Today the Times’s Frank Bruni marvels at Manhattan’s new wave of high tone restaurant openings during a recession, and pins the trend not on entrepreneurial bravado but on the fact that it takes years to get a fancy eatery open, and most of these new places were envisioned in flusher economic times. It is true that in 2005, the top fifth of earners in Manhattan made 52 times what the lowest fifth make – $365,826 compared with $7,047 – comparable to the income disparity in Namibia. Yet thanks to tax cuts and stagflation, the income gap has only widened in the past three years. Dinner at Per Se is as unattainable as ever for New York’s lower orders, but even with Wall Street turbulence it’s unlikely the ranks of the well-heeled will thin to the point where a fashionable restaurant can’t manage. Of course, chefs like Ken Friedman (The Spotted Pig) are artists and don’t chain their muse to the vagaries of the economy: “I’m certainly not the kind who would look at the Dow. Does a writer write or not write a book based on the economic climate? Does a songwriter write songs that way?” more ›

With street-side Christmas trees going for more each year and the average apartment size decreasing, we propose the adoption of a new holiday standard: Enjoy your Christmas Tree in a highball glass. To wit: Clear Creek Distillery’s Eau de Vie of Douglas Fir, 375 milliliters of pine flavored brandy, found at Red Hook booze and esoteric spirits emporium LeNell’s. This small, $45 bottle is cheaper and has a lesser environmental impact than deforestation, and will definitely last longer than most trees (at least if used sparingly). Made in Oregon from the actual buds of Douglas Fir trees, the Eau de Vie has a faint green color that’s not surprisingly “all natural.” Sample cocktail: Substitute some Douglas Fir brandy for half the amount of rum called for in a traditional mojito recipe. Keep the mint and the lime, and call it a Tannenbaum. Start a new household tradition today, but enjoy responsibly – this tree could burn your liver down. more ›

Six years ago musician Gail Silverman, tired of watching her fellow female rockers sitting on the sidelines, started her own record label, Revolutionary Records and a concert series called Girls Rock and Girls Rule (GRGR). What started out as just a one gig event has grown into a sort of small-scale hard rock Lilith Fair, with a rotating line-up of local musicians joining a roster of headliners whose tour this year has taken them through... more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a stabbing on Monument Walk in Brooklyn, a stabbing on West 31st St. in Brooklyn, and a stabbing on Hughes Ave. in Brooklyn.
• Cops are looking into the death of a man who was found unconscious in the bathroom of the Knitting Factory. They're deeming the incident suspicious.
• A Columbia University hunger striker was carried off a couch after passing out from hunger. Meanwhile, a group of drunken students handed out fliers articulating (presumably in lieu of verbally) why they thought eating was a good thing.
• New York poker players are feeling nervous after last week's late-night holdup that left one player dead.
• News crews with cameras are the wrong people to get into hysterical parking rage incidents with.
• Former Congressman John Sweeney was pulled over on the NY State Thruway after he was observed driving erratically. State Troopers had no comment on the identity of the 23-year-old woman who was accompanying Sweeney when he was pulled over and later registered a BAC of .18.
• Federal regulators feel their toes are being stepped on by NY State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who has initiated an investigation into federally guaranteed mortgage finance companies Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae.
• On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year, armed forces veterans marched up Manhattan's 5th Ave. to commemorate those who have served.

Sure, there are tons of auctions happening - a handwritten draft of a Steinbeck novel will likely take in $500K at the end of the month, Courtney is gonna sell Kurt's pajamas, the Dukes of Hazzard car (the General Lee) took in nearly $10M this weekend and the Met held an "Art for Opera" auction yesterday. more ›

THEATER: We could try to describe Neal Medlyn's Coming In The Air Tonight, but why bother when there’s this: “The show features a variety of Phil Collins and Genesis music and is about how Neal is starting to slowly fall apart due to how he's all torn up inside from getting his heart broken into tiny pieces. It is also about how Neal steals a lot of stuff from people. Like their belongings and house wares but also their thoughts and ideas…Over the course of which Neal gets progressively covered in more and more blood. The end. As if that weren't enough, it features special guest appearances by Kenny Mellman (of Kiki & Herb), Bridgett Everett (At Least It's Pink), and Adrienne Truscott (of the Wau Wau Sisters).” Read ye olde timey 2004 Gothamist interview with Medlyn. - John Del Signore more ›

THEATER: Obie Award winner Adam Rapp has just unwrapped (sorry) his new play Essential Self-Defense at Playwrights Horizons. Set in a mean Midwestern town called Bloggs, the play has, fittingly, been generating big blog buzz. The “grim fairy tale” revolves around a disgruntled misfit “who takes a job as an attack dummy in a women’s self-defense class and finds himself mysteriously drawn to the repressed bookworm who’s beating on him. But all’s not well in Bloggs: with local children vanishing at an alarming rate, our hero, his lady friend, and a motley assortment of poets, butchers, and punk librarians prepare to battle the darkness on the edge of town.” With rock n’ roll karaoke! - John Del Signore more ›

VINYL SALE: If you're looking for some rare vinyl, you might want to check out this monthly event: Shakey's Record Fair. A meatpacking district locale seems...a little off, but as FreeNYC points out, if you're "looking for that super rare old school funktified 7"...Shakey's Record Fair is probably the only place you'll find it." more ›

. It was a rare treat for me, to see the progression and consistency of themes and style, not to mention the excellently-executed tricks in his bag of them. more ›

Learn all about what we're calling the isolationist coffees -- they come from beans that have been grown in one country and have never been mixed with others from outside that area. These coffees, like wines, reflect their respective terriors -- their unique growing conditions. In this class, participants will learn to identify the flavor profiles of single origin beans from all the world's major growing regions. Coffees to be sampled may include: Don Telmo Reserva, from Mesa de los Santos Farm in Bucaramanga, Columbia; Kalledevarapura Estate, in Mysore, India; and Kenya AA, from Kiamana, a top appellation in the country. 7 :15pm, 141 Waverly Place. $10 fee, Maximum of 20 attendees per class. Reservations are required; call 212-924-7400 or e-mail joecoffeestore@aol.com. (also offered Tuesday, March 14, 7:15pm) more ›

You can pretty much guarantee a fun night when giant hip-hop superstars headline a stadium. They'll be theatrics, hit-after-hit, lots of hand wavin' and crowd sing-alongs (and lots of police). If you check out the Eminem, 50 Cent, Lil Jon, D12, and G-Unit show at Madison Square Garden Monday or Tuesday night, you'll also be on TV. It's being taped for Showtime. If that's too mainstream for you, the place to be is Knitting Factory Saturday night when up-and-coming British Hip-Hopper Kano makes his U.S. debut alongside Diplo (fresh off his Summerstage appearance) on the decks. Prefer the old stuff? Whodini plays a free show at South Street Seaport on Thursday. more ›

Ida, Indie Band more ›

Did you guys know winter was still here? Yeah, anyway, it'll be giving us some more snow this weekend which means that staying home and drinking hot chocolate (or red wine) and watching movies will likely be a top choice for most. But for the adventurous we offer the following choices, along with a spontaneous snowball fight: more ›

Oscar Commentary
Oscar is celebrating its 75th anniversary, I'm celebrating my 25th anniversary of watching Oscar. more ›