadas bursting with sweet corn, chicken or beef; Ropa Vieja – slow-cooked shredded beef in tomato salsa; Mejillones - steamed mussels, jalapeño bacon with cilantro and spicy fries; Camarones Diablo – dark rum-glazed shrimp with rice. For the less adventurous, there are diner standards: eggs plain, hamburgers, tuna melts, grilled cheese and more.  Happy Hour draws devotees looking for a little socializing to go with Coppelia’s great food.

I’ve traveled from midtown Manhattan to the Village a few times just to visit Coppelia. I’ll dine there again before I return to South Florida. Will I find a Latin diner as good as Coppelia in Fort Lauderdale or Miami?        For transit directions, visit: http://hopstop.com

Tags: NYC diners, diners in Greenwich Village, Latin diners in Manhattan, good diners in NYC, Cuban food, Latin food in NYC

For transit directions, visit: http://hopstop.com

Strand Bookstore, NYC - eight miles of books: banned and rare, new and used

Strand Bookstore

828 Broadway (at 12^th Street)

New York City (Greenwich Village)

212-473-1452

Hours:

Monday-Saturday: 9:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m.

Sunday: 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m.

Rare book room closes daily at 6:15

www.strandbooks.com

By Jane Feehan

Named after the famous publishing street in London, the Strand bookstore, opened in 1927, is the sole survivor of New York City’s Book Row that once stretched from Union Square to Astor Place. For bibliophiles, it’s a required stop when visiting the city.

The Strand, without comfy seating or café, is no Barnes and Noble but there is no time to sit with so much to see on its three floors. They boast eight miles of books, new, used and rare: vintage pulp and banned books, out- of-print tomes and New York Times notables.  Used and new sit side-by-side in stacks or on tables throughout. Plenty of staffers are available to guide visitors through rows of shelves or to check inventory on computers. Music on CDs can also be found here.

The Strand’s rare book room is museum worthy with its collection of gold-embossed, leather-bound books from around the globe- some locked behind glass with price tags in the thousands of dollars. Dealers can also find signed first editions in this room.

Dealers and avid readers sell their books at The Strand, patrons make it a one-stop-shop for gifts (lots of items other than books), and casual readers mix with devotees of the written word visiting for a few hours of pleasant distraction.  It’s fantastic. Hail, hail the independent bookstore.

The Strand also sells books online and at a kiosk in Central Park at 60^th  Street and Fifth Avenue.

For transit directions, visit: http://hopstop.com

Tags: NYC bookstores, best book stores in New York City, rare books, banned books, book dealers, book store in Greenwich Village, vintage pulp fiction, out of print books, where to sell books in NYC, film researcher.

El Quijote at Hotel Chelsea, NYC - of Joplin, Hendrix, Dylan,Thomas Wolfe and ...

El Quijote Restaurant

226 W. 23^rd St.

New York City, NY 

212-929-1855

http://www.elquijoterestaurant.com/

By Jane Feehan

Part of Hotel Chelsea, El Quijote restaurant will be the closest most of us will get to the historic building for awhile. It’s been closed to all but a few long-time renters since late 2011 as it undergoes renovations by New York developer Joseph Chetrit.*

Stardust and nostalgia lure most to El Quijote, an old-time Spanish dining spot opened in 1930. It’s hard to imagine Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan or Sid Vicious stopping in for a meal - much less party at this sedate place - but stories abound about the hotel’s famous guests at this eatery.

Timeless murals of bull fighting and other scenes from the book of adventures of the man from La Mancha (Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes, 1605) line walls of El Quijote. The décor appropriately complements a menu of Spanish dishes such as paella, camerones plancha (grilled shrimp), Red Snapper Vizcaina, lobster or steaks.Tapas serve as starters or small meals at table or bar.

We dined on succulent lobster, and seafood paella, crispy salads, tasty soup and finished it off with flan. Good, not memorable, but we – as do many others - will stop back for more tales from the bartenders and hope to feel (maybe see?) the ethereal presence of rockers and writers long gone.  Let’s hope El Quijote remains once the hotel reopens with a mostly new face and interior.

Reservations suggested, "casual neat" dress code.
For transit directions, visit: http://hopstop.com

*Hotel Chelsea was built in 1884 as a cooperative apartment building. At the time, it was the tallest building in New York City. It was designated as a New York City landmark in 1966 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. Its architecture, Queen Ann style, is noted for interior and exterior wrought iron accents. Because Hotel Chelsea is a historic place, the developer will have to preserve some architectural aspects of the building. Among its list of notables guests are Bob Dylan, Arthur C. Clark, who wrote part of 2001: A Space Odyssey while there, playwright Henry Miller, poet/singer Leonard Cohen, writers Dylan Thomas and Thomas Wolfe. Sid Vicious murdered girlfriend Nancy Spungen at the hotel in 1978 room 100. 

Chelsea notables Henry Miller,

Dylan Thomas, Dylan Thomas

Tags: New York City Spanish restaurants, Hotel Chelsea, famous restaurants in NYC, famous places in New York City, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Arthur C. Clark, Sid Vicious, Nancy Spungen, film researcher

Rosemary's NYC - Packs flavor ... and crowds

Rosemary’s

18 Greenwich Avenue (West Village)

NYC 10011

212-647-1818

Breakfast: 8-11:30 a.m.

Lunch: 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Dinner: 5 p.m.-12 a.m.

Rosemarysnyc.com

By Jane Feehan

One of New York City’s busiest new restaurants, Rosemary’s dishes up skillfully prepared Italian creations to an adoring local crowd willing to wait an hour or more for dinner.

Rosemary’s pays homage to the current farm-to-table trend with its roof-top-grown vegetables and herbs.  Their signature minestrone soup, or Minestra di Stagione ($16) overflows with garden fresh vegetables and is a lunch time favorite. Pollo al Mattone ($20), a juicy and flavorful half chicken atop brussel sprouts, beans and house-made croutons, is top notch.  Small dishes ($5) of vegetables, meat, seafood or cheeses either complement a meal or serve as mainstay. One of those dishes, Eggplant Caponata - roasted eggplant, and olives in a tomato-based sauce – bursts with flavor.

A bar surrounded by high top, chairless tables keeps patrons occupied while waiting to be seated. Some wait for a cell phone call announcing their table while at nearby bars. Rosemary’s, once the site of a stationary store, is short on ambiance and is a noisy, crowded place most of the day. It’s trendy, moderately priced and casual. Union Square lies a few blocks away. Service: good.
For transit directions, visit: http://hopstop.com

Tags: Top new restaurants in New York City, West Village Italian restaurants, Italian restaurant lower Manhattan, farm-to-table restaurant NYC, NYC Italian restaurants, West Village brunch, West Village lunch, West Village breakfast,  film researcher   

Affinia Dumont - Small chain, spacious quarters in New York City

Affinia Dumont Hotel

150 East 34^th St.

New York, NY 10016

212-481-7600

Affinia.com

By Jane Feehan

It’s hard to find a mid-priced hotel in New York with spacious rooms, but Affinia Dumont holds that distinction.  Another plus:  all rooms have kitchens, perfect for a long-term stay. Affinia Dumont, a 37-floor boutique inn located in the Murray Hill area near some of the best parts of Lexington, Park and Madison avenues, is one of several Affinias in New York and other cities.  

There’s no restaurant on the premises but one adjacent to the building, the Barking Dog, serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and has a full bar (fills the stomach but no it's no culinary experience). Room service is available from there and also from a restaurant half a block away, the Cinema Café.  Murray Hill Diner sits close by. This is a youngish neighborhood with plenty of bars and inexpensive eateries bursting with the 20 something crowd (Yeshiva University is nearby) but options for the older, more sedate group abound.

The original Macy’s stands a few blocks away and so does the Empire State Building - both on 34^th Penn Station (also on 34^th), its adjacent Madison Square Garden,  and Grand Central Station lie within one subway stop. Most hotels in NYC sit near some sight or another but one of the benefits of staying at the Affinia Dumont is that it’s conveniently distant from the madding tourist crowds of Times Square and Rockefeller Center.

View from the 24th Floor

Street.  

Affina Dumont’s 24 hour-gym (which supports the healthy living theme of this hotel) is large with plenty of equipment. There’s also a spa (the carpet is gloomy and old here, my only criticism of the place). The view from the upper floors is spectacular. Seven rooms on each floor makes for quiet, restful quarters. Parties in rooms are strictly prohibited - a good thing.The hotel is pet friendly, its staff outstanding with helpful concierge, bellmen and housekeepers.  Conference rooms and event catering available. I’ll be back and will look into the Affina brand in other cities I visit.

What’s near:

Hair salon – Dramatics NYC (west of Affinia, same street) – excellent for men and women and very affordable (color, cut and style less than $100 - the best styling I’ve ever had). Ask for Bebe.

Murray Hill Market – sandwiches, groceries (sorry – no wine, NY has weird liquor laws)
Food Emporium - Grocery store with some organics - a block away on 3rd Ave near 33rd St.
D'Agostino - Grocery store - 3rd Ave. at 35th Street

Park Avenue Liquors – short walk on 34^th St toward Park Avenue
Windsor Wine - 3rd Ave. between 33rd and 34th streets

Duane Read – drug store – one on every corner

East Pacific Pan Asian Bistro – inexpensive, noisy, full bar, sushi and Chinese - fair
Grand Sichuan - Chinese food on Lexington - Very good, short walk and fast delivery

Whole Foods - Less than a five minute subway ride on the 6 line to the Union Square location. 

For transit directions, visit: http://hopstop.com

Tags: New York City hotels, hotels with kitchens in New York City, boutique hotels in New York City, hotels with large rooms in New York City, hotels near Madison Square Garden, hotel near Empire State Building, film researcher.