A New Beer Garden in NYC? I'm There!

Last night a few girl friends and I decided to check out The Lot on Tap, the beer garden under the newly opened Section 2 of the New York High Line. If you're not familiar with it (and if you are, sorry for the history lesson), the High Line is a former elevated train track that was originally constructed to remove trains from New York streets and prevent the massive amount of accidents that were occurring between trains and street-level traffic. When the growth of interstate trucking began to null the need for freight transportation on the High Line, it stop being used and began to be demolished. Today, thanks to the non-profit group Friends of the High Line, the remaining sections of the old railroad tracks are being converted into public parks, section by section. The first section opened in June 2009 and June 8, 2011 marked the opening of Section 2.

We headed to the end of Section 2, which is at 30th Street and 10th Ave., and were first greeted by a giant, colorful, what I can only describe as Balloon Land.

It's actually an art installation called "Rainbow City" by the Miami-based group FriendsWithYou to celebrate the opening of Section 2 of the High Line. And it's really fun to bounce around in.

Right down a small ramp from there was what we were really looking for: The Lot on Tap, the beer garden/rotating food truck venue under the end of the High Line. Beer on tap, wine on tap (one of my favorite things that I miss entirely too much from Italy), taco trucks, spontaneous salsa dancing...I'm officially a fan! Here are some images from the night:

The first food truck tasting: a pistachio cookie/bellini gelato sandwich (with edible wrapper!). Half-eaten, here, because I couldn't get to my camera before my friend could get her mouth to the sandwich.

The beer on tap and...

...the wine on tap. Including rose, my favorite summery treat.

Cheers!

I will, thanks Taco Truck!

Mmmm, braised pork, pineapple, red salsa, and guacamole tacos...

And, after enough tacos, wine, and dancing, we made our way up to the High Line to walk the length of the public park. It's amazing how short 18 blocks can seem when elevated from crosswalks and surrounded by pretty gardens!

 

All photos by Natalie