On today, this highest of holidays, the dope deals keep on coming. In addition to the sticky icky food specials we told you about yesterday (Stoner's Delight! Chili!), Midtown Lunch notices that this afternoon Two Boots is giving away free samples of its Big Lebowski-inspired pie, The Dude, in all of its locations.
Free Food Alert: Two Boots Handing Out The Dude At 4:20
Two Boots Debuts Vegan Pie For Vegan Month
As you may or may not know, November is apparently Vegan Month and today is World Vegan Day. And while you may not have known it, that fact was not lost on the pizzaiolos over at Two Boots. The popular cornmeal pizza chain today has launched a new pie for November only: the "V For Vegan." Featuring Daiya non-dairy cheese, artichokes, shitakes, red onions, and a criss-cross of basil and red pepper pestos, it even sounds pretty tasty.
Five Transgressive Pizza Oddities And Where To Eat Them
The other day, the Wall Street Journal published an interesting little article titled "Plea To Sbarro: Save The Cheese-Steak Slice." In it, author Joseph Checkler bemoans the decline of the chain's (which filed for bankruptcy in April) 830-calorie Philly cheesesteak-stuffed slice, which he calls "a delicious reminder... that you can get something unique and good at a chain restaurant." Inspired by Checkler's devotion to this grotesque pizza oddity, and the recent brouhaha surrounding Donald Trump and Sarah Palin's trip to Sbarro-esque chain La Famiglia, we took a look at some other pie-related gutbombs around the city.
The Lunch Quadrant: Grand Central
Welcome to the Lunch Quadrant, where we offer you four lunch options (two standing, two sitting) by a given subway stop. Last week we ate around Penn Station, a tricky place to eat well if ever there was one, and so this week we thought we'd look at the other end of the spectrum: Grand Central Terminal. Where Penn Station is dark and ugly, Grand Central is soaring and, well, grand. And where Penn Station has a poor selection of good food to eat, Grand Central and its lovely food court has the opposite problem. For the sake of simplicity we narrowed our list down to just spots inside the terminal (so, for instance, that's why you don't see La Fonda de la Sol) and even then we had trouble narrowing the options down to just four. Prefer Brother Jimmy's or Junior's to one of our picks? We totally understand why you might be miffed—let it out in the comments!
Free Two Boots "Dude" Pizza Is One Way To Celebrate 4/20
Stoner holiday 4/20 is coming up tomorrow. Not that you really need a holiday as an excuse to burn one, but if you do find yourself with the munchies, try to wander your way in the direction of a Two Boots pizza. Between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. they'll be giving away free half-slices of "The Dude" pizza, made with tasso, ground beef, cheddar and mozzarella. But watch out, the dangerous combination of a pot buzz and the meat sweats could trigger some strange hallucinations:
The Best Kid-Friendly East Village Pizza Joints
As you get older it seems to happen more and more often: Your friends start popping out babies and suddenly you never get to see them—let alone go out and eat with them. And really,for the first few years there isn't much you can do about it. But once the rugrats are in their late threes there is a compromise that doesn't include babysitters: Early dinners out...with children. Also known as one of the reasons that god invented pizza. Kids love it, grown-ups love it, and thanks to high-profile pizza joints popping up all over the past few years, foodies even love it. But where to go? Well, over the last year we've systematically visited nearly every pizza joint in the East Village with a four-year-old in tow and have found that when it comes to kids, not all pizza places are created equal. Still, here are five that shouldn't let you down.
CBGB Lives! As Overpriced Slice Of Pizza
Two Boots (the one at 74 Bleecker Street) is introducing a "CBGB (OMFUG)" pizza, to be unveiled this Friday by Lenny Kaye, best known for being a part of the Patti Smith Group. What toppings go with dark clubs, dirty bathrooms, and the smell of stale beer? They're going with chicken, broccoli, garlic and basil pesto. Why? Because the first letter in each ingredient spell out CBGB. And it's time to loosen those pursestrings nostalgic punks: one slice will cost you $3.75. This is all just kind of... depressing.
UCB Opens Outpost in EV?
Word on the Grub Street is that the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre is eyeing the now-abandoned Two Boots Pioneer Theater space at 155 East 3rd Street. Alex Sidtis, directing manager of UCB-Chelsea, "revealed that the troupe is hoping to open an East Village outpost," and because most comedy is exponentially more funny when you add alcohol, it's all "depending on whether it can secure a tavern wine license (the theater will plead its case at a January 12 meeting of Community Board 3’s licensing committee)." Sidtis points out the pluses of the space, mainly "that the 99-seat theater has a lobby, and the layout, “It’s a little different [than that of the Chelsea location]. The shows will be more presentational and less theatrical in nature.”." Two Boots owner Phil Hartman told the site, “I love the theater and I’m pleased to think that it would stay alive as a theater and not get gutted and turned into something else.” The neighborhood got significantly less funny when Mo Pitkins closed over a year ago.
RIP Two Boots Pioneer Theater, East Village's Funky Den of Cin
The funky little Two Boots Pioneer Theater on Ave A—known for its eclectic indie programming and late night screenings—closed on Friday after a free night of movies that included Truffaut's The 400 Blows, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and the annoyingly overrated Donnie Darko, which was the first flick we saw there back in 2001, high five. Opened almost a decade ago, before the neighborhood devolved into the Meatpacking District East of today, the single screen, 99-seat theater finally succumbed to the obscene rents that also scuttled club Mo Pitkin's, which was owned by the same people. Jeremiah Moss has a sad report from the closing party Friday night, and he notes that the Two Boots pizza and the video store in the same building are also on the market. Keep on sucking, East Village!
"Are You Talking to Me?": NYC Gives Tourists Tips!
Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a new campaign, Just Ask The Locals, "the City's first-ever five-borough marketing and advertising campaign to make visitors feel more welcome, thank them for visiting, and help them navigate New York City." The Mayor made the announcement at the new American Airlines terminal at JFK and said, "New Yorkers have always been welcoming and friendly, but not enough people around the world know it. So now we're going the extra mile to make visitors feel even more at home by offering a helpful piece of advice, an insider's tip, or just a friendly smile as they explore and enjoy all the wonderful attractions here in our City."
Pencil This In
PARTY: Nostalgic for the Blackout of 2003? Someone has put together an event that will recapture the night of no lights so we can all enjoy it once again (with reassuring knowledge that the contents of the fridge aren't melting back at home). Stain's blackout party will be complete with candles, canned goods, beer, a battery-run boombox, board games, grilling and other non-electricity-dependent activities.
News Flash: Park Slope Has Lots of Kids!
The EV Gets ET
That's hard to dispute; it does sound crazy. The Culture of Contact festival includes movies at Two Boots, artwork at P.S. 63, and music at Lit Lounge all weekend long. Tickets are available at the event's linked-to site.
Jacob Burckhardt, Director
I was telling a filmmaker friend of mine that for the Mafia boss I needed someone who is old and physically not very strong but psychically totally dominating, like William Burroughs. He said, why not ask him? I could think of no good answer to that, and got in touch with Burroughs, and he was interested. He did the part perfectly, except for his Midwestern accent. An unknown (at the time) actor named Vincent D’Onofrio was a bartender at the Ritz, a club that has since turned into Webster Hall, and somebody I knew who worked there put us together and he tried out for the lead part. He wasn’t right for it--too big and tough looking--but he was a good actor so I asked him to play one of the muggers.
It's Mardi Gras: Get Your Fat Tuesday On!
Or at least you can get your fat on. You can start by hitting up the newly opened Popeye's Fried Chicken at 40th Street between 7th and 8th. And of course you'll need to follow it up with some pancakes. Lucky for you, IHOP is giving them away free until 10 p.m. today! Here's a list of nearby IHOPs, for your convenience.
Staten Island Chuck Tells Us "Early Spring"
The groundhog survey says we'll have an early spring. Staten Island Chuck, along with Punxsutawney Phil (pictured above), predicted an early spring. However, Holtsville Hal on Long Island saw his shadow for six more weeks of winter, but we'll assume he just woke up on the wrong side of the burrow this morning. As for today's weather, we'll have another post up about that in a bit.
Pencil This In
MOVIE: Fraternity Massacre at Hell Island is...a real movie! With a plot and everything! Wanna hear it?: "Jack Jones, a pledge in Zeta Alpha Rho Fraternity must battle homophobia and a killer clown during his fraternity's Hell Night." Sounds pretty deep.
The Cinecultist's Weekly Movie Picks: Epics & Comics edition
Baby, it's cold outside—go see a movie, why dontcha? Werewolves, comic books and hot girls who prowl the streets of Bucharest in high heel boots should be the stuff of great geek cinema. Unfortunately, strives to spoof every bloated popular movie that's come out lately. Of course punch line bombshell Carmen Electra is in it, but so is Kal Penn, Jennifer Coolidge and Crispin Glover of all people, so it could be fun for some chuckles.
Pencil This In
MOVIE: Beware to those heading over to Pioneer Theater tonight, that Jackass Steve-O will be there promoting his new movie TV: The Movie. "A celebration of the ever increasing depravity of television in our society-- it's a channel surfing adventure through the most utterly ridiculous spoofed television programming and commercials." And we bet he'll totally staple something to his face.
The Cinecultist's Weekly Movie Picks: Scandalous edition
Only a few more days until the end of the year (and the cut off for the 2006 Oscar season), so of course the movie theaters are glutted with choice new releases.
Pencil This In
MOVIE: Now that the big jolly guy in the red suit has done his job, he's back to scare the yuletide cheer right out of ya. "Christmas Evil: You Better Watch Out", a 1980s slasher flick in which a Santa imposter is on a killing rampage, is playing in town tonight. Better hope you're on the "nice" list. After the screening there will be a poster signing by the director, Lewis Jackson.
The Cinecultist's Weekly Movie Picks: Babeling edition
With Halloween coming next week and the fall chill in the air, this is the perfect weekend to curl up with a good scary movie. , starring Tim Robbins and Derek Luke. Set in South Africa during apartheid, Luke plays a family man politicized by the injustice in his country and Robbins is a police officer on the other side.
The Cinecultist's Weekly Movie Picks: All Saints edition
Of course the big news in New York movies this weekend is the New York Film Festival which kicks off tomorrow at Lincoln Center. However, in an attempt reserve our NYFF excitement for a full post tomorrow, let's just focus on the regular releases. Here we go.
Extra, Extra
-- Jewish lifeguards are being discriminated against at Jones Beach. Opines Krucoff: "I suggest sending in the IDF to secure the beach."
Blogumentary
Blogumentary...it was bound to happen. We were hoping the documentary on blog culture would be a little different, but to be fair - we've only seen the trailer. You can watch it here.
The Hungry Cabbie Eats The Outer Boroughs: Full Moon Pizzeria
New Yorkers tend to get themselves riled up about certain things. A tourist stops short walking in front of you to look at the lights in Times Square? Fly into a rage and curse all residents of the Midwestern United States. The price of a bleacher seat at The Stadium goes up another dollar? Work yourself into a tizzy complaining about Steinbrenner’s boundless greed. Can’t catch a cab? It’s an international Jewish conspiracy. One subject...

