Thursday, November 18, 2010

Sky Room Reaches New Heights...

...literally. The city's highest rooftop lounge, Sky Room occupies the 33rd and 34th floors of the Fairfield Inn and Suites on 40th Street, right in the heart of Times Square.

I had a chance to check it out last night for a shoot and all I can say is WOW! The views are just incredible! The breathtaking landscape of Manhattan right at eye level...it's enough to make even a long-standing NYC native take a moment to soak in the magic of the city in all of its nighttime beauty.

The space is modern and has that oasis-type feel to it. It's like the Caribbean meets The Jetsons. The uniforms for the female waitresses and bartenders are 50's stewardess inspired, complete with a set of wings (in pin form of course). They give the bar sort of a "mile-high" vibe which I find to be cute, clever, and intriguing. And, for you men, the eye candy is definitely sweet and sure to please!

The Happy Hour is pretty standard (4pm-7pm) and, though not as inexpensive as some that I've seen, not outrageous given the bar's location. They also have daily drink specials like $7 caipirinhas on Wednesdays for Brazilian Night. They've got a really fun and exotic cocktail menu for those of you who delve on the fancy side--it's pretty well-known that I'm a beer girl but I will admit that I found the Brazilian Sunshine to be quite pleasurable. Side Note: The bartender who made it, Marcus, is awesome and can do some fun Tom-Cruise-in-Cocktail type tricks so be sure to ask him to show you a little somethin-somethin ;)

As for food, the menu is drool-worthy with options to please both simple and more sophisticated palettes. I recommend the Deep Fried Mac and Cheese.....O-M-G!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Katwalk NYC...Far from Purrrrfect!

I'm a very simple woman. Give me good food, good drinks, and good service at decent prices and I'll be happy. I've been to Katwalk before and enjoyed it but I was really disappointed last night.

Let me start off by saying that what they do have going for them is location and a great variety of Happy Hour drink specials that are available every weekday until 8pm. Situated in mid-town, minutes away from the Manhattan Mall and Madison Square Garden, it's no surprise that Katwalk attracts a good crowd. They have a meaty drink menu for Happy Hour that is sure to please drinkers of all types; from beer to wine to specialty cocktails, just about anyone can find their drink du jour for $3-$6!

One other plus--Katwalk has the absolute friendliest, most polite doorman I have ever encountered in my life! I'm not sure if he works every night but you'll know him when you see him. He looks a lot like the Undertaker (yes, the WWE wrestler) and he will welcome you by first name.

Unfortunately, these positives could not outweigh the negatives for my group last night. First off, we waited about twenty minutes to be seated at a table that had been reserved well in advance. Then, our server just vanished without taking our drink orders and didn't return for at least twenty minutes!!! In fact, every time she took an order, she wouldn't come back with our drinks for 15-20 minutes. I know it's busy but this pussycat gets very irritable if she has to wait too long for her drink! Realistically speaking, how valuable are drink specials if you can't take full advantage of them because of snail-slow service? It just seemed like they are a bit under-staffed.

Then there is the matter of entertainment. My friends and I were out to celebrate a good friend's birthday. We were, in no way, shape, or form, aware that we were going to be subject to what looked like some crazy 90's Playboy tryout video playing on the projector. I don't even know what to say about this video--it was weird, it was just straight up weird. If I looked up from the table, all I saw was bikini-clad girls rolling around in sand, running, jumping, etc. This isn't Porky's (now, The Yard), it doesn't fit! It just didn't portray the type of image that Katwalk has created for itself. And I'm not just speaking for us girls, my guy friends thought it was strange too! Seriously, just throw that video in the litter box and bury it real good!

My last qualm about Katwalk, a very minor one in comparison to the others: candles bolted to the tables. I get why they would do it but it's annoying! One of the candles, strategically (and irritatingly predictable) placed candle in the middle of the table made it impossible to have our plate of nachos there for easy sharing. Again, it's a small problem but, when you're already annoyed, the little things do count.

Katwalk is certainly not beyond redemption. On a good day, you can go there and enjoy some reasonably priced drinks with good music to accompany. It just needs to work on some staffing and "entertainment" issues..and maybe get rid of some candles ;)

For more info. on Katwalk, visit http://katwalknyc.com/index.html

Monday, November 8, 2010

Designer for Less...Sign Me Up!

Balenciaga...Valentino...Versace...

These are just a few of the designers featured on DesignerChatter.com, a website dedicated to bringing you designer fashions for less...much less! I was really surprised to see that a very generous amount of the items on the site were upwards of 50% off. Seriously, I cried tears of joy when I saw this to-die-for Calvin Klein satchel at a whopping 70% off, making it super affordable for my getting-smaller-by-the-second budget.

Aside from making designer labels affordable to the average consumer, Designer Chatter rewards their customers for interacting with the site. You accumulate points for everything you do on DesignerChatter.com, from making actual purchases to writing reviews on products to participating in polls. The points you accumulate can be used to get things like free shipping, gift certificates to the site, free gifts (like an Apple i-pad) and shopping sprees.

As an added bonus, if you sign up for their free membership program and refer two friends, you will automatically be entered in a daily drawing for a free handbag taking place from December 1 - December 25. I never win anything but, hey, a girl can dream and you gotta be in it to win it!

For more info, check out their site at http://designerchatter.com/

P.S. Design Chatter's fashion tip of the week is that "Biker Chic" is in so stop hating on my motorcycle jacket...you know who you are! Haha!