The Weekend Guide | 11-14 April 2019

I see you, Brooklyn. I see you coming out from your shell. Metamorphosizing. Warming up. Breaking out. Shaking it down. Tearing it up. Painting it red, all of it. Painting every fucking thing red like a savage. It’s springtime. Let’s get out there and do all of the things we shut out and hid from all Winter.

I’ve found all of the best ways to shed that ruddy exterior and be a beautiful fucking butterfly all over Brooklyn this weekend. It’s all here for you in your weekend guide.

Things to do in Brooklyn on Thursday

Savoir Adore Album Release (and Dinner) at Elsewhere in Bushwick

I know what you’re looking for. You’re looking for something to satisfy you and entertain you, and perhaps your lover. You’re looking for the evolution of dinner and a movie. You’re looking for a creative culinary experience and disco dance party. And you’re looking in the right place. Mission Chinese is now located under the same roof as Elsewhere and is waiting to take your tastebuds on a wild Szechuan ride, and tonight, Savoir Adore wants you to adore them and their latest album, being released tonight. Get your tickets here, and make your reservations for dinner here. 

Or, my new neighborhood favorite dinner-and-disco option… Pony Boy.

Dinner and Disco Dancing at Pony Boy

My heart still breaks thinking about the massive loss we all experienced when the magical, intimate bar and venue Manhattan Inn shuddered its doors. The only thing that’s helped it mend is seeing what friends and owners James Dorje and Michael Stember have done to revive the place. A restaurant that somehow flawlessly fuses Japanese, American, and Mexican flavors and brightens it all with an amazing cocktail program, plus a disco dancehall in the back bringing together some of the most original and raucous parties in the borough. Go for dinner, stay for disco. Read what the NY Times had to say about them here and make a reservation now. 632 Manhattan Ave.

Multi Culti Dance Party at Good Room in Greenpoint

This weather should be making you thirsty for mischief and music and mayhem and mezcal, or whatever spirit you prefer. And you should do it within the loyal confines of a place that never disappoints. Thursday night’s Multi Culti party at The Good Room is just that. They welcome Thomas Van Party (obviously his birth name), Facets, Myn, and RTMC, and also welcome anyone else, for free (before midnight), with an RSVP. More info here. Go. Lose yourself to dance. 10pm-4am, 98 Meserole Ave.

Brooklyn Beer Leagues Hockey Playoffs at City Ice Pavilion in Long Island City

Come see hot guys on ice. For free. And half of them will be winners at the end of the night, and you can celebrate with that half, which will inevitably be crowd-favorite Williamsburg Jets. Come have some wine from my bota, get rowdy, see who goes top cheds and who doesn’t, find out where mama keeps the peanut butter, gaze longingly at the zamboni wondering if you will ever have a chance to drive one, pretend to be lost conveniently just before and just after the game to sneak some peeks in the locker room. Bring your own beer, take home a winner. Just come, I’ll show you what to do and also explain off-sides to you. Kind of. Game starts at 10pm. 47-32 42nd Place.

Things to do in Brooklyn on Friday

Sometimes It’s Prince in April Party at Littlefield

It’s been 3 years, somehow, since his majesty moved on from this world, and now it feels like we need his magic more than ever. Let’s get through this thing called life together and dance it out wearing raspberry berets and if it’s warm (which, a little birdy just told me…it kind of will be) let’s not wear much more. And dearly beloved, let’s do it all together, in Gowanus, at Littlefield. Wear your most majestic and Prince-inspired gear and get funky together, all night. Tickets, $7 advanced right here, $10 at the door. 10:30pm until… well, let’s just see, eh? 635 Sackett St.

Dance Party at Hotel Elefant in Greenpoint

Hotel Elefant is hard to find. Hotel Elefant is hard to describe. Hotel Elefant doesn’t exist until it’s time, and it won’t be there to remind you tomorrow. It was and is an art gallery, but like a room of requirement, it will be the most avant garde music experience you will find Friday night in North Brooklyn. Or maybe it will find you… They welcome Sky Macklay and Anthony Vine who will find you feeling fine and moving and grooving all night. Pay what you will at the door, because that’s the way things like this that don’t really exist go.  Info (kind of…) here. Somewhere in that massive, magic loft at 67 West St.

Scent Of An Idea Conceptual Cocktail Party at A/D/O in Greenpoint

Mmmm, think you’ve got a whiff of a super hip and slightly esoteric happening Friday night? This seems to be the one. Set within the cafe sneakily owned by BMW (not hard to sniff that one out) and posing or existing as an exclusive designer-only Nordic-inspired cafe, A/D/O invites you (or, kind of) to a conceptual cocktail party that will start with developing your olfactory senses and vocabulary, and then evolves into a conceptual cocktail party. Which, I’m just having trouble wrapping my head around. Are the bartenders mimes? Will everyone pretend to get tipsy? How will I explain my bad decisions the next day? Regardless, let’s be honest… there are a lot worse ways to seek nose-filled entertainment on a Friday night. Get tickets here, then follow your nose at 7pm to 29 Norman Ave. Smell ya later.

Things to do in Brooklyn on Saturday

Celebrate Record Store Day with the Independent Grand Pop-Up at Threes Brewing in Gowanus

Because you’re always saying you need to boost your vinyl collection, let Threes Brewing add a little beer and meat to sweeten that desire. They’ll be hosting a Record Store Day pop-up with Names You Can Trust, and as always, pouring all the best brews and satisfying all of your meat needs with the Meat Hook. DJs spinning rare grooves all day, pop-up specializing in new, independent & hard-to-find tropical & psychedelic music from around the globe. Bargaining encouraged. It’s happening from noon-6pm at 333 Douglass St. Threes Brewing, I’ll try anything thrice!

For all other Record Store Day events in Brooklyn, see here.

Fika Swedish Cooking Class at Archestratus in Greenpoint

If you’ve never had a cardamom bun, I feel hesitant to tell you about them. Because you will become addicted. At your own risk, get a ticket to this class innocent-seeming cooking class at our own beloved cookbook shop and cafe and classroom, you’ll learn everything you need to know to feed your new addiction. Taught by Swedish cookbook authors Johanna Kindvall and Anna Brones, they’ll be sharing their buns along with hands-on knowledge of other Swedish delicacies including a decadent chocolate cake and nutmeg cookies. Tickets, $75, available here. The class is from 6-8:30pm at 160 Huron St.

NYC Hot Sauce Expo at the Expo Center in Greenpoint

Admit it, you spend half of your weekend partying and the other half searching desperately for ways to cure your hangover. Here’s one maybe you haven’t tried. The Hot Sauce Expo returns to the Expo Center in Greenpoint and trust me, if you have something burning your esophagus you usually can’t focus too much on other alcohol-induced pain. Can’t knock it ’til you try it. It’s happening Saturday and Sunday so go Saturday… because those bathrooms are already going to be a crap shoot but Sunday they’ll be a disaster. Hot sauce, hot food, cold beer, good times. Starts at noon, $15 tickets available here. 79 Franklin St.

Luna Park Opening Day in Coney Island

We can talk lightly about changing our activities based on the weather but let’s really get into it, eh? Let’s make active decisions to appreciate the goodness that is enveloping us. Let’s go to Luna Park’s opening and then get Nathan’s hot dogs and walk along the boardwalk because that is what the atmosphere wants and what we were born to do. It’s the theme park’s annual charity day, meaning access to all rides for a $10 donation to Children of Promise. Get yours at the park, and do everything else a la carte.

Grilled Cheese Social at Brooklyn Slate in Gowanus

Most Saturdays I’m ok to slip from my “business-week” diet and indulge in anything and everything cheese related and I think that you should too. Feel less bad about it by going to this event at Brooklyn Slate and getting a FREE grilled cheese ($5 donation) plus 60% off Brooklyn Slate’s amazing products, which means you’ll be pre-buying a wedding gift for all of those weddings you’re about to have this Spring/Summer/Fall. Because nothing feels better than receiving a Brooklyn-made object that you can talk about and entertain with and smear cheeses upon, from your favorite Brooklynite. Oh and also it’s National Grilled Cheese Day, and this event welcomes all of your favorite local cheesy friends, and a few meaty ones and sudsy ones too. All details here, noon-4pm. 33 Bowne St.

Up the Sluts Party at 3 Dollar Bill in Bushwick

This is like the gateway drug to a sex party and let’s face it, everybody kind of wants that. What does that look like? Mostly just arts-and-crafts, simple socializing, and a little lesson in discipline in the form of live nude painting, a make your own pasties workshop, pansexual speed-dating and a dom-ing 101 session. They promise to present to you a Lush Eden, a Paradise Found, an all-inclusive sex-positive day-long extravaganza. Tickets, $10 available here. 3-9pm, 260 Meserole St.

Silent Disco Yoga Party at the McCarren Hotel in Greenpoint(ish)

If you’ve spent much time reading my weekend guides, you know there are two things I hate- silent discos, and yoga-fusion. So I feel like I should just drop the mic here. But, alas, the post must go on. Come and reward yourself with the joint spiritual practice of yoga but with noise cancelation headphones that may or may not be telling you the same thing as the people behind you. Because how comfortable have you ever been with the joint “OMMM” when you can actually hear it? Let’s all embark on a solo act of joint participation and realize just how out-of-hand-and-body this has all become. See you there, just don’t say hi to me. I will both pretend not to and won’t hear you. Your $35 ticket is right here. 2-4pm, 160 North 12th St.

Things to do in Brooklyn on Sunday

The Meatball Takedown at Lot 45 in Bushwick

The only thing I want to do most Sundays is eat meatballs with my friends and drink beers in fairly dark places and talk about which ones we like best and tell other saucy secrets. Which is exactly what’s happening this Sunday. The Takedowns is taking on on meatballs and bring all the best ballers in the city right to you at Lot 45 in Bushwick. Go, have a ball, then a bunch more and vote. And then tell me all your secrets. Tickets are  $25 and are available here. 2-4 pm, 411 Troutman St.

Brooklyn Peaches Spring Spectacular at the Dodge YMCA in Downtown Brooklyn

Remember during the summer olympics when we were all really into synchronized swimming? No other sport that I know of combines so much strength, elegance, lung capacity, and an exquisite attention to waterproof makeup. (For real, ladies, share some tips with me?) Come be entranced again by this amazingly artistic sport with the Brooklyn Peaches’ annual charity, the Spring Spectacular. Your $10 donation gets you in the door to see the moves they’ve been working on all season. Info here. 225 Atlantic Ave. Get your peachy little butt there.

It’s Smorgasburg Season! in Williamsburg (Saturdays) and Prospect Park (Sundays)

Ok yeah sure, it’s a tourist destination. It’s every Manhattan yuppy’s opportunity to say “I’ll just dip my foot into the Brooklyn thing enough to seem hip” before they get spooked by the tattoos and fast fixies and scamper back on to the ferry. But you know what else it is? It’s OUR weekly outdoor food fest showcasing the best of the best. It’s where New York establishments like Mighty Quinn’s first tested their big flavors on our little mouths. It’s where the rain cake tried to make fools of us all before we burst their bubble (wait we did, right? that shit isn’t going to be there this year, no?) and it’s where you can drink and eat food from 12 different places without (audible) judgement and gaze at the skyline and revel in the warmth of springtime. This is the second weekend but the first warm one, so get there. Check out the list of vendors here. Go hungry, leave less hungry and promising to get their earlier and a little tipsier next time. (feel free to consult my very unofficial listing of north Brooklyn haunts that won’t judge you for drinking before 11am… or just head to Lake Street.)