Friday July 24
Location: Meatpacking District, NYC
Film: Ghostbusters
Show time: 8:30 PM; FREE
Venue: Pier 46 (at Charles Street)
Food: Spice Market
Drink: Plunge
Miscellaneous: Little Pie Company (located at 407 W14th St.)
Who you gonna call when New York is attacked by a 100 foot marshmallow man…Ghostbusters. Check out this hysterical 1984 classic film starring Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson. For dinner, if you can get a table, check out Spice Market. Chef and owner Jean-Georges Vongerichten converted this HUGE space into one of the sexiest Asian restaurants in NYC. Serving up exquisite dishes like the onion and chili crusted short ribs with egg noodles and pea shoots ($22), Spice Market impresses. If you choose not to stay at APT for drinks, close by is Plunge. Located at the top of the Hotel Gansevoort, this rooftop lounge offers stunning views of the city. If dessert is your thing, stop over at Little Pie Company, where pies are baked on premises. Whether you’re in the mood for sour cream apple, southern pecan, or Mississippi mud pie, you can’t go wrong here.
Friday July 24
Location: Lower East Side, NYC
Bands: Junior Boys Get Tickets Here
Show time: 7 PM
Venue: Webster Hall
Food: Momofuku
Drink: The Village Pourhouse
Miscellaneous: Sundaes and Cones
Electropop darlings Junior Boys make sweet dance music reminiscent of Prince if he was on crack and was writing songs off a computer, but Canadian duo Singer Jeremy Greenspan and programmer Matt Didemus have plenty of soul and are quite good at reinterpreting their influences with their own twist. If you like ramen noodles and pork, then Momofuku is your spot for food. The Berkshire pork is the best I’ve had and it’s the only place I’ll eat pork period, which should tell you just how good Momofuku really is! What looks like a neighborhood bar to watch sports actually has three more rooms. The Village Pourhouse is where you can order food or find a quiet place to smooch! For dessert a little left of the dial, Sundaes and Cones offers eclectic flavors like wasabi and corn and many more flavors that are familiar.
Saturday July 25
Location: Gowanus, Brooklyn
Film: Rooftop Films Presents Stay the Same Never Change + Stars Like Fleas
Show time: 9 PM
Venue: Old American Can Factory (on the rooftop)
Food: El Viejo Yayo
Drink: Buttermilk Bar
Miscellaneous: The Chocolate Room
The first feature length film from video artist Nakadate, Stay the Same Never Change features a series of teenage girls in their rooms where the banal becomes extreme and the normal has a discomforting strangeness. Plus Brooklyn band Stars Like Fleas performs. Keeping the night going, try El Viejo Yayo for dinner. This gorgeous and warm restaurant has an elegant dining room and an affordable menu offering Dominican/Latin cuisine. The outside of Buttermilk Bar may look non-descript, but looks are deceiving . . . just not in this case, as this low-key watering hole is where you can grab a cheap drink in a friendly atmosphere, while playing a board game or two. With a near insane menu of chocolates from coffee and tea to delectable dessert, and even beer, The The Chocolate Room is a great way to end the night on a high note.
Saturday July 25
Location: East Village, NYC
Event: Paste Magazine Benefit Concert
Show time: 9 PM
Venue: Webster Hall
Food: Minca
Drink: Ace Bar
Miscellaneous: Le Gamin Café
Looks like Paste magazine is having financial problems as it’s on the verge of shutting down. Well, you can help save this great music and entertainment mag by attending the Paste Magazine Benefit Concert. You can check out music by bands Reredux (members of Brazillian Girls), Mixel Pixel, Paul & the Patients, Fugitive Souls, Anthem In, Infernal Devices, and French Horn Rebellion and know your money is going towards helping this great magazine hopefully survive. Close by is the ramen noodle bar called Minca. After recently trying this place, I’d highly recommend it. The ramen noodles are made fresh and way better than those you’d buy and boil. What makes the soups here great is the broth. Take the Minca Ramen, a mild broth with pork, chicken and dried seafood ($8.50), it has impeccable flavor that hits the spot. Plus its way less expensive than other ramen specialty restaurants and just as good. Right across the street from Minca is the Ace Bar. Sort of divey, it’s also where you’ll find people playing skeeball and shooting pool, while drinking some decent beers on tap. For dessert and coffee, Le Gamin Café is the place for crepes.
Saturday July 25
Location: Chinatown, NYC
Bands: The Metal Music & Fashion Show for Breast Cancer Charity
Show time: 7:30 PM
Venue: Santos Party House
Food: Pakistan Tea House
Drink: Mocca Lounge
Miscellaneous: Chinatown Ice Cream Factory
I’ve heard of plenty of fashion shows using almost every kind of music as their theme and now you can finally see what it’s like when metal is the theme at The Metal Music & Fashion Show for Breast Cancer Charity where metal acts performing include Hybrid Draw, Exemption, Feff, and Citizens of Contrary Knowledge. Plus you can win one of 10 dates with a model and one person will win a weekend trip to Las Vegas. Nearby, Pakistan Tea House is a buffet style Indian restaurant where you can choose between chicken, meat, fish and vegetables. It’s affordable and very good. For drinks, check out Mocca Lounge. With a funky interior and a menu of Italian inspired fare, it’s also a bar with a large list of coffees with or without alcohol, beers, and frozen shots. Smack dab in the heart of Chinatown, the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory makes gourmet ice cream flavors like Black Sesame, Ginger, Durian, and more exotic flavors like Taro and Wasabi. Don’t worry, they have the go-to’s like Vanilla, fruits, and chocolate flavors too.
Sunday July 26
Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Bands: …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
Show time: 2 PM; FREE
Venue: Williamsburg Waterfront
Food: SEA
Drink: Zablozki’s
Miscellaneous: Hugs
Formerly the McCarren Park Pool concerts, now the Williamsbur Waterfronts is home to some of the best shows happening this summer. The space is great and the waterfront view is even better. …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead headlines this weeks show along with Black Lips, HEALTH, and Grupo Fantasma. Just as much fun as any show and just as big a venue, SEA is one BIG Thai restaurant. Big enough to have a pool surrounded by tables as a giant Buddha stands above it. Luckily, the food is really great. Offering traditional Pad Thai ($7) to more involved dishes like the Mummy Fish ($14). On N6th, a street full of bars and restaurants, Zablozki’s is the local bar of the bunch, with a pool table and a friendly atmosphere and 12 beers on tap. What looks like some dark basement with tables and some couches, Hugs will end up being a dance party with an awkward blend of music genres that you will grow to love quickly.
