Now that spring's here, carrying my camera everywhere is getting less and less practical. See this new camera is big and bulky---in winter I put it in my puffy coat pocket and barely even noticed it. Now that it's warm, my coat is becoming less and less necessary---where will I put my camera? I can put it in my backpack but then it gets banged up. It's a TRUE and HORRIFYING dilemma.

This site's content suffers accordingly. I could be spontaneous when my camera was in my pocket---now I have to plan everything out in advance. So on Friday I said to myself: "Yo, self, put your camera in your pocket and go somewhere interesting." I headed down to the West Village and began exploring.

There is a fine line between exploring and getting lost. I started on Bleeker and Carmine---walked passed Shopsin's (haven't been yet), 'Ino, Blue Ribbon, then over passed Amy's Bread, down Cornelia passed Pearl Oyster Bar, then a sidetrack over to The Spotted Pig---which I couldn't find---that led me to some green and leafy (and very pretty) neighborhood which let me out by the Cherry Lane Theater and by then I was starving. Luckily, there was Snack Taverna--practically empty---with a corner table calling my name.

Snack Taverna is a francophied Greek joint on the corner of Bedford and 7th Avenue. On a sunny day (like it was Friday) it's light and springy inside. Let this picture set the mood for you:

Aren't those flowers pretty? And the brick walls and the layout... If this site were the Amateur Interior Decorator, we could go on for paragraphs. As it stands, we're the Amateur Gourmet---let's talk about the food.

Unfortunately, I thought I'd be able to find the menu online---I didn't write down what I ordered. So look at it first and I'll tell you what was in it:

How pretty is that sandwich? There was lamb on a skewer, tzatziki (and lots of it so the sandwich was an oozy mess), lettuce, onions, tomato, all pressed in a pita that was way beyond fresh. Plus, look at that pretty foil presentation! (I think it was called Lamb Slavaka... Slavakova? Slantikiovinanaa?)

I gobbled this sandwich like a Greek god---Zeus? Pluto? Neptune? No, Bacchus of course---he's my Greek god of choice. Music, food, wine and theater? Now that's a religion I can get behind.

The side salad was so fresh and wonderful: it was a grain (barley?) with cucumbers, tomato, onion mixed in all dressed with oil and vinegar. Very light, very spring.

Oh, and not photographed is a lemonade---a mint lemonade---that puts all other mint lemonade to shame. (Especially the craptacular lemonade I had at Pain Quotidien.) Lemonade may be my new favorite drink, so watch out iced tea---you're falling out of favor.

In conclusion, should you go a'wander in the West Village and wind up on the corner of 7th and Bedford why not snack at Snack Taverna? Put a little Bacchus bach into your life.