The mice at The Mermaid Inn’s East Village location picked a mischievous moment to scurry out into the dining room a few nights ago – as luck would have it a writer for Time Out New York was there waiting for a table! The immodest mice must have been looking for their 15 minutes of fame, because they timed their appearance perfectly with TONY staffer Jordana Rothman’s emergence from the bathroom. As she made her......

FESTIVITIES: Forget about that big shiny show-off in Rockefeller Center. Tonight the menorah and Christmas tree in Washington Square Park will be illuminated for all. Come bask in the glow of holiday, people. 6pm // Washington Square Park [W 4th St to Waverly Pl between MacDougal and University] // Free FILM: In a week-long tribute to Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini (pictured), tonight The Film Society of Lincoln Center will be screening Notes for an......

The Mermaid Inn, that inviting East Village bistro beloved for its rich seafood entrees, has moved on up to the west side with a mostly new menu. Their second Manhattan outpost is appointed with old nautical maps, dark wainscoting and roll-up doors that will surely suck in the crowds during warmer months. (Alec Baldwin must be pleased about the eatery boosting Amsterdam Avenue’s cachet.) The Inn’s famous lobster sandwich survived the move, but there’s now......

Time Out New York is telling secrets and talking about all the little things that make up this city (for instance, did you know a baby was baptized in the lobby fountain at the Guggenheim?). Some of our favorite items dished include: • Other Music keeps the gold record The Strokes gave them in their store bathroom, where it has hung for many years. • At Carnegie Hall photographers get their up-close stage shots through......

September 24: Eat Out '07 It's time for Time Out New York's fifth annual food-stravaganza featuring tastings from over forty participating restaurants and beverage purveyors. Get a bite from L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Mai House, or Morimoto while sipping on drinks from Chopin Vodka and Stella Artois. Tickets are $100 and include a copy of the 2008 Eating & Drinking 2008 guide. Skylight Studios, 275 Hudson St at Spring St. 6:30–9:30pm. For more info or......

Of Rebecca Curtis, Time Out New York has said, "This is a writer who astonishes with her versatility of styles and techniques," calling her stories, "Wise and often emotionally devastating" The Village Voice declared that her debut short story collection Twenty Grand, "Showcases the talent of one of the more promising short story writers in America today." And a boy who Rebecca had a crush on at 18 said, after being poisoned by her, "......

If you've lived in New York for any period of time, you know that the food here is incredible -- the variety, the quantity, and the quality. You'll also know that you don't have to pawn off your valuables to taste all that the city has to offer. This week's New York Magazine celebrates the city's cheap eats. Rob and Robin provide an extensive list of their picks, including some of our favorites: Bocca Lupo,......

It's Only A Movie: Horror Films From the 1970s and Today Museum of the Moving Image, Queens Boo! It's time to hide your eyes and scream with delight over at the Museum of the Moving Image, as they'll be showing six weeks worth of old and new horror films starting tonight. You could say that scary stories are always about what metaphorical bogey men society fears most, but that became particularly evident in the horror......

As we get closer to the kick-off of the much anticipated High Line Festival, let's take a closer look at what's to come, and at the man who co-founded and curated the whole thing, David Bowie. The eleven days of music, film, art and comedy starts Wednesday at Radio City Music Hall. Who else to play the first event at the inaugural festival than Bowie-beloved Arcade Fire? Pair 'em up with Brooklyn's The National and......

For someone who graduated from college just last year, Ohio native, Soho-transplant Jill Donenfeld has really made a quick study of the New York food scene. As the founder of The Dish’s Dishes, Donenfeld oversees a team of kitchen ninjas she calls Culinistas™ (she also holds the word’s trademark)- who prepare meals en masse and in-house for clients using raw materials from greenmarkets, organic bakeries, and the subterranean caves of Murray’s Cheese, among other......

We were fortunate enough to be at the Time Out New York Eat Out Awards last night to watch the winners of both the Readers' Choice awards, chosen by readers who made over 14,000 submissions, and the Critics' Picks awards, selected by the TONY staff. The coveted plates hang on restaurant and bar walls throughout the city. Four gold plate awards went to those who won some of the top honors -- A Voce, for......

There’s drama pinballing through the theater blogs this week, people! In a recent letter to subscribers, Carolyn Cantor, the director of Adam Rapp’s play Essential Self-Defense, took issue with Charles Isherwood’s “scathing” review in the Times. Isherwood has become something of a punching bag among theater bloggers for his perceived stodginess, and the review is, at times, unnecessarily ad hominem: “A self-conscious exercise in stagy attitudinizing, it could almost have been composed by a......

Really, you if you're considering going out for dinner on Valentine's Day, you probably should have made your reservations by now. If you haven't, here's a roundup of Valentine's Day roundups -- you should be able to find a place to woo your sweetheart over a prix fixe dinner. Citysearch has a list of restaurants offering Valentine's Day specials including a four course meal at The Little Owl for $80 or at Aroma for $130.......

January 19: Fondue Night at Riverdale Garden It may be cold outside, but it's perfect fondue weather. Riverdale Garden will be serving up classic cheese, hearty herb flavored oil with beef and chicken and, of course, bittersweet chocolate. Complete dinner is $29 including house wine and draft beer, or just drinks and music for $15. Dinner starting at 7PM, music at 8:30PM. Reservations are recommended and can be made on Open Table or by calling......

Okay, so you left it to the last minute once again. Never fear, there are still options for eating out on New Year's Eve. Time Out New York rounds up options for every budget, ranging from $20.07 snacks and apps at the Silverleaf Tavern (the bottomless glass of wine will cost you an additional $70, however), to a five course dinner at Cafe Gray including unlimited champagne and dancing for $550. Citysearch has a fairly......

We really can't beat this roundup of food gift roundups, courtesy of The Food Section. They've culled together gift suggestions from the likes of the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR, Food & Wine, Epicurious, Time Out New York, Cravings, and Chow. Whether you're looking for cookbooks or food-related reads, kitchen gadgets, edible gifts, or something a little boozy, you're bound to find it here. What's on your holiday gift list for the......

New Yorkers rate their critics in this weeks Time Out New York issue. The somewhat figure skating like rating system was based on "K=Knowledge S=Style T=Taste A=Accessibility I=Influence AVG=Average score". Some of the winners: • Sasha Frere-Jones took first place in music criticism for his work in the The New Yorker, the New York Times, the Village Voice and others. We like his blog, too. • Jerry Saltz of the Village Voice took the gold......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a police car MVA on the West Side Highway and Spring Street, a jumper down on Broadway and Havemeyer in Brooklyn, and car vs. building in Greenpoint. Scary: "About one hour ago I was walking down Washington Place and at the corner of Avenue of the Americas, an SUV pulled up onto the sidewalk right in front of me. Two guys jumped out, maybe three, I was kind of......

Have you taken Time Out New York's Essential New Yorker? It's a mammoth, challenging exercise that tests people's knowledge of the city and its people. Naturally, there was a Law & Order question (page 5 of the quiz) that challenged whether you could sift through, oh, about 100 names or so to find the needle in the haystack: "Which one of the following actors has never appeared on New York’s quintessential cop show?" [Spoiler......

October 7: Beer on the Pier Drink up at the third annual Beer on the Pier, where you'll find brews from around the corner as well as from around the world. Spanky's BBQ will be offering food (not included in the ticket price), and $43.50 will get you a bottomless cup. Pier 94, 55th St at West Side Hwy. Two shifts: noon–4pm, 6–10pm. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit beeronthepier.com. October 10: Eat......

- Got a donut craving? Consider taking doing an international taste test. Time Out New York brings us donuts (or their equivalents) from around the globe. - Actually, no matter what you're craving, you're likely to be able to order it online. Thanks to MUG for an incredibly comprehensive list of online food purveyors. - Clinton Hill Blog takes a look at the recently opened Chez Lola. The verdict? "The food was wonderful." - Augieland......

September 7: Sake Tasting Oer thirty Japanese brewers will offer over 100 different types of sake, shochu, and wine previously unavailable in the US for a public tasting. Nibble on hors d'oeures as you speak to the brewers themselves to learn more about individual types of sake. Please call 212.647.9196 or email finfo@enjb.com for more information or to purchase tickets. $40 plus tax. 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM, En Japanese Braserie, 435 Hudson St. September......

You gotta love New York. Even for all the obsessive coverage of the city via newspapers, TV, bloggers and the ol’word-of-mouth buzz, some food and wine spots still stay below the radar. Sure, Time Out New York may run a blurb when they open and there may be a mention elsewhere, but then nothing again – no follow-up, no PageSix mentions for a fancy birthday party, nada. If you live near one of these spots,......

Time Out New York came out with their Cheap Eats issue this week and they certainly took no shame in taunting New York Magazine. Time Out's cover is virtually identical to NY Mag's, with reversed colors, down to the box highlighting their star rating system, except that Time Out calls it's issue "The Real Cheap Eats." TONY gleefully notes that "absolutely everything" on their list is under $20, clearly taking a stab at NY Mag's......

Because our dollars don't ever pay for quite enough drinks, we're always looking for new dives, hook-ups, buybacks and, this week, we didn't have to look any further than Time Out New York. From this week til the end of the summer, the magazine has been getting its game on: Go to drinking establishments, find answers to trvia and/or take photos and win-- wait for it --a bar tab at one of the featured bars.......

In this week's annual cheap issue of Time Out New York, the writers highlight what ten whole dollars will get you at some fine bars, one decided dump and restaurants. Their picks: - Five shots of anything (noting that a recent customer asked for Hennessy and got it) $10, Continental - Whiskey and a can of beer, $5, Laila Lounge (You could spend all of ten dollars, pre-tip, on a date. Imagine.) - Pitcher of......

I tend to go to restaurants soon after their grand openings expecting to see good indications of the future of a place. I have long believed that if a restaurant is open and accepting money you should be able to expect that you will get your money's worth. I just don't accept "we just opened" as a reason for poor execution. There are many ways a place can control chaos as they get up to......

Sometimes the best way to catch up with an old friend is to dine in a new restaurant. Conveniently, on my way to the Little Owl, recently announced in The New York Times, Time Out New York, and New York Magazine as being newly open, I had looked in on Lederhosen, an establishment of self-purported German goodness and thought to myself, “If I had known about that place it would have been perfect.” Discovering Lederhosen......

Linda Simpson, Media Queen...

Passover starts tomorrow night at sundown -- are you ready? Sure, you might have gotten a box of matzoh or two to get you through the week, but what are you doing for your seder? Since the seders fall in the middle of the week this year, some of us may not be able to travel to celebrate with our families outside of the tri-state region, but there are plenty of restaurants offering to......