I don’t know what to tell you but the vibes were pretty grim at Frieze again this year. Like everyone a little skittish? Like everything a little forced? Like maybe also the Shed just sucks?? I’ve been going on day two, which is kind of the B and C list VIPs, but still: once again a sorry showing on the part of rich people. No swagger. No rizz. No sex appeal. Some fun art though.
Behold the best sandwich you will ever eat in your life, the chilaquiles torta with chorizo, served in an abandoned supermarket in the Bronx at the startlingly great, family-run Golden Taquitos stand tucked deep within the mostly empty room. Like, everything was so good! That lengua quesadilla, the fried fish taco (amazingly fluffy!), the double-shrimp tostada, sticky with sweet chili sauce… The torta, though, will really buckle your knees. I hear the breakfast burritos rule too?That’s what Will says anyway. Located a ten-minute walk from the Stadium, make a point to check it soon. Full $20 Dinner report now up at Hell Gate, subs ON SALE RIGHT NOW, link in bio
NYC Art Week already peaked with Lisa Yuskavage’s hugely entertaining artist walkthrough of her new show at the 19th Street David Zwirner today. The art, no surprise, is bright and brilliant and fun as hell (and includes collage for the first time in her career!), and what a pleasure and a treat to hear her talk about her process for an hour. Great afternoon, so grateful for my life. Exhibition opens Thursday, runs through most of June, it’s so good.
Such a lovely little cafe, the new all-vegan Nacha Focaccia on Franklin near the Parkway from the delightful Charlise Rookwood, the author of Vegan Soulicious (filled with vegan versions of her family’s favorite Jamaican and East African favorites) and Naima Coleman, who runs the expansive and interesting coffee/beverage menu. Laptopping is discouraged (just chill and chat with your friends!!!) and the music, on the weekend at least, is banging. “This is not a whispery place,” said Rookwood. Love it. Full report now up at Brooklyn Magazine link in bio
No surprise that Halley and Kip’s Cleo would be a banger right from the start. Margot sure was, and Montague Diner too. But with chef Juliana Latif running the kitchen at the get-go, this might be their best restaurant, food-wise, yet. The juicy as hell roast chicken crackling with Lebanese spices and accompanied by three killer sauces is a knee-buckler, the sides are all big winners (cornbread with harissa butter, crinkle-cut fries, mustardy eggs, and gloppy as hell mac and cheese especially), and the dessert?? Are you kidding me with the soft serve in a concha profiterole??? We swooned. Great vibes, extremely West Village-y West Village corner, thanks Charlotte and Carolyn for the lovely night out 😘😘
Who else but Hell Gate could sell out Littlefield with a 90-minute powerpoint on the NYC Judicial System??? Specifically: how these judges get to be judges?? And which ones suck the most ass?? And make it not only fascinating but also lol funny???? Nobody else could do that, is the answer. Nobody but Max, Katie, Jessy, Nick, Adlan, and the rest of the worker-owner crew. And special guest/comrade Allie Conti, whose insights into what actually a “court reporter” does made the whole system sound even more insane than I imagined. A great night as always, subscribe today to get the whole scoop with the team’s brand new package, Courts of Contempt, made with Partners and Partners and Type Investigations, plus insider access to other rad events (looking at you, Rockaway concert this summer).
I don’t get to Whitestone much (ever) so it’s cool that life-long pizzaiolo and Queens native George Tagaris and his crew took over the established-1961 legend Freddy’s AND opened a new outpost on Broadway in Astoria, like three blocks from the train on the way to Socrates. Because the pizza is great!! The grandmas, the Sicilians, the sesame-studded ones (invented at the OG Freddy’s), the regular NYC folds… all excellent. But also that chicken roll dipped in spicy vodka sauce???? Fantastic. My first-ever chicken roll was last fall at Costco and it was terrible. This, though, is one of the best things I’ve eaten this year. The sandwiches rule too, and are “feeds-two” monsters. Nice add to the nabe. Full $20 Dinner report now up at Hell Gate link in bio
Hopping ass party this evening at the Carmine Street Son Del North to kick off the week-long collab with Monte’s, serving chef Annisha Garcia’s massive and delicious chicken parm quesadilla with kicky, smoky salsa macha. Tomorrow through Sunday only! Go get it all you gorgeous people!
Bar Bruno, the longtime kinda mid weeknight-fallback spot on a key corner of west Carrol Gardens, got a complete overhaul by the Greenpoint Fish and Lobster crew—spruced up interior, totally new menu, new chef Osmar Morales, who hails from Oaxaca and has been at Fish for eight years—and it is a banger. The seafood dishes are an obvious place to start (that aguachile verde with shrimp has a nice pep to it) but the dank Oaxacan mole on the chicken and the Oaxacan cheese enchiladas also nail the neighborhood-place-easy-comfort-food vibe. Prices are gentle, there’s plenty of tequila, and I’m betting it’ll be hopping all summer. Full report now up at Brooklyn Magazine link in bio. Click through for a hint of what the team has planned for the *other* Bar Bruno they took on, over in Greenpoint
Fiery laphing, sloppy jhol momo, some killer dry dan dan topped with minced pork and (stealth winner?) a plate of perfectly “semi-cooked” spinach covered in all kinds of stuff: just a first-rate Tibetan feast at the new GangJong Thunpa Phunshi Restaurant, right near the looming ass Elmhurst Hospital on Broadway. Bonus points for the legit comfy chairs. Full $20 Dinner report now up at Hell Gate link in bio see you next week at Littlefield to learn about JUDGES
Good sandwiches are the best, and the new Malavita, on a prime picnic-supply block near McCarren, has a lot of them. That tuna, especially, was aces. And see if you can guess where the (excellent) sesame-studded rolls come from! Proprietor Keith Pulitano, a long-time local, is not giving up his source. Also: there’s a wine list? Like you can get a bottle?? From a “weird esoteric French producer”??? Full report now up at Brooklyn Magazine link in bio
Today is my birthday so that means I am now 63 years old, which feels like a miracle, that I’ve made it this far, that I’ve been alive for this long. Like, the number itself doesn’t mean much, or signify anything specific—I don’t feel “old” or “young,” or “63”—but the sheer amount of time I’ve spent being alive, thinking and overthinking and laughing and loving and feeling like ass and having a blast and crying and goofing and eating and getting wasted and getting sober and freaking out and raising kids and crushing hard and interacting with people and moving through my city and the world… it’s extraordinary. What a gift. What an amazing grace. So I’ll just say that I love you, really and truly, and I root for you, and I’m here for you, and I think you’re beautiful, and I’m glad you’re alive today with me. Oh and this photo is from the mid 1980s I guess? Like I was probably 22? With lots of pimples??? And that hair? What the hell dude also guaranteed I was hungover also though I look cute.
