As Matt Gross recently reminded us, heading to Japan isn't cheap. So how are we supposed to get our mitts on fun little gizmos and cool presents for our friends? NYC's AC Gears has you covered.
The Greenwich Village shop is a retail outlet for AudioCubes, so half of the space is dedicated to headphones from the tiny to the ultra-pro and pricey. The other side of the store is all about little robots, funky toys, USB gizmos and other assorted stuff. (They basically have everything in Japan.) We of course had our eyes on the travel gear like alarm clocks and flashy jump drives.
New products are always coming in from the shop's home office in Osaka, so you can never be quite sure what you'll dig up. If it doesn't already sound geeky enough, check AC Gears' Flickr page for more intel.
How refreshing that the skeleton of CBGB's old 313 Gallery performance-and-art space on the Bowery will sprout something other than a Starbucks. The space will hang on to the rock 'n' roll spirit when it is reborn as a second New York outpost of the Morrison Hotel Gallery.
The new space will lend itself well to visiting browsers, as it's over twice the size of Morrison Hotel's smaller SoHo gallery. The opening show, featuring works by Steve Joester, will debut this Thursday, March 27. After that, on April 24, will be Bob Gruen's "Rockers" exhibit.
Done stuffing yourself with fruitcake, candy canes and turkey with trimmings? We sure are. We were looking for something new and refreshing and Catch de Fish near Union Square delivered.
You'll find a complete departure from heavy holiday eats at this new, sparely decorated Thai spot. You just pick the type of fish you like (maybe salmon, snapper or sea bass) and your favorite sauce (like tamarind, penang or green curry) and the chefs do the rest.
If you're not into making the decisions, the menu also has dishes like New Zealand mussels, little neck clams, scallops in Thai chili basil sauce (called "Catch de Basil") and lamb chops with wasabi and Thai red chili paste sauce (that'd be "Catch de Fire"). You can also feast on soul-warming soups like hot and sour lemongrass or coconut.
Prices are very reasonable and, if you're the lunch type, you can take advantage of their $10 special which gets you two starters and an entree. A bonus? They're already delivering in the 'hood.
On the corner of Washington Square Park, amid thousands of sweatpants-wearing college students, rests one of New York's most prestigious and progressive art galleries. The Grey Art Gallery is New York University's fine arts museum. Since the gallery is foremost a place for young artists and art enthusiasts to learn, it's free to experiment more than a gallery that aims to sell paintings.
Take, for example, the current exhibit, The Geometry of Hope: Latin American Abstract Art from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection. The gallery says it's the most comprehensive overview to date of geometrical abstraction in Latin America from the 1930s to the 1970s.
We won't point out that it's easy to be the "biggest" or "most comprehensive" if you define a category so narrowly that it could only fit your specific show. And we certainly enjoy Latin American geometrical abstractions... But only those made between 1930 and 1970.
If you're into the whole farm-fresh-straight-to-the-table thing, be sure to stop in at the newly opened Belcourt, in the East Village. Chef Matt Hamilton loves the get-in-touch-with-the-ingredients thing so much he lived it, meaning he moved to a Tuscan olive farm for two years and did all that stuff that farmers do. Harvesting, chopping, pruning, feeding and even butchering livestock.
Apparently it paid off: Belcourt's menu boasts treats like oil-poached octopus with cardamom pickled carrots, salsify, coriander dressing and olive crisps, or grilled sweetbreads served up falafel-style. Think rustic and straight from the farm--with a dash of Mediterranean soul--and you're on the right page. We hear the house-made wild pepper potato chips are can't-miss.
Looking for something with amazing food and a dash of downtown? Try Graffiti, a brand new spot by chef Jehangir Mehta--an alum of Jean Georges, Union Pacific, Virot and Aix--who has branched out for a solo gig in an East Village store front.
Seating just 18 guests, diners can keep it intimate and snack on Indian inspired treats like tumeric shrimp tamarind pancakes or anchovy seaweed chat with grilled nan. If you want to keep things basic, they've got spiced chicken dosas with chutney.
Filled with artifacts and sturdy dark wood square tables, Graffiti calls itself a bistro-bakery. Mehta was a former pastry chef who incorporates much of his former talent into his present dishes. Some planning required: It's closed on Mondays.
Seems like every restaurant in New York boasts "the freshest seafood", but finally one lives up to the claim: Sea Salt.
Hidden in the East Village, Sea Salt takes a stand with decor and keeps it clean with black and white seascape photos (taken in Turkey, home of chef/owner Orhan Yegen), simple slate floors and white leather banquettes. All of this mirrors the fish, which diners personally select out of a glass display case. Seafood is then simply prepped with salt and lemon and tossed on the grill, full of flavor and never dry.
If you're heading there with a large group, call ahead to order the whole striped bass or red snapper that's encrusted with salt, baked and presented whole. Other menu items include Turkish spreads, dips, grilled octupus and stuffed lobster. The staff's young and fun too, another over-hyped restaurant claim that Sea Salt actually delivers on.
We have a winner. Asking if McSorley's Old Ale House is the best Irish pub in New York is like asking if Michael was the most talented Jackson brother. I mean, Tito's cool and all, but come on.
There's no competition. Since it opened in 1854, McSorley's has defined pub life in Manhattan. Abe Lincoln hung his top hat there and unwound after a long day of emancipating, and a few years later, John Lennon got away from the old ball-and-chain to throw back a few beers at the island's oldest continually operating saloon.
We'll forgive the fact that the bar forbade women from entering until 1970. The bar--dark, wooden, rough--is unapologetic about the 150 years it has spent filling the bellies of the hardworking, blue-collar men who dug our train tunnels and built our skyscrapers. Bottoms up, fellas.
