Bands, readings and galleries – oh my!

Had dinner & drinks Tuesday at Tillman’s, a new lounge-y/supper club-by place in the Fashion District. The website says the menu is “soul food”; Garet describes it as “innovative comfort food”; and I consider it to be “sexy grilled cheese.” The menu predominantly consists of grilled cheese sandwiches. I had one with brie and apples, Garet had one with a French onion dipping sauce on the side, and Gail had a Monte Cristo with blackberry jam (that one was actually my favorite). Sandwiches are served with potato chips and pickled black eyed peas. Food was good; the vibe was good. Wish I had known about this cozy place in the winter, but am quite happy to have discovered it now.

Later we went to the Red Lion in the West Village. I hadn’t been to this club in like 10 years; it was a lot less dive-y than I remembered. Jake Stigers was playing; the band was pretty good, standard rock. They were joined onstage by a musician friend who played the mandola and harmonium. I love the sound of a mandolin; it makes think of someone playing on the porch when it’s raining. For their last song, the band covered Eddie Rabbitt’s “Drivin’ My Life Away.” Wow. I hadn’t thought about that song (or Eddie Rabbitt for that matter) since the early 1980s.


My friend Doug’s first novel East Fifth Bliss was published last year. Writing a novel, let alone having it printed and distributed, is no small feat. He read a passage from the novel during a reading at Cornelia Street Café Wednesday night. Good stuff. The story takes place in the East Village - my neighborhood (and Doug's) . I will read the book in May, and give you the full review.

I got to know Doug when he & I worked together seven+ years ago during the dot-com boom (and we also shared an office!). Office-sharing can be a pretty intense, polarizing situation: either you never want to see the person again or you’re very cool moving forward. Fortunately Doug & I seem to be falling in the latter category, and I’m happy to see him doing well.


Does anyone I remember the time 6 years ago when I shot in San Francisco for a month? Monica, the art director who was with me on that trip, had a photography show Thursday night at Niagra’s downstairs gallery. It was a fun time, and Monica was very happy (though whiskey may have helped her out a little in this regard).