Astorian Weekend Edition 25.12.08

Merry Christmas to all of you that celebrate the holiday! I expect a lot of your time will be spent with family and/or friends, and eating delicious food. According to my sources, Thursday will be one of the nicest days we've had recently, with partial sun and no deep freeze temperatures. A walk in Astoria Park might be nice way to spend time outside and with your loved ones.

The 26th brings us another day of rest (and Boxing Day!). It'll be cloudy and grey, so why not hang out in one of the local cafes for a few hours? The other day I was at Cafe Soleil (37-14 Astoria Blvd) on Astoria Blvd and had a delicious cup of tea and a fantastic chicken and green apple salad sandwich. Omonia (32-20 Broadway) is always a good bet, and further south is funky Cafe Bar (32-90 34th Avenue).

Another option this weekend is to take the family to the Museum of the Moving Image (36-01 35th Ave) for their Animation Workshop. From December 26-31 (and January 2-4), workshops are daily at noon and 2:00 p.m. and 60 minutes each. "Children learn the history and technique of stop-motion animation, and then make their own short films, which will be shared online. Recommended for ages 8 and up. Materials fee: $5 per child. Space is limited. Call 718.777.6820 to reserve." They're also showing the delightful short film The Red Balloon in Tut's Fever Movie Palace, daily at 1, 2, and 3 p.m., and 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday night, Astoria Music & Arts presents their first Holiday Surprise, a 3-venue "Rock n' Crawl" down 30th Ave, with live, original music by Astoria musicians. Boite Cafe (40-17 30th Ave), The Quays (45-02 30th Ave), and Shillelagh (47-22 30th Ave) are the venues, and a variety of bands will perform. Crawl starts at 6 p.m. at Boite and is expected to go til 2 a.m.

Astorian Weekend Edition 07.02.08

I'm back! Thanks to flooz for covering last week - I learned this week that a tree knocked out my internet - 7 days without internet is like an eternity! Oh well, I did end up catching up on my Netflix queue...

Now, if you're of the romantic persuasion, this is the time to make your Valentine's Day reservations. Astoria has a lot of lovely options, including Bistro 33 ($50 prix fixe), Mundo ($65 prix fixe) 718, L'Incontro, Stove, and Locale. More on this subject next week.

Take a visit to the Czech Republic this weekend at the Beer Garden. Thursday night at 7 p.m. the Laco Dezci Jazz Orchestra plays in the Beer Cellar restaurant. No cover, no minimum. Then on Saturday at 7 p.m. they're showing a selection of recent Czech films (in Czech with English subtitles): With Kisses from Your Love (Libam te a miluji); Low Level Flight (Nizky let). Both are directed by Jan Sikl.

I also walked by Inside Astoria (37-20 Ditmars) on my way back from voting Tuesday, and noticed they are having a sale. I love that place, and they always have interesting stuff there.

On Sunday evening, stop by the Albatross Bar (36-19 24th Avenue) for $5 Cosmos!

I've also been spending some time at Cafe Soleil (Astoria Blvd South between 37th and 38th Streets) and love it. They've got free wifi, tasty snacks, and normal sized lattes. Small means small, Starbucks! But my favorite thing at Soleil is the fresh juice. I had apple, carrot, orange juice last weekend and it was fantastic! The space is really cute, too.

For something completely different, attend either the Yixing Teapot or Chinese Brush Making Workshop at the Brickhouse Ceramic Art Center (10-34 44th Drive). Registration Fee is $110 for each, and that includes materials fee and lunch.

Lastly, our friend Zora mentions Leng Thai (33-09 Broadway), which has been open for about a month. I peeked in the other day and it looked really nice in there. I hear the food is pretty good, too. Check it out and let us know what you think.

Astorian Weekend Edition 27.09.07

Well, this is the last weekend of September - October is just around the corner and I expect the full reality of fall will hit me then. This warm/hot weather this past week has kept me in the mindset of summer. Can't put the summer clothes away just yet! And you can hang on to the last bit of summer with a trip to PS1 in LIC. Their summer line up of exhibitions is there for just a bit longer, just until October 8. Get there to see Peter Young, Jack Whitten, and many other before their works come down.

On the art-related front, this weekend the Women's Studio Center in LIC (21-24 44th Avenue) presents their annual Members Exhibition, Small Works, Big Ideas. They're having an opening reception on Friday from 5-8pm. Come by to see a variety of media, from painting, to sculpture, to bronze work, among others. I stopped by this week and saw a lot of wonderful pieces. My favorite is a little bronze horse - it's really lovely. It's definitely worth a trip.

And on Thursday, the Art-O-Mat holds a reception for 11101:The Space at Art-O-Mat, The Space's residency there. The Space "has been providing free studio, rehearsal, and performance space for the creative arts" in LIC since 1999. The reception is at 6pm with live banjo music by Johnny Coughlan and Friends. Art-O-Mat is located at 46-46 Vernon Blvd.

On Saturday, the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (LPAC, 47th Avenue at Van Dam in LIC) presents the Pasha Dance Company, Korea’s elite dance troupe, in their US debut. They will perform its signature piece, Mok-Ryeon, Ascendable the Cloud Nine, which is inspired by Dante’s Paradise and Buddhist thought. They use contrasting colors and choreography to tell the story of the Buddhist disciple Maudgalyayana. They will also present Everlasting Mass Communication, winner of the Korean Ministry of Culture’s Best Dance Production in 2006. 8pm, General Admission: $20 / $10 Students.

On Friday, see the documentary City of Water at Socrates Sculpture Park from 7-9pm. The description: "With New York City's waterways finally coming back to life, this short documentary explores the aspirations of public officials, advocates, environmentalists, recreational boaters and regular New Yorkers for their waterfront as development along its shores proceeds at a gold-rush pace. The documentary features interviews with Majora Carter, Dan Doctoroff, Cathy Drew, Joy Garland, Philip Lopate, Nydia Velazquez and others."
It's probably a good idea to rsvp for this at rsvp@mas.org

For eats, maybe stop by Cafe Soleil on Astoria Blvd or Patisserie la Brioche D'Or on Steinway Street, both new to the neighborhood. Water Taxi Beach is still going strong, with DJ Victor Franco spinning there Saturday night. Great dogs and burgers can be had there.

More fun, here.

Cafe Soleil Open!

A new coffee house has opened in Astoria! The Soleil Cafe, on Astoria Blvd South between 37th and 38th Streets, serves coffee (drip and espresso), tea, fresh juices, and baked goods so far. The space is really nice, with lots of comfy furniture, art on the wall, and the color scheme is a mixture of soothing earth tones. WiFi access is unknown at this time. The owner has been in the restaurant business for some time, and his brother is the manager over at Cavo, a well-loved spot in Astoria.

They plan to have music there in the future, too, which is I was happy to hear. The guys running the place are really nice, and very excited about this new venture. The coffee is tasty and the treats there look great (the brownie was yum!). I believe their hours will be between 6am and midnight. I'm looking forward to visiting again. Definitely check them out! And let us know what you think. Pictures below: