Leonard Link

Klezmer Brunch at City Winery in NYC - Yale Strom and Hot Pstromi!

A friend had been after me for some time to join him for a klezmer brunch at City Winery, and finally the stars were all lined up today and off I went.  City Winery is a restaurant/event space at Varick and Spring Streets in SOHO, Manhattan West Side, just a few blocks from the #1 subway (Houston or Canal - it's intermediate between the stations).  They have a variety of entertainments nightclub style, and evidently decided that another way to exploit the space was to have a "klezmer brunch" on Sundays, with a rotating cast of live klezmer ensembles playing that unusual mix of old style Eastern European Jewish music with a tinge of musical theater and jazz.

Yale Strom, a klezmer violinist, presented on this occasion an excellent ensemble with singer, wind player (clarinet, sax, flute), accordian, bass and drums.  The place opens and starts serving a limited but more than sufficient brunch menu at 10, and the music starts around 11 and they play for a few hours.  People come and go; it's not like a concert, more like a cafe with live entertainment. 

I found it an enjoyable experience and hope to go back again.  There is a party space as well, and a 50th anniversary party group was there in addition to the regular brunch crowd.  There is a nice informality about it, although the pricing of the food on top of the ticket for admission might make it a bit stiff for some folks.  But it looks like a good destination place for getting together a group of folks who enjoy klezmer music.  Maybe for my landsmanschaft.....

The Chocolate Show at Metropolitan Pavilion, New York City

This afternoon I spent some time at The Chocolate Show, an annual event that has been held in recent years at the Metropolitan Pavilion, a handsome event space on West 18th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan.  This was my first time attending, although I had heard of it before.  I had thought for a time that this was an industry trade show, but then learned from a friend at work that in fact it was open to the public and served multiple purposes.  The main purpose, apparently, is to provide a venue where businesses that make high-end chocolate confections can expose their wares to the trade and the public.  Most of the exhibitors, many from far away (including Europe and distant parts of the U.S.) are seeking to crack the NY market, to expose their work and find retail distributors, or to entice individual chocoholics to order from their websites after having sampled their wares.

The show is a chocoholic's delight.  The range of exhibitors is large, and there are presentations in the "culinary theater" on an hourly basis during most of the time the Show is open.  Admission is a bit pricey, but so many of the exhibitors (all but a handful) are cheerfully offering free samples of their products, that one easily consumes enough high-priced chocolate to cover the price of admission.  As a confirmed chocoholic, I had a ball!  Of course, all the exhibitors had their products for sale as well, and since many of them don't have retail distribution in NYC, this is a great opportunity to stock up on all sorts of novelties.

The show opened today (Oct. 30) and runs through November 1.  Open hours on Saturday are 10 am to 8 pm, and sunday 10 am to 5 pm.  Tickets are available at the door.  Anybody with a love of chocolate need not hesitate.  You will have a great time and make enticing discoveries.