About Last Night

The opening of Steve Ellis' Barber shop inspired paintings went off with out a hitch at the infamous lower east side Chop Shop. A real live barber shop for  the hipster in you. The coiffure inspired instruments such as sheers, razor blade are vibrantly displayed. These life like oil on canvas painting render as photo images from a distance and are very pleasing to the eye. The Images will be up for the remainder of the month so stop by for a view and maybe a cut, and buy.

I found a new  cocktail (the Adelita) made from my new favorite liquor tequila cream which is produced by 1921 Tequila. This desert cocktail can be found at Cafe Frida, and 1921's tequila cream can be found at Astor Liquors  and soon to be featured in my home refrigerator chilling nicely to pass away the winter blues. The taste is simple This liquor adds to tequila what baileys adds to whiskey. So I will be adding it to my morning coffee for that extra kick. Thank god I went to the The Liquid Chefs
Mixology event at Rayuela last night. see how productive nightlife can be.

Johnny Utahs Monday Nights
this wasn't on yesterdays agenda but I had to attend another bday celebration. this time for my gay plus one. He had the bright idea of going to Johnny Utahs. what I thought would be a cheesy  themed midtown resto-lounge experience actually turned into one of the best Monday night experiences I've had in a while.  Yes, there is bull riding, yes, there is buffalo wings and ribs. But on Monday nights there are models and bottles... of Tequila. Yeah you read correctly  tequila bottle service and  buckets of bud, and a DJ mixing old school down home rock with Kanye & Biggy.

Goto wgo-ny.blogspot.com

REVIEW

Retreat 37 W. 17th St., between 5th and 6th Aves, 212-488-6600, retreat-nyc.com.
A mini lounge with VIP bottle service, yes another one, is designed from willow, birch, Indonesian ebony and Italian Carpathian elm varieties of wood. It seems to have taken a forest to build it, just like the one the bathrooms are wallpapered with. Waitresses wear sexy cashmere outfits as lipstick-red chandeliers made from faux deer antlers hover above. A pine tree-house aka DJ booth, adds to the woodsy cabin feel, but Is it really a retreat from stale New York nightlife, not really but it sure does look and feel pretty. Thursday is the best night here. Trust I've been on the weekend and you might as well go to a big club because it is way to packed to its wood rafters.

TONIGHT 2.21.0

THE YO RELATIVES PARTY
205 club
205 Chrystie St., 212.477.6688, $10, 10pm, Rsvp to 205list@gmail.com for Reduced Admission. Tonight bosts DJ Assault, Egg Foo Young & Jess Jubilee on the 1's & 2's, with a Photobooth by photog Karem Black

FLIRT PARTY
Babeland SOHO
43 Mercer Street (between Broome and Grande), 9pm, FREE. Not as lucky in love as you wanted this Valentines Day? Don’t worry -- join Babeland for an unforgettable night of post-Valentines day flirting. This is your chance to meet that special someone. We will be serving hors d’oeuvres and cocktails as you mingle to a live DJ at our sexy SoHo locale. A perfect start to any girl’s night out.

MINT & SERF
Red Bull Building 15 Watts St @ Thompson st, between Broome and Grande 8pm reception, 9:30pm - 2:00am party, Free with RSVP@1134NYC.COM. The Canal Chapter unveil their newest installation by Mint&Serf this evening. What that means I am not so sure but with a lineup that includes Team Facelift, DAnces with White Girls, and Sawn Regruto, its pretty much a straight arty party. The work here is usually pretty tight as well or at the very least is a great conversation starter.

I AM NOT A PROMOTER I JUST TAKE MY NIGHTLIFE SERIOUSLY.

Love is in the Air, I have been held up in my apartment due to the cold snowy rainy weather. Don't worry, I have someone coming over to keep me warm hopefully with diamonds and rose petals, and champagne. Here is my Valentines Day present to you.

Reviews

Hotel Delmano
82 Berry (entrance on N. 9th), Williamsburg, 718-387-1945. This cocktail lounge, or cocktail den of iniquity as I like to call it is worth the trip to Willamsburg. As for checking into the Hotel well there is none, but intimate red and green candlelit back rooms are available and perfect for a date or what ever your heart demands, at least until closing. The front room, has marble topped tables and shelves of liquor (which the bartender reaches by rolling ladder), is the main hub of activity and inebriation. It reminds me of Milk and Honey with a nicer bunch of smart sophisticates.

1 Oak
453 W. 17th St. btwn 9th & 10th Aves.-MPD, 212.421.1111.
The space is lovely, A fireplace, dance floor, oak paneling and Darwin's origin of species etched into the walls. If you plan on getting in be prepared to pass through two velvet ropes and four doormen, but wait your not really in yet as only a lucky 250 gain entry into 1 OAK. The owners claim to be reinventing nightclubbing. If I hear this statement one more time I am going to have a shotgun at the next nightlife awards ceremony give us a break already. Thank God I was in attendance with some famous folks since I noticed that people working / running the space are gaudy in their pretentiousness and heinously not fun. I have a new idea, NY nightlife should be like Disney World everyone should have a smile on their face and a sweet disposition when they greet you, Not a snobby air of arrogance.

MY PICKS FOR TONIGHT 2.14.07

PARTY FAVORS

Love 179 Macdougal St., @ 8th Street, 212-477-5683.
Q-Tip. DJ Spinna. Love songs all night long on Valentine's night at LOVE. Nuff said. For now. 10 pm- 4 am, 21+, $10, music: Hip Hop, R&B, Soul, Funk, Old School Classics.

DEMON DAYS
Cielo 18 Little West 12th Street. 10pm- 4am 21+, $15.00, $20 at the door, music: Detroit Techno. Grammy-nominated Carl Craig starts off a new residency at Demon Day's Valentine's Day Bash. Looking for your one true love? Well you've come to the right place if the object of your affection is hard-hitting Detroit techno. Share this special day with us.

I AM NOT A PROMOTER I JUST TAKE MY NIGHTLIFE SERIOUSLY.

January has been hectic, a world wind, which included my birthday celebrations and a new found love of Key West. Since my return I have been to some Openings, hot spots, parties and shows. All I have to say is Rock & Republic has been the only highlight of fashion week for me this year and thank god its over.

OPENINGS

Merkato 55
55-61 Gansevoort St between Washington and Greenwich 212.255.8555.

The inspiration of chef Marcus Samuelsson recent trip to africa. He has joined forces with nightlife vets Kyky and Unik, to create a Pan-African fusion resto/lounge in MPD.
DECOR: The multi-story Venue which is across the street from the now defunct PM and has Mali-inspired clay bar that serves house-infused spiced rums across from communal tables. Wrought iron stairs lead you upstairs to a formal dining room. Basket lamps hang over brown and yellow leather banquettes and the walls are adorned with large printed silk screens portraits of the continent. A downstairs lounge is scheduled to open with a stone well in the center of the room.
OPENING NIGHT: A whose who of PM bottle service and strategically situated lovely African Models but where was Mr. Samuelsson, I guess aquavit is more important in the grand scheme of things. all I know is that with PM's promoters at the helm the place will be packed to the rafters with the Famous and beautiful folks and their hanger on.

Mansion
530 West 28th Street between 10th Ave. and 11th Ave. 212.629.9000.

The Miami nightclub transplant located in the old Crobar space. A collabo from the owners Mark Baker (Lotus, Double Seven) and Eric Milon (Mansion Miami) this new addition to Chelsea club crawl is the latest but is yet to be scene if it is the greatest in the Ultra-lounge nightlife genre.
DECOR: Rockstar mansion, with a 20-foot fireplace a host of butlers and French maids to attend to your every whim. Front house Den of banquettes complete with bar and DJ station. A main room, dubbed The Grand Ballroom, The mezzanine library, The Study and The Gallery. An impending Cougar Room is on the horizon which will include an all-female chamber complete with hairdressers, cocktail slave and high-end sex toys for sale.
OPENING NIGHT: It looks like Crobar to me but where's the dance floor. I guess they needed more room for bottle service banquettes. If you're doing something new, then do something new, regurgitating the same old formula is probably the reason why the NY 's party scene sucks. We can't stomach stale events, and everyone knows we don't like puewk on our nightlife. Rumor has it the owners/promoters will be adding a twist. The plan is to bring in random acts creating impromptu performances i.e.; saw-wielding, flame-spewing burlesque dancers, gospel choir, and opera singers belting out an aria, we'll see.