Good Morning & Happy Friday

• Big shoutout this week to my friends, Dave K. and David M. Both crushing it on the entertainment front! Thrilled for you both (#1, 2 and 3 below).
• Also discovered Benoit. Can’t believe I’ve never been to this fabulous restaurant. Absolutely stellar (#5).
• Remote Work. I have an update on new apartment complexes now being built with amenities specifically for permanent WFH (#7).

1. [watch] Video

2. Dave Konig’s “The King of the Bronx.” Keep an eye out for this excellent musical revue!

• Dave Konig, comedian, Broadway actor (Vince Fontaine in Grease), TV star (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), author (Good Luck, Mr Gorsky) and now artist, has co-created, with Elliot Finkel, this EXCELLENT new musical about the darktimes of the pandemic. It’s based on his paintings about New Yorkers going through “the darkness” and coming out the other side. It’s funny, uplifting, very moving, with terrific songs (music by Elliot, lyrics by Dave and Elliot)!
• His longtime musical collaborator, Elliot Finkel, was the one who initally urged Dave to use his paintings (and the people in them) as a jumping off point for the revue.
• I attended the first reading last September and was thrilled to be invited back this week to check out the latest iteration. The rework and the tweaks take it to another level.

MY TAKE: This is one of the BEST shows I have seen about the pandemic (“the darkness”). I am highly optimistic The King Of The Bronx will land in a theater on/off-Broadway shortly.

3. kudos also to David Moreland for landing this acting gig!

• Super excited for David. Getting this gig on Pete Davidson’s new horror film ‘The Home’ is MAJOR!
• It’s directed by James DeMonaco who created the long-running Purge franchise.
• David was tight-lipped about it all and although he has a small part, it sounds as though all the background research he did paid off in droves. If I read between the lines, the director was very happy.
• Per the Daily Mail and Deadline, Pete Davidson plays Max, ‘a troubled man who starts working at a retirement home and realizes its residents and caretakers harbor sinister secrets.’

MY TAKE: Mega opportunity for David. I am beyond thrilled!

4. NEW! Monthly all-king drag show in Pittsburgh

• I don’t normally associate Pittsburgh with drag culture but Ru-Paul’s Drag Race not only put it on the map, it also got drag kings to speak up about equal opportunities.
• Softboy, a nonbinary transfem, is the organizer and host of Heart Throb, a new monthly show at Blue Moon which launches Sun., Feb. 27, featuring exclusive performances by drag kings with an emphasis on racial diversity, as well as a commitment to paying performers.
• Monetary compensation for drag kings is apparently rare. And the performance of masculinity is particularly undervalued because popular culture expects it to be natural, and for its performance not to take effort or work.
• Side Note: Drag got way more popular during the pandemic because of online drag performances. (Source: PGHCityPaper)

MY TAKE: Reading about this took me back to the late ’80s and Patricia Field. It was she who introduced many of us to the Voguing Balls. The House of Field was A-List+++. Here for your viewing pleasure, a fascinating 6-minute video from one of Patricia Field’s legendary balls with an amazing panel of judges including Debbie Harry, Betsey Johnson, Andre Leon Talley, Steven Meisel, and more.

5. Benoit: Wow! So Good. my new Fave french restaurant.

• After a string of disappointing French restaurants (Balthazar, Orsay, even Le Pavillon), I have a new favorite spot. Thank you Rodrigo and Elliott for introducing me to Benoit.
• It’s a contemporary French bistro owned by Alain Ducasse. Executive chef is Laëtitia Rouabah. It’s not new but it is new to me – and all I can say is, better late than never!!
• I have to get back there soon. The food is amazing (best steak au poivre and the foie gras is sublime!!). And I love the vibe – it’s airy and chic but also feels intimate and cozy. The wine bar at the front is worth checking out as well (same menu).
• Address: 60 W 55th St, NYC

6. love these posh, retro-cool cans of fish.

• Total [tinned] fish sales have nearly doubled over the past two years.
• Premium tuna (rod- and line-caught bonito del norte and yellowfin) and anchovies have driven the increase.
• Tin-to-Table is increasingly showing up at restaurants in NYC (e.g., Despana in Soho, Mercado at Hudson Yards).
• Patrick Martinez of Tinned Fish Market says there has been a palpable shift in the public’s appreciation of the European culture of conservas, the centuries-old craft of preservation through canning.

MY TAKE: I love this tin-to-table trend both for the taste and the look (it’s like social media catnip). And I have to thank Rodrigo for introducing me to canned anchovies at Achilles Heel in Brooklyn. I was resistant at first but once I tasted that salty deliciousness served with freshly baked bread, I was hooked. To read more about the history, the coolness, and the cultural value of tinned fish, check out this Guardian article.

7. new apartment complexes planned for permanent work-from-home

• The Dwell:Work@Home Community, an apartment complex for the post-pandemic world is being built in downtown Tempe, AZ. by Holualoa Cos.
• Dwell is a first of its kind ‘workforce-housing-by-design’ complex. Each unit will have built-in desks and some units will have small offices. The complex itself will have meeting or Zoom rooms. What it will not have is a pool or other high-end amenities. (Source: Daily Independent)

MY TAKE: Apartments built specifically for Work-From-Home seem to be on-trend. That said, I am still not a huge fan of WFH but do see it gaining traction. However, I also wonder how people will feel about having this privilege extended to, for example, teachers who might also prefer remote learning for their students (from kindergarten thru college). If we can do away with offices, can schools be far behind?

8. CVS launches an innovative new Michael Graves line of canes, walkers, and other home health care products

• This is CVS’s first major collaboration with an outside design firm. (Source: NRF.com)
• The initial round of six products focuses on bathroom safety and mobility aids and includes a foldable cane, travel walker, shower chair, 3-in-1 commode, and raised toilet seats each based around philosophies of the Design for All movement which the architect Michael Graves pioneered. Available in stores and online now. (Source: Archinect.com)

“There will be more than 70 million Americans ages 65 and older by 2030, along with millions of caregivers and other customers who need these types of products because of illness or while recuperating from an accident.

Brenda Lord, VP Store Brands CVS Health

MY TAKE: This will be tremendously successful. And kudos to CVS for following Target’s playbook on revamping a business. Many of us remember Target’s phenomenal collaboration with Michael Graves Design back in 1999. It kicked off their design partnerships for over two decades and is a case study of best practices.

9. MiamiCoin Update: Mayor Francis Suarez now not so sure crypto’s going to work after all.

“I don’t know whether it’s going to work or not. Innovation doesn’t always work.”

Mayor Francis Suarez

• Seven months after Mayor Francis Suarez partnered with a little-known nonprofit called CityCoins, the Miami-branded cryptocurrency has lost over 90% of its value and is now worth four-tenths of a penny.
• The mayor doesn’t know what happened and most locals don’t understand what the heck it is either, let alone how it was supposed to transform Miami into a tax-free utopia and “cryptocurrency innovation hub.”

MY TAKE: The more I read, the more speculative and Ponzi scheme-ish it gets. Here’s the link to an interview with cryptocurrency expert, Mike Bloomberg, from Cornell University’s Urban Tech Hub (not NYC’s former mayor). Check it out and let me know what you think!

10. Quote of the week from bigtime tommie

“Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.”

TOMMIE ROMOLA (402K FOLLOWERS ON INSTAGRAM)

And that’s a wrap for this week, my friends!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend and I’ll be back in your in-box on MARCH 4TH!!!