January found me in a monastic mood. Well, aside from a trip to Mexico City over New Year’s and traveling to Key West for the Key West Literary Seminar (more on those sooner or later). At some point, I needed to get my year started. Considering the frozen tundra that is Manhattan in January, I’ve been more than happy to simply hunker down, work, exercise, read and rest for a little while.
But even monks need to get out every now and again, or at least this monk does.
Fifth Avenue Shopping Spree
One of my best girlfriends and I decided to embark on a Fifth Avenue shopping excursion to check out the new Louis Vuitton flagship on 57th Street and swing by Bergdorf’s. It was an afternoon of fantasy shopping, that is when you try on four pairs of Chanel shoes and a dozen pairs of Schiaparelli earrings and buy nothing.
Afterwards, we made our way to Cipriani (at top) for a restorative glass of Taittinger at the bar where we immediately spotted Carolina Herrera having lunch with her family. It was my first time to Cipriani since rereading Lillian Ross’s 1950 New Yorker profile on Ernest Hemingway and realizing that the Sherry-Netherland apartment-hotel that he checks into on Fifth Avenue is the very same that houses Cipriani today. In the piece, he delivers one of my favorite somewhat soused soliloquies, veering on the existential. From inside a suite upstairs, over a bottle of Tavel, oysters, asparagus and artichoke, he goes on about wanting to enjoy all the pleasures of life “and never have to write a line about any of it.”
He’s also paid a visit by his old friend Marlene Dietrich, “the Kraut,” who’s staying catty-corner at The Plaza. He visits The Met to see the Goyas and Breughels and buys a coat at Abercrombie & Fitch (which, at the time, was more a refined outdoorsman’s department store than a preppy palace for the best short-shorts ever made, as it was in my day). And while Cipriani didn’t open on that edge of Central Park until 1985, the restaurant is supposed to be a near replica of the family’s original Harry’s Bar in Venice, which Hemingway frequented back in the 1930s, which made me love our afternoon Champagne break at the bar all the more.
Out & About in North Brooklyn
I found myself in Greenpoint on a frigid early evening and decided to finally check out Radio Star, an all-day café by the team behind Glasserie. Situated where Greenpoint Avenue meets Transmitter Park and the East River, the dining room manages to be both airy and cozy. An interior pastiche of terrazzo tile floors, vinyl and stainless steel bar stools, marble-topped café tables and a hodgepodge of dark wooden furniture is framed by pane glass windows that nearly run floor-to-ceiling.
There was absolutely no one there. Sure, it was an off hour on one of the first truly frigid days of winter, but also that’s just a vibe Greenpoint likes to serve. I decided to go for it. It was cold outside, after all, and the sky was just starting to change the most sublime colors at sunset. The “Smoke & Coffee,” a mezcal, Scotch and ancho concoction felt right. My eyes went immediately to the merguez in a blanket, beautiful juicy little cigars wrapped in crispy phyllo dough. The artichoke, almond and white bean dish complemented it perfectly.
On another night out in Williamsburg after dinner, a group of us made our way to Skinny Dennis, a honky-tonk with live country and roots music every night that’s been around for over a decade, but I had never been. It was around the holidays, so the evening’s theme was sort of “Country Western Christmas.” We nicknamed one of the performers surfer Elvis for his long wavy hair and ability to croon just like the King. We drank bar martinis (i.e., martinis poured into rocks glasses), danced and had a great time. It was one of those nights when you’re reminded just how deep the talent pool in this city runs.
Breeze – As good a place as any in Greenpoint for a cozy and delicious Christmas Day Chinese feast with friends and family.
Off Broadway
A friend invited me last minute to catch Kowalski (through Feb 23), a new Off Broadway play that imagines Tennessee Williams and Marlon Brando meeting one night in Provincetown when casting the star-making role of Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire. As I told my friend upon quickly accepting the invitation, I’m a Tennessee Williams whack job, so this was right up my alley. I loved it. The set immediately made me feel like I was sitting down to watch a Tennessee Williams play, the actors were perfectly cast and the show was illuminating, funny and sexy.
Beforehand, we caught a pre-theater bite at Monkey Thief, a new cocktail bar and restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen serving pan-Asian small plates, which was delicious.
(And speaking of Streetcar, if anyone knows how to snag a tic to the sold out run forthcoming at BAM, lmk!)
UWS Report
Tarallucci e Vino – Where Kyra Sedgwick, Matt Dillon and I tuck in for Italian on the Upper West Side when we don’t know what else to do.
Caledonia – a cozy whiskey bar
