Spoon #4: Fanelli's Cafe

Five years ago my folks gave me a calendar called "Historic Bars of New York".  As the name implies it featured twelve of New York City's most famous historic bars.  Included were some of the more famous (i.e. McSorley's, P.J. Clarke's, the 21 Club), and some Ms. Dish and I had never heard of before.  Well Ms. Dish and I soon went to work exploring these various bars all throughout the city, and we found the vast majority were just as grand as the calendar implied.  Sadly, Fanelli's Cafe in SoHo was one we had not made it to until yesterday!  We honestly don't venture to SoHo all that often, but we happened to be in the neighborhood (to check out the new REI, if you must know).

We still have the old calendar, which provides a little history on Fanelli's.  Apparently the joint stayed open through prohibition by making wine and bathtub gin in a secret room behind the bar.  Fanelli himself was a boxer/promoter, which explains all the boxing memorabilia stuck on the walls.  All around it was a pretty neat bar with lots of character.  Plenty of old wood, including a built in clock, and only one T.V., which I always appreciate in any non-sports bar. 

And here we have our new Spoon #4:

A stylized "ABC" on the back marks it as a product of ABC Valueline.  A little research indicates that it's from their "Dominion" line:

Other than being pretty easy to remember, ABC apparently stands for Allied Buying Corporation.  They have the rather un-catchy slogan "Your North American Network of Independent Food Service Equipment and Supply Dealers".  The "Stainless Thailand 18CR" stamped on the back of Spoon #4 seem to attest to this spoon's no-nonsense approach.