In any relationship, the tried-and-true dinner and a movie combo will inevitably get a little tired. So rather than fall into a rut, why not change things up this weekend in favor of something with a little more pizzazz? Though good chemistry can withstand even the most clichéd of itineraries, a fledgling romance may not survive a night of mini golf, and it certainly wouldn’t do justice to a milestone anniversary celebration. While the ideal date night is not one-size-fits-all, here are five New York City date alternatives sure to win points for both originality and romance.
Jazz Fest
Tap into the romance of Old New York with a night at the Carlyle hotel. At its classic Café Carlyle, the Upper East Side institution plays host to the best jazz and cabaret artists, offering dinner and a show. Performances are set in the middle of the intimate white-tableclothed dining room surrounded by Marcel Vertès’s idyllic murals. Depending on your budget, enjoy the show over just drinks or dinner.
Mix It Up With Mixed Drinks
Start your night a bit early by shaking cocktails at Apotheke. Inspired by a 19th-century European apothecary, this Chinatown speakeasy opens its doors weekend afternoons for culinary-inspired classes on Prohibition-era, agave, herb-based, and Absinthe cocktails. You and your date wil leave in high spirits with a new skill set.
Dinner and a Screening
Refresh the dinner and a movie pairing with a cinema alternative. The New York Philharmonic screens films to a live orchestra for a throwback silver-screen experience (check its calendar), and this month, the Metropolitan Opera opens its “Live in HD” series. The program live-streams operatic performances at local movie theaters for a view that just might rival front row orchestra seats.
Life’s a Cabaret
Old-world charm abounds at Café Sabarsky, the German-and-Viennese-style restaurant at Museum Mile’s Neue Galerie. While a dinner at the intimate wood-paneled café replete with Wiener Werkstätte touches makes for a great date in and of itself, enhance your experience with is cabaret series. The restaurant hosts performances devoted to German and Austrian music of the 1890s to 1930s over a prix-fixe dinner for an evening to remember.
Night at the Burlesque
Spice things up at Duane Park, where dinner is served with a side of burlesque at its Bowery digs, which is designed to evoke an intimate dining room at a jazz-age New Orleans mansion. In addition to the glittering chandeliers, expect to find aerial performers suspended above your table. Onstage, plumes and pasties steal the show in acts that range from burlesque operettas to striptease murder mysteries.
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