SUNDAY JUNE 18th
(France vs. Korea)

Location: One and One, East Village
1st and 1st, the nexus of the universe

Joined by Pilar (wife), Evan (brother-in-law), Graham and Brett (good friends), we meet for lunch and a game on an absolutely perfect day in the city. I don’t really know the exact weather conditions, but my weatherman alter ego is guessing 80 degrees with not a cloud in the sky. The flip-flops and a smile from knowing RBNY finally won a game the night before is on. Forecast for the day: good times with good friends.

One and One is a great casual place to see a game in the East Village. We were hoping to make the Brazil and Australia game at Sunburnt Café, known to be an amazing place to see Australia play, but was unable to make the game in time because I was busy saying goodbye to my mom and niece who were visiting for the weekend. Brett told me that the specialty of the house was the fish and chips brunch special that included a fantastic mimosa, so I decided to give them a try. Everyone else decided that only a Bloody Mary was in order.

The crowd was lively and the place was full, so we decided to take up a great table outside with a clear view of one of the many TVs that One and One have showing the game. If you watched the game, you know as well as I that France was robbed on the one that crossed the line. It was a great save by the Korean keeper, but still a goal anyway. It was only until the 2nd half did I realize that the crowd at One and One was about equal in support of the two teams. The Korean crowd was quiet and reserved the entire first half, but came around after their first goal was scored in the second.

At one point early in the second half, we were intently watching the game when something quite unusual and rather funny happened. Coming from the nail salon a few doors down, an Asian woman walked close to where we are sitting and looked up to the TV. She saw that Korea was trailing 1-0, blurted out “oh s**t” and promptly left to go back to the nail salon. She came back periodically to check the score…just another example of how interest in the World Cup is on the minds of more New Yorkers than you might think.

The game proved to be not nearly as enjoyable as my company for the day. One and One offered a great venue to watch a game, but I would suggest that if you are planning to make a trip to watch a game in the East Village, then Zum Schneider for a Germany game or Sunburnt Café for an Australia game are probably better options. Enjoy some of the pictures.


Next Location:
O'Connell's on 108th and Broadway at 3pm for England and Sweden.

I know the game does not mean much, but I really want to see the strike combo of Rooney and Owens.