38th Birthday Recommendations

[Nathan]

I'm familiar with The Forge (I'm going there for a party this weekend actually) and there's nothing like it in NY.

Well thats disappointing! You should tell that to Sharif Malnick so that he may consider opening a NYC branch! Just make sure the elevator doors are solid (re: BED-NY incident and closing).

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a NY branch might be very popular...but it just wouldn't get very many NY'ers after the first couple months (at least on the weekends). so it'd be the same as every other such imported place.

Edited February 27, 2007 by Nathan (log)

[Sneakeater]

Exactly. Just what I meant.

[Sneakeater]

See, the thing is that people get this idea that celebrities want to go places where celebrities go, and so you've got to find out where the "celebrity" hangouts are if you want to be with celebrities. But here in New York, celebrities are New Yorkers, and they want to go where New Yorkers go. Because that's what they are, like everybody else.

Of course, it helps that part of the NYC social contract is that celebrities don't get gawked at in local places. So they can go and hang out like normal people. On the other hand, in the places where they B&T crowd goes to look for celebrities (sorry, I can't help myself), that social contract doesn't apply. Which is why the B&T crowd mainly finds other B&Ters at those places, and not the celebrities they're looking for (except maybe some visiting celebrities -- you might even call them "B&T celebrities").

[Nathan]

yup.

the thing is...if someone really wanted to go celeb-spotting...I could take them on a walking tour of about five WV spots tonight...and they'd be guaranteed of seeing a couple people (and we'd skip the Waverly Inn as that'd be cheating)...but none of those spots are scenes or filled with beautiful people (necessarily)...etc. Is there really any point in knowing the two places where Keri Russell always gets her coffee?

[GordonCooks]

Wait a few months and oogle the models at Matsuri (if it's even hot anymore) or DaSilvano's.

[Nathan]

Matsuri hasn't been hot in three years.

Da Silvano is one of those places that sticks around...getting a mixture of Eurotrash and models...

[Pan]

...whose idea of a great time in New York is to go for expensive (not necessarily good) cocktails and expensive, mediocre bar food at some hyped-up place.

To quote a famous New Yorker, "Not that there's anything wrong with that..."

From where I live, I can walk to any of the good-to-great restaurants in Montclair, NJ for great food at reasonable prices ($20-40/person) for everyday meals. That is why for many of us B&T folk ( groan), NYC is reserved for more special occassions for when we want to see celebrity chefs, celebrity clientele, inventive cuisine, extraordinary interior design, over-the-top experiences. If the point is have a memorable experience, then good food is just one part of the successful equation. There has to be a special reward for the effort of driving through cross-town traffic, $40 parking garage fee, etc.[...]

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You could save money by taking the bus. I've had good meals in Montclair, by the way. But I don't see the point in celebrities, either as chefs or clientele. Inventive cuisine and extraordinary interior design compute to me, but I really couldn't care less who is at the next table or who the chef is, as long as the food is great, the service is at least acceptable, and the ambiance is at least tolerable. I get the sense that there are things more important to you than the food, but moreover, that those other things are likely to make it very difficult for you to also find a restaurant with great food. But perhaps I'm repeating myself at this point, so I'll bow out.