Become a cider insider
Hey Santa, while you’re in town for Christmas, why not take a break from work and stop by one of the Big Apple’s newest cider bars.
During the early 20th century, hard cider was one of the most popular alcoholic drinks in New York. But Prohibition wiped out most of the cider industry.
In more recent times, cider has been making a comeback in the city. Brooklyn Cider House, which opened Wednesday, is a Bushwick rustic haunt with a twist that New Yorkers (and visitors from the North Pole) can enjoy. Patrons get to pour their drinks straight from the taps on large wooden cider barrels (tastings from $15) — just like they do in Spain’s Basque Country, a place that’s known for its apple libations. Unlike the sickly sweet cider found in most grocery stores, these boozy drinks are dryer and have a zesty kick. (1100 Flushing Ave., BrooklynCiderHouse.com)
“Traditional cider is a drink you’re supposed to have with food, like wine,” says owner Peter Yi. Appropriately, the tap room has a prix-fixe menu (from $32) featuring Basque dishes such as chorizo and cod tortillas that are paired with ciders.
In October, Bad Seed opened in Crown Heights (585 Franklin Ave., BadSeedHardCider.com), offering 12 taps of cider along with eight taps of local craft beer (pints from $7). Co-owner, Adam Wilklow, who also owns Wilklow Orchards in Highland, NY, wanted to bring his ciders down to Brooklyn. The cozy taproom features wood tabletops, brick walls and a drink menu written on a chalkboard. Although Bad Seed doesn’t have a kitchen, guests are encouraged to bring their own food.
“When people think of cider they think it’s supposed to be really sweet,” says Bram Kincheloe, co-owner of Bad Seed. “But I think there’s a revolution happening with craft cider. It’s something you can enjoy all year.” Hear that, Santa?
Raise your voices
There’s only one day a year when the hoi polloi can wander through Gramercy Park, and that’s Christmas Eve, when the Episcopal Parish of Calvary-St. George’s invites New Yorkers into the gated garden for an hour of caroling and live music. Gramercy Park North, enter at 21st Street and Lexington Avenue, 6 p.m., free
But that’s not the only place offering free music on Sunday. The Rob Susman Brass Quartet will accompany carolers at Washington Square Park at 5 p.m., while St. George’s Church will follow up its children’s pageant with some tunes at Stuyvesant Square Park. 209 E. 16th St., pageant starts at 4 p.m., singing starts outside at 5
If the weather outside is too frightful, head over to East Village biergarten Zum Schneider, where tipplers can sip warm mulled wine, gorge on Christmas cookies and belt out German and American Christmas tunes inside (107 Ave. C, 1 to 5 p.m., free admission) — or to Saint John the Divine, whose family-friendly service, featuring several choirs, a singalong and scripture readings, also includes a larger-than-life puppet show. 1047 Amsterdam Ave., 4 p.m., free
— Raquel Laneri
Gifts that give back
Still haven’t decided how best to spread that holiday cheer — and your hard-earned dollars? Here are half a dozen gifts that double as acts of charity: Goodwill for all, indeed.
Eyes on the prize
When you buy a pair of these stylish sunglasses, you give a pair —that’s Warby Parker’s motto. VisionSpring, WP’s partner, helps to donate glasses to low-income men and women all around the world. “Avery” sunglasses, starting at $145 at Warby Parker, 121 Greene St.
Tie one on
These hair ties are the perfect stocking stuffer, and one you can feel good about: Emi Jay donates 20 percent of all the brand’s proceeds to the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Emi Jay x Baron Von Fancy hair ties, $6.50 for three at Clyde’s on Madison, 926 Madison Ave.
Squeaky clean
Calling all Mouseketeers: This $45 Mickey Mouse tin is packed with cleanser, toner, moisturizer and a hydration masque. Happier still is knowing that 100 percent of the net profits go toward providing meals to needy families through Kiehl’s partnership with Feeding America: Working with food banks, that $45 will buy 350 meals. Disney x Kiehl’s Collection for a Cause at Kiehl’s, 678 Ninth Ave.
Heaven scent
Get in the holiday spirit with cozy notes of ginger, bergamot and clove that will fill your home with cheer. And for every candle purchased, American Forests Global ReLeaf will plant a tree in American forests that were damaged or degraded by natural disasters. “Feel Good” candle, $34 at Origins, 62 Grand Central Terminal
Bag check
Wherever your travels take you, Tumi is here to help your luggage stand out with colorful ID tags. All proceeds from the Tumi x St. Jude collection will be donated to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. Tumi x St. Jude luggage ID tag, $45 each at Tumi, 53 W. 49th St.
Like a charm
Perfect for any jewelry-lover on your list, these Alex and Ani’s “Charity by Design” bangles all support different causes: 20 percent of the sales from each benefit Friends of Jaclyn, Toys For Tots, UNICEF and other organizations. So take your pick! Bracelets, $21 to $98 at Alex and Ani, 425 West Broadway
— Cody Jones
Jingle bell rock
If you miss seeing Darlene Love singing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” as she did for years on the “Late Show With Dave Letterman,” then go and see her in person.
Her holiday run at B.B. King’s (237 W. 42nd St.; BBKingBlues.com) ends Saturday, but she’s hardly the only show in town that day. Trap producer and DJ Nghtmre will bring his “Nghtmre Before Xmas” beats to Terminal 5 (610 W. 56th St.; Terminal5NYC.com), while New York City ska rockers the Slackers revisit their classic 2006 album “Peculiar” in full at Brooklyn’s Bell House (149 Seventh St.; TheBellHouseNY.com).
Jersey duo Cash Cash have ridden the EDM wave to success in the past few years, and on Sunday, Christmas Eve, their (almost) holiday homecoming is likely to pack the Marquee (289 10th Ave.; MarqueeNY.com). Need a break from all that yule? Then head to the Highline Ballroom for the Israeli-American group Moshav (431 W. 16th St.; HighlineBallroom.com): They’re far more likely to offer a belated l’chaim in honor of Hanukkah than the usual “ho ho ho.”
Once the ham has been dispatched and the eggnog polished off on Monday, Christmas Day, work it all off by hitting the club. Williamsburg’s own Danny Tenaglia will return to where he grew up for a set of house floor fillers at Output (74 Wythe Ave.; OutputClub.com) that’ll make it feel like New Year’s Eve a week early.
— Hardeep Phull
Let there be lights — on Christmas trees all over town
If you can’t bear the thought of wading through the madding crowds admiring the 75-foot Norway spruce at Rockefeller Center, there are plenty of other wonderful alternatives in less frantic parts of the city.
An impressive Renaissance-style courtyard is the calm setting of the 30-foot Lotte New York Palace tree (455 Madison Ave.), below, which has 3,000 lights featuring white and gold ornaments with a rich red and gold ribbon winding through its branches for a winter-snow theme.
Meanwhile, between 400 and 500 pounds of chocolate were used to construct the lip-smacking 7-foot-6-inch tree in the window of luxury confectionery store Godiva (52 W. 50th St.), just a block away from the exhausting Rockefeller action. Executive chef Thierry Muret teamed up with chocolate sculptor Paul Joachim to create the delicacy, which includes a replica of the famous Prometheus statue nearby. Staffers will get to nosh on the chocolate once it’s dismantled on Jan. 2.
Moving uptown, more than 1,000 pieces of origami are displayed on the spectacular 13-foot tree inside the American Museum of Natural History (Central Park West at 79th Street, general admission $13 kids, $23 adults). Volunteers from around the world spent the past year making the origami, inspired by the museum’s current exhibition, “Our Senses: An Immersive Experience” (AMNH.org/Exhibitions/Our-Senses). Expect to see everything from optical illusions to a hammerhead shark and a beluga whale.
— Jane Ridley
Grow a bona fide Santa belly with these seasonal sweets
Deck the plates with these merrily frosted cupcakes ($2.75). Baked NYC, 279 Church St.; 212-775-0345, BakedNYC.com
One can never have too many Christmas cookies, especially in festive flavors like ginger, chocolate-peppermint and eggnog ($12 for 24). Schmackary’s, 362 W. 45th St.; 646-801-9866, Schmackarys.com
Chop down this Christmas tree “explosion” cake for a sweet surprise: a confetti-like cascade of red, white and green sprinkles ($40). Flour Shop, 177 Lafayette St.; FlourShop.com
It’s a beautiful thing when two desserts become one. Case in point: hot chocolate mini pies ($8.50) with peanut butter swirls. Sweets by CHLOE, 185 Bleecker St.; EatByChloe.com
This jolly “Santa Religieuse” cream puff is filled with milk-and-cookies flavored ganache ($7.50). Dominique Ansel Kitchen, 137 Seventh Avenue South; 212-242-5111, DominiqueAnselKitchen.com
— Rebecca Santiago
Drama and joy across the city’s stages
For dance lovers, the highlight of the holiday season isn’t the Rockettes or “The Nutcracker,” but Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s annual residency at City Center (131 W. 55th St., NYCityCenter.org, tickets $29 and up). The exuberant troupe’s Christmas Eve matinee at 3 p.m. gives us something old — Ailey’s signature, high-stepping, gospel-driven “Revelations” — and something newer: Twyla Tharp’s dazzling “The Golden Section,” set to a David Byrne score. Somewhere between the two is “Ella,” a duet scored to the legendary Fitzgerald’s singular scat-singing.
There’ll be no scat-singing at the Met (Lincoln Center, metopera.org, $25 and up), where Susan Graham, the Texas-born, 6-foot-tall mezzo soprano, stars in Franz Lehar’s “The Merry Widow” Saturday at 8 p.m. Though it’s set in Paris, it’s as Viennese as whipped cream and sachertorts. Expect lush waltzes, lovely ballads — and more than a whiff of wistfulness.
Wistful, too, is “The Band’s Visit” (Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 243 W. 47th St. Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., $59 and up). True to the fetching, if fictitious, premise of the 2007 film it’s based on, this dreamy musical concerns an Egyptian police orchestra that’s stranded in a dusty Israeli town, only to be adopted by the locals. Speaking in halting English, the only language they share, Tony Shalhoub (“Monk”) plays the stiff bandleader who relaxes, ever so slightly, in the warmth of Katrina Lenk’s sultry cafe owner. When all is said and sung — and the haunting score is David Yazbek’s best — this is the perfect show for the “Peace on Earth” season. It suggests that whether we say “Shalom” or “Salaam,” we are not so different after all.
— Barbara Hoffman
Feast on fish
The Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes is a beloved tradition for Italian-Americans and seafood lovers alike. Here’s where to eat your fishy fill on Sunday night.
Tried, true and tasty
For a neighborhood Italian joint, there’s no higher honor than the locals’ seal of approval. Hearth, in the East Village, has earned that accolade with its six-years-running Christmas Eve banquet ($98), featuring such classics as marinated seafood salad and Tuscan fisherman’s stew. “At least 10 tables every Christmas Eve are return faces. It’s wonderful,” Christine Wright, general manager and wine director at the rustic Tuscan spot, says. For molto merry, tack on her pairing of coastal Italian wines ($52) — it’s the only bit of the menu that does change annually. 403 E. 12th St.; 646-602-1300, RestaurantHearth.com
Oodles of Noodles
And you thought your nonna was a food pusher! Chef Joshua Pinsky at Momofuku Nishi is packing his Italian-Asian fusion prix fixe ($100) with five pesce pastas . . . plus sides and dessert. “It’s gonna be a decent portion of food,” he (unnecessarily) tells The Post. Carb-centric offerings include farfalle with shrimp and fermented black beans, bucatini with peekytoe crab and soy sauce, and a single, decadent lobster raviolo, stuffed with a runny egg yolk and topped with spicy lobster sauce. 232 Eighth Ave.; 646-518-1919, Nishi.Momofuku.com
It’s Greek to Me
Greek restaurant Kellari proves that good things swim in nearby seas with its Captain’s Table feast, which serves sustainably farmed seafood to large groups from $93 per person. 19 W. 44th St.; 212-221-0144, KellariNY.com
Seven Fish, One Bowl
It’s the most ef-fish-ient feast in town. The Wayfarer’s Seven Fishes Cioppino ($44) is a one-bowl wonder, loaded with lobster, clams, shrimp, mussels, red snapper, calamari and trout roe. If you like a little turf with your surf, pad out your meal with an order of the Midtown spot’s spiced lamb pies with lemon yogurt and pomegranate ($17). 101 W. 57th St.; 212-691-0030, TheWayfarerNYC.com
— Rebecca Santiago
Simply red
After the presents are torn open, but before the mountain of gift wrap is addressed, a drink does the holiday-weary some good.
Master mixologist Joe Campanale, one of the founders of the new Italian-inspired Fausto in Park Slope, has a festive but simple cocktail on his menu.
“I’ve been loving all the new Italian red bitters coming out,” says Campanale, former part-owner of Epicurean Group (L’Artusi, Dell’anima and Anfora). “I couldn’t choose just one, so I made a cocktail that incorporates three [Caffo, Argala and Contratto] to showcase the great diversity in the category.”
It’s not always easy to track down three types of bitters, even in the quietest times, so our version calls for just one, your pick.
Amarcord
2 ¹/₄ oz. Italian red bitters
1 ¹/₂ oz. tonic
1 ¹/₂ oz. Prosecco
Place bitters in glass, then add ice. Top with tonic and prosecco, and lightly stir to incorporate. Garnish with an orange wedge or, for a Christmas-tree like aroma, a sprig of rosemary.
— Hannah Sparks