On Kenmare Street in SoHo, a neon sign reads "corner" above a mexican deli, but that’s just a colorful ruse....Behind the door marked "Employees Only lies La Esquina...

Down a harshly lighted staircase, along a corridor with kitchen supplies, through the kitchen itself, and into the contrived darkness of the vault where a welling crowd is waiting at the bar...

This is the passageway to über trendy downtown restaurant La Esquina, where stylishly underdressed groups of hypsters fill a dungeonlike space with candelabras and barn wood floor.

What better place to spend the evening after a long day at the beach for the classic american Fourth of July Barbecue?

Happy Independence Day!
XoXo.