The week is chilly. The weekend is pleasantly brisk.
This week's Perk gives you a free week at Equinox Fitness Clubs, now outfitted with iPhone-assisted bookings and eucalyptus-scented towels. Fair warning: there may be some exercise involved.
Six acrobatically inclined femmes fatales. One pole. Yes, "Miss Sexy" and five other lithe competitors are joining forces tonight to determine the best pole dancer in America. After the show, you'll get a chance to put your discerning tastes to good use, choosing which of the ladies gets the grand prize, a cool $10,000 (presumably in singles).
The St. Regis Hotel is celebrating the diamond anniversary of its fabled brunch cocktail creation with tomato/vodka concoctions from Charlie Palmer, the Spotted Pig and WD50 (among others), with ingredients including everything from onion brine to clam juice. Mimosas, while delicious, will be strictly forbidden.
If you always wished Coney Island was a little closer, filled with stilt walkers and served alcoholic snow cones, welcome to the splendor of Carnival, a new bar on top of a bowling alley with carnival-themed food, drink and merriment. Yes, it's as crazy as it sounds.
Just in time for the end of the actual Oktoberfest, Shake Shack is busting out a menu full of bratwurst, German beer and apple strudel. Normally we'd predict longer lines, but we're not actually sure that's possible.
These archivists/T-shirt mavens specialize in retro graphics of even more retro sports icons—think Muhammad Ali, Bobby Fischer and the Brooklyn Dodgers—and the softest shirts this side of American Apparel. And thanks to our magic promo code, you'll be able to get yourself an "I'm calling it Shea" shirt at half the usual price. Citi Field will forgive you.
Now that your expense account is getting a little closer scrutiny, midtown steakhouse Maloney & Porcelli is using receipt shenanigans to even the score. They'll make any record of your porterhouse decadence disappear under the ruse of an office supplies receipt—and even deliver it in an Olive Garden bag so nobody catches on...that is, if you don't mind your secretary thinking you eat lunch at the Olive Garden.
As of tonight, you've got a new Soho spot for some elegant cocktailing. The tony Crosby Street Hotel's new lounge is packing drinks like the Seelbach Cocktail (a bourbon/champagne elixir), Cured Duck Spring Rolls and an alfresco space in back, perfect for your next post-Esquina nightcap—or the next time you need a little hideaway downtown.
After cashing in his chips on Ono, Jeffrey Chodorow is trying his hand at a slightly more comfortable tavern in the same spot, complete with flowery pink wallpaper, a promising backroom behind the stairs, and a menu mixing noodles bowls and flat-iron steaks. If you weren't planning a sake bender before…it might be time to start.
