It’s not fancy and it’s not gourmet (I don’t think there is an organic,
local or imported item on the menu), and they only accept cash, but it is one
of our favorite restaurants in New York City.
We first visited EJ's at the urging of our broker after we signed the
lease for our first apartment in the city on 72nd and 3rd
way back in May 2004 on our whirlwind weekend apartment hunting trip (and my
first visit ever to the Big
Apple). We fell in love
immediately with this diner. Have you ever been to a
place for the very first time, yet it feels as if you have been going there your
entire life? I had the chicken salad
with tarragon on a baguette and Josh had the chicken reuben (still his sandwich
of choice) and we were immediately hooked.
The next visit was shortly thereafter, on our first day as official NYC
residents when we moved with only our suitcases and cat, Henry, to an empty
apartment still waiting for the furniture we ordered to arrive. We had a leisurely dinner that night, July 4th,
2004, because it was our only access to a table and chairs at the time and the
air conditioned diner felt like a second home to us on what was a truly
terrifying, yet exhilarating, day. From
that day forward, we have dined at EJ’s on each and every July 4th
to celebrate surviving another year in the city, with the exception of the most
recent three years when we were a) not living in the city at the time or b) in
the case of this year, way across town and too lazy to make the trip with
little mister.
But we don’t reserve our visits only for Independence Day. In fact, we find ourselves in those cornflower
blue leather booths throughout the year, and if you have visited us here, we
have probably brought you there too.
Two weeks ago was Olin’s turn to learn the wonderfulness that is EJ’s. He had been there once before, but it was
prior to his transition to solid food so he was merely a spectator. This most recent visit marked his actual
participation in an EJ’s meal (scrambled eggs, 7 grain toast and fries to be
exact) and thankfully for us, he LOVED it!
We had a great table by the window where he happily waved to all
pedestrians, dogs, cars, buses, and, of course, taxis that passed by. We were a little perplexed by the fact that he
forwent dessert… our favorite rice pudding… but we will chock it up to a lack
of a sweet tooth that night and we didn’t complain because it meant more for us.
Josh and I have found that one of the highlights of being parents to
this little guy is that we get to share with him all of the things that we love
and this trip to EJ’s was no exception.
It is just one more special memory we have of this special place.
(By the way, leave it to the pregnant lady to go on and on about a diner…
the irony is not lost on me.)
Olin's first trip to EJ's in May 2011 (6 months old)...
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