The Oak Room by Julie Besonen
May 31, 2009, 11:42.39 pm ET
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Chef Eric Hara, 30, had been in the kitchen a mere three weeks the night of our visit and turned out dish after dish -- from big eye tuna to braised short ribs -- that was creative, accomplished, delicious and so New York. What a relief. Hara's food is lively and whimsical...
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Baked by Melissa by Thomas Rafael
May 31, 2009, 11:34.36 pm ET
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In these lean times there are a few places where you can still treat yourself for a buck. In a sliver of a shop, off the beaten path in SoHo, don't be surprised to find a line forming outside Baked by Melissa, and don't be surprised to shell out a buck for a cupcake that amounts to one mouthful. But what a mouthful.
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Bookcourt by Pamela Grossman
May 31, 2009, 11:32.20 pm ET
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This past Thursday found me heading down Court Street toward the shop, looking forward to hearing my high school pal Julie Klam read from her first book—a memoir called "Please Excuse My Daughter," just released in paperback.
more Harbour by Andrea Strong
May 24, 2009, 11:42.27 pm ET
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Restaurants rarely surprise me anymore. You eat out in this town for long enough and you kind of know what to expect. It’s not a necessarily a bad thing. After all, it’s possible for a restaurant to be thrilling without being surprising. But my recent visits to Harbour surprised me for two reasons.
more Joe Turner by Lesley Alexander
May 24, 2009, 11:37.46 pm ET
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It’s August Wilson’s magnificent facility with language – poetic and musical – that makes his “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”, a Lincoln Center Broadway revival, so majestic. The story of the African American migration in 1911 Pittsburgh soars in this production directed by Bartlett Sher (“South Pacific”).
more Photo: T Charles Erickson
Random Accessories by Pamela Grossman
May 24, 2009, 11:35.21 pm ET
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Phew! Three birthday parties this weekend, plus wedding gifts owed and even a "25 years of Bromance" celebration thrown in. With gifts on the brain, I was happy to find Random Accessories, a charmingly crowded shop stocked with, yes, somewhat random objects sure to suit varied festive occasions.
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Braeburn by Andrea Strong
May 17, 2009, 11:44.26 pm ET
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Like those heavenly biscuits served when you're seated, the menu at Braeburn stays true to food that's more honest and simple than overdressed and ratcheted up with bling. What's also very attractive about the restaurant is its value.
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Azeleas by Pamela Grossman
May 17, 2009, 11:38.51 pm ET
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April showers bring May...showers? Yikes; but we've had *tastes* of sun, at least, this spring, and presumably more will come. In the meantime, the clothes at the cheerfully named Azeleas bring to mind garden blooms--and garden parties.
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9 to 5 by Lesley Alexander
May 17, 2009, 11:33.11 pm ET
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Let’s face it. The title song from “9 to 5” was a megahit for Dolly Parton because it’s catchy and clever and taps into the driving force of everyone who’s ever had to start their day with “a cup of ambition.”
more Photo: Joan Marcus
Waiting for Godot by Lesley Alexander
May 17, 2009, 11:29.25 pm ET
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If Beckett’s "Waiting For Godot" is the thinking man’s play then the new revival at Studio 54 starring Nathan Lane, Bill Erwin, John Goodman and John Glover is brilliant.
more Photo: Joan Marcus
Desire Under the Elms by Lesley Alexander
May 17, 2009, 11:25.20 pm ET
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Usually when you think of an O’Neill play you associate it with a richly textured, but often long, evening in the theatre. But the new revival of "Desire Under the Elms" has been trimmed to a tidy 100 minutes.
more Photo: Liz Lauren
Eva by Pamela Grossman
May 10, 2009, 10:12.18 pm ET
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Maybe, just maybe, an upside to the economic downturn will be a resugence of art and artists in NYC. These thoughts came to me when, walking down the Bowery, I spotted a very unusual necklace on a manequin in the window.
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Irena's Vow by Diane Snyder
May 10, 2009, 10:09.37 pm ET
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There's no disputing the power of Irena Gut's story. What she accomplished during World War II, saving the lives of 12 Jewish refugees by hiding them in and near the house of a German major she worked for, is an act of heroism that deserves recognition and commemoration.
more Photo: Carol Rosegg
The Norman Conquests by Lesley Alexander
May 10, 2009, 10:07.30 pm ET
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Imagine wanting to throttle someone at the same time you need to comfort him and you’ll understand the deeply dysfunctional family’s feelings about Norman, the title character of Alan Ayckbourn’s revival, in “The Norman Conquests”.
more Photo: Manuel Harlan