August 2007


   Summer in NY   Briggs Staff Summer Outing

Ferragosto is an Italian holiday celebrated on August 15. It's a religious feast day of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven. Prior this holiday was celebrated in the Roman Empire to honor the gods. Close to the entire month of August is taken as vacation and leisure time in Italy in honor of this holiday. Well, in New York City we have our own version. August is the time when New Yorkers go to the Hampton's or the Catskills to cool off. Restaurants will shutter up, struggling Broadway shows close and performing arts play outdoors in the city parks. The Briggs Staff outing was one bright spot of our  summer. We took our free lance staff to the Italian feast in Williamsburg, Brooklyn to see the "Dancing of the Giglio."  We ended the day with a festive dinner at Bamontes, an Italian restaurant established more than 100 years ago! (See Tony's Blog).

Buono Ferragosto!

 

  Hotels     Venues

The Plaza Hotel is getting ready to unveil the restoration of its famous ballroom. It has been the scene of many coming out parties and the famous Black and White Ball Truman Capote threw back in the 60's. Painstaking care has been taken to restore the ballroom to its original luster and a new pre-banquet space has been added. The ballroom will be the new space in town vying for all the charity balls, fundraisers and special events.

 

Harry's Bar is once again serving Bellinis again after a two-year hiatus. This haute Venetian in the Sherry Netherland (the original NYC spin-off of Harry's Bar in Venice) has a polished new look and is still attracting enough Euro moguls, retired models and diamond-drenched society dames to make it a people-watching paradise; comically high pricing distracts from the low ceilings and tiny tables, but ultimately the scene is the thing at Harry's Bar.
   Restaurants    Theater

New York City is falling in love with barbecue. Ribs and briskets are the new sushi.  All the restaurants claim to offer authentic barbecue with there smoked meats, cedar chips and special outdoor grills. Some of my favorites are Rack and Soul up in Morningside, Blue Smoke down in Gramercy Park and the grill out back on Tavern on the Green.  Recently Hill Country Barbecue seems to be leading the pack in critical reviews.

 

Openings

Hill Country Barbecue and Market

Closings

Brasserie LCB

Cite

Kitchen 22

Beauty and the Beast is closing after 13 years and more than five thousand performances. In its place will be a stage version of The Little Mermaid, which debuts in December. "Beauty" debuted in 1994 at the Palace Theatre and transferred to the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in 1999. Only one of the original cast members has been with the show through the years: Bill Nabel, who plays the corkscrew during a production number that features enchanted utensils.

Openings

The Little Mermaid

Xanadu

Grease

Closings

Beauty and the Beast

Grey Gardens

Pirate Queen

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