Life in the Blarney Stone on Trinity Place in the financial district is like that, as comforting and slightly odd as a slab of warm meatloaf on an aching back.
I grew up in more modest circumstances, eating meatloaf on Thistle plates, a wonderful old Stangl pottery pattern my mother still uses.
It does not sell barbecue but offers sandwiches, salads, produce like heirloom tomatoes, cookies, cupcakes and some prepared foods, including excellent meatloaf finished on a grill.
There are roast pork buns (below) and pork and poached egg ramen, but also a braised short-rib meatloaf served on a purée of smoky plantains, drizzled with a thick soy molasses.
The sizable slab of homey, oniony, no-filler Mom's meatloaf on wilted spinach and a pool of feathery mashed potatoes is just what diners who order it envision.
The meatloaf at Clementine Café, a new takeout shop in Chelsea, is definitely not Mom's, unless Mom liked her meatloaf on the spicy side and with a dense texture that makes it good to slice and serve cold, like pâté.
It's also the place to get a fine bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich on sourdough bread ($4.50) and meatloaf on white ($5).
Further, the editor of Vanity Fair, Graydon Carter, runs in similar social and professional circles as Mr. Bloomberg did in his pre-mayoral, media mogul days, before he began choosing meatloaf on Staten Island over cheese courses at expensive Midtown restaurants.
Sandwich Planet +++ (212) 273-9768 534 Ninth Avenue, near 40th Street Clinton $ Cash only At this trim little takeout shop near the Port Authority Bus Terminal, you can design your own sandwich or order one of the classics, like the fine bacon, lettuce and tomato on sourdough bread, or meatloaf on white.
