Mashup Review: Otto's Shrunken Head Porter

An upscale pizzeria, a tiki bar and a luggage store don't seem to have much in common but oh, how looks can be deceiving. You see, my children, these are the three-headed Cerebrus featured in this installment of Mashup Reviews.

Otto: Rhymes With Photo
Before Mario Batali became the subject of a hagiography penned by Bill Buford, he gained fame with Otto, his Greenwich Village pizzeria. Along with co-ownder Jason Denton ('ino, Lupa, 'inoteca) and Joe Bastianich (he of Italian Wine Merchants) Batali created a mecca for gourmet pizza. With fresh ingredients and a voluminous wine list, Otto is classier than Lil' Frankies, less expensive than Una Pizza Napoletana and much much less expensive than Babbo. Though the restaurant is cavernous, it does fill up so make rezzies. The standout dish, however, isn't pizza at all but a delicious Olive Oil Gelato.

Otto's Shrunken Head: Drinks, Tiki, Karaoke.
14th Street east of 1st Avenue is bleak. Stuy Town lurks on the northside and while the southside of the street is lined with cheap bodegas and waxing salons, neither one the place to spend a night. Otto's Shrunken Head, though, off of Avenue B is the happy exception. The tiki bar is kitsch yet comfortable. The tiki theme is acquited well and the drinks come with glo-sticks. There's a photobooth, an elk hunter game and a pinball machine. You can usually find some sort of music going on in the backroom. Recently, we saw Gridskipper's own Kyle Forester's Karaoke Korner, the special 9/11 Unite to Rebuild edition. The highlight, of course, was a heart-rending version of Downtown. Beers are cheap and the bartenders flirty.

Head Porter: Papa's Got A Brand New Bag
Head Porter is, honestly, befuddling to me. The store is located in the upper level of Soho's Stussy flagship and clearly caters to the moneyed. But the bags are just regular bags, nothing worth the US$120 for a shoulder tote. Who exactly finds pumping techno, overpriced Stussy shorts and puffy bags compelling? The answer seems to be Japanese tourists. When I dropped by last week, I was the only gaijin in sight.

Otto Pizzeria
Otto's Shrunken Head
Head Porter [Superfuture]

Previously: Mashup Review: Al Di La Di Dada, Otto's Shrunken Head, Ametller: Why Can't We All Catalan?, Johnnie Walker Blue Label Index: A Shot of Genius, Il Bagatto: A Diamond in the Mine, Flight 001 Lands in Brooklyn