It’s February. It may be chilly, but love is in the air. And sometimes the most exciting getaways are the ones close by. Why not hop on a Hampton Jitney/Ambassador for a jaunt to the Big Apple and escape the East End for a few days? We’ve come up with a variety things to do — from art to the art of relaxing, from culinary to theater.
1. Love By A Thousand Roses
Enjoy an epic celebration of love at The Lowell Hotel on the Upper East Side. Available throughout February, The Lowell will offer its “Love by a Thousand Roses” overnight package in collaboration with FLOWERBX. The package includes one night in a Junior Suite (or higher), where guests will be warmly welcomed with a complimentary bottle of rosé Champagne, a three-tier arrangement of chocolate covered strawberries, macarons, pastry by Laduree, and chocolates by LA Burdick. The room will be adorned with 1,000 long stemmed roses arranged by FLOWERBX, creating the ultimate sanctuary for guests in search of a romantic respite.
Included in the package for two is a three-course dinner at the hotel’s restaurant, Majorelle. Following dinner, guests can retreat to their room where they can switch off and unwind in a pair of personally monogrammed bathrobes. Come morning, a Lovers’ Breakfast will be delivered to the room, featuring eggs and Osetra caviar paired with a bottle of sparkling rosé.
2. Pastry Chef Richard Capizzi’s Tribute Dinner
Pastry Chef Richard Capizzi will be remembered on February 19 with a tribute dinner and fundraiser at Lincoln Ristorante, where he practiced his craft for the last decade. A star-studded lineup of Chefs Thomas Keller, Shea Gallante, Jonathan Benno, Artem Orlovskyy and Chad Palagi will cook a dinner in homage to their beloved friend, while Pastry Chefs Sebastien Rouxel, Stefanie Morgado, Kara Blitz, Katie Backlund and Scott Cioe will collaborate on desserts. The evening will celebrate Chef Capizzi’s life and legacy. The dinner includes a cocktail hour followed by lavish six-course dinner with wine pairings.
Delaware North’s Patina Restaurant Group conceived of the tribute dinner as a fundraiser for Capizzi’s family, with all proceeds benefiting his wife Phyllis and their two children. The evening provides an opportunity for the restaurant community who loved him to gather and remember him, and an opportunity to launch a scholarship in his honor at his Alma Mater, The Culinary Institute of America.
“Richard was a tremendous talent and tremendous human being who graced our teams at Per Se and Bouchon Bakery. We owe to Richard how we make our Bouchons, how we make our confections, and so much else at the bakery. His legacy is everywhere,” said Thomas Keller.
3. Museum of Ice Cream
It’s the season of sweetness, and Museum of Ice Cream in Soho is ready to celebrate. Visitors will melt into an updated installation for the scoop on ice cream history and artifacts, before challenging friends to sweet new interactive games in the Carnival room. Museum of Ice Cream New York City will also celebrate Black History Month by partnering with Mikey Likes It Ice Cream, a Black-owned, pop culture-inspired ice cream shop with locations in the Lower East Side and Harlem. Guests who purchase tickets in February will enjoy unlimited samples of Mikey Likes It Ice Cream’s truffle shuffle ice cream.
Museum of Ice Cream has also partnered with jewelry and accessories brand Kendra Scott on a multi-pronged celebration to launch their “Sweet On You” Valentine’s Day campaign, shot at Museum of Ice Cream. The brands will partner together to surprise one New York City school with an ice cream party hosted by Museum of Ice Cream guides.
4. NYC Restaurant Week
It’s New York City Restaurant Week and you know the drill. Prix fixe options are available for lunch and dinner at participating restaurants through February 12. Some of the standouts participating in the promotion include Morandi, Dowlings at The Carlyle, Bar Boulud, Junoon, Temple Court, Lure Fishbar, Scarpetta, Bar Primi, The Bar Room at The Modern, Union Square Cafe, Fish Cheeks, Cafe D’Alsace, Kassaki, Orsay, Sylvia’s, and so many other New York City eateries.
5. Broadway Week
Dinner and a show, please! Not only is it NYC Restaurant Week, it’s also Broadway Week. From “The Book of Mormon” to “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” to “The Lion King,” enjoy nearly all Broadway productions at a discount through February 12.
6. Heritage: Exploring the Past, Present, and Future in Black Art
NYC Parks’ Ebony Society and Art and Antiquities present “Heritage: Exploring the Past, Present, and Future in Black Art.” This exhibition features artwork by NYC Parks employees exploring Black heritage. The exhibit also includes a collection of vintage hip-hop flyers and invitations. Artists include Tuwanda Harmon, Buddy Esquire (from the collection of Curtis Sherrod), Preston R. Coston. Jr., Claudette Ramos, and Patrick Forman. An opening reception will be held on the February 2 from 6 to 8 PM, and the exhibit is on view through March 9 at Arsenal in Central Park.
7. Dan Flavin “Kornblee Gallery 1967”
David Zwirner presents an exhibition of works by artist Dan Flavin at the gallery’s 34 East 69th Street location. Presented in adjacent rooms of the Upper East Side townhouse, the works on view recreate two groundbreaking exhibitions that Flavin mounted in 1967 at New York’s Kornblee Gallery, then located at the nearby and architecturally similar 58 East 79th Street.
In one gallery, a series of six vertically oriented works in cool white light, and in the opposite gallery, a work composed of six diagonals dramatically washes the space in green light. Made only a few years after Flavin began working with commercially available fluorescent lamps, these installations (or “situations,” as the artist called them) provide insight into Flavin’s distinct strategy for conceptualizing, activating, and transforming space with light and color. The show runs through February 25.
8. Cocktailing
While there’s no shortage of spots to indulge in a proper cocktail, here are a few options we love. Dante has been top of the best bar lists for years. The venue holds a fascinating history. Opening in 1915, its iterations have hosted the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Robert Maplethorpe, Patti Smith, and Al Pacino. Today, it honors that history and continues to produce some of the world’s most innovative cocktails. Try the Hot Smoked Toddy to warm up on a cold day.
Keeping with the theme of historical venues, The Hotel Chelsea’s El Quijote will transport you to a New York City of a different time. A time when the hotel restaurant was frequented by Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix. Try the Sherry Martini made with Spanish and American gins, or one of the restaurant’s signature sangria.
Bemelmans Bar at The Carlyle Hotel is another throw back — a space worthy of the many socialites, movie stars, and politicians that have entered its doors, giving off an ultimate Uptown feel.
The Lower East Side’s Bar Goto, with cocktails created by bar maven Kenta Goto, the venue’s owner and beverage director, is the perfect spot for an inventive libation. Try the Bar Goto Martini. Temple Bar in NoHo is another ideal spot for cocktailing. Enjoy the expansive martini menu, and, if you’re feeling it, add a bump of caviar to your order.
Belse, which recently opened New York City, is a vegan comfort food restaurant helmed by Chef Anthony Spino. They also offer delicious specialty cocktails and the venue, a highly-designed 11,000 square-foot open space, is also a brewery offering craft beers.
9. NYBG’s Orchid Show
The Orchid Show Returns to The New York Botanical Garden for Its 20th Year. It’s “a feast for the eyes during the dead of winter,” said Artist Lily Kwong, the designer for this year’s display titled Natural Heritage. The show, which opens on February 18, features immersive installations of thousands of orchids. Kwong’s design of the exhibition will transport guests to ethereal, reverent landscapes inspired by ancient Chinese garden design and artistic principles. It runs through April 23.
10. NYCB’s ‘The Sleeping Beauty’
The New York City Ballet presents “The Sleeping Beauty,” from February 15 to 26 at Lincoln Center. Enjoy Peter Martins’s staging of the Tchaikovsky classic. Martins’ version includes two acts that combine both beauty and drama.