SECRET MEETING: Drambuie, the honey and herb-flavoured scotch whisky with a golden hue, will be poured tonight. Into your glass. For free! The catch is that you have to RSVP to find out the details that will lead you to the correct location. Mysterious! Time TBA // Location TBA // RSVP here READING: Legends of the Chelsea Hotel has hit the bookshelves and is telling all from the inside of the legendary building. You may......

A few weeks ago when we learned that Noho eatery Il Buco would be roasting Ossabaw hogs for its fourth annual "Sagra del Maiale," or outdoor pig roast, we knew there was no way in hell that Gothamist could stay away from the cobblestone block that is Bond Street. The Ossabaw is the very pig that Peter Kaminsky sang the praises of in his book Pig Perfect. And it is indeed quite a special......

There are likely many unsolved crimes in New York City's past, but this week, one 150-year-old case finally gets a sort of closure. The crime was well-documented as the Butchery on Bond Street. Love, money, Bellevue, dentists...all the usual makings for criminal behavior are accounted for, and amNewYork spoke to Benjamin Feldman, who has written a book, The Butchery of Bond Street. Harvey Burdell, a dentist who lived at 31 Bond Street, was "found in......

September 15 & 16: Party at the Red Hook Ballfields Celebrate the extension of the vendors' permit through the end of their season in October and add on extra festivities for Mexican and Central American Independence Day. Caesar Fuentes, the organizing force behind the vendors, promises that "the food vendors committee will host a livelier than usual weekend event - more soccer games, pinatas, music, and a 2 day art exhibit featuring photographs taken by......

READING: It's New York Murder Mystery Night with novelists Jed Rubenfeld, Joel Rose, and historian Ben Feldman. The trio will be discussing New York’s famous 19th-century murders, including the bizarre events behind Butchery on Bond Street. 6pm // 108 Orchard St // Free EVENT: The Hanger Bar is having a summer soirée tonight. Head over there for an evening of couture and complimentary cocktails. A mixologist and a Prada protege have been brought in to......

There's been a flurry of activity on the openings front recently. Even if spring hasn't quite made it to town, these new spots are starting to bloom and shake off the winter blahs: - Insieme, the new restaurant from the folks at Hearth (Paul Grieco and Marco Canora, pictured at right), is scheduled to open on Monday. It will be serving an Italian menu, focusing on "uncomplicated food" and "sincere hospitality." If Hearth is any......

- Is New York going to go the way of LA with posted letter grades for restaurant health inspections? - If you are getting your Seder meal planning underway, feel free to ping the experts over the NY Times with any questions you may have. Click here to email them a question or send it direct to diningqa [at] gmail.com. Funny how the Times even knows Gmail has great spam protection. - Sometimes not eating......

There was a big fire at Bond Street Sushi this morning (MANHATTAN: 75-365, BOND ST X LAFFAYETTE ST, FIRE IN A 4 STY 25 X 80 MD, MAIN BODY FIRE K/D --MNS, 5:32am.) Our tipster, who lives across the street, reports the restaurant was gutted. Too bad-- though expensive, that's long been one of the best sushi spots downtown. Update-- Eater went down to the scene, and says it's just the front rooms that......

Are new parents a little too worried about their $800 Bugaboos? Some Tribeca residents are petitioning to have cobblestone streets paved over to make them more pedestrian friendly. The Post reports that people who live at 44 Laight Street wanted to "rip up the [cobblestones] directly in front of the building and create a level sidewalk," while leaving others in tact. The community board rejected the proposal - and apparently didn't treat the idea with......

Be still our beating heart: The ever-so-successful builders of McMansions is coming to NYC. The NY Times details the Big Apple Dreams of the Toll Brothers. Chances are, if you've driven through the 'burbs in NJ, Pennsylvania, NY, and about twenty other states, you'll have seen a Toll Brothers home (oversized, gleaming homes clumped together). The company's website says this about it's "City Living" concept in NYC:Toll Brothers, America’s Luxury Homebuilder, will soon bring its......

In this heartily American week some of the most appealing things to see are foreign, at least in part. For a more delicate food-related experience than Thanksgiving usually turns turn out to be, consider Lao She’s Teahouse, set in a Beijing establishment over the course of some fifty years that encompass three important moments in modern Chinese history, beginning in 1898. Sixty-plus characters that embody the vast changes in China come to life via the......

through September 18: Free Champagne at the Biltmore Room To celebrate its 2nd anniversary, The Biltmore Room will serve a complimentary glass of Veuve Clicquot Champagne to each dinner guest through Sunday, September 18th. Starting September 18th, the restaurant will offer all bottles of wine at half-price every Sunday, until Thanksgiving. Ah, we love anniversaries. The Biltmore Room, 290 Eighth Ave. (bet. 24th & 25th Sts.); 212-807-0111. September 21: Sagra di Maiale You know how......

Everyone in New York, it seems, wants to make it big. But with so many people competing, work falls by the wayside, dreams get dashed and people get rejected. Which is the foundation for Jon Friedman’s Rejection Show, this Wednesday at P.S. 122. The show embraces the rejected material of professional and amateur writers, comedians, cartoonists, artists, and human beings, who display their creative “failures” live on stage. Of course many of the performers are......

Gothamist was heartened to read about the restoration of Bond Street's cobblestone New York Region > Restoring Elegance Underfoot on a Street Long Past Its Prime" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/16/nyregion/16bond.html">in the NY Times article this past weekend, because many a time have our shoes been the victim its surface (puddles, scuffed heels), not to mention our dignity as we've tripped (we're clumsy like that), thanks to the uneven, though quaint, stones. What's interesting is that the project is......

If Thanksgiving is over, then Christmas trees all around the city must be lit. Here are three events the Daily News notes: - Tonight, the holiday tree at Lincoln Center will be lit. ABC 7's Sam Champion is hosting the event, which will feature high wire artist Pedro Carrillo, Sr., walking a tightrope across Lincoln Center's plaza and Mickey Mouse helping throw the switch to illuminate the 50 foot tree. Also, there are free saplings......

In case you missed the fiesta, see if you can make it to another one of the feasts and festivities on the Gothamist radar: September 18 -- A Taste of the Village 37 Greenwich Village restaurants will be participating in this benefit for the Carmine Street Block Association and other charities. Tastings are $5 each or or $20 for five tastings, and can be purchased in advance at the Drougas Bookshop at 34 Carmine Street.......