I’ve been grousing for a while that there are few places in Harlem cool enough to tempt people to come uptown for, but obviously I just haven’t done enough exploring. (A reviewer on CitySearch writes, “For me, it’s worth the trip to harlem from brooklyn.”

The place is so fun, a late-night jazz free-for-all that seems not to have much renovation since it first operated in the 1930s. (I remember seeing somewhere the claim it was the oldest continuously operating jazz club in NYC, but I can’t find the citation again.)

We started the night with the late set at Smoke Jazz Club (105th & Broadway) of the Eric Alexander Quartet, a friend of Sean’s from college. That was fun, though the music a bit serious and bill quite expensive. After the set, we had another drink till about 2am, and then a couple of the party left but the rest (John, two visiting friends of his, and Anya, who made the schlep from Brooklyn, bless her) went to St. Nick’s on Anya’s advice.

By quarter-to-three or so when we got there, the joint was jumping, with a hot jam that must have included 10 or more musicians rotating across the stage and clogging up the narrow hall to the bathrooms and the back courtyard (very urban), where smokers and friends chilled.

The crowd was mostly black, though mixed and we five honkies were made most welcome, including two tourists from Montana and Vermont respectively. Neither had been to NYC in a decade or more; they certainly got their money’s worth for an only-in-NY scene. (In retrospect, I realize it was the night of the Sean Bell verdict, the judge ruling the three cops not guilty for shooting unarmed Bell 50 times on his wedding eve. The city has changed, I guess.)

Anyway, point is check out St. Nick’s Pub. It’s a happening joint. If you can swing it, Monday night is suppose to be the hottest night, with a crazy-ass jam session.

Yelp review

CitySearch

All About Jazz

Oh joyous day! I heard on NPR this afternoon that Portishead, one of my all-time favorite bands, is at last releasing a new album after a decade hiatus entitled, appropriately, Third. Best of all, one of the songs, Deep Water, features guitarist Adrian Utley playing the ukulele! You can hear a snippet of it on Amazon (scroll down the page to the music samples).

It’s not out yet, but it should be next week. I’ve ordered mine on Amazon already. (I know that’s oldskool to buy the CD, but I’m still sore about LPs going away.)

In particular, SF is a great restaurant town, one of the best in the US. NYC has some great restaurants, but it has a whole lot of blah ones, too. It’s much easier to get a mediocre or even bad meal in NYC than in SF, for sure.

A friend is visiting there now, so I wrote these four restaurant recommendations for him, and I figured I should post them here for posterity and more readers:

Shalimar, on Jones and O’Farrell, the Tenderloin. Crappy neighborhood, and it’s a divey looking place, but it’s always busy because the food is amazing. Best to go there with a big group so you can order a lot of dishes and share. I recommend the tandoori chicken and also the saag panir, spinach and homemade cheese. It’s all great. I make a pilgrimage to it on every trip. You order at the counter and they deliver to your table. BYOB.

Zarzuela, on Hyde and Union, (Russian Hill neighborhood). Great Spanish tapas. Very romantic. Our favorite romantic spot. Terrific homemade ice cream parlor kitty corner, Swenson’s, olde-thyme style, like the one that was my first job in high school.

The Grand Cafe, in the Hotel Monaco building, on Geary at Taylor, right off Union Square. Trendy French place, cool, grandiose interior. Not cheap, but the food and service are good.

Front Porch, in Noe Valley/Bernal Heights/The Mission neighborhood. Great nouveau California soul food. Fun atmosphere. Near another fantastic ice cream store with exotic flavors, Mitchell’s.

I’m also accepting recommendations for new discoveries for my upcoming trips.

UPDATE

Ton Kiang is a great dim sum place in the Richmond neighborhood I just discovered today. I’d known before about Yank Sing, another famous SF dim sum (or deem sum, as they write on their web site) place, but Yank Sing, just off the edge of the financial district, is quite expensive. Ton Kiang, in the heavily Chinese (and Russian) residential neighborhood of the Richmond, however, was terrific quality traditional dim sum (Yank Sing gets a bit more contemporary/Californian, if I recall) but for a fraction of the price of Yank Sing: $20 a person to eat to our fill and then some.

I can’t believe Earl tried to kill me. Earl wouldn’t try to kill me. I’m Randy. That would be like peanut butter trying to kill jelly. Peanut butter wouldn’t kill jelly. We’re in the same sandwich!

“Stupid whitey, doesn’t speak Chinese. Tell him it means ‘Fearsome Warrior.’”

I was think of adding “Feel free to cheat him,” that that would just be too many characters and rather overplaying the joke.