vip in the city

To die dreaming

Perhaps it’s the impending arrival of cooler weather, but I’ve been tempted the past few Tuesdays after my weekly CSA vegetable pick-up at the McBurney Y to stop in at Sucelt Coffee Shop, located just off the subway entrance at the southwest corner of 14th Street and Seventh Avenue.

Back when SC and I were living in the West Village, this divey luncheonette was our regular source for good and cheap Latin comfort food. Solid steam table fare with a rotating menu of daily specials, at times trending towards the overly salty: ropa vieja, chuletas, pollo guisado, plantains, arepas, rice and beans… all culled from a multitude Latin American countries. SC loves the warmly satisfying tripe soup; I’m partial to their empanadas and cubanos.

The Village Voice named Sucelt one of New York’s “100 Best & Cheapest Latin Restaurants” in 2003.

When I’m not in the mood to be caffeinated through the night on the coffee shop’s top-notch café con leche, I opt for a batida, which Sucelt translates as a “tropical milkshake,” though the made-to-order drinks can be ordered sin leche. In addition to the more familiar passion fruit, mango, and banana varieties, they also offer tropical fruit blends of mamey and soursop, and an intriguingly named “morir soñando,” which literally translates into “to die dreaming.”

The drink, popular in the Dominican Republic, is usually made of oranges, condensed or evaporated milk, sugar, chopped ice and vanilla.