The Tiny Cup

We have had a wonderful two days spent tromping around in Manhattan. Lots of walking, lots of cold, lots of swarming people and swerving cars. Its been great fun! We managed to visit a great many of Nat's old haunts from his time at NYU, including, today-- Pizza Booth! Home of the world's best pizza. It hadn't changed a bit: Still a dive, still the world's best pizza. Even Jack, the non-eater-mouse, chowed down on it....
But I digress.
I meant for this post to be about Jack's exploits at the Tiny Cup Cafe, which, despite being located in Brooklyn and not Manhattan, turned out to be one of our very favorite parts of the trip. The Tiny Cup is a little cafe about a block and a half from Caroline's apartment-- just about the distance that it is possible to walk while carrying Very Heavy Baby in your arms...It is a delightful spot in so many ways. Charming, low key atmosphere, mismatched furniture, menu written on blackboards, homemade pastries arranged casually on an eclectic mix of cake stands on the counter. There is an old hoosier cabinet where you can serve yourself water from metal pitchers or put cream in your coffee, and strange, half finished red and gold stenciling on one wall. In the front of the cafe, two sitting areas are marked by very orange furniture, including a delightful corduroy couch which we used as home base on two out of the 3 of our visits. The staff are all young and hip and friendly. And, most importantly for Jack, the laid-back atmosphere and un-crowded nature of the place let him have free reign. Lately he's not been much for staying seated during mealtimes. Lots of whining tends to happen when we force him to sit in a high chair while we eat and he plays with, then flings, his food. So, when we are out, it is ever-so-much easier on everyone involved when he can move around.

At the Tiny Cup, he not only wandered around, he stole the show. Each and every time. He became the official welcoming committee, saying a bold "iieee" to each person who walked in. He flirted shamelessly with pretty young women. He developed a bit of an obsession with tall black men, going up to and "talking" to any one that walked in the door, and then staring in unabashed wonder at them for long period of time. And, every person he talked with responded, enthusiastically. Within a few minutes, everyone in the cafe knew his name. This evening he walked across the room to strike up a conversation with a young woman who'd been dutifully working the whole time we ate. She looked up, smiled at him, and said "Hi Jack, how are you doing." Last night, a charming British man named Clinton introduced himself to Jack and carried on quite a conversation. Tonight, a woman named Lucy did the same and entertained Jack for about 10 minutes while we ate. The tall black man he greeted at breakfast this morning smiled and waved at him off and on while getting his coffee to go. After he left, the waitress turned to us and said, "That is the happiest I have ever seen that man. He never smiles!" This evening, a woman across the room could not keep her eyes off of Jack, gushing about how beautiful he is to the extent that I worried a little bit about letting him out of my sight. Before she left, she came and gave him a few coins to add to his collection that he had been playing with at the table. Since we have been here Jack has earned 35 cents, a sucker, and compliments from at least 20 strangers. We should take him on a national tour...