NYC-Arts Top Five Picks: October 29 – November 4

“Interesting. Unusual. Uniquely NYC. Highlights of this week’s top events include the Hudson River Museum’s exhibition “African American Art in the 20th Century,” Hideaway Circus’ “BEYOND BABEL,” the Gibney Company at the Joyce Theater, and more. Get the NYC-ARTS Top Five in your inbox every Friday and follow @NYC_ARTS on Instagram or @NYCARTS on Twitter to stay abreast of events as they happen.”

The Chelsea Symphony: Remembrance

St. Paul’s German Lutheran Church

Manhattan / Fri, Oct 29, 2021 – Sat, Oct 30, 2021

In these concerts, the Chelsea Symphony honor the loved ones we have lost. Tim Kiah’s new work remembers  Kurt Behnke, a longtime cellist with TCS. The series also features the World Premiere of Kamala Sankaram’s viola concerto 91919 with viola soloist Brian Thompson (10/30), a moving meditation on grief. Franz Schubert’s lyrical “Unfinished” Symphony, a work some scholars believe was inspired by personal trauma, demonstrates the power of music to provide solace. Camille Saint-Saëns’s Suite …

African American Art in the 20th Century

Hudson River Museum

Westchester / Fri, Oct 15, 2021 – Sun, Jan 16, 2022

Hudson River Museum is proud to present “African American Art in the 20th Century,” an exhibition of exemplary paintings and sculptures by thirty-four African American artists who came to prominence during the period bracketed by the Harlem Renaissance starting in the 1920s and the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. Drawn from the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the exhibition includes masterworks by iconic artists such as Romare Bearden, Beauford Delaney, Jacob Lawrence, and Loïs Mailou …

Gibney Company at the Joyce Theater

The Joyce Theater

Manhattan / Tue, Nov 02, 2021 – Sun, Nov 07, 2021

The reimagined Gibney Company expands the definition of what a contemporary repertory company can be. The new collective of 12 powerhouse performers takes the stage with three moving, technically stunning world premieres. Tony award-winning choreographer Sonya Tayeh (“Moulin Rouge”) shares a powerful and timely new work celebrating change, truth, and resilience, featuring a commissioned score and live music by The Bengsons. Norwegian choreographer Alan Lucien Øyen, renowned in Europe for his theatrical and visceral style, makes his …

Beyond Babel

The Gym at Judson

Manhattan / Thu, Sep 30, 2021 – Sun, Nov 21, 2021

Created by Keone & Mari Madrid and Hideaway Circus, the critically acclaimed dance theatre hit “BEYOND BABEL” will return to New York this fall to complete the final eight weeks of its original Off-Broadway run. Inspired by Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet,” “BEYOND BABEL” is about the division of families, friends, and a community of people as authorities decide to build a wall between them. We follow two divinely linked lovers as they reconcile with the rising tensions of a …

Cabaret: A Night with the Dead

Kraine Theater

Manhattan / Sat, Oct 30, 2021 – Mon, Nov 01, 2021

The iconic FRIGID New York in collaboration with Something from Abroad a theatre company founded and run by Latinx women and proud immigrants presents “Cabaret: A Night with the Dead,” a tribute to our loved ones. The performances will take place at the Kraine Theater on Oct 30th, 31st, and Nov 1st at 7 pm and will also be available for live streaming. This production is a celebration of the Mexican Holiday Day of the Dead and would bring together traditions, poetry, stories, and music in a variety …

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So many things to see and do, places to eat and drink in NYC.

How to Find Them? Here are 6 of my NYC fave suggestions:

“What Restaurant Will Impress A Native New Yorker?”

An expert guide to a weekend in New York | Telegraph Travel

The 17 Best New Restaurants in NYC

100+ Things to See and Do in New York City

15 Lovely Spots For A Relaxing Summer Bike Ride In NYC – Secret NYC

First Time Guide to New York City 5 Day Itinerary by a native New Yorker

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If you are looking for some of the best info on food and drink, restaurants and eating in New York City, then you want to head to New York magazine’s Grub Street.

Right now you want to check out: The Return of Restaurants

“Make up for lost meals. No takeout, no pasta kits, just 66 of the best new (or newly relevant) places to eat.” Edited by Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld, Photographs by Dina Litovsky

Here are 3 more of my faves:

Eat All Your Chinese Vegetables

Fat Choy / 250 Broome St.

It’s one thing to offer a $335 meat-free menu for the one percent (see Eleven Madison Park 2.0). It’s another to charge $10 and under for veggie-centric Chinese food for everyone: the curious carnivores, the certified vegans, and the dedicated superfans like Deborah from the Upper West Side, who loves the food and the vibe so much she literally hiked down the West Side Highway from 88th Street to Broome and Orchard one recent Saturday afternoon just to tuck in to paper-boatloads of chewy rice rolls topped with gai lan and juicy bok choy showered with crispy fried garlic. We know she did this because Fat Choy is the kind of place where diners who have navigated the scrum of Lower East Side streeteries — bars, vegan-cupcake shops, more bars — start conversations with strangers to recommend dishes, offer bites, and generally share communal moments of vibrantly flavored, inventively conceived culinary bliss. —Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

Sip a Sazerac in a Secret Garden

Villanelle / 15 E. 12th St.

This elegant Greenwich Village establishment has flown so far under the radar that many regulars (ourselves included) were afraid it would close forever when disaster struck. Miraculously, unlike with the still-shuttered Gotham Bar & Grill across the street, the opposite has happened. Owner Catherine Manning fitted the space out back with tables and little enclosed “garden rooms” that have become a hit during the outdoor-dining craze. The Sazeracs we enjoyed on a recent summery evening were exceptional, and you can also addle yourself with $9 cocktails during the new happy hour. The talented young chef Tyler Heckman (Ferris, Le Turtle) took over the kitchen last fall, and he’s slowly added the kind of variety and style to the aggressively seasonal menu (braised spring lamb on our visit, white-asparagus velouté, gnocchi with escargot) that threatens to turn this sleepy local favorite into a proper big-city dining destination. —Adam Platt

Sample the Latest Fusion Cuisine on New York’s Original Open Street

The Migrant Kitchen / 45 Stone St.

Long before 2020 brought alfresco eating to every corner of our city, Stone Street was a pedestrian paradise, and it still is, a cobblestoned car-free wonderland for outdoor pints, pizza, and mozzarella sticks. The Migrant Kitchen, which opened last fall, brings Middle Eastern–Latin fusion to this Fidi pub-grub zone. Owner Nasser Jaber, who operates out of the Dubliner bar’s kitchen, sends out sumac-butter-slicked fried-chicken-and-falafel waffles, mariquitas (fried plantain chips) nachos, and pastelon mahshi, a Dominican-style maduros-and-beef riff on the traditional Palestinian stuffed gourd. And since many office workers are still Zooming in from home, Stone Street feels distinctly chiller and less suits-y these days. —Ryan P. Sutton

Also see Eater New York’s interactive map that highlights
these 66 restaurants that deserve your attention.

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