Where the night owls flock
NYC in one night:
Elegant classy Le Bernardin. Three Michelin stars. Eric Ripert in his chef whites greeting the Atlanta pair who came straight from JFK — with luggage — for his signature eight-course tasting menu.
Then Part 2. Friki Tiki. An underground 1,200-square-foot nightclub/bar on 44th and Ninth. Getaway cars don’t even drive there.
They schlepped me through a secret back entrance, around a kitchen and locker room, past rusty elevator doors, down a crappy hall, alongside laundry in a basement steam room, sidestep a boiler and — wow! — enter what a Realtor might call a teardown.
I’m told it’s for actors after work. Like — in a leap from Jerusalem — also there was Tovah Feldshuh who played Golda Meir on Broadway. It’s open 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Cocktail’s $16. Bites, under $20.
Proprietor Greg Nobile produces B’way’s musical “Parade” this spring. Standing ass-to-ass, capacity’s 100 — but the only chair was under the regal behind of saloon Queen Consort Susanne Bartsch. And crowded? Rikers is roomier.
Go. Forget black tie. Or any tie. Or shirt.
A toothsome role
Eric Bogosian. Actor. Playwright. Novelist. Monologist. Historian. Spouts Shakespeare. Now in TV series “Interview With the Vampire.” A crate of awards. Shares my birth date, so he has to be marvelous, right?
“I grew up no good at sports or anything in working class Woburn, Mass. When our teacher staged ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and I got cast as Juliet’s dad I fell in love with acting.
“1984 when I started out, I auditioned for ‘Miami Vice.’ It was dismal. Onstage I already knew to be spirited. On film you take it down a notch. Finally, 1988 I found my pace doing ‘Talk Radio’ with Oliver Stone. And I’m now on the TV series ‘Interview.’
Actor Eric Bogosian is starring in the AMC series “Interview With the Vampire.”Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images
“I’ve done it all. Look, I even did six solo shows for 20 years. Once an usher brought a latecomer down with a flashlight. From the stage I said, ‘Turn the light off.’ They didn’t so I jumped offstage, grabbed the flashlight and threw it into the wings.”
Nice. So what did you do during the pandemic?
“Started writing a memoir, which is driving me crazy and I haven’t finished it.”
Royal reading
Writers aren’t finished schmearing Brit royals. Soon comes another book on Diana. Stewart Pearce, who immortalized her in an earlier work, is on to another. Then, maybe, Prince Empty knocks off one, too. After “Spare” he’ll scratch out “Care” or “Dare” or “Rare.”
City foods for thought
Dining out is coming back. Even greater than Meghan Marvelous is Midtown’s Scotto’s. Besides great pasta you can see every pol almost going back to Fiorello La Guardia and Jimmy Walker.
And downtown? Trust me, terrific restaurant on Greenwich Street is American Cut. Steak is excellent. So’s the staff.
This guy says: “My brother just opened a shop.” Me: “Great. How’s he getting on?” The guy: “Not very well. It wasn’t his shop.”
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.
Source link: https://nypost.com/2023/01/23/a-night-out-at-nycs-new-exclusive-nightclub-friki-tiki/