The first ten lucky ducks to print out their newsletter and bring it to the museum receive free admission to DECODENCE as well as a complimentary Jeremy Scott DECODENCE T-Shirt!  Bon Chance!

Please tell me.  I have wondered about this for twenty years.

The massive influx of Russians into Brooklyn over the past fifty years has brought New York one of my favorite imports – The Russian Restaurant.

Not your typical eating establishment, Russian restaurants in Brooklyn are part restaurant, part cabaret, part discotheque, part catering hall, and part vodka-slushing, ice scuplture laden, Romanov theme parks.

Evenings start with a bottle of ice cold vodka being slammed on the table with a slew of caviars, smoked fishes, and patês followed by an onslaught of extravagant entrees and desserts, while a troupe of Russian DJs and dancers parade across the stage in Swarovski-encrusted ostrich feather bodysuits and headdresses. More Vegas than Vegas, you feel like you’re a privileged guest of Catherine the Great (had she been raised in Brighton Beach.)

The other diners are as much of a show as the spectacle on stage. A central-casting crew of young Russian guidos and their heavily-accented girlfriends, old married couples dripping in Century-21 acquired Versace, and the lone unsuspecting Manhattanite who read about this somewhere and has no idea what he’s gotten himself into.

My favorite spot is the iconic RASPUTIN – the heavily favored and most surreal of all – with its combo of new-school and old-school Russia. Another is ROSSIYA, not nearly as impressive, but whose website you need to visit just for effect. Check out the “Show” section.

So get your post-Soviet brand awareness on and head to Coney Island Ave.

RASPUTIN
2670 Coney Island Ave
Brooklyn
(718) 332-8111

I grew up in New York City and am one of those New Yorkers who prides themselves on knowing what every square block of this town looks and smells like. You can imagine my shock when Matt led me down what I have come to think is the most beautiful street in this city – and one that I’d never heard of until last summer.

Stone Street.

The narrow, cobblestone alley first developed by Dutch colonists in the 1600′s is said to be the first paved street in the city of New York. This charming stretch has had quite a history and a slew of names including Hoogh Straet (while under Dutch ownership,) Duke Street (in honor of the Duke of York after the Dutch West India Company sold the property to the Europeans,) and finally dubbed Stone Street by politically self-determining New Yorkers in 1794.

These days Stone Street is lined with great old-school pubs and restaurants including the adorable Financier Cafe which has some of the best pastries in town.

Take a stroll and have a macaroon:

Financier Patisserie
62 Stone Street
(Between Mill Lane and Hanover Sq)
Downtown NYC