Uptown To Do List - Week of Dec. 16, 2024
An ever changing list of things to do above the park
Hello and Happy Monday Tuesday! This is our last post of the year and it is a momentous one because we have hit 100 subscribers! Thanks to all of you for hanging out with us. We’re glad you’re here. Don’t forget to tell your friends and tag us on your socials!
EATS AND DRINKS
LAST CHANCE ALERT: Contento (88 East 111th Street at Park Avenue): Contento opened as an accessible, Peruvian restaurant with wine bar vibes. The whole place was wheelchair accessible and super cute and the food was excellent. Not surprisingly, Contento landed itself on the NY Times Top 100 list two years in a row. Sadly, December 21 will be the last service at this most excellent spot. Eater has reported on the closing and also notes that wine will be 25% off until the restaurant closes. I repeat, four glasses for the price of three! In case you needed another reason to go, here’s the write up from the Michelin Guide and here is what Pete Wells thought of the place. We’re sad to see this place go and we wish that team the best of luck.
West Harlem Festival of Food (Hamilton Heights): This “festival,” which we are super excited about, takes place from December 21 to January 4. Think of it like a Hamilton Heights Restaurant Week where a bunch of awesome places got together to offer deals, entertainment and special music. So like Crispin’s Hell’s Kitchen will serve you a three-course “Celebration Menu” with a glass of wine for $65 (it’s a good deal—the options include things like octopus, scallops, lamb chops and snapper). Or Hamilton Hall Bar & Restaurant will serve you a three course meal with champagne and a boozy after-dinner drink for $45. Or, if dinner is not your thing, you can hit up the Honeywell for a Candy Cane Sour or Red Kup for a $12 Moroccan Rose Latte with Pistachio Ricotta Cake (which would have cost way more than $12 for the lettering alone). The point here is you should scroll through these options at this link here and then start your food festival journey immediately!
Lucille’s Coffee and Cocktails (26 Macombs Pl between West 150th and 151st Streets): if you watched the TV show Harlem, you’ll recognize Lucille’s from Season 2. In person, the place is exactly the type of place where you’d expect things to be filmed: it’s cute, high ceilings, exposed brick, comfortable seating and oversized art. Add to that, great coffee, wonderful cocktails, strong food options and a plethora of plant-life and you’ve got it all. They even have live music on Thursdays because why not one more thing?! Pro tip: check this place out Tuesday to Sunday between 5 and 6pm for BOGO happy hour options. Because the only thing better than awesome is discount awesome!
Cocina Consuelo (130 Hamilton Place at the corner of West 143rd Street): We were thrilled to see Cocina Consuelo show up on Eater’s December list of The Hottest New Restaurants in Manhattan. As is noted in every write up of this restaurant, it began as a pandemic supper club and has turned into an all day cafe that has not lost the feel of the owner’s living room. We repeat this because we wholeheartedly agree. Interestingly, the Eater write up focused on brunch, which we found to be the restaurant’s weak spot: both in service and quality. (But then also I guess if your masa pancake is your weak spot, you’re doing okay.) Our pro tip is to go for dinner—and go early, because they don’t take reservations. We loved everything we ate but the aguachile was a revelation, and the Mama Chelo Jalepenos were pleasantly surprising and different. Particularly cool is the Mexico-forward wine and beer list, with options not widely available other places. Even better is the $35 off your bill of $100+ when you sign up for and pay using the inKind app (popup on Cocina Consuelo’s site), and since sign up and payment are both super easy, there is no reason not to do it.
Harlem Biscuit Company (2308 Adam Clayton Powell between West 135 and 136th Streets): we fell in love with Harlem Biscuit Company when it was just a popup at 67 Orange. We dug into those first biscuits while sitting at the old Bean & Barley, which managed on that day to only have espresso martinis and water to serve for drinks. (This may explain why it is no longer open.) We had the John Lewis, Ali and a trio of house-made biscuits with spreads. The breakfast sandwiches here aren’t cheap: an egg and cheese will cost you about $8, and anything with chicken, fish or sausage (vegan or meat varieties) is going to run you $13-$15. But if you’re prepared for the price tag, the sandwich will not disappoint. We were sad to see the business move out of our immediate vicinity but happy that it has landed a home. Also, they will deliver. Just know their daily hours are 8am-2pm, so you cannot eat one of their delicious sandwiches for dinner unless you double-up on your breakfast order and somehow manage to save some for later.
Lee Lee’s Baked Goods (283 West 118th Street between Fred Doug and Adam Clayton Powell): Lee Lee’s new awning labels the spot a “pastry shop,” which it is. But cooler than your run of the mill pastry shop, Lee Lee’s sells “rugelach by a brother,” which is basically the best rugelach on planet earth as far as we can tell. Don’t take our word for it, check out the write ups in the New Yorker, Eater or even on Page Six. Or just go get some for yourself—but be prepared, the holidays are bustling over at Lee Lee’s.
HAPPENINGS
Stories with Santa—Cuentos con Santa! at United Palace (4140 Broadway between West 175th and 176th Streets): On Friday, December 20th from 4-7pm, United Palace will host FREE story time with Santa. This event is dedicated to fostering a love of reading in children through heartwarming stories, gifts and fun activities. It promises each child special surprises, delicious snacks and inspiration. Plus I bet this Santa is way better than that midtown Macy’s chump. RSVP here. Pro tip: always RSVP for United Palace events to make sure there is room for you!
Kwanzaa: A Regeneration Celebration at the Apollo (253 West 125th Street, between Adam Clayton Powell and Fred Doug): on Saturday, December 21st at 2pm or 7:30pm, you can experience the Apollo’s famous Kwanzaa celebration, featuring the Forces of Nature Dance Theater as well as some musical and spoken word performances. Tickets start at $46.50 and can be purchased here. The performances are sure to be great and the theater is a really special treat.
United Palace Theater (4140 Broadway between West 175th and 176th Streets): if you’re lucky, you know about this theater. Originally one of the five Lowe’s “Wonder Theaters” and Manhattan’s fourth largest theater, it is impressive inside and out (but especially inside). If you haven’t been in person, you may recognize United Palace as the “Goosebury Theater” from on Season Three of Only Murders in the Building. Reason enough to go in person. But seriously, you should go immediately regardless of your reason. Lucky for you, there is a happy hour historical tour taking place on Thursday, December 19th, 2024 at 7pm. The tour lasts 90 minutes and comes with a beverage. Plus proceeds go toward building maintenance which, since United Palace is a landmarked building, cannot be cheap.
JCC Harlem (318 West 118th Street, between Fred Doug and Manhattan): Most of our time at the JCC thus far has involved standing in line to vote (because it’s our polling site), so we were particularly excited to learn that the JCC will also let you stand in line to pick up pre-made challah dough to braid and bake at home. That’s right, for $15 cold ones, you can get some fresh challah dough as part of Harlem Challah. Holla! The next one takes place on Friday, December 20th at 4:45—RSVP here, then show up on Friday and grab your challah and go or, if you can wait 30 minutes to start your bake, stay for a glass of wine!
More Lit Holiday Trees: 6sqft did a write up of the best Christmas trees in New York City and it just so happens two of those trees are above the park! Hurrah! One is at the Central Park Discovery Center (okay technically at the top of the park, but it’s close). The second one is in The Bronx’s Little Italy at Ciccarone Park on East 188th Street and Arthur Avenue. It’s almost Christmas, so get moving on your lit tree crawl!
DID YOU KNOW?
Harlem Lights this year is paying special tribute to George Faison, who became the first African American to win a Tony Award for best choreography for his work in The Wiz! As if that fun fact weren’t fun enough, Faison is the owner of 6 Hancock Place between Manhattan and Morningside—a decommissioned firehouse known as the Faison Firehouse Theater, which Faison established in 2000 along with his co-founder Tad Schugg. The space, now sadly defunct, once hosted a 130 seat theater, included a fine arts gallery, rehearsal facilities and a cabaret theater. According to Faison’s bio, the space was branded “Hollywood in Harlem” by the media. (This one is for sure to show up on an Uptown pub trivia night.) Former Faison Firehouse guests include many people you have definitely heard of, like Maya Angelou and Oprah Winfrey. Here’s a YouTube clip about the theater if you want to learn more.