Archive for January 2008

Brunch is a beautiful thing – there are multiple courses, you can choose between breakfast and lunch items, and of course, you can get sloshed before noon without looking like a borderline alcoholic. New Yorkers love their brunch for these reasons and more, so it’s not hard to find a decent place in the city to get your Eggs Benedict fix. However, if you’re looking for something a little different, you might want to make a trip to Park Slope, where Sette Enoteca e Cucina serves up brunch, Italian style.

Sette is a neighborhood mainstay serving light and innovative Italian fare in an elegant but unassuming setting. The dining room is dominated by an open kitchen, while the expansive outdoor patio (which is covered during colder months) offers diners a view of bustling Seventh Avenue and Park Slope’s ongoing parade of interesting personalities. Sette’s wait staff is always helpful and friendly, and they certainly keep the drinks flowing, which is one of the reasons my friends and I return time and again. We like our mimosas and we like them filled up often.

The $16 Prix Fixe brunch menu includes an antipasti and secondi course, as well as coffee, tea, fresh bread, and of course, unlimited Bloody Marys and sparkling wine cocktails. The attention to quality ingredients and simplicity of preparation make for some phenomenal dishes here. Appetizers like Ricotta Fritters with fruit puree, and Roasted Beet Salad with hazelnuts and goat cheese, are nearly a meal in themselves, but save room for the amazing entrées. My favorite is the Egg, Fennel Sausage, and Caciocavallo Cheese Panini, but other standouts include the Uovo al Forno (an oven-baked egg over polenta, baked with tomato sauce and ricotta), and Amy’s Semolina Raisin Bread French Toast, which puts a sweet twist on a classic dish. If you are ready for something more substantial, the Secondi menu also includes such dinner favorites as Pizza al Pomodoro e Mozzarella, Baked Lasagna with Tomato and Meat Ragu, and Braised Chicken with Fried Polenta.

So if the thought of eating yet another Belgian waffle at yet another overpriced Manhattan bistro leaves you less than enthused, give Sette a try. By the third Bloody Mary, you’ll wonder why you ever went anywhere else.

New York City is the place to be if you are seeking around the clock entertainment because it has some of the richest nightlife you will find on the East Coast. There is truly something for everyone in this sleepless city from the Rooftop and Waterfront bars, to nightclubs and open mic attractions. With such a wide variety of nightlife, you can never get bored or run out of things to do in New York City.

Many night time attractions, such as the Chelsea Brewing Company near 18th street, offer a little something for everyone; from an indoor bar that attracts nearby golfers, to an outdoor area that attracts socialites from the nearby marina. If a cigar lounge is more your style, just head upstairs where you will find captivating views of the river. Don't forget to try one of the 20 different brews made on site at the brewery while you are here.

If comedy is more your style, one can always find a good laugh at the many comedy clubs, like Pianos on the Lower East Side, or Rififi/Cinema Classics in the East Village. Depending on the night of the week, you can find a free horror movie, comedy entertainers, or burlesque acts. If you are in the West Village, you may want to check out Pisces, which offers karaoke, live music, a DJ, or guest performances depending on when you visit.

For a more romantic night out there are hundreds of gathering spots, such as Punch and Judy on the Lower east side. If you have not found that special someone, there are several meeting places such as the funky Bar Below in Brooklyn. Best of all, with dozens of after hour's attractions, the party does not have to stop even after most other places close.

New York City has something for everyone. It does not matter what your interests, location, age, preference of atmosphere or scene are, you will never be bored in this city. With so much to chose from, you can experience a new environment any time you chose to go out.

With a population of over 8.2 million people, New York City is one of the best places to find a date. However, many people are intimidated by the number of people and the impersonal nature of the city and can feel more alone in a city of millions than they would in a small town. But if you are willing to make a little effort, New York can be a single’s dream destination.

It does not matter what type of person you are looking for, there is bound to be someone in the city of New York that meets your description. Despite its relatively small size, New York City is very densely populated and there are literally people everywhere that could serve as potential partners.

New York City has a very active personals scene. There are hundreds of websites that carry personal ads as well as most of the city’s many newspapers. Speed dating events happen many times a week. Several of these speed dating events cater to certain groups of people, such as Jewish singles or gay men.

New York City also is very ethnically diverse which is beneficial if you are seeking a mate that matches your own background. There is an active gay and lesbian community in New York which often hosts events designed to bring singles together.

Dating in New York can be fun and easy if you take the time to meet new people. The large number of planned social events makes this easy. In a city of over eight million people, chances are you can find someone who is right for you.

There is perhaps no other city in the United States as beloved as New York City. It has served as the nation's capital and continues to serve as the center of commerce, entertainment and nightlife.

New York City is the largest city in the United States. It is only 321 square miles, but it is has a population of over 8.2 million. New York is nicknamed ”The Big Apple" and also referred to as "The City That Never Sleeps" because no matter what time it is, you can always find people out and about enjoying themselves.

New York City is made up of five boroughs, although there are many smaller neighborhoods within the boroughs. Manhattan is the borough that most people think of when they think of New York City. It is where all the large skyscrapers are located and contains famous landmarks such as Time Square. Manhattan, which is actually an island, serves as the business area in New York.

The Bronx is known for its hip-hop influences. It is the only borough that is actually part of the mainland United States. More people live in Brooklyn than any other borough. Coney Island, one of the earliest amusement parks, is located in Brooklyn. Queens is the most ethnically diverse county in the entire United States and is the largest of the five boroughs. Staten Island has traditionally been more suburban, but has become more urban over time.

New York is a great place to visit and to live as there is never a shortage of things to do and people to meet.

When it comes to finding things to do in New York City, the possibilities are endless. In addition to boasting one of the best nightlife scenes in the country, there is also a plethora of activities to do in New York during the day.

New York is home to some of the most well-known skyscrapers in the world. Visitors can take a ride to the observation deck of the Empire State Building for a magnificent view of the city.

Times Square

One of the most popular places to visit in New York City is Times Square. Home to the yearly New Year's Eve celebration, Time Square is filled with shops, restaurants, and neon lights. While visiting Times Square, be sure to check out the Toys R' Us store. It has a working Ferris wheel inside of the store as well as almost every toy you can imagine.

The large Virgin Records store is located nearby. Not only does it include an impressive collection of CDs, but many celebrity meet and greets take place here. Also in Times Square is the ABC television studio where Good Morning America is filmed each morning. For theater lovers, there is no better place than Broadway to quench your thirst for the performing arts.

Rockefeller Plaza

Rockefeller Plaza is another great place to visit in New York. This is the location of NBC's The Today Show and a popular place for tourists to go to wave hello to their friends back home. In the winter, Rockefeller plaza is the place to be. It is the location of the huge Rockefeller Plaza Christmas tree as well as the famous ice skating rink. The largest indoor theater, Radio City Music Hall, is also located in the Rockefeller Complex.

The Wax Museum

Another popular place to visit is Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. Known for its strikingly accurate portrayals of celebrities and notable figures, this is a fascinating place to visit as well as a great place to take photographs with your family and friends. New exhibits are added all the time, so it is someplace you can visit again and again.

It's a fact of life: if you live in Manhattan, chances are you either have no kitchen, have a very small kitchen or quite possibly you have a bathtub IN your kitchen. But the city more than makes up for its lack of residential cooking square footage by giving you everything you could ever hope to cook just outside of your front door.

One of the best ways to approach dining out in Manhattan is to think of something that you could never dream of preparing for yourself; something that would surely leave your kitchen in too big of a mess or take too much time to prepare. Chances are there is a restaurant specializing in that. A sorted look by cuisine type on any of the popular restaurant sites is a great way to get a feel for some new or unusual exotic tastes: from A (Afghan) to V (Vietnamese).

Perhaps one of the most satisfying ways to cure your hunger in the Big Apple is to follow your nose. It is common to find restaurants in clusters and near public transportation stops. Close your eyes and you can hitch a ride on the aroma of street vendors selling roasted nuts, the garlic bouquet of a nearby Italian hideaway, or maybe the essence of fresh baked bread lulls you down the to a quaint neighborhood bakery.

Drunken Discount Shopping in the South Slope

Ah, drunken thrift store shopping. It is truly one of the sweet pleasures of life, and one that couldn’t be more attainable, especially if you happen to live in the southern part of Brooklyn’s Park Slope. Sure, there are plenty of popular secondhand stores in Manhattan and Williamsburg, and many of them are convenient to bars and lounges, but few can claim to actually charge thrift store prices like Monk Thrift Shop. Alternately, few bars can claim to reside literally next door to a secondhand store, but Buttermilk is one of them.

Although there are many popular neighborhood bars in the South Slope, Buttermilk is always one of the first ones mentioned. It’s not that it offers anything particularly unique in its décor or the crowd that congregates there, but there’s something very comfortable about the place, something that makes you want to stay for another few drinks when you only intended to stop for one. Perhaps it’s the above-average jukebox, which is stocked with a mix of indie, punk, emo, 80’s dance rock, and other hipster favorites from throughout the decades. Cheap drink specials, Bloody Mary Sundays, and ever-changing theme nights keep things interesting, and you can always rely on the bartenders for an interesting conversation. Settle into one of the mismatched chairs and booths and kick back a few $2 Yuenglings, and soon you’ll be in the proper state of mind for combing the racks of cheap dresses next door.

Monk Thrift Shop is part of a popular chain that originated in Manhattan’s East Village. Cash-strapped students and starving artists have been stocking their wardrobe with finds from the store’s handful of locations for years, and it’s not hard to understand why. When I moved to New York from Tucson, I was an art school freshman with an addiction to used clothing, and the dearth of viable shopping options in Manhattan became apparent very quickly. Stores like Andy’s Cheepees were charging sixty bucks for collared shirts, and everything was pre-sorted for irony, taking all the fun out of the hunt. Even the Salvation Army, to my horror, was charging ten dollars for a pair of pants, a far cry from the fifty cents I was used to paying back home.

Monk may charge a little more than fifty cents (items average $5-20, and there is a dollar rack of clearance items by the entrance), but the atmosphere more than makes up for it. A far cry from the depressing gloom of the Salvation Army and Goodwill, Monk comes off as a charming boutique, its front window bursting with kitschy toys and antiques. My one complaint would be that the tiny store’s changing area leaves much to be desired, but after you’ve had a few, privacy becomes less of an issue, and I usually end up just trying things on over my clothes. Best of all, when you’re checking out, the friendly staff can always be counted on to strike up a conversation, no matter how incoherent you are, without passing judgment.

So bring along all the booze-loving fashion hounds in your life, and discover the joys of intoxicated clothes hunting. You’ll never shop sober again.