The Nightlife News 2010 End of the Year Wrap-up

Compiled by Gamal Hennessy

Prince of the City
2010 Venue of Year
The New York Nights 2010 Venue of the Year Award goes to...

Business

New Year's Eve
The Dept. of Labor ambushes New York nightlife by changing the payroll laws with almost no warning.

Culture
Don Hill’s
New York Press looks at the impact of the reincarnated Don Hill's.

Gary Seider
Gothamist talks to the co-owner of the bar New York Magazine calls the Best Cocktail Bar of 2010

Lesbian Nightlife
Velvet Park offers a lesbian guide to New York nightlife.

Closing
Chi Chiz
The West Village gay bar is being closed by the State Liquor Authority in the next few weeks.

Stone Crow
The Village Bar becomes the latest bar to fall victim to higher rents. It will close on January 1st.

Max Fish
The classic LES venue will close it's doors in January.

Review
District 36
The New York Times offers a quick and dirty review of the newest mega dance club.

New York Nights
Seize the Night
If you are still looking for gift ideas, check out Seize the Night. All the cool kids are reading it.

Happy New Year.

Gamal

Culture Club, Lavo, Strip Clubs and Vintage West

The Nightlife News for December 14, 2010
Compiled by Gamal Hennessy


Events
The Barbados Food and Wine Festival
A Barbados Food and Wine Festival Special Report on Rum the Caribbean Treasure.

Christmas
Seize the Night is the perfect gift for the nightlife native in your life. Get it now in print and Kindle editions.

New Year’s Eve
Find Your NYE Party

JP Events has over 50 events for you to ring in 2011.

Crime
Jennifer Garza
In 2008, Jennifer Garza vanished after leaving Marquee. This week the prime suspect was indicted for murder.

Politics
The State Liquor Authority
The Chairman of the New York State Liquor Authority testifies about improvements in his agency in 2010.

Social Media
New York Nights is moving from its Facebook Group to its own Facebook page. Click "Like" on the page to join.

Venues
Cooper Square
The owners of the Soho and Tribeca Grand plan to take over the Cooper Square Hotel and its New York nightlife venues.

Culture Club
The operators of the old Culture Club are planning to reopen the venue in Midtown.

Lavo
Fast Company breaks down some of the thing that make Tao and Lavo successful in both NYC and Las Vegas.

Pop Up Strip Clubs
New York has pop up store and pop up parties. According to Urban Daddy, now it also has pop up strip clubs.

Vintage West
The West Village venue formerly known as Luke and Leroy and Le Royale is now reopened as Vintage West.

Rum: A Caribbean Treasure Offers the Perfect Punch

A Barbados Food and Wine Festival Special Report

By Gamal Hennessy

Along with vodka, gin, whiskey and tequila, rum is a staple of every bar well. Although it is normally thought of as the base of many summer drinks, it has a variety and depth that is similar to spirits favored by connoisseurs.

Rum is a by-product of sugar cane, which explains its distinctive sweet taste. It was discovered by African slaves, who fermented the molasses produced from sugar cane into a beverage that helped them cope with the harsh conditions they faced. Rum production originated in Barbados, but it quickly spread throughout the British Empire and subsequently, the rest of the world.

Because it comes from the Caribbean and partially because of its sweet characteristics, rum is associated with warm weather drinks. Roof top bars all over the city have free flowing rum punch, mojitos and coladas when the sun is out. Although not as common on winter menus, rum is also the basis of winter drinks such as hot buttered rum. Several cocktails lounges like Painkiller, Hurricane Club and Lana Kai feature rum prominently in their menus while venues like Cienfuegos devote most of their cocktail menu to it.

Rum is similar to tequila, whiskey and vodka in that there are different vintages and varieties based on the preparation process, place of origin and aging. Bacardi, Captain Morgan and Malibu are most well known brands in the U.S., but in Barbados Mount Gay is the main local brand. It was also the subject of one of the seminars in this year’s Barbados Food and Wine Festival. On a perfectly sunny Caribbean afternoon, wine and cocktail expert Anthony Giglio provided descriptions and samples of various Mount Gay vintages and offered cocktail mixing techniques from some of New York’s well known speakeasies in an open air restaurant overlooking the ocean.

Before we arrived, I assumed the “class” was just an excuse for vacationing foodies to sip cocktails in the sun, but these drinkers did not take their rum lightly. The level of technical input from the crowd often seemed just as high as the information offered by the speaker. You know people are serious about their cocktails when they start debating the rate of ice melt in a shaker, the virtue of fresh limes, the proper formula for simple syrup and the ratio of lime juice to water in a mojito. These were clearly professional drinkers and I was in good company. I’m sure the several glasses of premium rum we shared also helped to enhance the experience.

Vodka and tequila are the current spirits of the moment in nightlife. Whiskey and wine are the realm of the aficionado and the enthusiast. But if you have a sweet tooth and you want to go in an unusual direction, try a few rum drinks for a change of pace. You might find yourself as a regular in Painkiller and hoarding fresh limes in your house.

Have fun.
Gamal

Sunburnt Calf, International Nightlife and Binge Drinking

Nightlife News for December 1, 2010
Compiled by Gamal Hennessy

Events
New Year’s Eve
Is New Year's Eve the worst night to experience New York nightlife? Eater offers its opinion.

The Nightlife Holiday Season
Here are a few tips on drinking, health, money and safety during this year’s nightlife holiday marathon.

Business
Sunburnt Calf
The Sunburnt Calf now offers 'Pour Your Own Keg' service. This may not end well for some nightlife amateurs.

Culture

Binge Drinking
New study shows 50% of New Yorkers don't drink but the ones that do drink are probably binge drinkers.

Politics
The NYC Department of Health launches new ad campaign to reduce binge drinking
over the holidays. Amateurs take note.

Prince of the City
Has America Watered Down International Nightlife?

Holiday Gift Offer
Seize the Night is the perfect gift for the nightlife native in your life. Get it now in print and Kindle editions.

Nightlife New York Television Teaser
A new show about nightlife culture is coming in 2011. The trailer is ready now. Take a look...

Have fun.
Gamal