Drinkology
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Renovation to retire Algonquin's Oak Room
 When The Algonquin reopens after renovations, its Oak Room will be gone, the hotel announced today on its Facebook page.
“The Oak Room was a launching pad for Harry Connick Jr., Michael Feinstein, Andrea Marcovicci, Diana Krall, Jane Monheit, Peter Cincotti, and Jamie Cullum,” according to the hotel’s website.
The room also has ties to the Round Table, according to Kevin Fitzpatrick, the president of New York City’s Dorothy Parker Society.
“The Round Table first met in June 1919 in what was called the Pergola Room, now called the Oak Room,” Fitzpatrick said today in an email to NewYorkology. “After the group expanded, management moved them to the restaurant, which was named the Round Table room in 1998. So they ate in both rooms.
“I’ve spoken with Intra-Spec and Gary Budge, the Algonquin GM. They are being very respectful,” Fitzpatrick continued. “I think the renovation is important to update the hotel to compete in today’s market; the spirit of Dorothy Parker and the rest are being minded but they can’t be kept under glass. I think the hotel is going about it in a smart way without trying to run a museum.”
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February 2, 2012 6:27 PM Comments (0)
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City Bakery reveals Hot Chocolate Fest flavors
 City Bakery today announced its lineup of flavors for its 20th annual Hot Chocolate Festival taking place throughout February.
Highlights include a “Super Bowl” flavor on Super Bowl Sunday, “Love Potion” on Valentine’s Day and the rare taste of “Leap Year” on Feb. 29.
The 2012 Hot Chocolate Festival schedule of flavors:
Feb. 1 - Sunken Treasure - (“chocolate truffles and caramel coins at the bottom of the hot chocolate ocean”)
Feb. 2 - Espresso
Feb. 3 - Ginger
Feb. 4 - Banana Peel
Feb. 5 - Super Bowl
Feb. 6 - Lemon
Feb. 7 - Tropical
Feb. 8 - Vietnamese Cinnamon
Feb. 9 - Milk Chocolate
Feb. 10 - Bourbon
Feb. 11 - Caramel
Feb. 12 - Happy
Feb. 13 - Darkest Dark
Feb. 14 - Love Potion
Feb. 15 - Moulin Rouge
Feb. 16 - Honduran
Feb. 17 - Beer (Brooklyn)
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January 24, 2012 9:02 PM
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Music, champagne returns to Top of the Rock in Feb.
 The Top of the Rock Observation Deck at Rockefeller Center today announced the dates for its 2012 Winter Starlight Music Series, which will bring live bands and a bar to the 67th floor for four nights in February.
With the Rainbow Room closed since 2009, the music series is the only time alcohol is sold on the upper floors of Rockefeller Center. During this February’s Winter Starlight Music Series, wine, champagne and other refreshments will be available for purchase from AJ Maxwell’s Steakhouse.
The bands will play from 6 to 8 p.m. on the following evenings:
Feb. 1 - Angela Workman
Feb. 8 - Dive Bar Dukes
Feb. 14 - Hans Holzen Trio
Feb. 15 - The Nick Bucci Band
Regular time-specific Top of the Rock tickets can be purchased online in advance for $25. There is no extra charge on Starlight Music nights.
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January 18, 2012 2:39 PM Comments (0)
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After-hours drinks at the Museum of Natural History
 The American Museum of Natural History this week resumes its free, after-hours cocktail series open to science geeks 21 and older.
This Wednesday’s theme: Adventures in Superstring Theory.
Theoretical physicist S. James Gates, Jr. will talk about the discovery of computer codes like those used in web browsers embedded in the equations of superstring theory.
This month’s SciCafe will be held in the Wallach Orientation Center on the museum’s fourth floor. Admission is free after 7 p.m. but you’ll need to buy your own cocktails.
The next SciCafe, set for Feb. 1, will focus on the theme The Virus Hunters with virologist Nathan Wolfe and computational biologist Daniel Janies.
On March 7, the SciCafe theme will be From Poison to Panacea: Using Snake Venom to Combat Cancer. The guest speaker will be Frank Markland, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology.
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January 3, 2012 10:42 AM Comments (0)
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Free holiday rides from Johnnie Walker, DOT
 The New York City Department of Transportation is once again sponsoring free rides during the holiday through its You the Man free voucher program.
In a partnership with Johnnie Walker, the DOT is handing out 4,000 single-ride MetroCards and 1,500 $15 debit cards to use in the city’s 13,000-plus taxicabs, participating livery car services, MTA, PATH, NJ Transit or other ticketing machines from until noon on Jan. 1.
The free cards will be handed out today at 5 p.m. at the St. George Ferry Terminal at Staten Island and at the Fulton Mall in Downtown Brooklyn.
More free cards will be handed out Dec. 31 at 5 p.m. on the Upper East Side at 2nd Avenue at 86th Street and in Harlem at Broadway & 125th Street.
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December 23, 2011 3:24 PM Comments (0)
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SantaCon 2011 to begin at Brooklyn Bridge Park, WFC
 Booze-fueled SantaCon NYC will take over parts of the city today as the costumed characters set out for their annual photo op.
Santas will converge at 10 a.m. at Brooklyn Bridge Park and the North Cove Marina behind the World Financial Center, according to the SantaCon website. The start points are also collection locations for the Food Bank for NYC.
“Santacon is a non-denominational, non-commercial, non-political and non-sensical Santa Claus convention that occurs once a year for absolutely no reason,” according to the website, which also posts many rules and suggestions for revelers.
SantaCon on Twitter will post updates on their route during the day.
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December 10, 2011 8:13 AM Comments (0)
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Bar Car Nights at NY Botanical train show
 After the kids clear out, the New York Botanical Garden tonight begins a series of Bar Car Nights at its annual Holiday Train Show.
The bar car nights are scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. on Dec. 3, 10, and 17.
The $30 admission ticket includes a complimentary cocktail.
The elaborate Holiday Train Show, which features 140 handmade New York landmarks, is open through Jan. 6.
Adults-only “Shopping and Champagne” nights are also on offer Dec. 8, 15 and 16.
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December 3, 2011 3:28 PM Comments (0)
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TWA Terminal at JFK could reopen before 2012
For the first time in a decade, the public was allowed inside the Eero Saarinen-designed TWA Terminal at Kennedy Airport on Sunday as openhousenewyork secured access to show off the iconic structure.
“This is the quintessential airport building representing flight,” said Charles Kramer, an architect from Beyer Blinder Belle who worked on the 20,000-square-foot main-lobby restoration project.
About 800 to 1,000 people trekked out to JFK, most toting cameras, for the sneak preview on Sunday, according to OHNY estimates. But for everyone who missed Sunday’s debut, they may not have to wait long for another opportunity.
“We’re talking about opening this up to the public on a limited basis,” Jim Stevens, the Port of Authority of New York and New Jersey’s Manager of JFK’s Physical Plant and Redevelopment, said Sunday. “I would like to be able to say before the new year,” but budgeting issues may delay that, he said.
Ideally they’d do it with consistent hours, he said, such as every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They’re also considering which hours would be best in order to offer a diversity of light, which changes dramatically as the sun creates different beams as it shines through Saarinen’s design.
The Port Authorty hopes to find private companies to run operations in the old TWA building. Earlier this year, more than 20 hotel representatives were allowed to tour the site with an eye toward developing bids to run a hotel there (without displacing any of the restoration work that’s just been completed.)
The hotel project is still a possibility though it “isn’t going to happen for a while,” Stevens said.
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October 17, 2011 7:26 AM Comments (1)
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Free 'back-to-the-grind' coffee packs from Tim Hortons
 To celebrate — or rather commiserate — with worker bees heading back to work after the not-long-enough Labor Day weekend, Tim Hortons today will hand out packs of coffee to Midtown’s morning commuters.
For its 17th annual “Back to the Grind” coffee give-away, the Canadian-based company will hand out 5,000 home brew packs outside Pennsylvania Station and Grand Central Terminal from 7:30 to 9 a.m., while supplies last.
Not immediately drinkable, commuters will need their own coffee maker to make the coffee magic happen.
“We know how tough it is to get back to work after summer vacation and hope to sweeten the transition a little for our customers and friends,” Dennis Riese, CEO and chairman of Tim Hortons’ parent company, The Riese Organization, said in a statement announcing the freebie.
The coffee packs will be handed out on the southwest corner of 34th Street and 7th Avenue; on the southeast corner of 33rd Street and 8th Avenue; and on the northeast corner of 42nd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue.
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September 6, 2011 7:05 AM Comments (1)
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New York City oyster festivals set for September
 As fall approaches, New York City is gearing up to host a couple annual oyster festivals.
On Sept. 17 the eighth annual Stone Street Oyster Festival will take place outdoors on Stone Street all day with live music.
On Sept. 24, the Oyster Frenzy at the Grand Central Oyster Bar will take place from noon to 6 p.m. and will feature shucking contests, music, a chef’s demonstration and appearances by the Naked Cowboy and Lady Chatterley.
For those looking to leave New York City, the 28th Anniversary Oyster Festival takes place on Long Island on Oct. 15 and 16. Billed as the the East Coast’s largest waterfront festival, it takes place in downtown Oyster Bay. The Long Island Rail Road provides special weekend service.
Image source: Grand Central Oyster Bar.
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September 1, 2011 12:57 PM
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