Suba

Haven't written in a while... a lot going on.

Just making a pit stop to tell you about a great place I found called Suba.

One of the many great things about this city is reading about some unique, new little hot spot, then calling up a few friends to go check it out. There are literally thousands of them - especially in the restaurant and lounge category.

My friend Joy, who I know from work, and Tammy, who I know from Joy - and I - have been doing this whole exploration thing once a month.

Actually, we've done it twice but we said we're going to do it every month.

Our first outing was Bikram Yoga. Joy picked the spot.

The Bikram class was interesting because Joy forgot to mention that 90% of the moves we would be doing required that one have razor thin hips or better yet, no hips at all. As a well developed Cuban woman, I was at a disadvantage.

As the moves got progressively harder, I was at a loss. The instructor would call out a position, which I didn't even quite comprehend; I would attempt to do it, see how pathetic I looked in the mirror and cry inside. Some of the manuevers she called literally made me stop and laugh. Others made me pissed. Why would anyone ever want to wrap one leg around the other and put their right foot on their left shin? What the hell is that? Don't forget about the mirror. Sheer masochism.

Tammy and I were the two newbies in the class so the teacher asked our names at the beginning. You know how these instructors like to say your name every so often to make you feel included? Well, she gave us a shout out alright. She kept repeating the same sentence over and iver again the entire class: "Great job Tammy, hang in there Damaris." It was pathetic. A few people came up to me at the end to offer condolences. "At least you stayed in the room the whole time," they said. That's how bad it was.

The room by the way, was kept at a steamy 101 degrees the entire 90 minutes. That's the thing about Bikram. I wish I would have known this too. Not only was this only my second ever Yoga class - was a 90 minute class, another detail Joy forgot to mention. I think she wanted to bring me down a notch or something.

Did I mention that Joy was a ballet dancer for 15 years so she has not ONE ounce of body fat and can do every single Yoga pose PERFECTLY? Another person came up to me after class and said - "Your friend is really good."

Are you getting the picture of what this was like for me?

We were supposed to go out to dinner after the class but Tammy and I were so sweaty and soar that we went straight home. My perfect hair day turned into a sweaty tribute to Chaka Kahn...

The following month Tammy wanted to do Pilates. That was better.

The best part of it was that Joy couldn't do many of the moves because of her ballet training. It was so much fun watching her squirm. I say much of this in jest because I adore her - but it really was kind of satisfying when the teacher praised me for doing the moves well. Apparently hips were a good thing in Pilates.

After the class we went to a place called Pure Food & Wine near Gramercy Park. It was a cute restaurant where every dish served was raw. They didn't even have an oven. The food was excellent... a bit microscopic, but excellent.

ANYWAY -- you've probably forgotten all about Suba by now because I went on a major tangent. Let me tell you about Suba!

After Bikram and Pilates, it was my turn to choose an adventurous outing.

I contemplated doing something really heinous like making Joy and Tammy go to a writing workshop to do in class writing but then I thought better of it.

I would show them how cool I was by planning a spectacular outing that did not involve humilitation for anyone.

I decided to nix the exercise crap altogether and just do straight up dinner.

I needed a place that offered something exotic and that's when I found SUBA.

According to their website Suba is a Latin Restaurant and Lounge like no other. I would have to agree.

It's a dimly light, trendy little spot in the East Village off of Delancey Street that offers a unique dining experience, even for Manhattan.

The moment I walked in the Latin music grabbed me. It was upbeat and modern with more of a latin techno feel. The decor was chic, subtle and very cool.

I could see that the restaurant had several levels so although I was already pleased, I was in for more.

Suba had a Tapas Lounge, a Skylight Room and a Grotto. Don't worry, I didn't exactly know what a Grotto was either. It was this amazing dining island sitting in the center of a pool of rippling water illuminated by 50 submerged lights. I took this description from their website because I would have called it a deck sitting on top of a bright pond thing.

I had never dined in a grotto before. It was spectacular.

The exact definition of grotto is an artificial structure made to resemble a cave (for any neurotics who think I was saying that a grotto is a pond).

Anyway, the place was amazing.

We enjoyed some tasty Mojitos, then ate poached shrimp with manchego rice & crayfish and apple ravioli. So good. After that we shared a plate of 12 hour braised short ribs for dinner. All I could say was wow. Next time I make short ribs I'm definitely going to make sure I braise them for 12 hours. Yeah.

I may be bankrupt but the experience was worth it.

Actually, considering what we ate and drank the bill was pretty reasonable. I spent 60 bucks.

Suba is a definite must-see and I'm sure I'll go back.

In addition to the great food and the grotto, they have weekly events - there's Dinner and a Movie on Monday Nights, Latin Fridays and Live Flamenco Sundays.

Tammy who has lived in New York for a very long time, was impressed. Score! Joy backed out at the last minute because she was feeling sick so she missed it. We almost cancelled the whole evening, but then Tammy and I decided to go ahead and I'm so glad we did.

The lesson of the evening, which seems to be a recurring one for me lately, is to go with the flow. Great things can happen when you do - and they did.

To experience SUBA for yourself - just click here: http://subanyc.com

Our next adventure will be a cooking class at Pure Food & Wine, the restaurant Tammy took us to last month.

We're going to learn how to cook raw food, or something like that...