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leisure
08.7.12
Out of Town
Every Person in New York |
There's still time to get away before Labor Day/the new business quarter/school/the new season begins. A few suggestions up and down the coast.
Williamstown Theatre Festival continues to be at the top of its game—summer theater, or maybe we should say theater in the summer, that's as good as it gets. The final show on the Main Stage, through August 19th, is Turgenev's A Month in the Country. It's a new translation, directed by Richard Nelson, and something of a groundbreaking production, beyond the idea of Turgenev as a box-office honey pot.
Best restaurant concept ever: Conflict Kitchen, Pittsburgh's take-out only spot that "serves cuisine from countries with which the United States is in conflict." They focus on one country for six months, building bridges by breaking bread, and add events, discussions, and performances about that country—during the Iran period, they hosted a live Skype meal between Pittsburgh and Tehran. Right now: Cuba.
The USGA Museum in Far Hills, NJ has a comprehensive collection of golf artifacts, photographs, and memorabilia. Out back, the Pynes Putting Course, played with replica of antique clubs and balls, is inspired by the famous putting course at St. Andrew's.
There are no docents, no guards, no Acoustiguides at The Museum of Useful Things. Gift shop? Definitely.
This museum is really a curated collection of stuff that's cool because it's perfectly useful or useful perfectly. The items are part of the Cambridge- and Boston-based shops Black Ink, which carry 'unexpected necessities'. And they've carved out a niche of Useful Things (some of which they design): products/tools that have a clear function, get something done, and do it in a way that is pleasing to the user." You can browse Black Ink stores when you're in Boston or hit their website. It's not only fun shopping, you'll never look at a paper clip the same way again.
Probably we couldn't get you to go to Israel for the food. But how about Philly? Zahav, which opened in 2008, serves contemporary Israeli dishes, alongside those from its regional neighbors (another spin on 'conflict kitchen'). Whether it's sweltering in August or snowing in January, what comes out of the kitchen is Middle Eastern soul food. The restaurant is stylish, service is warm, and the views out the large windows give the impression that you're on a leafy college campus. True, it doesn't look like Jerusalem, but its tastes are unquestionably transporting.
At the Morris Museum, they have a permanent collection–donated by the delightfully named Murtogh D. Guinness–of historical mechanical musical instruments. That may not sound like much, but once you see the elaborate music boxes that perform all kinds of tricks, set to all kinds of music, you are virtually guaranteed to be charmed.
The vibe is early Eisenhower at Bern's Steak House in Tampa and we mean that in a good way. The maitre d' who seats you. The waiters in tuxes. The servers who serve while your waiter oversees. The themed rooms, some with more statuary than is perhaps good for your appetite. But even when it's tacky or dated (the place opened in 1956), Bern's is still cool. The steaks, dry-aged for up to 8 weeks, are trimmed and cut once you order, broiled over lump hardwood charcoal (briquettes would be cheating). They are sublime.
For dessert, a bit of hilarity: you go upstairs to the dessert floor to be seated in a private room (just your party) with piped-in with music from the lounge. A telephone allows you to call the pianist in the lounge to make a request (you can also dial in different music from a control box on the wall).
Beyond all that, Bern's has one of the best wine lists around—6,800 selections, half a million bottles. What's amazing is that they offer many old and rare bottles at beyond-reasonable prices. At a time when most American restaurants think nothing of a 300% markup on a bottle of plonk, the prices on Bern's famous list could almost convince you Ike was in the White House. We've come a long way since the 1950's, but some things just couldn't be improved.
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Jason Polan started Every Person in New York in March of 2008. He plans on working on the project until it is finished. Look for Every Person in New York on Tuesdays in MUG and daily at Jason's site.
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