Tag: Date night

Summer Date Ideas in New York City 2021

Post author By Samantha Doria
Post date July 27, 2021

It’s about to get romantic

Have you been searching for some new summer date ideas in New York City? Well, we’ve got you covered! Here are our picks for romantic summer dates in New York City.

Coney Island

For a fun-filled day with your significant other, visit Coney Island. Complete with rides, a beach, and shops, there are fun activities that all couples will enjoy. Also, while you’re here be sure to visit Nathan’s Hotdogs. Founded in 1916, the original Nathan’s Hotdogs is on Surf Avenue in Coney Island. These all-beef hotdogs have built a reputation, making them a famous staple of the Coney Island experience. A trip to Coney Island is the perfect date for a sunny summer day.

Classic Harbor Line Cruises

How about a late-night cruise on the Hudson River? With Classic Harbor Line, you can go on relaxing cruises while enjoying the beautiful sights of the city including the Statue of Liberty, One World Trade Center, and Ellis Island. One of our favorite tours is the Jazz Cruise, a 1.5-hour cruise complete with live, talented jazz musicians. This cruise is aboard the Manhattan, a stunning 1920s style yacht. A night on the water with Classic Harbor Line is most definitely a night to remember.

Museum of Modern Art

Otherwise known as the MoMA, this popular museum is the perfect summer date to escape the heat. Featuring modern and contemporary art, the MoMA is open from 10:30 am-5:30 pm Sunday-Friday and Saturday 10:30 am-7:00 pm. Admission is $25 for adults, $18 for seniors, and $14 for full-time students with ID.

Rooftop Reds

Calling all wine-loving couples: Rooftop Reds is the perfect date for you! Located on 299 Sands Street, Building 275, Brooklyn, Rooftop Reds is the world’s first rooftop vineyard. This vineyard makes around 20-25 cases of wine every year. This is a romantic rooftop date you won’t want to miss this summer.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

For a romantic escape into nature in the heart of Brooklyn, plan a date at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden! This 52-acre garden was founded in 1910. The Brooklyn Botanical Garden has over 14,000 taxa of plants. Admission is $18 each for adults and $12 for seniors 65 and up and for students with IDs.

Tokyo Record Bar

If you and your significant other are looking for a unique date in the city, you definitely should check out Tokyo Record Bar. Tokyo Record Bar describes itself as “an underground listening room dedicated to quality and obsession through music, food, and booze.” In order to enter this lounge, you need to walk through Air’s Champagne Parlor.

Tokyo Record Bar does two seatings a night, Monday through Saturday. Once seated, guests are given a song list and a drink menu. Tokyo Record Bar has a large variety of genres of music so everyone can find something they like. The song requests are handed to the DJ who then will then make the playlist for the night and sometimes add some more songs of their choice. Guests will also receive a seven-course tasting menu, complete with various traditional Japanese snacks and food. To experience a taste of Japan from New York City, Tokyo Record Bar is the perfect date.

Dreamland Roller Rink

For a summer date that will send you back to the age of disco, visit Dreamland Roller Rink with your significant other! This themed roller skating rink encourages visitors to journey to the past by coming in retro costumes. MCs and DJs will narrate this spectacular night of disco. Dreamland Roller Rink also hosts themed parties, so that each visit is unique. Dreamland Roller Rink is a must-visit this summer for a unique and unforgettable date night.

Jetty Jumpers Jet Ski Tours

If you and your significant other are looking for some adventurous summer date ideas, you should definitely check out Jetty Jumpers’ jet ski tours. These exciting tours are about three hours long. While jet skiing, you will see some of New York City’s most prominent landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, Ellis Island, the Freedom Tower, and more. This is the perfect date for adventurous couples who want a day out on the water.

Color Factory

The Color Factory is the perfect date for couples looking for a unique experience and a lot of photo opportunities. The Color Factory is an art exhibit that revolves around the beauty and varying palettes of color. Each room is a different experience of color and encourages guests to embrace their imagination and creativity. The Color Factory is an experience unlike any other, the perfect date to escape into air conditioning. In addition, all summer you can visit Eataly Downtown and Color Factory’s collaboration.

Bryant Park Movie Nights

Image from the Bryant Park Corporation Website

Bryant Park movie nights are back this summer, the perfect romantic date under the stars. Admission to these movies, are free. The concession stands open at 5:00 pm and the movie starts at sundown. The movie schedule can be found on the Bryant Park website. If you and your significant other are movie buffs looking for a romantic movie night, be sure to check out Bryant Park movie nights this summer.

For more New York City date ideas, click here

Tags adventure, Brooklyn, Bryant Park, city life, Coney Island, Date night, dates, Downtown, eat, food, Italian color, jet ski, manhattan, MoMA, movies, New York, NYC, romance, rooftop, sail, statue of liberty, water way nyc, yacht

Dining Featured NYC Restaurants

Gnocco Celebrates 20 Years of Classic Italian Cooking in the East Village

Post author By Dan Metz
Post date March 6, 2020

At the heart of the East Village is a gastrointestinal treasure in true New York fashion. For the last 20 years, Gnocco has served fine Emilia-Romagna food from pizza and pasta to their namesake Gnocco. The dishes are old-school, nostalgic recreations of the owner’s childhood favorites back in Modena, Italy. Now, after 20 years, Gnocco has modernized, adding vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options, as well as intuitive touchscreen tablet menus for all guests. But the passion for the authentic hasn’t changed.

The best place to see the heart of Gnocco is in its namesake dish. For the uninitiated, Gnocco is a street food made of fried, flaky dough puffs and served with a plate of Italian cold cuts. It is a sweet, simple appetizer that Owner/Executive Chef Gian Luca Giovanetti explains was a favorite snack for Italian grandparents to give grandkids. In Italy, gnocco pulls double duty: it can be a snack, but also a delicious dessert treat if you put powdered sugar on it instead of cold cuts.

Gnocco–the food and the place–is the definition of delicious simplicity. It is unpretentious, warm, and quintessentially Italian. The restaurant follows suit: There are no tablecloths, no stuffy outfits for waiters. And the waiters take that spirit to heart: our sweater-wearing waiter sat down with us to lovingly explain his favorite dishes and to point out the long list of can’t miss dishes we just had to try. And it was all authentic–the recommendations and the food itself. If they did not make it at home in Modena, you won’t see it here: no spaghetti and meatballs or fettuccine alfredo. Don’t worry: you won’t miss them.

The front of the restaurant is small–a narrow hallway of a place with modern art and a few plants. If you are looking for light food and drinks at the bar, it is perfect. But head to the back and you get the real treat: a glass-roofed garden with more expansive seating and natural lighting. The walls are covered in greenery and decorated with a classical Italian feel. When the sun goes down, the lights go on, keeping with the garden atmosphere without any of the cold. Pro tip: this is also where they keep a healthy-sided wine rack.

When we sat down, Giovanetti told us that Gnocco had a “dish for every day of the week,” but that was not quite true. There was a dish for every day of this week and for two weeks after that. Rather than a traditional cardstock menu, or the plastic-cased menu booklets, Gnocco’s menu comes on a tablet. Scroll down the list, or click on each dish for a gorgeous picture and description. Plus, every single menu item comes with a wine recommendation.

And the food was excellent. If this is what everyone in Giovanetti’s hometown was cooking, I would be surprised if anyone who grew up there wouldn’t want to be a chef. Gnocco’s pizzas are delicious, thin-crust delicacies unlike anything else you are getting in NYC. A couple of them are recognizable as something you’d see in a pizza shop. Most are something else entirely. My favorite was the Tartufata: Fresh mozzarella, truffle sauce, mushrooms, and speck. It was savory and decadent, with the truffle sauce infusing flavor without overwhelming the taste. This might be one of the best pizzas you will get in the city, and one of the most unconventional.

Their pasta dishes are likewise dedications to Northern Italian cooking traditions. Remember, we’re not talking spaghetti. Every shape, every sauce, is unique and delicious. The Maccheroni al Torchio is a house favorite: Homemade whole wheat Maccheroni pasta with braised parma prosciutto, arugula, and a light touch of cream. It is a little heavy, but it is packed with flavor, mixing sweet with the savory of the prosciutto. If you are looking for something sweeter, check out their Pumpkin Ravioli Ragout, with a slightly sweet butternut squash filling mixed with Parmigiano-Reggiano, nutmeg, and Amaretti cookies. It is very nearly a dessert.

For 20 years, Gnocco has blended a home kitchen taste and feel with fine-dining flavors and wine selection. Whether you are looking for brunch, lunch, dinner, or just drinks, Gnocco is ready with some of the best, most authentic Italian in New York.

LOCATION: 337 East 10th Street, New York, NY 10009

WEBSITE: www.gnocco.com

PHONE: 212-677-1913

INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK: @gnoccony

HOURS:

Monday -Thursday: 11am – 11pm

Friday: 11am-12am; Saturday: 11:30am-12am; Sunday: 11:30am-11pm

Brunch: Saturday & Sunday: 11:30am-4:45pm

Delivery & Take Out: Delivery and pickups are available through the restaurant as well as GrubHub, Seamless, SliceLife, DoorDash, Postmates, Uber Eats, Delivery.com and they have their own delivery platform on the website powered by 9fold.

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Tags 20 years, anniversary, authentic, Dan Metz, Date night, delicious, Emilia-Romagna, Family, food, gnocco, italian, Italy, Modena, Restaurant, review, upscale

NYC Uncategorized

Of Dreams, Desires & Dragons

Post author By Downtown Magazine
Post date February 28, 2020

This March, the Grammy-nominated Western Wind Vocal Sextet will present “Of Dreams, Desires & Dragons: Music by Women from Hildegarde to Joni Mitchell” on Saturday, March 28 at 8:00 PM. The concert celebrates Women’s History Month with a rich assortment of music by classical and modern women composers.

The program features the world premiere of “Certain Dragons” by Martha Sullivan, a Medieval chant by Hildegarde von Bingen, Renaissance and Baroque works by Casulana, Cazzolani, Strozzi, and Aleotti, part-songs by Fanny Hensel, Rebecca Clarke, and Amy Beach, contemporary works by Tania León and Liz Hanna and songs by Joni Mitchell.

The Western Wind singers are sopranos Linda Lee Jones and Elizabeth van Os, countertenor Eric S. Brenner, tenors Todd Frizzell and David Vanderwal and baritone Elijah Blaisdell. They will be joined by guest artists Richard Kolb on lute/theorbo and Patricia Ann Neely on viola da gamba.

Western Wind begins its 51st year in 2020. Since 1969, this Grammy nominated vocal sextet has devoted itself to the special beauty and variety of a cappella music. The New York Times has called them “A kaleidoscopic tapestry of vocal hues.” The ensemble’s repertoire reveals its diverse background, from Renaissance motets to Fifties rock’n’roll, medieval carols to Duke Ellington, complex works by avant-garde composers to the simplest folk melodies. Visit them at http://www.westernwind.org.

WHERE AND WHEN:

Saturday, March 28, 2020 at 8:00 PM

Church of St. Luke in the Field, 487 Hudson Street (between Christopher and Barrow Streets at the intersection of Grove Street, West Village)

Tickets: $35 gen. Adm., $20 students & seniors, $50 priority seating.

Patron & sponsor tickets: $100 ($50 deductible), $250 ($200 deductible) and $500 ($450 deductible).

Purchase tickets: http://www.westernwind.org/store.html?tix 212-873-2848
More info: http://www.westernwind.org/concerts.html

Ensemble’s website: www.westernwind.org

Running time: 90 min. including intermission.

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Tags Church of St. Luke in the Field, composer, Date night, Downtown, Music, NYC, performance, song, women's history month

Culture Featured Theater

What Bloody Man Is That?

Post author By Dan Metz
Post date February 26, 2020

What Bloody Man Is This? — Photograph courtesy of The McKittrick Hotel

The McKittrick Hotel’s flagship production, Sleep No More, has spent the last few years gaining fame and notoriety for its witchy mystique. It takes Shakespeare’s Macbeth and passes it through dreamlike noir to create a thrilling modern dance experience unlike any other. Masked guests follow actors through a six-story building like silent spirits as Shakespeare’s tragedy unfolds simultaneously across the building. It is a feat of performance, but also of engineering, costuming, choreography, and design. As Sleep No More announces an expansion through September 13th, Downtown got a chance to speak with Maxine Doyle from Punchdrunk UK, the Co-Director and Choreographer for Sleep No More, about the origins of the ghostly play.

Origins

Sleep No More came from humble origins: a small production in 2003 inside an old victorian boys school. The cast was only 10 people for the 10-night performance, splitting 40 people between less than a dozen rooms.

The original idea, Doyle says, came from Artistic Director Felix Barrett’s love of Bernard Herbert’s soundtracks to Alfred Hitchcock films, and the way that Hitchcock marries the aesthetic of noir with the kind of psychology that you can see in Macbeth. “I think it was a text we both really loved in terms of its characters and we looked more at the sort of domestic human absences of the play–the themes of ambition and guilt and particularly the sort of dramatic, codependent relationship between Macbeth and lady Macbeth. And then, of course, the really interesting sort of layer of the supernatural.”

After the close of the initial run of SNM, Punchdrunk crossed the pond for another, longer showing in Boston, Massachusetts, at the American Repertory Theater. The show ran there for four months, from October, 2009 until February 2010. By that time, Punchdrunk UK had turned its eyes to NYC.

Punchdrunk did not build the McKittrick Hotel. According to Doyle, the site had been empty for several years following its occupation by various nightclubs of “dubious” repute. But the building’s shady reputation and open space finally allowed Sleep No More to stretch its legs.

The Labor We Delight In

The current iteration of Sleep No More, which began in 2011, features approximately 25 actors and dancers. The shows run for three hours apiece, with every scene except for the beginning and the end being performed three times during each run. Each of these performances is done without breaks for any of the performers. “It’s the relationship of the audience with the performer that is very specific within this sort of form,” says Doyle, “the audience can follow a performer all the way through, they could stick with one performer if they wanted to for three hours.” In fact, doing so increases your chance of being pulled in for a one-on-one, where a performer takes a single audience member away from the rest for a scene performed for them alone. “The idea is that you need to feel like these characters live in this building–that there isn’t any beginning and there isn’t any end. And, and there’s a sort of hypnotic drive of this loop, almost a sort of purgatorial structure that the characters find themselves within.”

Casting for Sleep No More is rigorous. Most of the cast turns over every six months, and auditions can mean 1000 auditions for five roles during a two-week period. Once selected, a performer goes through eight weeks of training, learning two different roles in the cast. They will go through classes in body conditioning, contemporary dance, and yoga, but also through a kind of intellectual training. They read through the original play, of course, but also theories surrounding the play, and works by Hitchcock and David Lynch whose works are heavy influences.

If you have seen the show, you know that parts of the performance can be brutal on the body (a scene with a man performing with his head on a table and his feet on the ceiling comes to mind), and so all performers must be prepared to perform perfectly under that strain. Sometimes twice. “I would say 85% of the company are dancers. I would sort of call them dance actors, but their training, instinct, physicality skill, comes from a sort of contemporary dance background.”

If you haven’t seen Sleep No More, now is your chance. Check here for dates and times for shows, and experience one of the most unique shows you can see in NYC.

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Tags Dan Metz, Dance, Date, Date night, detective, Magic, McKittrick Hotel, modern dance, New York City, noir, performance, Sleep No More, spooky, unique

Bars Culture Featured Theater

Strange Tales of Lonely Houses

Post author By Dan Metz
Post date January 30, 2020

I don’t go to a lot of haunted houses. My “scary movie nights” aren’t that scary. So “Woman In Black – A Ghost Story in a Pub” at the McKittrick Hotel was my first time experiencing the phenomenon of scared laughter–when your throat forces out a laugh to stop you from screaming. It was an odd experience to have at a theater. Even stranger for a two-man show which spends its opening scenes convincing you that it is a friendly comedy.

The McKittrick production of Susan Hill’s bestselling thriller comes from inauspicious origins, commissioned by a provincial English theater to plug a budget hole. The resulting two-man show was a barebones ghost story with the unambitious goal of filling a three-week run around Christmas. Instead, it was a smash hit. It made its way to London’s West End, where it has remained for thirty years. The McKittrick takes advantage of the minimalist requirements of the show–and the pub atmosphere of the McKittrick’s The Club Car–to bring the show back to its humble origins. And they do so to wicked effect.

Porter, playing an actor playing young Kipps, as terror takes hold. Photo courtesy of Jenny Anderson

The original story, by Susan Hill, shows an old man named Mr. Kipps recounting for his family a haunting paranormal experience from his youth. The play reworks the plot by framing it around the relationship between the older Mr. Kipps, who has written his account, and the young acting coach who is helping him prepare to tell it. The opening scenes show Mr. Kipps (David Acton) struggling with the art of performance, urged on by a frustrated young actor (Ben Porter). The actor resolves to play the role of young Mr. Kipps, while giving all of the other roles to Kipps himself. The two build a rapport, and the show refocuses on Kipps’ story itself, bringing more thrills and suspense into the show as it goes on.

In this way, Woman in Black toes the line between hilarious and terrifying. The bond between Kipps and the actor, as well as between Acton and Porter, is charming and heartfelt. You are rooting for this poor old man to gain the courage to tell his story, and then you get it, and it is grand. And then they’ve got you. Like an arm reaching up out of a placid lake, it grabs you and pulls you beneath the surface and into a nightmare. There were screams in the theater. A lot of them. I watched audience members shift in their seats, or cover their eyes. And yes, the scared laughter, which rippled across the theater in between the terrifying punctuations.

Woman in Black is a case study in theater magic made possible in big part due to Acton and Porter. With the exception of the brief intermission, it is the two of them alone who draw the audience’s attention throughout the show. Acton especially flaunts his skill with the manic pace of his character changes, launching from secondary character to secondary character as his Mr. Kipps falls into his role as an actor. Also of note is the effects team, providing just the right lighting, sound effects, and occasional fog to set any scene on a nearly bare stage.

In the mists of the English marshes. Photo courtesy of Jenny Anderson

The Club Car, the McKittrick’s small theater and pub, matches the ambiguous early 20th-century vibe which encompasses many of their other shows. It is a great match for Woman in Black, the flashbacks of which take place at a similar vague period of “60 years ago.” To compensate for the lack of cigarette smoke which would be present at an interwar pub or jazz club, they even have hazers installed, giving your senses another subtle clue that you are somewhere in the past before NYC banned smoking indoors. While you are there, try your hand at some of their Woman in Black-themed mixed drinks, or their new Scottish pub appetizers, from bangers and mash to fish and chips. The “pub platter” makes a great choice for the indecisive, featuring pork pie, scotch egg, stilton, pickles, and nuts. It is delicious.

‘Woman in Black – A Ghost Story in a Pub’ is a thrill and a treat. There is a warning against bringing children under the age of 11, but I suggest everyone else grab a ticket. Grab a drink and a snack–and a stuffed animal if you need one–and experience the performance that had me shaking in the dark in a pub on a Wednesday evening.

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Tags Dan Metz, Date night, Downtown, Ghost, ghost story in a pub, Horror, McKittrick Hotel, performance, scary, the club car, theater, theatre, thriller, woman in black

Dining Featured Restaurants

Mizu Sushi Dishes Fresh Fish

Post author By Dan Metz
Post date December 20, 2019

Mizu, a sushi spot in flatiron, is unpretentious. The dining area is simple, with plenty of tables and a tasteful yet simple aesthetic. Just enough to remind you that you’re here for sushi. In fact, the only standout feature of the restaurant–physically, at least–is their sushi bar, with stool seating and a window where you can see the fish. This focus will be a theme throughout the experience. Mizo understands that no amount of flash or finery can compete with a focus on the essentials.

The chefs at Mizu purchase their fish fresh every morning, as well as scallops, shrimp, and sea urchins on a seasonal basis. Their food is always made-to-order. If you want takeout, we were told, you might have to wait for as long as 20 minutes once you arrive–they don’t like to leave food waiting.

This dedication to freshness and quality at Mizu permeates the menu. Every dish which presents itself fish-forward is full and flavorful. The presentation is stylish but, again, never to the point of distraction. For starters, try the yellowtail carpaccio or the white tuna truffle. The yellowtail comes with jalapeno and yuzu dressing and has a fruity flavor, which is complemented perfectly by the spice. The white tuna truffle is milder and sweeter–it is a don’t-miss for fans of truffle oil.

When you get to the sushi, start with the Flatiron roll: spicy crunchy salmon topped with salmon, avocado, and ikura. It is a delicious example of Mizu’s fish-first sushi at its best. The salmon topping focuses the flavor with the sweet, spice, and crunch, letting them enhance the natural flavor. We ended our meal on the Jurassic roll, another of our favorites. The miso sauce topping the white tuna roll gave it a sweeter, almost dessert-like flavor which we loved.

Mizu says that they don’t compromise on their fish, and Downtown believes it. Try as we might, we weren’t able to taste every roll they have to offer. But we haven’t given up. We’ll be back soon–plus, we heard something about a happy hour. We hope to see you there.