Uptown To Do List - Week of Jan. 6, 2025
An ever changing list of things to do above the park
Happy Monday! Happy New Year! Welcome back! We know you’ve all got resolutions to keep, so we’ve got some good Dry January tips.
EATS AND DRINKS
Ginjan Bros (85 East 125th Street at Park Avenue): This technically is a coffee shop called Ginjan Cafe and you definitely can get fine coffee there, but they will also sell you beverages called Ginjan, which are marketed as health juices. For this reason, I rolled my eyes while walking by this cafe for many years. Doing so was error. Ignore the marketing and hear me out. There are two flavors: ginger and bissap (translation: hibiscus). The ginger flavor has a perfect balance between being ginger forward and not overly saccharine—and I am someone who thinks Reed’s Ginger Beer could be more gingery and less sweet (in case you want to calibrate your taste buds). The hibiscus flavor is smooth and similarly well-balanced. (Because I’m a clutz, I usually steer clear of bright red beverages.) Either of these flavors is the right choice if you’re on your way to the MetroNorth for a day trip out of the city. BUT these people will also deliver cases of either flavor or a mixture of both to your front door (15% discount if you subscribe for regular deliveries). This is relevant because these juices are excellent mixers, which the Bros know: they put up this page with recipes for you. Bonus: you can order your case before year-end and it won’t blow up your Dry January!
Winnie Said (1624 Amsterdam at West 141st): We went here on a cold December night on the promise of a fireplace—an electric fireplace, but a fireplace. What we found was so much more. First, the bar’s mascot is a raccoon. I assume said raccoon’s name is Winnie but actually there are multiple raccoons inside the bar. Quite a plot twist. The place itself gives off elevated dive bar vibes and offers not one—but two!—happy hours. The first is from 11-3 and includes food. The second is from 4-7 and will get you a slight discount on drinks (like $1 off beers). The happy hour pricing is actually the least inspiring part of the establishment, so the timing of your arrival should present no issue.
At first glance, the food menu is limited and has some random items: like a caesar salad that is a cross between a tuna nicoise without the tuna and an actual caesar salad. But our friend who ate that caesar salad proclaimed it to be delicious and implored us to mention it in this post. The rest of the food menu was also strong. We had the wings, fries and smash burger with the impossible patty. It was the best non-meat smash burger I think I have ever had. The fries were nice and crispy as promised and the venue was super comfortable. It also has a strong non-alcoholic menu, including beer and mocktail options. Our pro tip here is that most of the bartenders at this particular establishment don’t drink, so think twice before you order some obscure mixed drink and instead consider sticking to the classics. So to conclude: we think this place is perfect for Dry January because you get to hang out in a dive bar but you can eat a weird but magical caesar salad and get yourself a mocktail made by a dude who actually drinks mocktails!
Oh Craft! Beer & Wine (1739 Amsterdam between West 146th and 147th): this is your cute local hole in the wall that gives off Brooklyn vibes but seems to be trying really hard to put on some fun programming and maybe transform itself from just an after work bar. In terms of what the place is, it is half sports bar with large TVs, a quarter of a bottle shop (with a couple of fridges in the back with a small but mighty collection of beer and such) and a quarter of a wanna be wine bar. If you know what you want and that thing is a draft beer or something from the fridge, this place is going to be a great experience for you. If you are someone who needs to rely on the bartender to get from A-Z, this may not be your place. Also the website appears to be objectively terrible at advertising events, so don’t rely on it to tell you when the good stuff is happening—we learned from a random guy by the fridge that the weekends often bring food popups, some Thursdays have comedy, Mondays have “Tipsy Chess” and Tuesday night is always Trivia. Pro tip: go before 7pm when there are happy hour deals on wings ($1.25), oysters ($1.50 raw, $2 cooked), and a $16 burger, beer and fries combo (they serve Beyond Meat for the plant lovers out there).
Dream Dumpling (2289 Adam Clayton Powell between West 134rd and 135th): Dream Dumpling is amazing and you should go there immediately. The places is run by a woman (probably named Sue) who appears to live on other floors in the townhouse with the restaurant. The restaurant itself appears to be Sue’s dining room with a small couch at the entrance. Technically, there is a 6 person table and a 2 person table, so maybe not exactly Sue’s dining room, but close.
Sue has a brand new freezer where you can go to pick out your dumplings (four flavors: beef, pork, shrimp and vegetable, and any can be steamed or fried). You can also buy wontons or wonton soup (two flavors: pork and shrimp). Sue will then cook your dumplings in the backyard while imploring you to stay out of her kitchen where you will inevitably wander as you try to figure out what is going on in said backyard. Sue will periodically run around, harried, and possibly express frustration nominally in words at math or sauce packaging or both. Speaking of sauce, she’ll bring you a big plate with a bunch of sauce containers and let you choose which sauces you want with your dumplings and how many containers of each you want (four options: green jalepeno, red chili, black bean, peanut butter & maple syrup, and soy sauce).
It’s worth going to Dream Dumpling and ordering from Sue directly at least once to get the full experience (a sign tells you it takes only 9 minutes for her to make your perfect dumplings), but it is also possible to call in your order (646) 599-6765. (Sue will also sell you frozen dumplings but I promise you cannot make them better than Sue, so definitely definitely ask Sue to cook them for you.) What it is not possible to do is to review a menu on Sue’s website; she doesn’t have one. Google Maps didn’t even know this place existed when we tried to look it up, though it appears GrubHub might deliver to you if you are nice. (We apparently were not and it wouldn’t.) Just know Sue’s hours are wackadoodle: 11-5pm M-F and she is super closed on weekends, so hit it up on a WFH day. Or maybe WFH to hit it up. You won’t be disappointed.
HAPPENINGS
The Under the Radar festival of experimental theater is underway with various performances from January 4th through the 19th. The festival used to live at the Public Theater but lost its home due to budget cuts. As a result, it now takes place at 30 venues citywide—including a venue uptown! Ian Kamau’s Loss will be premiering at the Apollo Stages at the Victoria on January 9th, 10th and 11th. The production uses live music, video and storytelling to explore grief in Afro-Caribbean communities. You can get your tickets here and read more about the festival here.
The No Name Super Storyteller Party will be taking place on Tuesday, January 7th from 7-8:30pm at Word Up Community Bookshop (2113 Amsterdam at West 165th Street). The Super Story Party is hosted by author/storyteller Michele Carlo, author of FISH OUT OF AGUA and will include a “Magic Hat Open-Mic” where audience members can sign up for a chance at four minutes of stage time to share their own stories. Four minutes is a long time in dog years, so if you want to participate, be sure to prep your story ahead of time! It is free to attend by the bookshop welcomes contributions. You can register here.
If story time is not your thing, but you love bookshops or music or just being uptown, then you should consider checking out Uptown Out at Recirculation (876 Riverside Drive at West 160th Street) on Thursday, January 9th from 7-8:30pm. Recirculation is a Word Up Bookshop project, and Uptown out is an evening of improvised music in different groupings at Recirculation. It will include the inaugural appearance of the Recirculation piano—which, obviously, is not to be missed. $10 suggested donation with 100 attendees max. You can register here.
On Wednesdays at West 125th Street & Park Avenue, the Uptown Grand Central Farmstand will be open. Get there and help yourself keep those resolutions!
Join Random Strangers Jam at Shrine (2271 Adam Clayton Powell between West 133rd and West 134th) every Monday in January and February 2025 for a fully improvised psychedelic funk rock jam session. Every 5-10 minutes, half the band takes a seat and is replaced by musicians from the audience. The new group of random strangers picks a key and kicks off a fresh jam segment. RSVP here. If you plan to participate, you will also need to sign in on the sign in sheet, which is available at Shrine 15 minutes before the show starts. Backline includes amps, PA, D/I, mics, drums keys but you must bring all other instruments.
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine is hosting Notre-Dame de Paris: The Augmented Exhibition. The interactive exhibit sounds very cool and will take you through 850 years of Notre-Dame’s history. The written description on St. John the Divine’s website doesn’t do it justice, so if you’re interested, I’d check out this short video. Ticket prices range from $10 (child) to $25 (adult). You can buy your tickets here. The exhibit takes 60-90 minutes to do right.
WNYC and The Apollo are hosting “A Burning House”: MLK and the American Experiment on Sunday, January 19th. This annual event will explore Dr. King’s legacy through conversations with intellectuals, community and faith leaders, authors and artists, who will discuss democracy and civil rights under a second Trump administration. The event is free but you must RSVP—which you can do starting tomorrow, Tuesday, January 7. Don’t get left behind!
Whole Foods Harlem is hosting a free beer tasting on Saturday, January 11th from 4-7pm. Montclair Brewery suds will be served.
DID YOU KNOW?
As we head into winter break, it seems like the right time to upgrade your reading list with the New York Public Library’s dedicated Harlem Community Collection. The Harlem Collection includes stories and histories for and about the Harlem community and it is reserved for circulation in Harlem! You can check out the Harlem collection at the (newly renovated) 125th Street Library or the Harlem Library—or both.