Wine Bar Yes - 70

Wine Bar No - 11

Well folks, the results are in. The gimme-vino-on-Austin crowd beat out the Danny-Brown-stay-home bunch a whopping 70 to 11. This thoroughly unscientific poll can only mean one thing. Forest Hills has evolved. It used to be a sort of happy medium between the urban density of Manhattan and the suburban sprawl of Long Island. People no longer want to travel to get stuff. There's a reason that Sushi Yasu moved from Yellowstone to Austin Street and it wasn't the ambiance. There's a reason that Atlas Park is crumbling beneath the weight of its own dream. There's a reason I am, to this day, shocked that Trader Joe's opened where it did. Convenience. People don't want to drive or walk a half hour to get things. Oh sure, some people do. They like the exercise or enjoy having a good stroll or giving themselves an excuse to see a new neighborhood. But most people just want to be able to go somewhere on the fly with their wives, or friends, or lovers, or wife's friend's lovers. Shoot the shit, drink a bottle, stumble home without a cab. It's in the fine print of the American dream. 

If you read the comments of my various posts, as I often do, then you know that one of my readers, the smokin' hot Susan, did some unsolicited recon for us all and found out that, lo and behold, the old Q Thai Bistro space will become... a wine bar! We're number one! We're number one! USA! USA! Reward her efforts by giving her money. Reward the guy opening the wine bar by giving him even more money. Danny Brown, for those who are interested, never replied to my direct letter to him and never commented on the open letter (which were the same) that you all read here. I'm hardly surprised and so can hardly be disappointed, though it would have been pretty neat to have influenced someone to such a degree that they drop a half million dollars on my suggestion.

Up next, I want a real espresso in a big fat cushy chair, made by a hipster barrista covered in tattoos whose only goal in life is to make perfect coffee.

Someone make that happen.