NY Barfly

Midgets vs. Mascots Party this Saturday! Get Your Livers Ready!

We’re getting excited for Saturday’s screening of Midgets vs. Mascots at the Tribeca Film Festival for a number of reasons. We noticed that the mascots are already in town! There is a picture of them hanging out at a local restaurant.

We’re so giddy with anticipation that we decided to do the only thing that will calm us down: make a list. If you want to stop by, the screening is sold out, but you can join us at the Village Pourhouse from 10-11 PM and pretend you’re part of the cool crowd.

Here are the Top 5 Reasons we can’t wait for Midgets vs. Mascots this Saturday:

1. Because, 30 of our readers will get to come with us to the sold out show. We recently sponsored a giveaway, and 15 lucky winners received a pair of tickets. We can’t wait to meet the charming derelicts (previously notified via email), and want them to know that we accept checks, floral bouquets, and any free drinks they care to give.

2. Before the screening, The Village Pourhouse is hosting a 1 hour Beer and Tequila open bar for the NYBarfly crew. We hope they’re ready. We’ve challenged our readers to finish all the beer on premises in that hour span. Don’t doubt – when drunken livers combine, they become stronger. Like Captain Planet. 

3. The thought of a hilarious late night screening full of drunks? Priceless. We just hope there is more vomit on the screen than there is in the crowd.

4. We’re especially excited for our exclusive after party. We thought about renting Greenhouse, but we figured it would be more fun if we just smuggle Night Train into the theater and refuse to leave when they turn on the lights.

5. The raunchy film features the likes of Ron Jeremy, Scottie Pippen, and Gary Coleman – Oscar caliber performers (to a room full of folks who just had a few tequila shots).  Take a look at another clip below the jump

Derby Day Cocktails: The Creole Julep from Tales of the Cocktail

Our friends over at Tales of the Cocktail know their drink. That’s why it’s important to take notice when they name the official cocktail of their convention. Like the gathering itself, this drink will let you tee-total without the guilt. If Tales says sip, then surely it must be for upright, educational purposes.

This year’s drink also comes along just in time for your Kentucky Derby party. It’s a twist on a traditional julep that you can mix for your friends that are coming over to watch the horse race. Place your bets: which stallion will win, and which friend will pass out first after three of these? Maksym Pazuniak, a mixologist at Rambla and Cure won over the judges with his balanced and well layered julep featuring Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum, Rhum Clement Creole Shrubb, Captain Morgan 100 Proof, Peach Fee Brothers Bitters, Angostura Bitters, fresh mint and Demerara sugar.

Take a look at the recipe. If you think that looks appetizing, you might want to head down to New Orleans this summer to try it in person. Tales of the Cocktail takes place from July 8-12 and, believe us, there are plenty of upright, educational drinks to go around.

Creole Julep
Created by Maksym Pazuniak, Cure/Rambla
2 1/4 oz. Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum
1/2 oz. Clement Creole Shrubb
1/4 oz. Captain Morgan 100
2 dashes Fee Bros. Peach Bitters
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
8-10 mint leaves
1 Demerara Sugar Cube

Muddle sugar, Creole Shrubb and bitters until sugar is dissolved in a 10 oz. tall glass. Add mint and press to express oils. Add cracked ice. Add Cruzan and Captain Morgan 100 and stir until frost appears on outside of glass. Garnish with mint sprig.

Need a Job? Don't Miss This Open Call (cue sexy music).

Here’s one straight from the wire. We figured you can embellish it yourself, unless you got Triple D’s in school (they’re talking about grades, right?):

Here’s some information regarding an open call we’ll be hosting on Thursday, May 7th for a new restaurant opening in June called Bianca’s Triple Ds.  The new space is looking to hire girls only that have both brains & beauty.  Multiple positions are available and guest judges Will DeMeo (of the Sopranos) and director Paul Borghese will help in choosing the staff. Press and public is welcome to come down and help the Bianca’s team pick the best chefs and wait staff.  Cooking demos will take place. 

The open call will take place at Headquarters Gentleman’s Club at 552 West 38th Street. Open call will run from 3pm – 5pm; please submit your resume by Wednesday, May 6th to reserve your spot.  Resumes may be sent to Carmine’s attention at misterbig[at]optonline.net

What’s everyone been talking about all this unemployment for? We knew there were plenty of opportunities out there. Maybe Top Chef will take notice and spice things up.

Dutch Kills Finally to Open / Cure Your Hangover With Bacon

-Urban Daddy had word that Dutch Kills is scheduled to open on Friday. Could it finally be true? We’re tempted to go try it out on opening night, but don’t want to go across the river unless we’re really sure it’s opening (that rowboat is heavy, people!).

-A study published some earth shattering news: bacon helps cure hangovers. If science is this far along, we can’t believe they haven’t made cigarettes healthy yet. Come on people! You can come up with a labrdoodle and not a wholesome Parliament Light?

-We noticed a great new feature on the Village Voice’s Fork in the Road Blog: What to B When you BYOB. They head over to a liquor store that’s near a BYOB Restaurant, and ask for some pairing suggestions. This is helpful, as people usually stare when we show up to dinner with our own bottle of gin.

Free Spring Cocktails at Pranna. We Can't Get Enough of this Weather.

The free cocktail events keep on coming. Today’s gig? Pranna is celebrating its new spring menu by slinging some specialty drinks throughout the evening. Their night of libation is broken down into two parts:

Come Early: The Main bar & Mezzanine is dishing out complimentary featured cocktails from 7 – 8 PM.

Come Late: From 10 – 11PM, their Cellar Bar is slated to pour the free drinks to the tunes of local singer songwriter Jeremy Hollembeak.

Early or late, the crew at Pranna will also serve complimentary bites to go with the cocktails.

With all of the free events to choose from, its so hard to figure out which ones to attend. Oh wait – that’s right – all of them.

Half restaurant / half club / half private event space (that adds up, right?), Pranna spans over more than 15,000 square feet and features cuisine that traverses the countries of Southeast Asia. Signature cocktails have been crafted by award-winning, acclaimed mixologists, Willy Shine, Aisha Sharpe and Kristopher Carr.  Culinary focused to represent and pair with the food, the signature cocktails were designed to create a synergy between the kitchen and the bar. The fact that they’re free? That creates a lot of synergy between ourselves and out wallet.

Pranna is located at 79 Madison Avenue.

Reminder: It's Rioja Restaurant Week!

Now kids, don’t forget. It's Rioja Restaurant Week in NYC. To celebrate the Spanish wine, classy establishments throughout town are offering prix fixe options that include a glass of Rioja Wine. There are plenty of excellent dinner deals out there for the recession, but not many of them include drink. Even better, many of the establishments that are taking part will offer full bottles at 20% off. Unless you have some horrible bias against Spaniards (yes, the bullfighting outfits are tight, but we don’t think they’re that scandalous), there’s no reason to drink anything else all week.

You can get a list of participating restaurants here: http://vibrantrioja.com/restaurantweek/

If you can’t afford a summer vacation to Spain this year, this is the next best thing. If you can afford it, we insist that you take us along as your Debasement Advisor.

To kick off the week, the drunken gang over at Thrillist.com (upstanding derelicts, indeed) put together a little Rioja tasting tour. From the photos below, looks like the participants had a fine time. Time to get your Rioja on like they did.

Where We're Headed: Jade Bar in the Gramercy Park Hotel

We camped out at the Gramercy Park Hotel’s Jade Bar for a few drinks this weekend, because sometimes it’s just not fun unless you pay $19 for a glass of Chardonnay. The design of the space and the crowd are gorgeous. The prices? Not so much. The evening's activity consisted of watching people walk up to the door of the Rose Bar and get turned away by the fresh faced doorman. The Jade Bar actually became crowded with rejects, just like many of our favorite bars throughout the city.

As we sat there and watched party after party turned away (they also had a second security guard stationed by the back door, in case anyone tried to sneak in on their way “to the bathroom”) we began to wonder: just what does this fellow tell the folks back home when they ask about what he does? He didn’t look like the typical jaded doorman type. When ma and pa on the farm ask about New York, does he say ‘I deny beautiful people the privilege of spending $27 for a specialty cocktail.” Mom and dad might scoff, until he forks over some of the diamonds that he surely receives as bribes.

We’re declaring less exclusive Jade Bar as the new place to be, and not just because we couldn’t afford both the drinks and the bribe.

Jade Bar’s located at 2 Lexington Avenue in the front of the hotel.

Davey and Drunky are Off to the Ballpark

1 Dominick Cafe's Complimentary Tuesday Events

Getting a liquor license is a restaurant’s version of having a baby. It starts off with a moment of excitement about the future. After 9 months of headaches, swollen ankles, uncertainty, and probably a little vomiting, it’s tremendously relieving just to have the damn thing done with. Well, break out the cigars and the scotch, because Soho’s 1 Dominick Cafe is now the proud parent of a newly born license (awww!). There’s no telling if it’s a boy or a girl, but it certainly is a drinker. They are set with wine, beer, and aperitivo cocktails.

To include all of us in the celebration, they are spreading the joy with a series of complimentary tastings. This Tuesday (the 28^th) they start off with a Rioja event as part of Rioja Restaurant Week (Rioja fiends get more info here). They will sample a selection of young and old Riojas starting at 6pm.

On Tuesday the 5^th, it's Jasper Hill “Cabot cloth bound cheddar” and Sam Smith English Ales. Cheddar and beer? These proud new parents sure know the way to warm our heart.

They also plan to sample from their appetizer menu. Items like their “il melti”, nibbles of their cheese selection, and some savory baked goods will be sure to keep your stomach full. Careful, don’t go baby crazy. Just because you leave Dominick’s with a smile on your face, doesn’t mean you should rush to get your own little liquor license. We all know (ahem, drunky) it’s more of a commitment than you can handle.

1 Dominick is located at 1 Dominick Street, duh!

Free Bottles of Wine at Aureole / Happy Birthday Guinness

-Time flies when you’re having fun. Can you believe that Guinness has been around for 250 years? To mark this anniversary, Guinness 250 Anniversary Stout is being made available in the United States on a limited edition basis (approximately six months). This marks the first new stout offering in the U.S. from Guinness since 1966 -- more than 40 years ago -- when Guinness draught was first introduced to Americans. Time really flies when you’re having fun and drunk on Guinness.

-From Grub Street: Charlie Palmer is giving away bottles to celebrate twenty years of Aureole. From Monday until the restaurant’s last night (May 30) before its move to One Bryant Park, those who dine Monday through Wednesday will be given a complimentary bottle of one of Palmer’s private-label wines for every two three-course prix fixe dinners ($85) they order. We appreciate a good reason to celebrate; we love a good reason for people to give us free wine.

-Citysearch has a great list detailing the city’s biggest beers. Check out the 32 Oz Styrofoam cups at Jeremy’s Ale House or stick your face in a liter sized stein at Zum Schneider. Either way it sure does a body good.