It’s a busy season on Broadway with nearly 20 new shows opening by April 25th, the Tony Award eligibility cutoff date.

With so much to choose from on stage, Time Out New York put together a guide of some of the best theater district pre-fixe menus to help get you to the theater on time. From fine French dining to steakhouses, most restaurants offer a three-course meal that rival restaurant week menus.

Tip: At most restaurants, you’ll need to carve out at least 90 minutes before curtain time. 

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Le Rivage

Le Rivage’s prix fixe theater menu has been a staple on Restaurant Row (46th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues) for decades. Its staff knows how to get diners in and out on time to make their show while still allowing a calm, leisurely and elegant atmosphere for dining. From 4:30 to 7:30pm, the French bistro offers three courses for $70 with many choices for an appetizer, entree and dessert. I always get the bisque, gambas le rivage and the peach melba. Other huge hits are the trout almondine and the French onion soup burger. There’s also a lunch pre-fixe for $46. 

The Lamb’s Club

Enter the dining room for The Lamb’s Club and feel like you’re far away from the bustle of midtown. If you look around closely, sometimes you might spot a celebrity or two before showtime. It’s been a hot spot before Merrily We Roll Along, which is across the street. In cooler weather, a table next to the fireplace makes the reservation even cozier. Choose from an $85 two or a $95 three-course pre-theater menu but allow about two hours before your curtain for a higher quality dining experience. Options for appetizers include tuna tartare, steak tartare, honeynut squash, red snapper crudo, or romaine caesar. Entrees offered are pan-seared salmon, ’nduja carbonara, seared scallops, or roast duck. 

Cafe Un Deux Trois 

The 3-course prix fixe dinner menu at Cafe Un Deux Trois can’t be beat for $48 from 4pm to close. It even comes with coffee or tea. The waiters here will get you in and out in a breeze if you’re crunched for time before a show. And from experience, I know sometimes they will let you choose options that aren’t even on the prix fixe menu. Soup of the day, mixed greens salad, and pate are on the online menu as appetizers. Bowtie pasta, stuffed chicken breast and grilled salmon are the entree choices with cheesecake, mouse and sorbet for dessert. The lunch pre-fixe option is $30 and is offered from 11:30am to 3pm.

Rosevale Kitchen

The Rosevale Kitchen’s Broadway prix fixe offers a 3-course dinner for $52, which is one of the best deals in midtown. Just let the server know you have a show to catch, and they’ll alert the kitchen staff accordingly. Tuna Tartare, burrata and shrimp cocktail are some of the first course options. Choose from rigatoni pomodoro, sautéed branzino, steak au poivre and pan-roasted Amish chicken as a main course. Then choose from vanilla panna cotta or gelato for dessert. 

The restaurant is located inside the new Civilian Hotel. If you head up the windy staircase to the second floor, you can also check out a mini Broadway museum full of props and set pieces from Broadway shows. 

The Terrace and Outdoor Gardens

The Terrace at the Edition Hotel is a hidden gem of the Theater District. Located on the ninth floor, you’ll feel whisked away from the noisy and busy streets of midtown. Available from 5 to 10pm, the $64 “Broadway Express” prix fixe lets you choose from a Caesar salad, burrata, or trumpet mushroom carpaccio as a starter. Entrees have a few vegan options too. They offer whole roasted maitake mushroom, broccoli cacio e pepe, grilled dorade and skirt steak frites. Dessert is tiramisu, lemon torta caprese, or coconut tembleque. 

STK Midtown

STK’s 43rd Street midtown location offers theatergoers an elevated three-course meal—including a side dish—starting at $69. Appetizers are baby gem Caesar, blue iceberg salad, tuna tartare or six oysters on the half shell. Entrees offered are a surf & turf combo, salmon and chicken. There’s chocolate cake or cheesecake for dessert. The steakhouse is also partnering with the musical, The Great Gatsby, offering themed cocktails like “The Old Sport” and “The Gatsby.” Plus, if you show your ticket for a same-day performance, you’ll receive a complimentary glass of bubbles along with your meal. Allow 90 minutes for your reservation. 

Bobby Van’s Grill

If you’re looking for a really good deal on steak, check out Bobby Van’s Grill. From 5 to 10pm, Monday through Saturday, the 45th Street location offers a three-course meal for $49. Choose from a Caesar salad, mixed greens, soup of the day, skillet meatballs or sweet chili calamari to start. There’s chicken parm, grilled salmon, Argentinian steak, linguini primavera and braised short ribs for the main meal. If you get the filet mignon, it’s an extra $5. There’s cheesecake, brownies and sorbet for dessert. The best part is if you get there before 6pm, order drinks from the happy hour menu. 

* This article was originally published here

If you thought that Manhattan’s skyline was already too full to accommodate for new towers, you’d be wrong: we’ll soon be getting another massive building in midtown that is going to dwarf all the structures around it.

This week, Mayor Eric Adams unveiled renderings for a “once-in-a-generation,” 1.8 million square-foot, 62-story Park Avenue office building that is set to be completed by 2032. 

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According to the Mayor, the building, which will be located on 350 Park Avenue, will add more than 6,000 jobs to the city’s roster and massively contribute to the town’s post-COVID economic recovery.

Designed by architectural firm Foster + Partners, the tower will have floor-to-ceiling glass windows and landscaped terraces, boasting a style reminiscent of a staircase (one ascending to the sky) that will look completely different from much of what currently dominates the midtown officescape.

The building’s anchor tenants will be Citadel and Citadel Securities, which are hedge funds with more than 2,100 employees each. The building’s ground level will house a 12,500-foot public concourse with seating, green space and art displays for the public to enjoy.

First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright framed the project as an example of “private sectors working together to invest in communities,” since developers purchased the excess rights from the neighboring St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Saint Bartholomew’s Church, a transaction that will contribute $150 million to the historic buildings. 

The entire project feels pretty bold: Since COVID began, Manhattan has struggled to get its workers back into office buildings at pre-pandemic rates. Since thousands of folks now work remotely or opt for a hybrid model, more than 95 million square feet of NYC office space—the equivalent of 35 Empire State Buildings—remains unoccupied, per CBS News. 

The Mayor is framing this skyscraper as part of an effort to revitalize Fifth Avenue as a place that is more appealing to residents, workers and visitors.

“Today, we are doubling down on our efforts to build a ‘new’ New York with a project that will help supercharge our economy and expand New York City’s iconic skyline,” said Mayor Adams during a power breakfast this week where he also revealed the building’s renderings. “This project will build on our continued efforts to energize midtown Manhattan as the world’s most important business address and an economic engine for working-class New Yorkers.”

Only time will tell if the efforts are a success.

* This article was originally published here

Following the past years’ success, Lincoln Center is gearing up to launch the third annual Summer for the City festival.

From June 12 through August 10, New Yorkers will get to attend over 200 free or choose-what-you-pay events that span a variety of topics, genres and  locations.

You can read through the entire calendar right here but standouts include virtual reality experience The Dream Machine, which features five distinct game-like interactive performances; a night of opera and drag with two superstar queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race, Monét X Change and Sapphira Cristál; and a silent disco night as part of India Week with DJ Rajuju Brown.

Also on the docket are dance classes, film screenings, outdoor concerto performances, wellness workshops and much more. 

It is almost insane that all participating events are gratis to attend, so make use of it!

Last year, visual designer Clint Ramos completely transformed the performing arts center’s campus and, given that he’s part of the project again this year, we suspect the destination to look just as extravagant again.

The city’s largest outdoor dance floor with a massive, 10-foot-wide disco ball—The Dance Floor at Josie Robertson Plaza—will return for social dance nights, silent discos and more giant parties.

The Garden, on the other hand, is a greenhouse-like oasis that you’ll want to relax in all day long. 

As usual, the center’s underground parking garage and driveway will serve as a speakeasy-inspired performance venue called The Underground at Jaffe Drive, while pop-up dining options will likely pepper the entire campus. 

Clearly, the staff at Lincoln Center has thought of it all.

Tickets to all the events will go on sale on May 16 right here. 

* This article was originally published here

For a decade, Bar Primi has been a reliable go-to for New Yorkers craving a good pasta all’Amatriciana or a four-clove tangle of linguine. And, now, the Bowery staple from NoHo Hospitality—the folks behind fellow downtown favorites Locanda Verde, The Dutch and Lafayette—is getting an uptown sibling, with a new location in Penn District. 

Debuting today, the latest Bar Primi at 349 West 33rd Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues takes over that midtown stretch around Penn Station that real estate developers are trying to fancy up by calling it “Penn District.”

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The presence of Primi will graciously class up the area, with its “primi piatti-focused menu,” Italian-inspired cocktails and a lush outdoor dining area hidden away from the bustle of the neighborhood. 

Regulars at the Bowery location will see many old favorites on the menu, including dishes that were on the original opening menu almost a decade ago: meatballs in sugo, pappardelle with ragu Bolognese, Vesuvio scampi with spicy rock shrimp and sea bass alla Griglia with olive muffuletta, among others. On the dolce end of things, of course that famed tiramisu will make the move to midtown, along with other sweet offerings like lemon cream zeppoli and pistachio gelato with fennel caramello. 

From a Calacatta Viola marble bar, the beverage team will be pouring a cocktail menu that toasts to all things Italian: think a Piazza Julep with Cynar, bourbon, grapefruit, lime, raspberry syrup and mint, served in a sunflower ceramic, or a Sicilian Daiquiri with rum, lime, pistachio orgeat, pistachio oil and a pistachio sugar rim.

And, as seems to be a trend these days, there will even be Italian Jello-O shots on offer: a Negroni jello shot by Solid Wiggles, to be exact. Complementing the cocktails, there will be a wine program highlighting indigenous Italian grape varieties and a beer list featuring local selections on tap, like Greenpoint IPA. 

The midtown Bar Primi will first open for dinner (hours are Sundays through Thursdays from 5pm to 11pm, and Fridays and Saturdays until midnight), with brunch and lunch to come.

* This article was originally published here