Tag Archives: the Russian Tea Room

AN AUTEURIST HISTORY OF FILM: MANHATTAN

Woody Allen pays tribute to the city he loves in one of his best films, MANHATTAN

MANHATTAN (Woody Allen, 1979)
MoMA Film, Museum of Modern Art
The Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Education and Research Building
4 West 54th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
August 27-29, 1:30
Tickets: $12, in person only, may be applied to museum admission within thirty days, same-day screenings free with museum admission, available at Film and Media Desk beginning at 9:30 am
212-708-9400
www.moma.org

Woody Allen’s Manhattan opens with one of the most beautiful tributes ever made to the Big Apple, a lovingly filmed black-and-white architectural tour set to the beautiful sounds of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” Once again collaborating with screenwriter Marshall Brickman, master cinematographer Gordon Willis, and Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton, Allen’s tale of a nebbishy forty-two-year-old two-time divorcee who takes up with a seventeen-year-old ingénue (Mariel Hemingway) is both hysterically funny and romantically poignant, filled with classic dialogue (Yale: “You think you’re God.” Isaac: “I gotta model myself after someone.”) and iconic shots of city landmarks. After quitting his job as a successful television writer, Isaac moves to Brooklyn, where he has to cope with brown water and expensive taxi rides, among other dispiriting things. Meanwhile, against his better judgment, he develops a liking for the elitist snob Mary Wilkie (Keaton), who is seeing his best friend, the married Yale (Michael Murphy); calls her therapist Donnie; and counts among the overrated Carl Jung, Lenny Bruce, Norman Mailer, and van Gogh, which she pronounces “van Goch.” And then he has to deal with one of his ex-wives (Meryl Streep), who left him for another woman (Ann Byrne) and is writing an intimate account of their failed marriage. Of course, it’s impossible to watch Manhattan without thinking about Allen’s relationship with Soon Yi (they’ve now been together for nearly two dozen years), but if you get past that, you’ll rediscover a wonderful, intelligent comedy about men and women neatly wrapped up in a gorgeous love letter to Gotham. “He adored New York City, he idolized it all out of proportion — no, make that, he romanticized it all out of proportion,” Isaac says at the beginning of the film, which was nominated for two Oscars (Hemingway as Best Supporting Actress and Allen and Brickman for Best Original Screenplay).

Michael Murphy, Diane Keaton, Woody Allen, and Mariel Hemingway star in Allen’s love letter to New York City

The glorious Gershwin music is performed by the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Zubin Mehta, and the Buffalo Philharmonic, under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas. Be on the lookout for cameos by Karen Allen, Mark Linn-Baker, David Rasche, Wallace Shawn, Michael O’Donoghue, Frances Conroy, Bella Abzug, Zabar’s, the Queensboro Bridge, the Empire Diner, the Hayden Planetarium, Bloomingdale’s, MoMA’s Sculpture Garden, the Russian Tea Room, the Dalton School, John’s Pizza, the Guggenheim, and Elaine’s, among so many others. Manhattan is screening August 27-29 at 1:30 as part of the MoMA series “An Auteurist History of Film,” concluding its current season.

WINTER RESTAURANT WEEK 2014

It’s so cold these days that not even the potential of a hot meal in a hot restaurant can get many New Yorkers to go out for lunch or dinner, but things will hopefully be somewhat warmer, and the streets much easier to traverse, by the time 2014 Winter Restaurant Week kicks into full gear. Reservation lines are now open for three-course prix-fixe $25 lunches and $38 dinners at some three hundred eateries around the city, available Monday through Friday from February 17 to March 7. Most of the restaurants have posted their special menus online; here are only some of the delights to look forward to: tuna tartare, cornmeal-crusted crab cake, Faroe Island salmon, prime beef short rib, and chocolate ganache cake at ‘21’; house-made country pâté, sautéed skate wing, chestnut gnocchi, and passion fruit Pavlova at Artisanal; soupe de choux fleur, saucisse, gnocchi de carottes, and buerre noisette et ananas coupe at Bar Boulud; garganelli in a tomato and basil sauce, roast chicken in a pomegranate sauce and pomegranate kernels with gratineed mashed potatoes, and mousse of orange bittersweet chocolate at Barbetta; New England seafood chowder, blackened mahi mahi sandwich, and Meyer lemon cake with citrus marmalade and blood orange sherbet at Blue Fin; fegatini di pollo, pane tostato, and pancetta, merluzzo in padella con caponata e finocchi, and crostata di mele, merengue, and vanilla gelato at Circo; Long Island duck ragu, eighteen-hour boneless short rib, and chocolate mousse cake at Delmonico’s; grilled baby octopus, marble potatoes, pickled yellow beans, and black olives, pan-roasted Chatham cod with tomatoes, onions, black olives, and capers, and torta di cioccolato at I Trulli; lahsooni gobi, murglababdar, and rice pudding at Junoon; and smoked barley and mushroom soup, pastrami sandwich and fries, and sour cream cheesecake at Kutsher’s. Among the other dining establishments serving up winter delicacies are B. Smith’s, City Hall, Craftbar, Dos Caminos, Gotham Bar, Les Halles, Mercer Kitchen, Nice Matin, Nobu New York, Pampano, the Red Cat, the Russian Tea Room, Shun Lee Palace, Tribeca Grill, Zengo, and many, many more, but you better book fast. As a bonus, if you register your American Express card, you will receive $5 back each time you charge at least $25 at a participating restaurant.

WINTER RESTAURANT WEEK

Monday – Friday, January 16 – February 10
Prix-fixe lunch $24.07, dinner $35
www.nycgo.com/restaurantweek

Reservation lines are now open for Winter Restaurant Week, with hundreds of eateries offering $24.07 lunches and/or $35 dinners participant in the popular event’s twentieth year, including 10 Downing Food & Wine, ‘21’ Club, 5 Ninth, Artisanal, B. Smith’s, Barbetta, Boulud Sud, Capsouto Frères, City Crab, Estiatorio Milos, I Trulli, Les Halles, Lure Fishbar, Maze, Megu, Mercer Kitchen, Nice Matin, the Palm, Petrossian, Quality Meats, Red Rooster Harlem, the Russian Tea Room, Shun Lee Palace, Steak Frites, TAO, Tribeca Grill, the Water Club, Wildwood Barbecue, and so many others. As an added bonus, if you use your American Express card on three or more Restaurant Week meals, you’ll get a $20 statement credit. As always, be sure to check your desired location online, since many of the restaurants post exactly what the special menu consists of so you know just what treats you’re in for.