Pangea

Barbara and I continued on our tour of New York neighborhoods with a visit to the East Village last night.
We wandered for more than an hour oogling restaurant after restaurant.  Who knew there were so many to choose from?  The weather was great so outdoor seating was available almost everywhere, and if not, the front doors/windows were wide open.  We originally stopped into a restaurant with cajun food and a rustic woodsy decor.  The back garden was open but for a private party, the booths are "for four" and since there were no tables available up front, the waitress just shrugged her shoulders.  Obviously, we left.  I haven't heard that a table is "for four" in a million years.  Any, and I mean ANY restaurant I've been to in the past ten years has seated our party of 2, 3, 4, whatever at whichever table we liked.  If I could only remember the name of the place i would tell you to BAN IT! (It's located between Cacio e Pepe and Shima).  PS:  After some googling I believe the name of the nasty waitress restaurant is Ninth Ward (http://blogs.villagevoice.com/forkintheroad/2010/06/ninth_ward_will.php).

Anyway,  our second choice was Pangea (178 2nd Avenue, between 11th and 12th), which was two doors down.  Their outdoor seating was white plastic tables which were truly uninviting, but inside was wonderful with banquets and small wooden tables with candles.  They have a beautiful wood bar with lovely fabric chairs.  The waiter greeted us at the door with a big smile and were were immediately taken to a table in a corner of the banquet so that neither of us would sit on a wood chair.  It was exactly where we would have chosen to sit, and we let the waiter know how nice it was of him.  We ordered:  1/2 carafe of house Montepulciano for $15 (that gave us 4 glasses for the price of 2).  We shared:  Mesclun salad with beets and goat cheese; shrimp with white beans and bruschetta.  The shrimp was warm, which was a good surprise and the tomatoes on the bruschetta were warm as well.  The goat cheese was good and we were very happy.  The waiter continued to be friendly and even topped off our wine glasses with a bit more from their large bottle. 

Would we run back, no, because there are so many other places we'd like to try, however, considering the treatment next door, our experience at Pangea was all the more special.