Stuff Boston : culture

Polina Raygorodskaya@Night

Erin Byers Murray — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:20:00 GMT

Model behavior

Modeling since age 10 and running a fashion-consulting and public-relations business since she was in college, Polina Raygorodskaya is nothing if not ambitious. The Newton resident and owner of Polina Fashion produces fashion shows and handles PR for a number of up-and-coming businesses, including photographer David Alsdorf. These days, she does more producing than modeling, though she still embraces the jet-set life and travels weekly. But when she’s home, she likes to keep things low-key, palling around with friends over good beers and a game of pool.

@ 6:15 p.m.: I like to get together with an intimate group of friends, so we may start out near my house in Newton for a little pregame sangria at Legal Sea Foods. They have one of the best sangrias I’ve ever tasted.

@ 7:30 p.m.: I may head over to Kinsale for dinner and a few beers. They have an incredible beer list, so all you have to do is tell them what you’re in the mood for and they’ll pick it out for you.

@ 9:45 p.m.: From there, we might run over to the Foundation Lounge for a drink. We stop there a lot.

@ midnight: I really like going to Felt; I like the fact that there are four different floors and that they each have a different atmosphere. I love to play pool, actually, so you can play pool or if you want to dance, you can go to the dance club on the top floor. It has everything.

@ 2 a.m.: When I’ve had a good night, I don’t want to go home right away, so I’ll stop by Apollo in Chinatown. They’re open late so we can sit down for some sushi and sober up a little.

Out of the Box Evening

Erin Souza — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:44:00 GMT

Unexpected nightlife in unexpected settings

Good News for those with social ADD: Boston’s nightlife isn’t restricted to barstools, banquettes, and club corners anymore. Lately, we’ve been seeing an onslaught of events happening in unexpected places: bookstores, museums, liquor stores, theater lobbies. Read on for some refreshing alternatives to your regular dine-drink-dance nights out.

Night at the museum
Boston’s museums, while high in cultural content, beautiful art, and enough historical artifacts to fill a Discovery Channel special, can also be quiet, rather stodgy places — not exactly raging party spots. And while that’s not a bad thing, we’re happy to see local museums recognizing that lots of people like culture a little more when it’s combined with cocktails.

On the first Friday of each month, head to the Museum of Fine Arts (465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, 617.267.9300) from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. for MFA First Fridays: four hours of fine art, live music, food, and drink. Held in the museum’s Koch Gallery, this meet-and-mingle event is for the 21-plus crowd (there’s a cash bar) and is free for museum members and non-members who’ve paid regular museum admission ($17; $15 for students).

If swirling and sipping is more your thing, opt for Winesdays at the MFA’s Bravo restaurant, taking place the last Wednesday of every month from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. On October 29, for $25, you’ll learn proper tasting techniques from MS Walker’s Andrew Deitz and get unlimited pours from bottles of Austrian wines. If the artwork adorning Bravo’s walls isn’t enough for you, browse some of the MFA’s current exhibits — including “Imperishable Beauty: Art Nouveau Jewelry” and “Visions of Kyoto: Scenes from Japan’s Ancient Capital” — before heading to the museum’s west-wing restaurant for wine and hors d’oeuvres from chef Jacqueline Kelly.

Or unleash your inner Einstein at Friday Nights at the Museum of Science (One Science Park, Boston, 617.723.2500). The Science Street Café is open every Friday from 6 to 10 p.m. and serves up martinis, wine flights, and small bites. And even though the days of outdoor parties and patio dining are sadly behind us, the Museum of Science offers a chance to check out the stars without having to pile on the layers. Stargazing in the Gilliland Observatory is free and open to the public every Friday night from 8:30 to 10 p.m., weather permitting; more information is available by calling the observatory’s hotline at 617.589.0267.

Can’t get to Venice? Gardner AfterHours at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (280 The Fenway, Boston, 617.566.1401) offers a scaled-down version, with a much cheaper price tag ($12; $5 for students and free for members) and without the jetlag. Every third Thursday from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., the Gardner opens its doors and invites the city to take in the artwork (the museum’s collection includes works from Botticelli, Rembrandt, and Degas, to name a few), soak up the whimsical atmosphere of the Venetian-themed courtyard, and enjoy live music and artistic performances. Up next is video/performance artist Joan Jonas’s Divine Comedy, a staged Dante reading in the museum’s Tapestry Room at 7 p.m on November 20.

Curtain call
The American Repertory Theatre (64 Brattle Street, Cambridge, 617.547.8300) is tapping into the young demographic with Under 35 Nights, a chance for audiences who don’t typically venture to the theater to catch some drama of the non-drunken-debacle sort. At 7:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of each ART production, Under 35 Nights feature French fare from Sandrine’s Bistro (8 Holyoke Street, Cambridge, 617.497.5300) and post-show libations in the theater’s west lobby bar. Tickets for the October 23 event, which features a world-premiere production of The Communist Dracula Pageant, are $25 to $54 and are available at 617.547.8300 or www.amrep.org. It’s about time we found a more civilized way to indulge our innermost drama queen.

What’s in store?
We love a good glass of white wine almost as much as we love a productive shopping trip. Apparently so do our friends at local stores, who are killing two birds with one stone and mixing the cocktails with the clothing racks. North End denim emporium Injeanius (441 Hanover Street, Boston, 617.523. JEAN) closes shop for private parties upon request, throwing “Girls Night Out” wine, cheese, and jeans soirees. There’s no cost besides a $500 spending minimum for eight to 12 of your closest shopping buddies. And with the store’s stock of premium denim brands, including Hudson, Paige, and J. Brand, that shouldn’t be too tough.

Late-night online shopping is one of our secret addictions — and it’s usually triggered by a few too many cocktails. We generally indulge in these cyber splurges in the privacy of our own homes, but as the retail party trend continues in the city, there are lots of opportunities to join like-minded shoppers and come clean about our habits. Shake the Tree (67 Salem Street, Boston, 617.742.0484) hosts monthly parties in their North End boutique, sometimes fusing photography with fashion (staffer Rewan AlHaddad recently showcased her work at an instore cocktail party) and always highlighting hot merchandise. Mark your calendar for a November 6 T-shirt party featuring threads from Marblehead-based company Breathe-In-Style.

Looking for a good work-day chaser? AJ Rathbun, author of Luscious Liqueurs (Harvard Common Press, 2008; $12.95), hosts an October 21 book signing and cocktail chat at BRIX (1284 Washington Street, Boston, 617.542.2749) from 6 to 8 p.m. Taste some of Rathbun’s homemade liqueurs, nibble on finger food from his cookbook, Party Snacks! (Harvard Common Press, 2008; $12.95), and talk cocktails with the author while he signs copies of his books. No tickets are required; more information is available at 617.542.2749. The free booze and banter sure beat another happy hour at the same ol’ watering hole.

Shore Gregory@night

Erin Byers Murray — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:51:00 GMT

World's an oyster

When the guys from Island Creek Oysters show up at restaurants around town, they’re given the royal treatment. Their oysters are, after all, some of the most coveted in the country (chef Thomas Keller’s acclaimed Per Se restaurant even has its own variety). Shore Gregory heads up business development for the company, a position he took on after spending several summers working on the farm. He’s up ridiculously early just about every day, commuting from his South End apartment to Duxbury, but that doesn’t deter him from hitting the town for tall boys on his nights off.

@ 6:15 p.m.: The best way to end a day is out on the water in Duxbury. There are few things better than oysters and a cold beer on the bay.

@ 7:30 p.m.: I’ll try to race into the city to catch up with our driver, CJ. He’s usually at Toro, so we’ll start over there for a couple of PBR tall boys.

@ 9:45 p.m.: I love seeing what’s out there for restaurants, so we may check out something new, like Hungry Mother in Cambridge. That place is great, and the idea that I can sit at a nice restaurant in town drinking a 40-ounce beer is the ultimate.

@ midnight: Seeing as how my alarm went off at 4:30, I may have to rally, but I like to stop by Eastern Standard. It’s one of the best places to be in Boston at 1 a.m.

@ 2 a.m.: I’ll probably be back at home on my roof deck by now. We’ll throw on some good music and end the night with a glass of water. Or maybe one more beer.

Kristi McNeil @ Night

Erin Byers Murray — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:50:00 GMT

Late again

She spent three years tending and managing the bar and the past year as general manager at Noir at the Charles Hotel, so Kristi McNeil is most certainly a night owl. The Somerville resident generally closes the bar five nights a week, which means she gets as much sleep as she can on her days off. She still enjoys a night on the town, but instead of club-hopping, she prefers to have a nice meal and lay low so, she says, “I can enjoy being on the other side of the game.”

@ 6:15 p.m.: As much as I’m at Noir, it really is a good place to go early in the evening. You can sit on the patio and just relax. People associate it with a late-night atmosphere, but I start my night there. And I’m sort of obsessed with the liquor St. Germain lately. We just put a drink called Scarlett Street on the menu, with blood-orange purée and Champagne. I’ll start the night off with one of those.
@ 7:30 p.m.: I go to a lot of my favorite places again and again, and one of my most favorite spots right now is East Coast Grill. It’s so relaxed in there. I always get the same thing: the mahi mahi with rice, beans, and plantains.
@ 9:45 p.m.: Being in the industry, a lot of the people I know are bartenders or in the business, and I can usually see a lot of them at once at Eastern Standard. I’ll usually let them whip up whatever they want to whip up over there.
@ midnight: The B-Side Lounge is another favorite, so I’ll head over there for a bourbon on the rocks. It’s just something easy, and I’m into the more classic stuff.
@ 2 a.m.: I don’t go to bed until pretty late because of my hours, but at least I’ll be home by now. My phone starts going off at 9 a.m., so I have to be up and ready for it.

20 years after

Sara Faith Alterman — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:46:00 GMT

Local bartenders gather to celebrate — and ridicule — the Tom Cruise classic Cocktail two decades after its release

The seven of us giggle and scoff as Tom Cruise deftly flips a bottle into the air and catches it, pouring a perfect stream of liquid into a glass and smirking the playful smirk that made him so loveable in the 1980s, before the aliens usurped his brain.

“Why the hell is he working at a high-volume bar the first night he started?” shouts Manny Hernandez. “Good luck trying to do that in Boston.”

I’ve gathered with Hernandez, a bartender at La Verdad, and five of his peers in the basement lounge of the Good Life, where we’re watching everyone’s favorite martini-shaking re-enactment, Cocktail, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the film’s release (yes, you are that old). Along with Hernandez, there’s Jennifer Harvey of 33 Restaurant & Lounge, Frank Reardon of the Beehive, Chris Drescher of Bella Luna and the Milky Way Lounge and Lanes, Kit Paschal of Eastern Standard, and Brenda Marry of Vox Populi. And yes, we’re drinking.

For those of you who don’t remember the film because a) you were too young when it came out; b) you were too drunk when it came out; or c) you’re too drunk right now, allow me to recap.

Cruise plays Brian Flanagan, a down-on-his-luck military man who just left the Army and is trying to land a marketing job in the big city. But without one of them fancy college degrees, what’s a wide-eyed heartthrob with a crooked grin to do? Why, take a job tending bar, of course! Brian’s boss teaches him how to be a bottle-flipping, lady-bonking superstar. Soon, Brian’s ambitions shift and he ditches his books and heads to Jamaica, where he hopes to earn enough cold, hard cash to open his own bar, called ... wait for it ... Cocktails & Dreams. In Jamaica, Brian churns coladas at a tiki bar and meets the smokin’ hot Jordan Mooney, played by the celestial, post Adventures in Babysitting Elisabeth Shue. Romance, then drama, then heartfelt resolution ensue.

Most of us at the Good Life saw the film when it came out in 1988, either in the theater or by sneaking illicit peeks while our older siblings watched it on VHS at their slumber parties. As unbearably corny as all of the movie’s one-liners, knowing winks, and all-night daiquiri fests seem today, there is some truth to the film, or at least a shred of foundational accuracy that all of my cocktail-slinging viewing companions can understand.

One by one, the bartenders take a seat and I grab them each a drink. After all, these guys wait on people for a living — they deserve to surrender to my (rusty) waitressing skills. Seven years of service, only a handful of broken dishes: I can handle a few beers. I’ve come with snacks like neon-orange cheese dip and a mountain of Dunkin’ Donuts munchkins, hoping the booze and the sugar high will stimulate conversation. No need. A few minutes after we pop in the DVD, the conversation flows like cheap beer on a Saturday night in Davis Square.

Onscreen a montage of scenes showing Cruise’s Brian Flanagan trying to find an office job flies by; again and again, he’s rejected because he lacks a college degree. I ask my panel of experts if any of them, like Flanagan, turned to bartending as a last-resort money-maker and wound up sticking with it. Drescher raises his glass to that. “I have a degree in acting,” he says. “I was in New York, but the acting jobs were few and far between, so I became a bartender.” Harvey says she never looked back after moving behind the bar at a restaurant where she was already working. Same with Paschal. Hernandez giggles that he was working as a bar back to pay his way
through college. His first night on the job, he got a number from a hot chick, which sold him on bartending for life.

So being a bartender makes you sex-tastic in your patrons’ eyes? “I think a lot more hookups happen behind the bar than over the bar,” says Reardon, who, indeed, met his wife when they were working together at a bar (she was his boss).

“When you’re stuck behind the bar with someone, you can become so close so fast,” Marry adds. “Plus, if a customer talks to me and we exchange numbers, then he needs to leave. If he sticks around and gets annihilated, that number is going in the trash.”

So getting some ass is clearly a perk. How about the money? “The money is dangerous,” Reardon says. “Because it’s cash. If you want to go out one night and just drop $300 on a bottle of wine, you look at it as, that’s tomorrow night’s shift.”

Everyone agrees. As I listen to them talk about the fistfuls of cash they plunk on their dressers in the wee morning hours after a shift, I start to re-think my career. I also learn, from a 10-minute diatribe about cash versus credit, that those of use who use plastic for all purchases big and small are assholes. Lesson one: next time I just want a beer, hit the ATM first.

We get a little sidetracked babbling about benjamins and, before we know it, the movie has progressed to one of the now-infamous bottle-flipping scenes. You know them: Cruise juggling bottles like a manic court jester, mixing drinks and breaking hearts. I remember being so impressed with his acrobatics the first time I watched Cocktail. I ask my new friends if any of them ever feel compelled to toss a bottle or two, just to get the crowd going.

A resounding “NO!” echoes in unison.

“Rookie bartenders do that!” says Marry. “It’s like they have a point to prove. A good bartender needs to move fast!”

“Oh my god,” Drescher agrees. “If you drop a bottle and the glass breaks in your ice, that’s the worst possible disaster that can happen to you.”

“If you try that at the Beehive, you’re in trouble,” Reardon adds.

In case you flair-bartender wannabes aren’t convinced, perhaps a threat of imminent death from Hernandez will convince you to keep the bottles on the bar.

“I was at a bar one night in Cambridge, and the bartender kept flipping beer bottles,” he says. “It took him forever to make any drinks, because he was showing off. I wanted to kill him. I killed him with my eyes.”

Lesson two: your bartender is not a circus monkey.

There’s so much mockingly heated conversation going on about bottle theatrics that we pretty much forget to watch the movie. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Flanagan drinking with customers, keeping late hours at the bar and then struggling to keep his eyes open during his daytime university lectures. Time passes, Flanagan gives up school, moves down to the tropics, blends girlie frozen drinks in the thatched-roof shade of a beach bar. He meets and romances everyone’s favorite babysitter, then completely fucks it up by bagging an older woman.

But what I find most scandalous (as much an ’80s film can be scandalous) is that, throughout all of this, the tricks and hookups and late nights spouting bar poetry (yeah, there’s that), Flanagan drinks with his customers while he’s on the job. Call me old-fashioned, but isn’t drinking while you’re working, like, bad?

“People request it all the time, and whether or not you do it depends on policy,” Harvey says. “We will have a drink with customers, with discretion. If it’s someone I know will be responsible about it, then it’s okay.”

“As the bartender, as soon as you step behind the bar, it’s like you’re hosting the party,” Paschal notes.

So does the host get a drink now and again? “You might do it in camaraderie, to go over the top for a guest, so they can feel like they weren’t making you work,” Paschal says. “But I tend to steer away from it. It’s not a power issue; it’s just weird. But I do love when someone orders a sick bottle of wine and doesn’t finish it, then tells
me to try it. For them to offer up an opportunity like that is the best thing.”

“I manage a bartender who once took an order for a bottle of Cristal, and they offered her a glass,” Harvey says. “I told her, ‘Hell, yeah.’ ”

Through the wonders of movie magic, Flanagan and Mooney reconcile as the movie crawls to an end, and Flanagan spouts a painfully embarrassing poem (in a botched Irish accent, no less) from atop a bar, in front of a smiling crowd. Apparently, he and Mooney got married. Honestly, I wasn’t paying attention. I was more interested in what my six new friends had to say. Plus, by this point, the only cocktail I was interested in was the vodka and soda in my hand. I managed to slur one more question: now that you’re watching this movie again, from a bartender’s point of view, how is it a different experience?

“It makes me laugh at all of the drink names from the ’80s,” Harvey says, “and that there are only two bartenders at each of the crazy full bars.”

“Some of the movie is surprisingly realistic,” says Drescher, “with regard to a life where one tries to do something else, but ends up behind the bar.”

But it’s Paschal who puts it best. “The movie is a little more glamorous than the actual job,” he says.

Isn’t it always, though? Especially when Tom Cruise is involved. After all, this is the man who can make everything — even brainwashing America’s sweetheart into a vacuous, empty-eyed mannequin — seem cool.

So you want to date a hot chick?

Heather Bouzan — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:13:00 GMT

Local girl Andria Blackman shares how (and yes, she’s single)

Dress the part. “[Wear] really nice jeans, and you can pull it off with a plain T-shirt or even a buttonup shirt. Really good shoes [are] always a plus. A nice watch, perhaps. Not too much; very laidback,not trying too hard. A T-shirt’s my favorite thing on a guy.”

Check her out. “I don’t really recommend picking up girls at a bar; I kind of like to be picked up outside of the bar. But if you’re going to see me at the bar, I like you to make a little eye contact. Nothing too creepy.”

Make your move already. “Attractive girls get approached a lot. If [guys] are going to come and approach you, they’d better not beat around the bush and take too long if they want to talk to you. Just be straightforward and be genuine.” Forget your lines. “If you want to talk, don’t try to use lame pick-up lines. They really don’t do anything for anybody, I don’t think.”

Cool it with the Sox talk. “[Discuss] interests other than sports. I love sports and all, but girls don’t always want to talk about sports. Maybe a trip that [you’ve] taken, a certain accomplishment — without being too cocky and bragging too much.”

Compensate for the fact that she’s hotter than you. “He’s got to have a great attitude. Be humorous; know how to have a good time.”

Hands to yourself. “Be respectful and don’t invade her personal space too much. Don’t try to be too touchfeely. Don’t try to be too close to her. Feel her out and see what she’s about. If she’s leaning into you a little bit, then you can lean in a little bit more.”

Flex some muscle. “I love going to the gym with a guy. I think that’s a total turnon, when you can both get a really good workout on and sweat a little bit.”

Woo her friends, too. “If you’re pretty straightforward and genuine, that’s what they like. My friends just like someone who’s
nice. You can tell if a guy’s got it together.”

Keep that tongue in check. “Definitely not too much tongue when you’re kissing. Don’t try to lick the person’s face off — that’s totally disgusting in my book. I like sweet little kisses. A little nibbling on the neck’s always nice. Very gentle, and taking it slow and easy.”

Photo by Eric Levin
Styled by Erica Corsano
Directed by Michael Diskin
Model: Andria Blackman Of Maggie Inc.
Styling Assistant: Kristina Welkjovic
Suit: Reiss
Shoes: Intermix