Gothamist Weekly Favorites

Carriage Horses Don't Get Snow Days

The Humane Society writes in to alert us of the latest act of cruelty against NYC's carriage horses. "While airplanes were grounded on last Friday, Dec 19th during the snowstorm, the city’s horse carriages continued operation. Forcing animals to work in such oppressive weather conditions is cruel and this is just the tip of the abuse associated with the carriage horse industry." The footage was posted by filmmaker Donny Moss, who directed Blinders.

They added that "Over a year has passed since City Comptroller William Thompson documented in an independent audit the inhumane conditions the horses live and work under, yet the abuse continues. The Humane Society of the United States and our more than 217,000 members and supporters in New York City urge the City Council to shut this industry down." Last month PETA launched a new campaign against the industry as well.

Hello, $3 Subway Ride!

Photograph by vinnie716 on Flickr

In the future, subway travel will be the exclusive domain of the moneyed class, a decadent indulgence enjoyed by only the most privileged New Yorkers. And the future starts now! Today the MTA confirmed that next year the cost of a subway or bus ride could reach $3 for a one-way trip. The MTA faces a serious budget deficit of $1.2 billion next year and wants to increase the overall revenue from fares and tolls by 23 percent.

The MTA is also considering a potential increase in the price of a 30-day unlimited-ride MetroCard, from the current $81 to as much as $105. The fare on express buses could go up a maximum of 25%, from the current $5.00 to $6.25. And the Access-A-Ride paratransit fare could rise as much as 200%, from the current $2 a ride to $6 a ride. In a statement, Gene Russianoff at the Straphangers Campaign says, "The news is awful...As a result, riders could end up paying a lot more for a lot less service."

The MTA revealed the possible increases in an announcement of eight public hearings on the proposal. According to a statement from the MTA, "the notice sets a range of possible changes to allow for flexibility in reaching the 23% increase in revenue from fares and tolls included in the budget passed last week. The actual fare proposal will be released prior to the hearings, and the flexibility in the notice will enable potential changes based on input from the public and the MTA Board." After the jump, the dates/times/locations of the public hearings.Below are the dates and locations for the MTA's hearings on (deep breath!) proposed changes in fares and crossing charges, levels of service and partial or complete closings of subway stations or of means ofpublic access to stations. All hearings begin at 6 p.m. Registration closes at 9 p.m. More info on the MTA's proposal here.

Wed Jan 14, 2009
Hilton NY, Trianon Ballroom
1335 Ave of the Americas, Manhattan
Directions: E V to 5 Av/53 St, B D F V
to 47 - 50th Sts/ Rockefeller Ctr.; M5, 6, 7

Tues Jan 20, 2009
Sheraton LaGuardia East Hotel
Phoenix Ballroom, 135-20 39th Ave, Flushing, Queens
Directions: 7 to Flushing-Main St;
Q12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20A, 20B, 25, 26, 27, 28,
34, 44, 48, 58, 65 , 66, QBx1, N20 or 21;
LIRR to Flushing-Main St.

Wed Jan 21, 2009
The Garden City Hotel, The Grand Ballroom
45 Seventh St, Garden City
Directions: LIRR to Garden City; LIRR to Mineola,
then N40/41 (SB); LIRR to Freeport, then N40/41 (NB)

Mon Jan 26, 2009
College of Staten Island
CSI Center for the Arts, Springer Concert Hall
2800 Victory Blvd, Staten Island
Directions: X10 and 11; S62, 92, 53 (transfer to S62
or 92 at Victory Blvd and Clove Rd), or S93.
Shuttle Bus will be provided between College of
Staten Island bus stop and Springer Concert Hall

Wed Jan 28, 2009
Westchester County Center
Rooms A - C, 198 Central Ave, White Plains
Directions: MNR to White Plains,
then any of these Bee-Line buses: 1W, 5, 6, 13, 14,
15, 20, 40

Wed Jan 28, 2009
NY Marriott at the Bklyn Bridge
333 Adams St, Brooklyn
Directions:A C F to Jay St-Borough Hall, M R to
Lawrence St, or 2 3 4 5 to Borough Hall;
B25, 26, 37, 38, 41, 45, 51, 52, 54, 57, 61, 65, 67,
75 or 103

Mon Feb 2, 2009
Palisades Center, Raso Community Room
1000 Palisades Center Drive, West Nyack
Directions: MNR to Tarrytown, then Tappan ZEExpress
Bus to Palisades Center; Community Center is next to
ice rink.

Wed Feb 4, 2009
Lehman College, CUNY, Lovinger Theatre
250 Bedford Park Blvd West, Bronx
Directions: 4to Bedford Park Blvd - Lehman College
or B D to Bedford Park Blvd; Bx2, 10, 22 ,28;
BxM4A, 4B

Students Accuse Park Slope Teacher of Using the N-Word

Students at a 90% black and Hispanic middle school in Park Slope say their white teacher upbraided them with racial slurs when they disrupted a movie shown in class on Wednesday. 12-year-old Pryce-Gary Forbes tells the Daily News, "She said, 'You don't know how to act. You're acting lower class. You're acting like a whole bunch of n------.'" 14-year-old Tyasia Knight was also in the class, and says, "Our reaction was like, 'What did you just call us?'" And according to Forbes, the teacher offered him candy to keep quiet about the incident! The Department of Education is investigating, but the unidentified teacher, who's employed at the Secondary School for Journalism, denied any wrongdoing when questioned by some low-class reporter: "No, I did not use the N-word in class and that's a fact. You're taking an allegation and you're making something out of it, and that's what it is, a goddamn allegation."

Big Madoff Investor Commits Suicide in Office

Photograph of the media outside Access's office on Madison Avenue by Mary Altaffer/AP

UPDATED: The NYPD confirmed that Thierry Magon de La Villehuchet, founder and head of hedge fund Access International Advisors which invested heavily with Bernard Madoff, was found dead in his Madison Avenue office. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told Bloomberg News, “Our investigative premise is that it was a suicide."

Kelly said de La Villehuchet, 65, was found "with his feet propped up on his desk, a trash pail nearby to collect blood"; he had “multiple stab wounds” to his arms and wrists, plus a box-cutter and pills were found nearby. It is not believed a second person was involved and no suicide note was found. De La Villehuchet had apparently worked late and a cleaning staff found him this morning.

Access International Advisors was one of many hedge funds that sunk money into Madoff's program—which turned out to be a $50 billion Ponzi Scheme. According to Bloomberg News, "Access’s LUXALPHA SICAV-American Selection invested solely with Madoff. Access said last week that it was working with lawyers to assess the situation."

Dealbook reports, "Mr. de la Villehuchet had been trying to recover the money that Access International raised in Europe and invested through Mr. Madoff’s business." And de la Villehuchet's friend told AFP, "Access was his whole life, and Madoff was a manager in whom he had complete trust. I lunched with him two weeks ago and he said, how lucky it was that Madoff was the only manager still doing well at the moment."

Hedge funds that invested with the fraudulent Madoff have come under fire, because the firms were (1) supposed to do due diligence on investments and (2) charged their client heavy fees for managing their money. Fairfield Greenwich Group, a fund that invested $7.5 billion with Madoff (and collected $500 million in clients' fees), is now being sued by investors for "allegedly failing to protect their assets."

Madoff (pictured), has reportedly received death threats, after losing the money of large firms, charities and individuals alike.

Days After Snow Storm, Bridge Bike and Pedestrian Paths Still Not Cleared

Chances are you're not trying to ride your bike anywhere today in this mess, but anyone who's tried to pedal over the bridges connecting Brooklyn with Manhattan this week was in for a treacherous trip, because the city has yet to adequately plow or salt the bike and pedestrian paths. As of last night, much of the Williamsburg Bridge path (pictured) remained impassible on two wheels, and commenters on Streetsblog say both the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge remained unsalted and icy.

One cyclist had this utopian suggestion: "If it weren't a government operation, with 'not my job' rules and turf, it would be possible to stick a plow on that small police vehicle that patrols the bridge and have the cop clear it while patrolling." Another took to Craigslist to pen a heartfelt Missed Connection: "You were the two bridges connecting south Brooklyn with Manhattan. I was the solitary biker trying to make it across the boroughs and back home."

And yesterday the calls for protest began rumbling: "The Manhattan Bridge path is still covered in ice as of this morning. I'm pissed off. Anyone want to organize a ride in the vehicle lanes in to protest? Even if you ride really slowly as a pack over the bridge, it'd still be faster and safer than walking the bike over an ice rink."

A DOT spokesman tells us: "Crews plowed the bridges immediately after the storm over the weekend, and DOT again sent out multiple crews to plow the bridges and clear the bike lanes on Monday and Tuesday." If that's really true, all we can say is, "You're doing a heck of a job, Brownie!"

HyperBodega Connects Hipsters with their Late Night Cravings

File under: inevitable. A couple of "enterprising hipsters in Brooklyn" have launched the latest in late night delivery services, called HyperBodega. The NY Times reports on Abe Jellinek and Keron Richardson's venture, which offers 7 day/week delivery, from 10 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. They'll bring "beer, cigarettes, condoms, plantain chips, cat food and other such items directly to doorsteps in Greenpoint, Williamsburg and Bushwick." When an order comes in one of the men runs out to a bodega, picks up the goods and delivers them—charging a fee based on what is ordered. Jellinek tells the Times, “I’m not going to get rich quickly; maybe it will lose money. We’ll see what happens.” Currently making about a 20% profit on every order (plus tips—Richardson says “People find it so absurd that they tip a lot”), he says that number will likely go up, and notes that he does "capitalize on the laziness of people.”

Video: Parks Dept. Vs. Pedicab Driver Fight

NBC New York has a video of a confrontation between Parks Department officers and a pedicab driver, adding, "There was no shortage of offensive language, so we turned off the audio for you. Merry Christmas!" Some commenters are suggesting conspiracy, saying, "It is the NYC carriage drivers that are harassing them and since the industry has tied with Christine Quinn, they are using the park dept to harass pedicab drivers," and "It was the horse carriage driver who started to harass them and took their pedicab."

History: Last year, the City Council passed a bill to regulate pedicabs by distributing 325 licenses. The bill would have essentially cut the number of pedicabs in half, so the pedicab community protested and sued the city. Earlier this year, a state judge struck down the pedicab licensing plan.

Related: Various groups, including PETA and the Humane Society, are trying to stop the horse carriage industry.

M60 Bus to La Guardia Airport: Worth the Stress?

Times reporter C.J. Hughes rode the M60 bus to La Guardia a few days ago and describes a frustrating scene: The only direct public transportation link between Manhattan and the airport is horribly overcrowded and slooow. It took Hughes two hours to get from 106th and Broadway to La Guardia—twice as long as scheduled. During the trip he watched as "two dozen people" with luggage tried to squeeze on, but "a wave of exiting riders, shouting loudly, pushed them right back off." Ridership on the M60 has grown by 263% in the last 10 years, but a spokesman for the MTA explains away the overcrowding as simply a "one-day aberration" caused by delays related to "unusual roadwork" on the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge. And besides, riders like Ben Mitchell—who rode buses in Africa in the Peace Corps—points out that "you could easily fit 50 more people in here without a problem. This is nothing."

Facebook Vs. Breast Feeding Moms

After Facebook removed photos of breast-feeding mothers from profile pages and albums, a protest group—on Facebook, naturally—has emerged. The "Hey, Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene!" has almost 60,000 members who support nursing moms' right to post photos of breast-feeding their babies. The Daily News reports that Facebook only removes photos shown with full boob—Facebook wants the site to "[remain] a safe, secure and trusted environment for all users, including the many children [over the age of 13]"—but Mothers International Lactation Campaign has asked folks, on December 27, "change your profile picture for one day, to one which includes an image of a nursing mom." A Brooklyn lactation consultant tells the News, "The more people see breast-feeding, the more normal it becomes. It's a natural, beautiful state to be in." Previously, breast-feeding moms have taken on Toys R Us, Barbara Walters, and formula.

Man's Body Found in Bag in the Bronx

Police say that on Sunday morning, the body of 22-year-old John Hopkins-Drago was found by a super at 2161 Barnes Avenue in the Bronx. Hopkins-Drago had been stabbed—a police source told the Daily News, "He was stabbed at least 40 or 50 times in the head, neck, and chest"—and his body had been put in a plastic bag. WCBS 2 quoted a neighbor: "They found the body in a shopping cart, chopped up, right here in the back of this building." Hopkins-Drago was reportedly estranged from his family; when the News called relatives for comment, they "quickly hung up the phone." The victim, who was seen on Saturday, may have been recently kicked out of a friend's apartment. Police are looking for suspects.

Funny, All These Awesome New Condo Units Aren't Selling

Doesn't your heart just bleed for the luckless developers who saturated our fair city with luxury condos on the eve of this catastrophic economic collapse? Despite a concerted effort by brokers to manufacture the illusion that they're making sales, industry insiders tell The Real Deal that "little or no sales activity has taken place since the fall of Lehman Brothers in September." One top dog at a residential brokerage firm says "sales of condominiums in buildings which are not in final stages of completion of units are far and few," and at least 10% of scheduled closings are falling through because of purchasers' inability to secure mortgage financing. And some buildings, like Magic Johnson's nearly-complete Viridian monstrosity in Greenpoint (pictured), are switching to rental. But really, shouldn't they all just skip the formality and go straight to squat?

Paterson Concedes Possible Tax Hike for the Wealthy

Governor Paterson introduced a budget, full of tax hikes and fees for things like regular soda, beer, movie tickets and online music downloads in addition to big cuts to education spending, to combat a $15.4 billion budget deficit this year and next. Many critics have argued that these taxes—aiming to raise $4 billion—are hitting regular people, and now Governor Paterson tells the NY Times the rich may be taxed.

The governor said, “Taxing the wealthy is probably going to be part of the solution if the deficit gets any worse, and all indications are that it probably will. If the deficit starts to grow again, then we’re out of moves. I’ve cut as much as I could.” However, it's unclear who would be taxed (would it be people making over $250,000 or over $1 million or something in between) and whether the State Senate would pass it.

The Times points out that without a specific tax hike on the rich, Paterson's budget already limits " the amount that millionaires can deduct on their state tax returns," plus "there are also new taxes on luxury items like yachts and furs." The Working Families Party welcomes Paterson's stance; Dan Cantor, Working Families Party Executive Director, said, "Governor Paterson's recognition that balancing New York's budget will require modest tax increases on the rich is heartening. All parts of society will need to sacrifice to end our fiscal crisis. And it's economically and morally sound to require wealthy New Yorkers to pay more in order to prevent even deeper cuts to school children, the elderly and the disabled. The wealthy in New York have have seen their taxes cut in half, and that simply isn't fair."

Burger King FLAME Body Spray SOLD OUT!

Despite eliciting "universal disgust," the new Burger King FLAME™ body spray has sold out at all Ricky's locations AND on the website! Marisol, an employee at the Ricky's on First Avenue between 64th and 65th Streets, says their original shipment of 24 sold out within a matter of days, and frustrated "FLAMERS" have been calling constantly to try and track down a bottle. Although same haters compared the product's scent to the aroma of "a Burger King burning down in a horrible grease fire," Marisol told us it sold out because it smelled "nice. And spicy. It kind of smelled like Axe body spray." Why must you taunt us, Marisol!?! Okay, nobody panic; Grub Street comforts frustrated FLAME™ consumers with news that it's being sold on eBay for $76 (and rising). Or just wait until January (if you can!), when Ricky's will be getting more FLAME™ in stock.

Threat, Meant for Baby Hitler's Family, Sent to Wrong Family

The saga of Baby Adolf Hitler Campbell continues! Outrage over a NJ family's, uh, outrage that ShopRite refused to inscribe a cake with "Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler"—for 3-year-old Adolf—has sparked more bad ideas. Police say that a death threat was sent to the wrong recipient: Melanie Campbell, not related to Heath and Deborah Campbell (pictured) who did name their son Adolf Hitler, got a letter saying "Your hateful thoughts will cause your death and the deaths of your children. You will not be able to prevent this, you will not know when it will happen, you will not know how it will happen. Your children will die. You will all end up like your Nazi friends: dead." Melanie Campbell, who may have received the letter because her daughter Heather is listed in the phone book as "H. Campbell," said, "My family won't come here for the holidays now." People, fighting ignorance with violence? Time for some 2009 resolutions stat.

Lillo Brancato Found Not Guilty in Cop Killing

A jury found Lillo Brancato Jr. not guilty in the murder of off-duty police officer Daniel Enchautegui. Brancato did not fire the gun used in the killing; his friend Steven Armento, already convicted of murder, fired the shot, but the Bronx DA's office was able to charge him with murder and said Brancato was also responsible for Enchautegui's death. Brancato's lawyer claimed his client was just a drug addict—"He didn't have a gun, never alleged to have a gun, never committed a crime of violence, got shot." The jury had been deadlocked last week, but the judge asked them to continue their deliberations. The 32-year-old former actor was, however, found guilty of attempted burglary.

Grand Central Newstand Covers Up Aniston

Reportedly the Hudson News shop in Grand Central Terminal has "censored" the latest issue of GQ, whose cover features a photo of Jennifer Aniston posing with strategically-placed hands and nothing but a tie. Folio reports, "The popular newsstand has placed a piece of paper across the issue in its window display. Copies inside the store, however, remain uncovered." They harken back to June of 2006 when the store covered up an issue of FHM featuring Brooke Hogan (incidentally the following 4 issue covers were also covered up). NYMag assumes in the most recent case that Hudson News is simply on Team Angie, but Folio points out that in the case of the Hogan cover, the issue "sold over 400,000 copies on newsstands, well above its 350,000 average." Perhaps Hudson News is just keeping in mind the kids visiting the Transit Museum annex's train show?

Thought Bubbles Pop Up in Brooklyn

Reading minds just got a little easier with some thought bubbles that Color Me Katie put up around Brooklyn—you know, the kind of bubbles Garfield uses to share his world-weary witticisms. It's nice to imagine a New York City where people run around pondering cupcakes, love and ladies in bikinis—even though you know they were probably obsessing about unpaid bills, the Knicks, and the $3 MetroCard.

Albert Trummer, Apothéke

In September, the bar Apothéke opened in an unmarked space on Doyers Street, a tiny alley in Chinatown that sort of plays hangnail to Worth Street's cuticle. Apothéke is one of those semi-private venues, a bar you can't get into; that it's close to a secret tunnel makes it all the more baroque. You half expect to find a minotaur preening in the bathroom mirror with a bottle of Binaca and a comb. The name Apothéke refers to the pharmaceutical-themed nature of its mixed drink menu. The idea is that the place raises the bar for bars, and that head chef (or lead apothéker, as it were) Albert Trummer is half-and-half supertaster and chef, and one part sage. His specially concocted, spiced-tinctures-botanical-elixirs might cure your woes, homesick blues, lovelorn heart, or gnostic turpitude, if you're into that kind of thing.

Trummer is smart, thoughtful and sometimes, a seemingly crazy, larger-than-life character (a few chefs and some of his own employees have confirmed this for us). Other bartenders flame lemon peels the size of nickels to add a citrus twist to drinks; Trummer does, too, but then lights the entire bar on fire and juggles champagne flutes while telling you a story about robot synthpop from his native Austria in the 1980s. Last month we went to the bar and spoke with the man behind the elderflower, just as he was about to set some house-made absinthe on fire.

How's stuff going at Apothéke? I'm so happy that we have a following after just a few months. We need to get more furniture!

Tell me about how you got into making drinks. I grew up in Austria and our family restaurant was on the first two floors with our home on the third floor. We also had a glasshouse, a herbal garden behind the house. My brother and I grew up tasting these foods and botanicals inside the energy of the restaurant. I have two brothers and one was more interested in the front of house and another in the kitchen. I wasn't that interested in either. We had a basement where we did private secret parties. We had smoke machines - it was almost like a mini Studio 54 in the cellar where my dad entertained his clients. At one point he became sick and stopped so I started throwing high school parties there when I was about sixteen. It had a hidden entrance and I wanted to entertain my friends with drinks.

What kind of drinks did you serve when you were sixteen? This was the late 80s so Bacardi and Absolut Vodka were big. I wanted to make my girlfriends a little drunk and tipsy, you know. You can drink at 18 in Austria but people drink earlier. These parties were very successful but after a year my dad shut me down. He said, you can't run a club, you have to go to school.

Where did you go from there? I began my training in restaurant school and I was greatly influenced by celebrity bartenders on cruise lines, and those at the Negreso Hotel working for Cipriani and aristocrats. They were a huge influence on me.What drink epitomizes the 1970s? Gin Fizz. Because one of my mentors, when he trained in the bar, gin was big. After shaking the gin you had to fill up with the old soda gun and that was his first bartender job. I drank with those people - heard their stories. In Europe the kitchen and front of house were like sophisticated armies. And these front of house guys taught me the classic cocktail knowledge for a few years I ran a couple bars with them in Europe.

What's a good drink secret? A simple secret is a martini. There are 20 different ways to make one but it comes down to having a chilled shaker and the right ice. And the right amount of vermouth. It could be complicated but it's not. I also learned that alcohol, music, lights, etc. make people happy even if they're depressed or they're not in a good mood. And it was my mission to do that.

To make people happy? Yes. And I always wanted to create cocktails but my mentors said no. No. First you learn the classics from each family of cocktails. A martini, a margarita, a sour and so on. And I had to practice all the time. Smelling the liquor, tasting the liquor. When I made my first martini my mentor didn't even taste it, he said, "Put it away."

Like the Karate Kid. I had to make the martini like that 5, 6, times. Finally he said, "You're getting better. Let's talk in one month." After training, which was 5 years with these masters, plus restaurant school which was 3 years, then I could expedite drinks of the same quality.

I have to say, the bar surface itself is really beautiful. It glows. Thank you. It's onyx from Ferarra, Italy. A single piece of stone. My dream was to have a bar that was bigger than the lounge you know, a big bar. At Bouley I had such a tiny bar and had to do a 200 cover volume. And then in the old Nicole Fahri space I found my dream, the last piece for this space. It took me two weeks to get that 5 ton piece of marble out.

How did Apothéke get it? My brother worked for Nicole Fahri and one night in February after we signed the lease the manager there said, oh I'm so exhausted. And I all I could think was, oh where's the bar? I have to have it. No one wanted to help because it's so heavy and it's so delicate. I was there every day to make sure no piece got cut out.

But back to Bouley. When I came to New York I saw a major potential with the drinking business. It was 1998 and everyone was focusing on the top chef, the master chef, the celebrities. David Bouley, Jean Georges, Tom Colicchio was starting to become known, Daniel of course. Remember, fine dining was huge. There was even this big cafe with models and a catwalk in the middle. What was it called?

The Fashion Cafe? Yes. And I was thinking this is New York City you know, where are the drinks? They were missing. The classic service was missing, the culture was missing. It was all about the number of covers. I think my first mentor was David Bouley. He was one of the first to put a lot of effort into his bar, the same kind he put into his food - and he would fly on private jets to Maine to visit the fishermen and pick out the lobsters. He shipped in herbs and spices and made everything available to me as well. I mean, for the first six months, he didn't talk to me but then he noticed what I was doing and then he was so supportive.

So you came up with this term, bar chef. Bouley wanted a signature drink so I did a cocktail with elderflower, which is huge now as a cocktail ingredient. After two years with him researching ingredients and playing with them in the kitchen, I called myself a bar chef. I didn't think mixologist was right.

What's not to like about mixologist? It's a good word. But I think it comes down to the bartender. An experienced guy who knows his liquors, that's a mixologist. A bar chef is a little different. A bar chef is someone who works closely with the kitchen - not someone who puts three raspberries in a cocktail. I use similar techniques to a cook. I reduce sauces, I made my own sugar cane with a press. I make purees and I use juicers. I make fresh infusions. Everything is fresh. I have a guy who runs around and gets me fresh herbs every day, he's my shopper the same way Daniel has a shopper.

Where did you go from Bouley? After two years I got the job at Town at the Chambers Hotel and the 60 Thompson Hotel. It was the chic place to go. And I thought I'm producing something chic so I called it the fashion cocktail. It was seasonal cocktails with fresh seasonal fruits. I thought, there must be something else. So now I'm taking it a step further with herbs and botanicals because I think the bar is a mood changer. There are a few special recipes that I'm using and when I give them to my customers they feel good. I had this idea with the design to do "pharmaceutical cocktails" to put you in a special mood. Like how Champagne lifts your energy and tequila is a painkiller. I'm working with a lot of herbs from south america. We're trying to make it all legal, using old recipes from the Aztecs and the Incas; Carribean house remedies - they don't use conventional medicines but they feel good after they make it. Like Freud, I think the dose is the most important thing. This is my vision: don't kill the customer. You need to have the right dose. So we don't use high alcohol.

On your drink menu here, for one of your 'elixirs,' it says the herbs and oils are from an ancient Italian monastery. Every liquor has its secrets and in Italy they use amaros and no one knows what they are, forgotten herbs. And I found out about these legal mood-making herbs in combination, a secret recipe that's very interesting.

Where do you eat? I always go back to restaurants where I have great relationships with the chefs - like Fabio Trabocchi, Fiamma. I go back to Bouley all the time. The food is fantastic and I love their tasting menu. I love Daniel of course, and he visits me here.

What do you make for Daniel? He likes the absinthe. And he likes Champagne. I have a good Champagne story! Eckart Witzigmann has a restaurant called Aubergine in Munich that was always fully booked for 4 months at a time. You paid $350 per person and he was one of the most respected chefs in Germany. When I worked for him, he'd come in at 10 in the morning and ask for his Champagne. And I said, sorry sir. And he asked, Dom Perignon 85, where is it? He expected chilled glasses and the right temperature. By end of the shift each day, he finished it. What I learned is, Champagne is almost like speed. Coffee affects your liver, but Champagne doesn't.

OK. You choose drinks for people based on what you perceive about them. If Obama came in for a drink what would you recommend for him? For politicians it's very hard. We did a party for Clinton at the Waldorf in '99 and we had a famous Austrian sommelier who worked for everyone, Daniel, Bouley, etc., and he likes wine very much. He calls himself The Grape.

I'm sorry. He calls himself "The Grape"? Yeah. He has really unbelievable wine knowledge.

OK. So he served at the Waldorf and Clinton has a speech and Alexander came up and said we have a magnum of Cheval Blanc 55. Would you like a glass? And Clinton said, I'd prefer a Diet Coke. That's how politicians are. Wall Street guys are stressed this time of year and they need pain relievers. People in love need Campari and Cognac. Champagne helps me to control my stress a little. I want to do a little absinthe show for you. I also want to have the visual affect. It's not like Vegas where it's a show with flames. It's also good to drink, it makes you feel good. My house absinthe.

At this point the interview stops. Trummer disappears into the prep kitchen behind the bar. A bartender comes over and issues a warning to stand back. "Albert throws the flames this far," he says, pointing to a spot on the floor. Apothéke's 'apothékers' also move to one end of the bar, as if they know the drill. Trummer reemerges, makes a neat row of glasses with tall stems, and organizes some other equipment neatly in front of him. The house sound system, which up until this point was doing a lot of Brazilian pop music, is abruptly turned off and replaced by The Steve Miller Band's Abracadabra. Customers gather at the end of the bar, and Trummer rolls up his sleeves a little. The song gets louder once the first chorus hits.

When asked, through the blaring music, if he chose this song for the house-absinthe-making performance-barside kabuki on purpose, Trummer nods his head emphatically YES to the beat a couple of times, while centering a prim and plain sugar cube on the grated absinthe spoon he's placed like a bridge across the mouth of a rocks glass. He pours some clear liquid from an unmarked bottle with his other hand. The area of the bar Trummer works also contains a pyrex Erlenmeyer flask and some other laboratory pieces he might have gotten for a steal from one of Frankenstein's eBay auctions. The whole thing happens kind of fast, but it is definitely around this time that curly blue flames start appearing; Trummer dips the stemware in his botanical-steeped alcohol, then double dips in his little hellish pool of absinthe fire. Trummer talks to the flames, or maybe just sings to himself, while he works. In either event, he tosses fireballs of the mixture from one glass to another at key moments of the song, and otherwise neatly pours the flaming alcohol between glasses to mix it.

When the song ends, the flames are extinguished and everybody goes nuts. "Shoot it in one go," Trummer says, handing out glasses to the crowd.

Albert Trummer photo courtesy Thomas Schauer. Trummer setting absinthe on fire photo by H. Merwin

Swoon's Studio at Brooklyn Museum

Photo of Swoon's art at the Brooklyn Museum via kenyee's flickr.

On January 3rd the Brooklyn Museum will launch a new "Socially-Networked Membership" at their First Saturdays called 1stfans, which will offer paperless benefits through outlets like Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter. Benefit numero uno: "Artists from Swoon's studio will be on hand to help launch the initiative...They will create prints on found paper to be provided that evening by new 1stfans." (Keep in mind that this will likely mean Swoon studio artists will be working off a stencil she created, but she may not be there herself.) Want one? Want to also get exclusive updates via the museum's new Twitter art feed? Gotta pony up 20 bucks for the annual membership fee first. TONY notes that the social networking platforms will bring "updates to your Facebook or Twitter accounts, and the possibility of corresponding with other members and museum staff through these sites." You'll also get the benefit of skipping the ticket line for movies.

Max Silvestri, Comedian

Max Silvestri can teach you how to use the internet, how to maximize your man style and, according to our research, about four other things. Each Thursday you can find him at Sound Fix for his Big Terrific comedy show (returning January 8th)—but he's also writing Top Chef recaps, hosting award shows, making videos for Details, entertaining Radiohead, and allegedly sitting in the basement of MoMA. He recently told us all about most of this.

What does 2009 have in store for Big Terrific? Gabe Liedman, Jenny Slate and I plan to keep putting on a fun and friendly show and inviting the funniest people we know to help us. But there will be a few changes. We're going to make the whole thing a little more professional, by doing stuff like testing the microphones *before* the show starts and trying to wear clean sweatpants. Also, we'll have some new drink specials: I cooked up something called the Eggy Mary, which is egg nog, super spicy Bloody Mary mix, and white wine. I say "cooked up" because it's served piping hot in a champagne flute. It'll cost one hundred dollars and even if we only sell 20, 30 a night, we'll be rich really soon.

How did you and Gabe get involved with Details? They sent us an email, and they included lots of compliments in that email. Pro tip for other men's glossies looking to employ Gabe Delahaye & me: we love compliments. Also, give us walking around money. And a retainer. Are those things? Clearly I graduated magna cum stupid from Showbusiness University.

You have a couple of Gabe's in your life, which one is your favorite? Gabriel Garcia Marquez and I just sold a Dark Knight parody video to CollegeHumor.com called Why So Magical Realist? I can't wait to get started on that never.

Which New Yorker would you say has the most man style? My old roommate Jesse Finkelstein, who runs a design company called JF and Son. The nicest clothes I own are things he was about to throw out for being too stupid. I am blatantly plugging him here so that he continues to hand me down his garbage sweaters.

What was your reaction when your video was linked to by Radiohead? I think of all of us were a bit awed at the idea that Radiohead had maybe sat around and laughed at that video in their studio. It was a pretty cool feeling. But then the flirty MySpace messages from the band turned from harmless to relentless and stalkerish. I literally just got a message from Colin Greenwood saying "wherez yr house i wanna meet your mouth" and it's like, enough, you know? We get it.You've been recapping Top Chef every week for Eater, what do you think of the NY cheftestants? Who do you think will come out on top? I am a huge fan of Stefan and I think he has the best shot at winning. That being said, I *really* want Fabio to make it to the final three, because I wouldn't be able to stand the show without him. "If-a you want-a make a bootiful woman to be lover of da meataball, my-a grandmoother would snatcha da poof for to get the shame" Whatever you say, Fab.

We hear you also work at MoMA—tell us something about the museum paying customers may not know about. The museum's paying customers may not know that I am hosting a PopRally event at the Museum on January 6th screening new short films from Fred Armisen and Nick Kroll and other funny people. Stealth plug!

Actually, my job at the museum is to decide which art we buy, so if you are a young artist, feel free to shoot me a Facebook message and I'll be happy to hook you up. JK, I work in the IT department, where I spend all day in the basement trying to stop the computers from destroying the art. (Robots hate beauty, FYI.)

Please share your strangest "only in New York" story. One time I took the train to an appointment then bought a hot dog outdoors. Only in New York!

Which New Yorker do you most admire? Subway hero Wesley Autrey should be mayor for life.

Given the opportunity, how would you change New York? I'd put a tax on chain restaurants and use the money to make cabs free. My political views are that I'm an extremely impractical arugula socialist.

Under what circumstance have you thought about leaving New York? I honestly don't understand people who don't live here.

Can you please recommend a good weekend hang-out that isn't unbearably mobbed? All of River Street just west of Kent Avenue in Williamsburg is really laid back. On a weekend night, you'll probably only find like three or four Hasidim in minivans having sex with prostitutes, so it's definitely got a chill vibe and enough room for you and your friends to have a drink and actually hear yourself talk.

Do you have a favorite New York celebrity sighting or encounter? I've seen a lot of celebrities here, but the first week I moved to New York I bumped into DJ Qualls in midtown. You may remember him from "Road Trip" or delivering the immortal line "You want me to hack the planet?" in "The Core." When I saw him, I was all "I've really arrived in the Big Apple, which is what everyone calls this place!"

Best cheap eat. I live right next to La Superior, so I eat fish tacos from there three of four times a week. They are so good and small! Sometimes I will walk in there when I'm not hungry and get a taco to go just because why not I'm a grownup I can have candy for dinner if I want.

What bands are you currently listening to? I am listening to the new Beach House and Kanye albums pretty constantly. "Hahaha / That was a good one / your first good one in a while." You are the best, Kanye.

Best venue to see music. Bowery. No question.

Mistletoe Hangs in Williamsburg

Photos by NYCScout's Flickr.

Williamsburg just got a little bit more adorable; the NYC Scout (who we interviewed last week) spotted some plastic mistletoe hanging above the stairs to the Bedford L stop. Will two down on their luck commuters find a love light at the end of the dark subway tunnel that is the holiday season? Stay tuned to the missed connections section of Craigslist where surely a real life romantic comedy will play out.

Animals in the Snow!

The Bronx Zoo animals have been frolicking in the city's first substantial snow. Here are some photos of the furry ones, including a few shots of the adorable snow leopards. (You're welcome.) In other Bronx Zoo news: José the beaver is back for the holidays, after a year-long hiatus; they say he's even "chomped down his own Christmas tree."

Marlow & Daughters: Best Tail in Williamsburg

A former barbershop on Broadway by the Williamsburg Bridge has become the latest addition to the expanding South Williamsburg culinary corridor, which includes (but is not limited to) Bridge Urban Winery, Marlow & Sons, Diner, Dressler, Miss Favela and La Superior. Now add Marlow & Daughters to the list; and before you get all "die yuppie scum!" please note that the barbershop closed only because the owner passed away over the summer, according to Brooklyn Based. (Of course it's possible he died from a heart broken by gentrification.)

Managed by micro-celebrity butcher Tom Mylan (friend of Gothamist), the shop specializes in pastured, grass-fed meat and carries everything from hoof to tail (see above). And since Mylan is the butcher for Marlow & Sons, Diner, and the two Bonita restaurants, he can buy whole animals and distribute every last tasty bit among the four eateries and the new shop. Almost all of it is sourced from regional farms and emphasizes a variety of breeds and species. For instance, rabbit, which Mylan put to use in a sausage for us just last week.

Balloon Takeover on Park Avenue

Photo by Dave Pinter.

If you've passed by 57th Street and Park Avenue you've most likely noticed a building filled with balloons being saturated with LED lights subtly changing colors. WCBS investigated and found the creators, Hello Darling, who say all in all there's 10,000 balloons of different sizes in there, with the largest measuring in at 8 feet! They have a little video on their site showing the piece being put together, allegedly with the help of someone in Brooklyn. Leave any sharp objects at home and go check it out yourself.

Dive into Fishy Dishes at The John Dory

Fans of SpongeBob SquarePants and anyone who attended Phish shows circa 1993 are in for some serious flashbacks upon entering The John Dory, the new seafood-centric restaurant that's wildly decorated with an aquatic theme and murkily lit in submarine hues of dark turquoise and sea green. An illuminated fish-in-water inlay in the floor runs the entire length of the space, echoing a similar inlay in the bar, where a massive fish tank bubbles.

Located in the Meatpacking District next to the much larger Del Posto, this is the hotly-anticipated new venture from chef April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman, who run the popular West Village destination The Spotted Pig. Here the menu is an approximation of British seafood pub food, but rendered fancy with cloth napkins, polished flatware, and most entrees costing over $30. Nope, this is not a safe harbor in the recession tempest, but those looking for a special occasion with a Little Mermaid ambiance might want to give it a try. Here's the menu, which changes daily to match the fresh catches.

Writing a preliminary review, food blogger Andrea Strong acknowledged the ill-timed price points but reasoned, "If I’m going to spend $50 on a whole fish (it feeds two if not more), I’m going to do it here. The philosophy in this kitchen is clear: bring it! Acid, heat, salt, and smoke are all employed with subtlety. While the flavors may be big—anchovy being a prominent choice of this kitchen—nothing is heavy handed."

Opinionist: Garden of Earthly Delights

Photograph by Richard Finkelstein

The Garden of Earthly Delights, Hieronymus Bosch’s famous 16th-century triptych of innocence, licentiousness, and perdition, is the kind of astonishingly detailed masterpiece you can get lost in—each panel is packed with so much extraordinary activity that it's a challenge to take it all in as a whole. Which is part of the reason why choreographer Martha Clarke's dance-theater interpretation of the painting is so compelling; by channeling the spirit of the painting into live performance, the audience can immerse itself in the overall essence of Bosch's startling vision.

Clarke's bold adaptation originally premiered in 1984, was re-staged again in 1987, and has now been brought to life a third time in New York City more than two decades later, in a sumptuous production that was nearly scuttled due to financial woes, according to this harrowing article in the Times. Thankfully, they came up with the money, because New Yorkers who missed it in the '80s deserve another chance to experience this transporting study of human glory and depravity. The hour-long, wordless performance isn't a literal recreation of the triptych (which would be silly), but rather a ritualistic celebration of eros and suffering.

As three musicians in dark cowls perform Richard Peaslee's clattering, dizzying score, an ensemble of eleven dancers in flesh-tone unitards writhe, bound and crawl around the stage to evoke a world as grotesque, sensual and fantastic as that depicted in painting. Periodically, the dancers soar through the shadowy air using harnesses attached to a system of pulleys, and seeing the mechanics of their flight only heightens the drama, because the dancer in the air is intimately connected to his or her partner on stage pulling the rope, making the bond between them almost palpable. Clarke's vision, like Bosch's painting, is at once grotesque and sublime, but the fearless trust shared by the ensemble lends the work an ultimately life-affirming energy.

Kobayashi Wants Your Fruitcake!

Competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi will do what no one wants to do: eat all the leftover holiday fruitcake! This is all part of the Major League Eating’s Holiday Food Bank Giving Initiative; the MLE tells us that "Kobayashi will attempt to break the fruitcake-eating world record, seeking to consume all fruitcake leftover from the holidays. The event is designed to benefit the Food Bank For New York City and to raise awareness of the crisis faced by food banks across the nation in the current economic environment."

Unbelievably, there actually is a current record holder for such a thing—in 2001 Sonya Thomas ate 4 lbs and 14 ¼ ounces of the stuff in 10 minutes, and holds the record to this day. Want to see history go down (and possibly come up)? Stay tuned for photos this Friday, after Kobayashi chows down at Gabriella’s Restaurant on Columbus and 93rd.

This will be Kobayashi's first time trying to down fruitcakes, which the MLE tells us "come from various places, some donated. Most of them are these dense Old Fashion Claxton Fruit Cakes that are like a 1-pound brick of pure fruity cakeness." But where's Joey Chestnut during all of this?

Judge Finds Starbucks Guilty of Union-Busting

A National Labor Relations Board judge ruled yesterday that Starbucks engaged in unfair labor practices at several of its New York coffee shops, the Associated Press reports. The decision is the culmination of a lengthy trial which began in March 2006 when the Industrial Workers of the World filed charges against the company, accusing managers of interrogating employees and firing workers who supported the union.

Yesterday Judge Mindy E. Landow ruled that Starbucks illegally terminated three baristas and ordered that they be reinstated to their jobs and receive back wages. The 88-page ruling also found that managers at Starbucks broke labor laws by issuing negative job evaluations to union supporters, illegally prohibited them from talking about the union, and censored information about the union on bulletin boards, another no-no. Landow ordered Starbucks to end discriminatory treatment toward union-organizing employees at four of its Manhattan locations: 200 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, 145 Second Avenue at 9th Street, 15 Union Square East, and 116 East 57th Street.

A Starbucks spokeswoman tells the Times, "While we respect the N.L.R.B. process, we’re disappointed with the decision, and we intend to appeal it to the next stage in the process." But lawyers for the union are confident the ruling "will be upheld by the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C. should Starbucks appeal...This decision conclusively establishes Starbucks’ animosity toward labor organizing. For the first time, a judge has confirmed the existence of a nationally coordinated antiunion operation at Starbucks." And the Starbucks Gossip blog is strangely silent thus far.

Photo courtesy Kathryn Yu.

Kobayashi Eats Over 4 Lbs. of Fruitcake

Photo courtesy of Major League Eating.

As previously mentioned, competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi went to town on a bunch of fruitcake this morning, all in the name of fighting hunger for the Food Bank of NYC. Word has come in that he had 4 pounds 8 ounces of the holiday "treat" in 10 minutes—more than any human should ingest, but still shy of Sonya Thomas' record (4 pounds 14 ounces). He told the Daily News, "It was very difficult to eat because it was so dense."

As an aside: Kobayashi lists eating 17.7 lbs of cow brains in 15 minutes on his resume...so this isn't going to bode well for fruitcake's already tarnished reputation.

Recipe of the Week: Quince Tart

Like a tart tatine, this quince tart is made of flaky puff pastry, sweet, tender fruit, and caramel pulling it all together. This tart is safer, though, and more easily constructed.

A classic tart tatine is made by sauteing the fruit with caramel in a pan, then laying the pastry dough over it and baking it that way, inverting the tart when it comes out of the oven. Delicious, yes, but fraught with peril, because you invariably end up with hot caramel dripping down and burning your arms when you invert the pan.

But build a quince tart according to this recipe, and you'll have a perfectly contained dessert with none of the pain and suffering.Quince Tart
Quinces
Sugar
Water
Puff pastry
1 egg
Caramel (recipe below)

Peel and core the quinces. Cut them into quarters or slices, however you like. Put them in a pot with equal quantities of water and sugar, enough to cover. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the quinces turn rosy pink and tender. This should take an hour or so.

Preheat your oven to 400 F.

Lay out a square of puff pastry (storebought is absolutely fine here). The shaping process is three steps, as laid out in the diagram below.

Step 1: Cut four lines (meeting at two of the corners) the square of puff pastry, according to the diagram on the left.

Step 2: Fold over one side of what will become two side walls of the tart, according to the middle diagram.

Step 3: Fold over the other side to create the other side walls of the tart, according to the diagram on the right.

Brush the tops of the side walls with some beaten egg.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until puffy and golden brown.

If the floor of the tart has risen too much, poke through the top layer or so of it with a fork to make some more room for your filling.

Melt some of the caramel in a pan and stir the quince pieces into it until they are hot and coated.

Lay the quince pieces out into the pre-baked puff pastry tart shell, and pour any excess caramel over them.

Serve immediately.

Caramel
375 g granulated sugar
350 g glucose or corn syrup
500 g heavy cream
100 g butter

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat to 230 F. Pour onto a silpat lined baking sheet and allow to cool to room temperature.

(Note: We used this caramel because we had it lying around from an experiment where we made the dry caramel from the new Alinea cookbook. To make dry caramel, blend 210 g caramel made from this recipe with 65 g tapioca maltodextrin in a food processor until the caramel is completely absorbed. You'll end up with a powder that reconstitutes into a creamy caramel in your mouth. Serve in shotglasses with a sprinkling of crunchy salt (ideally Maldon salt), or however you like.)