Walking shoes
TONY PERROTTET, historian and journalist
CULTURE & LEISURE • Friday Routine
TONY PERROTTET • historian and journalist
Neighborhood you work & live in: East Village
It’s Friday afternoon, how are you rolling into the weekend?
I'm almost always still slaving over a hot laptop, writing away. Usually I work on several stories at the same time, composing a draft of one then polishing another, depending on my mood. It was a busy summer — I made four different research trips to Europe — so I'm working on one feature story for Smithsonian Magazine on exploring the ancient aqueducts of Rome, another on running with the bulls in Pamplona; a piece on F. Scott Fitzgerald in the French Riviera for The Wall Street Journal; and a story on the art scene on the Greek island of Hydra for Travel + Leisure. Just for good measure, I'm also putting the last touches on a screenplay based on my last book, Cuba Libre!, about the Cuban Revolution of 1959 — a comic take on Fidel and Che in the spirit of “The Death of Stalin.”
Where are you drinking or dining this weekend?
I’m a big fan of happy hours in the East Village. Around the 6p aperitif hour, I usually meet friends (mostly fellow freelance writers or artists) for a quiet snifter in one of a few key places: Bibi's on East 4th St. has one of the best wine happy hours in the city (it goes to 8), Bar Veloce on Second Ave. (to 7), or if I finish writing early enough, Rosie's on East 2nd has a killer margarita and guacamole deal until 6.
As for restaurants, I’m going through a Greek phase, so I'm going to have a late lunch at Kiki's in Dimes Square — it has delicious taverna-style food and metal jugs of Greek wine. A few steps away is one of my favorite bars, Le Dive, which has natural wine and delicious snacks. Both places are a scene, with tables spilling onto the street, which is blocked off to traffic on weekends — a real blessing in New York, creating a very European piazza-like vibe.
How about a little leisure or culture?
Tonight I'm going out on the water on one of the Shanghai Mermaid’s cruises on a beautiful 19th century clipper — it's a regular party event where everyone wears retro 1920s or vintage garb (you'll be refused entry in 2024 clothes), and there's a live jazz band on board, which is enormous fun as you sweep past the Statue of Liberty under the stars. The band is called the Hot Toddies and is a part of Prohibition Productions, another group that hosts jazz events almost every night. (My favorite is their "Speakeasy in the Sky," held on top of a Manhattan skyscraper).
Saturday I'll wander around a few art galleries in the Lower East Side — I'll start at Visionary Projects' new space on 124 Forsyth St., which is run by a couple of curator friends, and find out what's the latest worth seeing. Around 6, there’s always a gallery reception to pop into, usually with crowds spilling onto the sidewalk. Later, I'll hit the Metropolitan Museum — not many people realize that it's open until 9 on Friday and Saturday nights, and it’s relatively empty.
At the end of the night I'll end up back in the East Village at the KGB Bar's Red Room to catch a late music show. It's the neighborhood’s most famous literary watering hole, and I also host salons there once a month or so.
Any weekend getaways?
I don't have a car and I travel a lot for work, so I have a few day-trip getaways in the more natural corners of New York. First, I try to make sure I visit Central Park every weekend, usually ending with a glass of prosecco in the newly reopened Boathouse over the lake. Who needs Upstate? It's hard to beat for a nature fix.
Second, I'll get back to the waterfront and take a ferry to Red Hook. New York has a longer coastline than either San Francisco or Seattle, and the public ferry system is surprisingly excellent once you figure it out. In Red Hook, I have a regular circuit: Start at Pioneer Works for the art, have a glass of wine at the Red Hook Winery (sitting outside with panoramic water views), then go listen to some music at Sunny's Bar, the social hub of the nabe.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
I tend to spend money on experiences rather than material objects, and I'd say that my biggest indulgence is to maintain a membership in Soho House. In the warmer months, I'll cycle over the Manhattan Bridge to the Dumbo club. It's in a stylishly renovated warehouse, where I can work, eat a decent lunch on the patio, and have a swim in the sun on the rooftop pool with a view of Manhattan across the Harbor. Not bad.