Night Shift 2012

april 24, 2012 - may 7, 2012

www.stuffboston.com

night shift

The People, Places, and Parties that Brighten Boston After Dark

april 24, 2012 – may 7, 2012

HOTS 7

GET ...this or that 9 ...seen 10 ...close 12 ...cultured 14 ...pretty 16 ...out 18 STYLE 22

FEATURE

the list 25

FEED

food coma 39 5 courses 40 stuff it 41 liquid 42 RESIDE 44 SEX 46 FLASH 47 nicole russo’S STUFF 50

22 Turn to page 22 to find silver and gold looks that are sure to shine on the dance floor. All dressed up with nowhere to go? Check out standouts of the local nightlife scene in “The List” on page 25. Photo by Danny Kim of Visceral Photography.

Letter from the Editor

Nightlife isn’t what it used to be.

Now hold on: I’m not saying that as some curmudgeon looking to the strobe-lit past through rose-colored glasses. I mean it as a simple statement of fact. The <4> 4.24.12

word “nightlife” once conjured a pretty clear picture: dark clubs and dance floors, right? (Cue the chorus of “What Is Love?” and A Night at the Roxbury–inspired head jerks.) But in Boston, the definition of nightlife has diversified. And it’s in this issue, Night Shift, and our main feature, “The List,” that we acknowledge the broad spectrum of scenes out there after sundown.

Sure, there are still some big, bumping nightclubs that fill the floors with sweaty crowds and the DJ booths with world-class names. In fact, with mainstream America’s excitement over electronic music reaching an apex not seen since the Clinton era, clubs like the Theater District’s Royale are luring star acts with impressive regularity. We give

details in “The List,” which starts on page 25. (And not to digress, but if you really want to time travel to the era of Bill and Hill, check out our interview with Nicole Russo on page 50. The publicrelations powerhouse was once a White House intern, and she has some intriguing souvenirs — and stories — to share.)

While there’s still a conventional club world out there, nightlife now means more than that. In “The List,” you’ll also find shout-outs to (free!) comedy shows, late-night movies, bars with encyclopedic booze collections, and spots that are ostensibly restaurants but also boast popular see-and-be-seen scenes. (The last on this list is definitely a major component of Boston nightlife now, if a Saturday

night at, say, Red Lantern is any indication.) But we have plenty of other helpful words on how to hit the town. Want to make sure you step out in style? Check out clubready fashions on page 22. And if you’re looking for good food in a space with a nightlife edge, turn to page to 39 and read up on Patricia Yeo’s long-awaited Cambridge restaurant, Moksa, which has an adjoining sister nightclub, Naga. (Food in front, fun in back.)

See? I told you I wasn’t being a curmudgeon. There are plenty of locals doing fascinating things with nightlife — we just have to make a minor shift in how we define that word.

Scott Kearnan Editorial Director

Producers’ Circle Presents

Editorial Director: Scott Kearnan Senior Managing Editor: Jacqueline Houton Design Manager: Janice Checchio Staff Writer: Miles Howard Food Editor-at-Large: Louisa Kasdon Contributing Writers: Kara Baskin, Marissa Berenson, Renata CertoWare, Cheryl Fenton, Jeannie Greeley, Meghan Kavanaugh, Heather Bouzan McHugh, MC Slim JB, Luke O’Neil, Erin Souza Contributing Photographers: Natalia Boltukhova, Lara Callahan, Kelly Davidson, Michael Diskin, Kim Gray, Tim Gray, Eric Levin, Melissa Ostrow, Chris Padgett, Joel Veak Party Photographers: Derek Kouyoumjian, Erica Magliaro, Natasha Moustache, Michael Young Intern: Emanuelle Honnorat Vice President, Sales and Business Development: David Garland Vice President, Print Media Sales: Marc Shepard General Sales Manager: Sean Weymouth Senior Account Executive: Luba Gorelik Account Executives: Nathaniel Andrews, Chris Gibbs, Laura Rodriguez Advertising Operations Manager: Kevin Lawrence Traffic Coordinators: Jonathan Caruso, Colleen McCarthy Director of Marketing and Promotions: Brian Appel Interactive Marketing Manager: Lindsey Mathison Director of Creative Operations: Travis Ritch Advertising Arts Manager: Angelina Berardi Production Artist: Kelly Wight Online Content Coordinator: Maddy Myers Senior Web Developer: Gavin Storey Director of Finance: Scotty Cole Circulation Director: Jim Dorgan Circulation Manager: Michael Johnson STUFF Magazine is published by the Phoenix Media/ Communications Group Chairman and Publisher: Stephen M. Mindich President: Bradley M. Mindich Senior Vice President: A. William Risteen

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HOT AND HAMMING IT UP

h o t HOT TOPIC

We New Englanders love our seafood, and the prime season for fish fries and clambakes is just around the corner. But overfishing is a very real ecological threat (not to mention a major plot point on the new Gloucester-based reality show Wicked Tuna). Which local fish populations are thriving this days, and which should we reconsider eating? We’ll find out on Sunday, April 29, at the Sustainable Seafood Teach-In, where local restaurateurs like Island Creek Oysters owner Skip Bennett and Legal Sea Foods CEO Roger Berkowitz will join forces with marine-life officials, fishermen, scientists, and authors to discuss today’s dwindling seafood stocks. First comes a comprehensive Fishing for Sustainability Forum from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Harvard Science Center (1 Oxford Street, Cambridge). Tickets for the forum are $10, but there’s also a free crash course, Let’s Talk About Sustainable Seafood, at the Museum of Science (1 Science Park, Boston, 617.723.2500) from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Panels at each will explore the delicate balance between respecting the environment and protecting a vital local industry — and debate how to best keep both out of hot water. Find out more and register at letstalkaboutfood.com.

Over the last few years, the Hub dining scene has boasted plenty of openings worth getting excited about — unless your name is Piglet, Wilbur, or Babe. What’s with the spate of restaurants that nod to swine? First came surprisingly good pub grub at the Squealing Pig, followed by elevated fare from chefs Jamie Bissonnette at Coppa (Italian for “cured pork neck”), Marco Suarez at the Salty Pig, and Top Chef alum Tiffani Faison at Fenway’s Sweet Cheeks (whose neon BBQ sign features a curlicue pig’s tail). Next up is The Bearded Pig (445 Somerville Avenue, Somerville), slated to open in late May in Union Square. Floridaraised owner Michael Schmidt managed a barbecue restaurant in DC before moving to Boston to work as an architect. He first returned to his pit-master passion with a catering service, but now he’s adding a counter-service and take-away spot that will offer a traditional Southern take on fare like pulled pork, St. Louis spare ribs, and Texas corn pudding. Can’t wait to pig out? Mark your calendar for the first annual Boston Bacon & Beer Week, running from Sunday, April 29, through Saturday, May 5. Check out the full lineup of participating restaurants and parties at baconandbeerweek.com.

HOT AND HAUTE

Long before the great poet Fergie rhapsodized about her London Bridge always “goin’ down,” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned “The Bridge,” a slightly more eloquent ode to the West Boston Bridge (which was later rechristened in his honor). A stanza from that poem will adorn one wall of the appropriately named West Bridge (1 Kendall Square, Building 300, Cambridge), a restaurant opening in May not far from its namesake in the increasingly buzzing Kendall ’hood. Owner Alexis Gelburd-Kimler and chefowner Matthew Gaudet hail from the South End’s Aquitaine, and West Bridge will offer a French take on New England eats that sounds reminiscent of that spot — think duck breast with hibiscus-beet vinaigrette and lamb shoulder with eggplant-fig purée. Such dishes will be served in an industrial-style interior with exposed piping, white brick walls, milled tabletops, 18-foot floor-to-ceiling windows, and, of course, some hand-painted poetry. Bridging fine fare and a stripped-down space? We like that connection.

The Greatest Party on Earth

THE HOTTEST HAPPENINGS

Listen up, philistines: if you only associate arty parties with gallery openings that feature boxed wine and stale cheese trays, it’s time to expand your horizons. Start with the seventh annual Greatest Party on Earth on Saturday, April 28, at the Artists for Humanity EpiCenter (100 West Second Street, Boston, 617.268.7620). The 9 p.m. AFH fundraiser makes a bold promise, but there’s no reason to be modest when you boast a bumping soundtrack of live music, gourmet small plates, art to browse and buy, and awe-inspiring aerial artists and other entertainers. Tickets are $150– $250 at afhboston.org, and all proceeds benefit the nonprofit’s mission of providing underserved youth with training and paid employment in the arts. Then on Friday, May 4, hit up the 9 p.m. Party on the Harbor at the Institute of Contemporary Art (100 Northern Avenue, Boston, 617.478.3100). The chic celebration always attracts a glamorous crowd of social scenesters and culture vultures, lured by waterfront dancing, DJ jams, flowing cocktails, and a chance to support the museum’s cutting-edge initiatives. Get tickets ($100–$200) at icaboston.org. bottom photo by melissa ostrow

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We’ve heard it said that the pen is mightier than the sword.

And we agree with the sentiment: a few choice words can often do more damage than a full-on physical assault. (It’s also way less likely to get us arrested. So, you know, bonus.) But the next time we craft a poison-pen letter to an enemy — or a frenemy, or an ex, or an accounts-receivable department — we’ll use an instrument appropriate for a post-swashbuckling era. Available at Abodeon (1731 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, 617.497.0137), this .357 cartridge pen ($25) is a refillable writing utensil concealed within an actual British rifle shell. It can stand upright, making for a far more interesting (and intimidating) desk adornment than some fussy Montblanc gift set. And when you need to discharge a few rounds of verbal venom, just open that gleaming case to reveal a 1965 Fisher Space Pen, which can write upside down, under water, in zero gravity, and in virtually any other circumstance in which you may need to articulate an attack. Ready, aim — shoot, does anyone have a stamp?

or that...

It also has a hard exterior, but this sort of shell is more likely to win hearts than pierce them.

Available at Joie de Vivre (1792 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, 617.864.8188), the In a Nutshell collection is a line of real walnut shells that crack open to reveal a cute pendant necklace ($18). Handmade from glass beads and gold-plated wire by Michigan’s Robin Goodfellow Designs, each pendant is a little different. So it’s a perfect token for a special someone, especially if you’re looking to break the ice — or come out of your shell.

— Scott Kearnan

photos by janice checchio

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GETSEEN …at Boston Ballet’s Le Bal du Diamant at the Castle at Park Plaza

Kathleen Breen Combes, principal dancer at Boston Ballet

Brianna Goodlin, student at Harvard

One of our favorite ballerinas traded a tutu for a pleated bi-level dress, which made us realize a mullet can be utterly chic when done this way.

She paired a Pinkyotto dress and belt with black patent pumps and a bold lip.

Her stage persona influences her personal style by helping her understand what works on her body and inspiring her to take risks.

A girl after our own hearts, she loves a good asymmetric neckline, lots of layers, and fluid draping.

STUFFY:

Brianna’s psychedelic gown was as effervescent as her infectious smile. (She is quite possibly the sweetest thing to hit Boston since the cupcake craze.)

She wore her old prom dress with matching Aldo wedges. “I look for any excuse to wear this dress!”

This Tennessee transplant describes her style as spring personified: “I never wear boring things. I have a yellow jacket for every season.”

Emily Mistretta, corps de ballet dancer at Boston Ballet This BCBG Max Azria dress epitomizes Emily’s style, which she describes as sexy yet understated.

“When I put this on, my friend said it looked like I already owned it.”

The best costume she’s ever worn was a pair of embellished pants and a bandeau top, a sultry look she donned for La Bayadère.

Emily’s off-stage look is not quite as put together as one might expect from a ballet dancer, she says. “But I do appreciate simplicity and a clean line, and that is very ballet.”

Katie Greenberg, director of development at the Institute of Contemporary Art We adored Katie’s printed maxi dress: an effortless take on the black-tie dress code.

She paired a Max Azria dress with a vintage clutch and cocktail ring, a stack of J.Crew bracelets, and sandals she bought on a Palm Beach vacation.

The creative influences surrounding her — vibrant art, brilliant curators — inform her wardrobe. “My look is a mix of classic, boho, and casual.”

Platinum Hit

Life’s a party, and then you die. No, seriously. We’ve been trained to mark life’s major milestones with big, bank-account-depleting bashes, from bar mitzvahs to proms to weddings to . . . well, not to be morbid, but even your final fete will probably incorporate flower arrangements, a stretch black limo, and an embarrassingly loud crier. (Ugh. There’s one at every party, making it all about her.) But since, as they say, you can’t take it with you, why not splurge on an especially ostentatious night out — just because you can? Presenting: the Five Star Boston Platinum Package, a comprehensive exercise in excess. Five Star is a local concierge service that curates unique experiences for each client, but consider this a “plug-and-play” party. For $5,000, you and up to four guests will receive priority seats and lavish meals at a predetermined restaurant (frequent go-tos include Strega Waterfront and Del Frisco’s). Then you’ll enjoy immediate entry to a favorite nightclub, where your VIP table will be stocked with a bottle each of chilled premium Champagne and a top-shelf spirit.

The experience also includes roundtrip transportation in a Cadillac Escalade and your own personal host for the night, available to accommodate additional whims. No lines, no tabs, just an all-inclusive night out. Packages can be tailored for smaller or larger budgets, and you can definitely dare to think big. (Want to charter a private copter to Mohegan Sun? You can, for about $5,000 each way.) After all, you only live once. For more information, visit fivestarboston.com.

— Scott Kearnan

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GET SEEN PHOTOS BY melissa ostrow; text by erin souza

GETclose ...with Doutzen Kroes Doutzen Kroes has been ranked the world’s fifth-highest-paid supermodel, but this Victoria’s Secret Angel understands that success in the fashion industry can come at a cost. In April, she joined media mogul Arianna Huffington, Vogue Italia editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani, and model/ actress Amber Valletta of Revenge for “Health Is Beauty: Defining Ourselves,” the Harris Center at Mass General Hospital’s 15th-annual forum on body image and the media. But first, the Dutch beauty spoke candidly with STUFF. I can’t stand when models say “Oh, I eat whatever I want — fried chicken for breakfast, dessert with every meal.” Is that reality? I work really hard for it [my body] because it’s my job! I have to be in the gym every day. I have to be really healthy. I have to give up things for it. Nobody’s going to win the world Olympics without practicing. At some point, I had to tell my agent, “I can’t not eat, because I get hungry!”

Has anyone close to you dealt with an eating disorder or body dysmorphia? I think every woman has doubts and insecurities about her body. I’ve never had struggles with anorexia or anything like that, but I’ve dealt with the fact that I always had to watch my weight and I’ve been told so often to lose weight. Sometimes it’s a struggle to keep up with my own photos, where the lighting is perfect, the makeup is done, and the images have been retouched. That’s not what I see when I look in the mirror! I felt really empowered when I said, “Okay, this is my body, the best that I can be. Deal with it.” I was able to do that because I had a nice life and great family back in Holland. Having a safe, solid background that I could always fall back on made me feel very empowered. There are a lot of girls from poor countries who enter the modeling industry and feel that they can’t say no when an agent or director tells them to lose weight or to do something that they aren’t comfortable with, because they have nothing to fall back on and nowhere to go. Their biggest fear is to go back to their old lives. I want to be a role model to help other models to feel strong and beautiful in their own way.

With awareness of body-image issues increasing, have you noticed changes within the industry? Since the CFDA [Council of Fashion Designers of America] and Anna Wintour started this health initiative in 2007, a handful of designers have really begun to move away from the unhealthy industry standards. Prada recently had a show with all curvy women, and Michael Kors always shows with different kinds of models, not the ones we saw on TV that were so shocking. I definitely see a change. It’s more interesting and more fun for people to see an athletic girl or a curvy girl on the runway. . . .

We’re all individuals and beautiful in our own way.

Everyone is different. If all models looked the same, I don’t think women could relate at all.

What do you think of the modeling industry now? Right now, models don’t bring any character to the runways — no personality. <12> 4.24.12

Kroes at the Harris center forum

It’s not like with Cindy and Linda and Naomi, who owned the runways! Today’s models have become interchangeable and disposable. They are scared of doing something wrong and losing a job, so they are afraid to show personality!

Fashion Week used to be so exciting because it was like a reunion for all us models to see each other again, but now there’s a constant rotation of new people every season. It’s not as fun now!

How accurately do reality shows like America’s Next Top Model portray the industry? These shows are entertainment. They always add a bit more drama. I saw a modeling show in Holland, and the contestants had to pose naked on a horse. I never had to do that! It attracted lots of viewers, but it’s still TV — not reality! I do think

it’s good that shows like ANTM don’t show the misconception that the industry is always glamorous, because it’s not! We have to work really hard. I’ve been doing this for 10 years, and now I’m getting some of the glamorous side. But in the beginning, it’s taking the subway to go to castings, running around. . . . It’s really hard work!

In the beginning, you don’t get to fly home and visit family whenever you want because you don’t have the money, and you can’t miss a moment because the next opportunity could be waiting.

— Renata Certo-Ware

Want more from the forum? For additional interviews with Amber Valletta and Franca Sozzani, head to stuffboston.com.

Photo by roger farrington

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GETCULTURED Graphic Content

Many of us remember our lives in pictures. (Though we sometimes wish we could delete a few slideshows, like those from the era when cropped cargo pants seemed acceptable.) So does Marjane Satrapi. Over the last decade, the Iranian author, illustrator, and filmmaker has received international acclaim for raising the profile of the graphic novel, a medium that can pack a powerful punch without a single “BANG!” or “POW!” By turns humorous and haunting, her breakout autobiographical work, Persepolis, chronicled Satrapi’s turbulent youth before and after the rise of the Islamic republic.

Now based in France, Satrapi has since adapted Persepolis into an Oscar-nominated animated film and published additional graphic works, including Chicken with Plums, which depicts the final days of her musically gifted great-uncle, Nasser Ali Khan. (It has also been adapted into a film, slated for an August US release.) We caught up with Satrapi to discuss her life, her love of drawing, and the present state of her homeland. But you can catch up with her yourself at An Evening with Artist, Author, and Filmmaker Marjane Satrapi.

On April 25 and 26, she’ll make a rare stateside appearance at

<14> 4.24.12

the Museum of Fine Arts (465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, 617.267.9300), giving two 6:30 p.m. lectures about her fascinating life and work. Get tickets ($30–$37) at mfa.org.

When did you begin drawing?

And when did you decide to tell the story of Persepolis visually?

Well, everybody draws as children, but at the age of 10, 45 percent usually stop — kind of like natural selection. I’ve always been drawing, never really finished. I began Persepolis five years after I moved to France to put a face on Iranian people, because there so many misunderstandings and prejudices.

Your illustrating style is both impressionistic and stark, like a newspaper cartoon. For Persepolis, I tried to write via drawing. Knowing that I was going to make a story full of words, it was extremely important to go slow and sober. Too much text and too much detail make reading complicated.

Visual reactions are most important.

When you draw a face that expresses something, no matter where you come from, it means the same to everyone.

What are some of your favorite comics? As a child, my favorites were Batman and Dracula. I loved Gotham City and all its dark heroes.

Persepolis deals largely with the repression and loss experienced by those who lived under both the Shah and the Islamists.

Was it painful to revisit your experiences? Of course! I had to redraw some pages five times after crying over the ink, but that was what I owed to my country.

Humans survive because they can forget. I had to go really deep to remember how I was feeling at age 16. But at the same time, I try not to complain. I live a good life now, so if I complain, what does the other 99 percent of the world do?

When was the last time you visited Iran? Twelve years ago. It’s a country of contradictions, but for me, there’s nothing abnormal about that because I’ve lived there. I have nostalgia for Iran. The revolution and the war were shocking, yes, but you get used to things like that. We have more power than we think as human beings. After six months, we learned to deal with war.

Many people will no doubt come away from Persepolis understanding that there is

an underreported yearning for democracy in modern Iran. How would you respond to those officials who have suggested “exporting” democracy through military action against the current regime? People have to look at history, because it repeats itself forever. Just look at the way George Bush attacked Iraq. The

outcome is not only bad, but has always made the situation worse.

It has never solved anything. It will be the people who want to make change who are killed. . . . It’s ridiculous: “bringing” democracy by bombing countries, like it’s a color of paint.

What are the advantages of telling a story like Persepolis in a graphic-novel format? In today’s world, images have more power.

Before me, Art Spiegelman did something great with Maus, which was a big revelation for me: that graphic novels could be more than superhero stories. With Persepolis, I thought maybe 300 people would be interested and feel sorry about this girl and have a good Christian conscience and that would be it. I could never have even imagined a reception like this.

— Miles Howard photo by maria ortiz

JFK and Fenway Park Fenway Park, home of the beloved Red Sox, is steeped in President Kennedy’s family history. In 1912, JFK’s grandfather, John F. “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, Mayor of Boston, threw out the first pitch at the Boston Red Sox new ball park, Fenway Park, and again at the 1912 World Series game at Fenway.

Then, in April 1946, a 28-year-old John Fitzgerald Kennedy was at Fenway Park and posed for a photo with Ted Williams, Hank Greenberg and rookie Eddie Pellagrini during a game against Detroit. In the days following that photo, Kennedy would make his debut into politics and announce his candidacy for the US Congress. And the rest is history.

Join us in celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Kennedy Presidency with a visit to the Museum at the JFK Presidential Library today.

Columbia Point, Boston, Massachusetts ★ 617.514.1600 ★ www.JFKLibrary.org Proud Partner in the Red Sox Kid Nation Program

GETpretty Below the Surface Are imaging technologies actually illuminating — or just skin-deep?

A picture is worth a thousand words. But you might not always like what it has to say.

Once, skin imaging and analysis was largely reserved for the dermatologist’s office.

In recent years, though, high-tech systems have become more widely available and accessible, offering a quick (and sometimes free) glimpse into your skin’s status — how it’s faring with regard to aging, sun damage, and hydration. But how useful are these skin snapshots? Depends which beauty expert you ask: some consider them informative, while others see them as scare tactics that can be used to push product in an already overwhelming beauty world.

How widely dispersed have these systems become? You might even encounter one at the grocery store. Consider the VISIA Complexion Analysis System that just debuted at the Whole Foods Market in Dedham’s Legacy Place. Combining standard white-light and UV photography, the system offers a complimentary eight-point analysis that compares your complexion with your peers’, evaluating skin irregularities, wrinkles, pores, texture, UV spots, brown spots, red areas, and bacteria. The higher the score, the better your skin. (The system’s age-simulator feature can even fast-forward five years to give you a preview of your skin’s future.)

Although seeing the resulting image can be a crushing blow (we admit to gasping during our analysis), some consider the exercise an important see-it-to-believe-it lesson with far more impact than a simple glance in the mirror.

“It gives insight beyond what’s visible to the naked eye,” says Noah Solomon, Whole Body coordinator for Whole Foods Market North Atlantic. “You see your skin in a way you’ve never seen it before.” Après analysis, the technician can suggest products that might help with areas in need of improvement.

A little easier on the ego is mySkin, a system used at Corbu in Cambridge’s Charles Hotel.

Corbu is the only spa in New England offering this imaging dermograph system, which delivers its analysis via a touch-screen graph display rather than an in-your-face photo. Developed by two Harvard Business School grads, mySkin uses visible light (not UV or infra-red) to analyze skin health, going deeper than an esthetician’s loop light. A small scanner placed on the skin uses complex algorithms to measure oiliness, moisture, texture, pore health, propensity to aging, and elasticity on and below the surface.

“It’s a 30-minute appointment during which the client gets their skin analyzed and has the opportunity to ask questions about what they can do differently,” says Corbu esthetician Kate Giudice. The analysis is offered complimentarily on Wednesdays, and a 15-minute version is <16> 4.24.12

CORBU spa & Salon incorporated into all Corbu facials.

“It’s a great way to begin a dialogue about what having healthy skin means and how to achieve it,” says Giudice. Both mySkin and VISIA clients are invited in for future scans to see whether changes to their routines are working.

But these technologies do face criticism.

“It’s a gimmick designed to scare people into buying product,” says Pete Dziedzic, owner of the South End’s Skoah. “The one person who this may be okay for is someone who believes sunscreen has no value. They may need to be ‘scared straight.’ Otherwise, it’s going to make people worry unnecessarily and feel badly.”

“Sometimes seeing what’s under the skin’s surface is detrimental to the untrained person,” agrees Christine Perkins, owner of Pyara in Cambridge. “We quickly turn minor things into flaws and are very hard on ourselves. Tools in many forms are great, but those images give an overly scary view.”

Solomon argues that it’s not uncommon to get good news from your image. “Many are pleased to discover what they always considered to be major flaws in their skin are actually not as bad,” he says.

But Perkins maintains there’s no substitute for a human touch. “A person can explain what’s going on and help people understand why they need to make changes,” she says. “A machine can’t do that.”

Giudice counters that the mySkin technology only enhances her own expertise.

“It’s a key to a hidden secret of their skin,” she says. “With knowledge definitely comes power.

The more we know, the better we can treat our skin and bodies.”

“The battle against aging and damaged skin is something we all face,” adds Solomon. “To have a scan that gives you an in-depth look gives you an advantage in the fight.”

— Cheryl Fenton

photo by natalia boltukhova

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GETOUT (270 Tremont Street, Boston, 617.482.9393) for a showcase of new works like Home, a hip-hopmeets-gospel-house sequence inspired by people living with HIV. Find tickets ($35–$85) and show times at alvinailey.org.

SATURDAY, APRIL 28

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25 Back in 2010, the most ominous thing about reverb-washed Brooklyn rockers The Drums was front man Jonathan Pierce’s eerie resemblance to Karate Kid villain Johnny Lawrence. (Uh-oh. Should we start practicing our spin-kicks?) Then guitarist Adam Kessler quit the band, and from the fallout came Portamento, the boys’ gloriously dark sophomore album. Chronicling financial woes (“Money”) and relationships gone down in flames (“Please Don’t Leave”), the doomand-gloom disc channels the Smiths and enhances Pierce and Co.’s popcorn guitar riffs and crooned choruses with seriously infectious angst. You can hear the heartbreak in person when the Drums play an 8 p.m. show at the Paradise Rock Club (967 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, 617.562.8800). Grab tickets ($15) at ticketmaster.com.

TUESDAY, APRIL 24 Most of the time, a title bearing an exclamation point seems to be trying a wee bit too hard. (Does Jeopardy! really set anyone’s heart racing?) But we’re actually pretty pumped for FELA!, a Tonywinning musical inspired by the life of late Nigerian musician and activist Fela Kuti. Punctuated by famed choreographer Bill T. Jones’s colorful dance numbers and roof-raising songs like “Kere Kay,” the show chronicles the confrontation between the Afrobeat legend and the Nigerian military, which attempted to shut down his celebrated public performances at Lagos nightlife fixture the Shrine.

FELA! opens tonight at the Cutler Majestic Theatre (219 Tremont Street, Boston, 617.824.8000) and runs through May 6. Find tickets ($23.50–$123.50) and show times at artsemerson.org.

THURSDAY, APRIL 26 After forking over a hefty wad of greenbacks at dinner, we sometimes wonder how much will go toward supporting the restaurant (and thus the local economy) and how much will just subsidize the <18> 4.24.12

restaurant owner’s pool-house renovation. But with Dining Out for Life, we know exactly where a significant portion of our bill will go: to a great cause. The national fundraiser unites restaurants willing to donate 25 percent of their tabs to AIDS/HIV care and prevention organizations. (Boston’s beneficiary is AIDS Action Committee.) Recruit as many hungry friends as you can, and make reservations at spots like KO Prime, Avila, and Da Vinci.

Visit diningoutforlife.com/boston to learn more.

We’ve split innumerable sides thanks to SNL actor and head writer Seth Meyers over the last decade, from his early sketches to his recent days as solo anchor of the “Weekend Update” news desk. And we know the comedian delivers off screen, too — like at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where he drew raucous laughs, and earned himself a spot on Donald Trump’s shit list, by predicting that the tycoon’s penchant for beauty pageants “would streamline [the Republicans’] search for a vice president.” So sign us up to see his national tour, which will stop by the Wilbur Theatre (246 Tremont Street, Boston, 617.248.9700) tonight for 7 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. shows. Book tickets ($37) at ticketmaster.com.

SUNDAY, APRIL 29 The members of Stockholm-rooted trio Miike Snow give credence to the notion that opposites attract.

While songwriter and guitarist Andrew Wyatt spent his youth fronting experimental acts like the A.M., band mates Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg produced singles for mainstream stars like Kylie Minogue and Madonna. But now the three make beautiful music together, crafting melodic singles like “The Wave” and the 2009 sensation “Animal” that breed woodsy synthesizer

FRIDAY, APRIL 27 There’s a lot more to admire about Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater than sculpted stomachs and gazelle-like gaits. The 54-yearold multiracial dance company has leapt across 71 countries (in front of nearly 23 million audience members), been designated a cultural ambassador by Congress, and blended old-school blues and gospel intonations with ballet, modern, jazz, and African dance techniques to create one of the most original repertoires around.

From April 26 through April 29, Alvin Ailey will hit the Wang Theatre

Miike snow

ambience with the pop sensibilities of Passion Pit. Don’t miss their 8 p.m. show at the House of Blues (15 Lansdowne Street, Boston, 888.693.2583). Grab tickets ($25– $35) at livenation.com.

MONDAY, APRIL 30 Indie filmmaker Lynn Shelton clearly enjoys exploring the (oftuncomfortable) complexities of relationships. First she took the term “bromance” to new levels with her best-buds-make-a-porno comedy Humpday. Now she’s back, with a bigger budget, for Your Sister’s Sister. The film stars Emily Blunt as Iris, who lends her grief-stricken friend Jack her family cabin when his brother (who was also her ex!) dies. Then Iris’s sister Hannah shows up, pushing the trio’s feelings towards a bruising climax. (You follow?) Head to the Somerville Theatre (55 Davis Square, Somerville, 617.625.5700) to catch the film’s 7:30 p.m. local premiere, part of the 10th annual Independent Film Festival Boston, which runs from April 25 through May 2. For individual tickets, festival passes, and the full schedule of films, visit iffboston.org.

TUESDAY, MAY 1 Interconnectedness is a value long extolled within the electronic-music scene. Years ago, when we used to walk 10 miles (uphill in snow!) to get to a rave, there was even a popular — if rather awkward-sounding — acronym, PLUR, which stood for “Peace, Love, Unity, Respect.”

That same symbiotic sentiment is expressed more eloquently by the name of Music Ecology, a Tuesday tradition at Wonder Bar continued on p20

GETOUT continued FROM p18

(186 Harvard Avenue, Allston, 617.351.2665). Each installment unites bass-driven DJs and producers with local visual artists for a night of underground sounds and sights. The party starts at 10 p.m., and the cover is $5.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 2

FRIDAY, MAY 4 Dabbling in dream pop now seems like a rite of passage for indie bands. (“All right gang, how many echoing guitar melodies and whispers can we squeeze into one track?”) But when you hear a duo like School of Seven Bells, the genre feels as fresh as it did when the Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser first yodeled across airwaves in the 1980s. With their third outing, Ghostory, Alejandra Deheza and Benjamin Curtis combine soaring synth fuzz, ample guitar feedback, and glassy vocals to gorgeous effect on cuts like “Love Play.” Hear it for yourself when Bells ring through Boston with a 9 p.m. show at Brighton Music Hall (158 Brighton Avenue, Boston, 617.779.0140).

Grab tickets ($13) at ticketmaster.com.

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Ever wondered why Boston has yet to replicate Berlin’s bumping nightclub nebula? First, try getting from a club in Central Square back home to Jamaica Plain after 2 a.m. on a Saturday night. Second, we need to continue to attract more innovators like POLE, aka Stefan Betke. With a club catalog that reads like a chronology of dub, bass, and other sounds derived in Deutschland, the German electro wizard deftly juggles melancholy melodies that could have come from early Kraftwerk with the industrial fuzz and squelches of a Modeselektor mix. He’ll share those skills at a Berklee workshop for future sound-smiths during his first visit to the Hub, but the rest of us can get schooled at POLE’s 8

p.m. show at the Goethe-Institut Boston (170 Beacon Street, Boston, 617.262.6050). Grab your tickets ($12–$15) now at eventbrite.com.

THURSDAY, MAY 3 It should come as little surprise that the first state to legalize samesex marriage is also home to New England’s longest-running and largest LGBT media event. Opening tonight and running through May 13, the 28th annual Boston LGBT Film Festival will feature eyeopening cinema from American and international auteurs. (Previous screenings have included work as disparate as Mike Mills’s sentimental elder-coming-out flick, Beginners, and Rebecca Thomson’s amusingly titled Cupcake: A Zombie Lesbian Musical.) This year, the openingnight festivities will be held in style at the Institute of Contemporary Art (100 Northern Avenue, Boston, 617.478.3100). Visit icaboston.org for tickets to the 8:15 p.m. screening ($18–$20) and the 6:45 p.m. VIP reception ($75). And check out the full schedule and pass options at bostonlgbtfilmfest.org.

GETOUT David sedaris

Street, Somerville) will spotlight locally crafted fashion, from wearable sculptures and vintageinspired bridal apparel to handpainted silks and sustainable designs. Admission is free, but be sure to reserve your seat at beyondthepattern.eventbrite.com.

And for info on more Open Studios events, visit somervilleopenstudios.org.

SUNDAY, MAY 6

SATURDAY, MAY 5 Davis Square already has plenty of art, from the sculpted (those somewhat amusing, somewhat creepy pedestrian statues) to the unintentionally subversive (the curiosities in the basement-

level Museum of Bad Art). Now add “wearable” to the list, thanks to Beyond the Pattern, part of 2012’s weekend-long Somerville Open Studios. The 6:30 p.m. runway showcase at Davis Square Theatre (255 Elm

David Sedaris has survived a stint in Macy’s Santaland, a week in a nudist trailer park, and a Thanksgiving full of expired food products. (“Age had already mashed the potatoes,” he wrote.) What’s more, he’s managed to turn such misadventures into the raw material for colorful essay collections like Me Talk Pretty One Day, full of bellylaugh-worthy riffs on the weirdness of modern life. In the process, he’s snagged a spot among the most celebrated essayists and comedic voices in contemporary American literature. Not bad for a former elf.

Hear him recount more tales tonight during a 7 p.m. show at Symphony

Hall (301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, 617.266.1492). For tickets ($30–$55), visit bso.org.

MONDAY, MAY 7 Has it really been nearly three decades since the Red Hot Chili Peppers first rocked out with their gym-sock-covered cocks out?

The LA funk-rock foursome has certainly come a long way from The Uplift Mofo Party Plan. Last we checked, bass monster Flea was jamming with Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, and longtime guitarist John Frusciante had announced his departure (frown face). But now the remaining funky monks are hitting the road to promote their latest album, I’m with You, with newly recruited axe master Josh Klinghoffer. They’ll showcase new cuts at a 7:30 p.m. show at TD Garden (100 Legends Way, Boston, 617.624.1050) alongside reliable classics like “Suck My Kiss” and “Give It Away.” For tickets ($59), visit ticketmaster.com.

— Miles Howard

For more event picks, sign up for our email list at stuffboston.com/signup.

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tyle

Night Fever

Musically, disco and metal would make awfully strange bedfellows. But style-wise? That’s a different story. This season, we’re loving silver and gold looks that shimmer like a mirror ball — without getting too gaudy. Add some big hair and fearless makeup, and you’ll be ready to cut up the dance floor at a club or dig in for dinner and live music at a spot like the South End’s Beehive.

— Renata Certo-Ware

GOLD LOOK Top, $24.95 at H&M; k.hendrix customizable sequined jogging pants, $265 at zoo-ra.com; Senso Diffusion shoes, $43 at karmaloop.com; gold hoop earrings, $1,650 at Sophie Hughes Jewelry Stylist/Producer: Renata Certo-Ware Photographer: Danny Kim of Visceral Photography Model: Jessica C. of Maggie Inc. Hair: Patty Martin of Shag Salon Makeup: Elena Kucerova Shot at: The Beehive

Silver look Theyskens’ Theory tank, $195 at Saks Fifth Avenue; k.hendrix sequined halter top, $120 at zoo-ra.com; tube skirt, $275 at Diane von Furstenberg; Posh shoes, $86 at karmaloop.com; “Beebee” clutch, $210 at Reiss; cascading-ovals earrings, $220, forged bangles, $140–$240 each, horizontal bar rings, $180–$240 each, hollow cuff bracelet, $620, silhouette chain necklace (worn as bracelet), $680, and shield ring, $260, all at Sophie Hughes Jewelry

WHERE TO SHOP

Diane von Furstenberg, 73 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.247.7300 H&M, 100 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.859.3192 Reiss, 132 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.262.5800 Saks Fifth Avenue, 800 Boylston Street, Boston, 617.937.5210 Sophie Hughes Jewelry, 450 Harrison Avenue, Studio 312, Boston, 207.590.3229 <22> 4.24.12

327 Newbury St., Boston MA 02115 sonsieboston.com

The List.

Th e People, Places, and Parties that Brighten Boston After Dark

By Miles Howard and Scott Kearnan Every nightspot has its list of VIPs: people whose reputations precede them and make velvet ropes part like the Red Sea. So for our first Night Shift issue, we likewise compiled a list — of very important people, places, and parties. We gave nods across the nightlife world, from DJs who keep us dancing to promoters pushing new social-media tech, from traditional nightclubs to sleek restaurants that double as social scenes, and from longstanding party series to late-night movie and comedy offerings. Here’s to nightlife’s shining stars: this round’s on us.

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Th e Big Draw s

Even for big-name DJs used to playing massive arenas, America has long been the toughest commercial market to crack. So when they tour the States, it’s usually bigger, more nightlife-friendly cities like New York, LA, Miami, and Vegas that get a visit. Boston has rarely been on the radar — until lately. Suddenly, an influx of major electronic-music artists are playing at Hub clubs, including venues where capacities are a fraction (of a fraction) of what they’re used to.

“It was like having the Grateful Dead play at your little concert venue,” chuckles Mike Swells, DJ and jack-of-all-trades at RISE, where Grammywinning techno legend Dubfire played in April. Boston’s only (legal) after-hours nightclub, RISE has a devout following among true-blue EDM aficionados. It’s booked many revered acts, but scoring Dubfire was the club’s biggest coup yet.

Royale deserves credit for taking an early initiative in attracting huge DJ acts to Boston. Immediately after taking over the former Roxy space in 2010, Royale started pulling in some of the world’s top talent, like Paul van Dyk, Kaskade, David Guetta, and, most recently, Alesso. (Next up: Armin van Buuren on May 22 and Ferry Corsten on June 7.) Other clubs have since follow suit by nabbing big names; recent headliners include Bob Sinclar at Gypsy Bar and Nervo at Splash. The shift reflects how interest in EDM has skyrocketed over the last couple of years. Deadmau5 and Skrillex are nearly household names (to the under-40 crowd anyway), and pop stars are cranking out collaborations with DJs. “The music has grown in popularity, so now Boston promoters have a reason to take a risk,” says Swells. And it is a financial gamble; the big guns don’t come cheap. (Picture five-figure price tags.) But clubs can charge higher ticket prices for these names, and VIP tables can go for several grand — so recouping the cost is entirely possible. But sometimes the cachet of the booking is enough reward on its own, says DJ Mete Aslan, part of the team behind Bijou. The Theater District hotspot has been bringing in major players, but none as high-profile as trance legend Tiësto, who came through at the end of March (check out our interview with him in “The Top Talent” on page 36). “He came from playing to tens of thousands of people at festivals to 350 at Bijou,” says Aslan. “And he doesn’t get paid less because he’s playing to fewer people. But to have Tiësto is a big advertisement for your club — and a big accomplishment. It’s great for the Boston music scene to have someone of that caliber.” As long as EDM continues to grow in popularity, we hope to see even more. continued on p28 photo by natasha moustache

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The List.

continued FROM p27

mirrorshades at good life

Th e H ots pots on th e H o rizon

In the nightlife world, you’re only as hot as your latest venture. And we’re burning with curiosity to see what comes of two upcoming projects from major nightlife players. This summer, Big Night Entertainment Group will add Empire to its, well, empire.

The 13,000-square-foot Asian restaurant and lounge will be a massive addition to the Seaport scene, and considering that it’s from the same team behind the Estate, Red Lantern, and Shrine at MGM Foxwoods, we expect it to attract a healthy nightlife crowd.

And though it’s been packing them in since 2006, District is slated to get a totally new look and concept courtesy of the 6one7 Productions team before year’s end.

Th e B r ea kfast Clu bb ers

Corvette blue. Cocaine white.

Molly Ringwald red. If you dream in such shades, you probably have a soft spot for the ’80s. So do the members of Mirrorshades, a <28> 4.24.12

DJ collective that burst onto the scene this fall with floor-buckling, retro-electro sets of ’80s synthpop and new wave, combined with modern house and nu-disco that’s inspired by ’80s synth-pop and wave. Catch their parties at Good Life — and for a similar vibe, check out Videodrome Discothèque, a solid standby that recently moved its twice-monthly throw-downs to Radio in Somerville.

Th e Late-N i g ht Lau g h ers

After a particularly dreary week of weather or weary week of work, we crave comedy. The Wilbur regularly brings in big-name bookings, of course — but what if we find ourselves in need of a late-night funny fix? We’re partial to Nightcap, a showcase of comedic and improvisational talents that hits the stage at ImprovBoston at 11:30 p.m. every Friday and Saturday. The best part? The shows are totally free. (More money for booze at the bar!) And if you’re in the mood for really risqué fare, be sure to check out Raunch, an über-uncouth laugh riot from the dirty minds at Improv

Asylum, which goes down every Saturday at midnight.

Th e Do u ble-D uty Di n i n g Spots

In Boston, “nightlife” is a malleable term. We now have fewer nightlifededicated venues than we did back in that Jurassic period when behemoths like Avalon ruled Lansdowne Street, and our labyrinthine licensing hurdles can make it hard to get thumping new spots started. As a result, Boston has birthed a mindset that treats certain restaurants, by virtue of their look, vibe, and propensity to attract pretty people, as nightlife-y scenes for drinking, lounging, and flirting — not just eating. We’d say Sonsie was among the earliest, and newer spots like Red Lantern, The Brahmin, and the just-opened GEM channel a similar spirit.

They’re restaurants, sure, but they also serve up a healthy side of “sexy social scene.”

Th e Un d er-t h e-Radar R evelers

With its eclectic population of beerguzzling students, post-university

hipsters, and bedroom-based music producers equally adept at the synthesizer and the nose flute, we’re not surprised that Allston Rock City seems to be Boston’s best neighborhood for underground throw-downs. Among our favorite hush-hush haunts are crunchy coop The Burrow (formerly known as Eliconia) and The Secret House of Pancakes, which packs out-of-state bands and edgy art installations into a bare-bulb-lit basement for its DIY dance parties. And then there’s The Wacky Kastle, which offers homemade vegan meals to visiting talent. How to get in? If you have to ask, you’re probably not invited. And that’s the fun.

Th e Spoi ls o f War

When a fight breaks out in a club, we usually want to be far, far away — unless the smackdown is at Down Ultra Lounge.

Soon after it opened in 2010, the subterranean club introduced a “dueling DJs” approach as a creative nod to the upstairs dueling-piano bar, Howl at the Moon. The roster of battling beatmasters includes local favorites photo by gina manning

like DJ Greg Pic and DJ Costa — so whoever triumphs at the decks, those of us on the dance floor are guaranteed a win.

The Rocky horror picture show

Th e N erds o f N i g htli fe

Being a nerd doesn’t mean spending weekends watching The Two Towers alone in hobbit apparel. Nerds like to party too, and some of the options we’ve spied in Cambridge are inventive enough to tempt even the incrowd to indulge in a geeks’ night out. If you drool over comic books (or just wish you had X-ray vision around girls in spandex), watch your heroes come to naughty life with Geek Girl Boston’s costumed burlesque shows at Oberon. (POW! BIFF! SCHWING!) Or bond over beer and brainy lectures at the monthly Nerd Nite series at Middlesex Lounge. Meanwhile, Spectra Events’ Nerdy Cabaret series has brought a slew of divinely dorky performers to the Middle East. And ImprovBoston’s annual Geek Week will serve up punctuation celebrations and Harry Potter– themed sketches from April 25 through April 29.

Th e Gri n d h o u s e H ero es

When it comes to late-night entertainment, we have a soft spot for midnight movies: flicks that are always colorful, usually campy, and often a bit creepy.

(Insert Vincent Price cackle

here.) So we love the weekend @fter Midnite series at Coolidge Corner Theatre, where selections run from nostalgic favorites (The Goonies are good enough!) to fright fests (1980s gore machine Cannibal Holocaust) to the unofficial so-bad-it’s-great genre

(Tommy Wiseau’s legendarily abysmal The Room). And since the early ’80s, AMC Loews Harvard Square 5 has screened cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show for costumed crowds every Saturday night. continued on p30

the burrow top photo by natalia boltukhova; bottom photo by janice checchio

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Th e Gay Ol’ Ti m es

The club scene has always been part of gay culture: hell, the gay-rights movement started with riots at NYC bar the Stonewall Inn. But in Boston, LGBT-focused nightlife has ebbed and flowed. There are only a few nightspots that cater to gay crowds every night of the week, like Fenway’s Machine, which celebrates more underground sexual subcultures, and South End party spot and cabaret Club Café.

So cheers to promoters who have kept popular nightly parties afloat throughout the years, including the eponymous founder of Chris Harris Presents, who has long had a lock on some of the city’s biggest bashes.

Harris is the man behind a four-night streak of fetes, which starts on Thursday with GlamLife at The Estate, where resident DJ Richie LaDue holds court over frequent drag performances. Then comes the newly launched Queer Fridays party at Guilt, which hosts guest DJs like Tony Moran and Manny Lehman. Next is EPIC Saturdays at House of Blues, which brings a “big room” dance feel to the former site of super-club Avalon.

(In fact, EPIC occasionally hosts “Avalon Reunion” events.) And finally, there’s a chance to get sloppy on Sunday at Hot Mess! at Underbar, the perfect way to polish off a week of parties — or start up the next with a well-earned hangover.

But we’re also pumped about newer entries to the scene, like Mr. D!ck’s Night at Bijou, which has DJ Joe Bermudez steaming up the dance floor each Friday for a sophisticated (though frequently shirtless) crowd. Aiming for a sweaty but stylish vibe, the weekly soiree was launched this spring by real-estate maven and dapper man-about-town Ricardo Rodriguez, who recently passed the reins to Chris Tobeck of the long-running Tobie events. Here’s hoping the night’s success spurs a stampede of even more new parties following suit. continued on p32

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photo by natasha moustache

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The List.

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Th e Ri si n g P h o en ix

The inimitable TC’s Lounge long ruled Boston’s dive-bar scene like a mangy Don Corleone, cultivating a one-of-a-kind vibe with its claw machine filled with pornographic prizes and walls plastered with primordial posters and candid Polaroids. Then the unthinkable occurred last month, when a beer-cooler short circuit sparked a blaze that burned the place beyond recognition. Our hopes teetered on the brink, but to our relief, owner Tony Consalvi has already announced his intention to rebuild the place. With any luck, we’ll soon be pounding brainmelting “Oxycontin shots” and bagging digital deer via Big Buck Hunter all over again.

Th e After- H o u rs Eateri es

New York is the city that never sleeps. Boston? We’re like the responsible older sibling that has a sufficient amount of fun and then goes to bed at a reasonable hour so that we’re not late to work. But all those early closing times seem like a curse when your stomach’s rumbling after a raucous night out. Fortunately,

The hawthorne sustenance awaits at South Street Diner, Boston’s only 24-hour eatery, and Victoria’s Diner, which serves goodies like blueberry-stuffed pancakes round the clock from Thursday morning through Sunday night. By Fenway, Tasty Burger flips patties until 2 a.m., while the same owners’ Franklin Café and Franklin Southie offer finer fare in the South End and South Boston until 1:30 a.m. And though Chinatown

has plenty of post-midnight munchies, for East Asian fare we love Brookline’s Golden Temple, open until 2 a.m. on weekends.

Th e Ti ppli n g Si bli n gs

Some nights, we want a real meal — and a drink or two, too.

But other times, we want to invert the equation: it’s a liquid dinner we’re looking for, with some tasty solids on the side. So we’re happy to notice that some

of our favorite restaurants have been opening cushy, cocktailcentric side projects. Eastern Standard’s handsome brother, The Hawthorne, offers an ever-changing selection of craft cocktails in a stylish subterranean space. Journeyman’s sister spot, Backbar, brings the same highlevel ambition to its drinks as the restaurant does to its cuisine.

Downstairs from Foundry on Elm, Saloon is all about the sips. And

tc’s lounge <32> 4.24.12

bottom photo by derek kouyoumjian

avicii

upstairs from Central Kitchen, Brick & Mortar has transformed the former home of the dancecentric Enormous Room into a warm and welcoming watering hole. In these offshoots, the drinks are the main draw, yet they all offer way tastier treats than the local sports pub.

Th e Mai n - Man Attraction

In Europe, DJs are marquee draws. They’ve long been able to fill gargantuan stadiums, arenas, and multi-acre open-air festivals with the thousands-strong throngs America reserves for rock gods like U2 and the Rolling Stones. But here’s a sign of the changing times: on June 15, Swedish DJ Avicii will bring his LE7ELS tour to TD Garden. It’s unprecedented: while DJs have occasionally opened for pop acts there, this is the first time one has headlined at the Garden, which can host up to 20,000 for concerts. Leave the lighters at home; it’s glow sticks you’ll want to wave aloft to a new summer anthem.

Th e En cy clo pedia B ritann ica Bars

Booze is rarely known to enhance focus. But when it comes to drink options, we salute those spots that strive to amass a comprehensive collection of a specific alcohol.

Want whiskey? The Citizen Public House & Oyster Bar has more than 110 from Canada, Japan, and other locales, with a weekly featured selection and a reward-offering Whiskey Club.

Brookline’s Taberna de Haro offers more than 260 Spanish wines with its tasty tapas, and the Seaport’s Temazcal boasts 300-plus kinds of tequila. But if you’re a hophead at heart, check out the staggering (pun intended) 140 beer taps at the Fenway ’hood’s new Yard House, whose draft stats recently jumped ahead of those of Allston’s long-standing victor, Sunset Grill & Tap (still impressive at 112).

Th e Voyage-i n -T i m e Ven u e

Many nightspots have tried to plunge patrons into old-timey environs, boasting of their “Prohibition-era cocktails” and “speakeasy-style atmospheres.”

But most of the time, those promises are just words on a (historically inaccurate) press release. That makes us all the more appreciative of Davis Square’s Saloon, a newish spot that has actually accomplished the feat. Dark woods, saddleleather booths, and turn-of-thecentury-style chandeliers set the time-warp tone, and the libations likewise feel period-appropriate.

Try something from the truly epic bourbon list or a twist on a pre-Prohibition classic, like a Ward 44, Saloon’s pork-bellyinfused take on a Ward 8 (a cocktail invented right here in Boston back in 1898). Once properly doused, wander into the adjoining Davis Square Theatre for live theater, music, or standup comedy, depending on the (current) calendar. continued on p34

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The List.

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Th e Tech no W izards

Look hard enough, and you can probably find a smartphone app to assist in just about every aspect of your nightlife experience. You can track your friends’ nightly party patterns using color-coded maps with the recently launched, locally developed ClubView, time your exit to catch the last T ride home with OpenMBTA, and secure sleek, speedy car service for nights when a smelly, swerving cab won’t do with Uber. But we think we’re most impressed by the promise of Zowler. It’s the brainchild of a team that includes CEO Giuseppe Stuto, manager of business development Michael Hanna, and some familiar fixtures of the local nightlife scene: Michael Winter of East Coast Clubs and Ace Gershfield and Sal Boscarino of 6one7 Productions are serving as advisors. Users log in through Facebook, and then Zowler allows them to check in at clubs, keep track of friends’ comings and goings, check out individual venues’ profile pages to scope the scene in advance, and share real-time photos, video streams, and comments from inside the clubs. They can also pre-pay for covers with a credit card or skip the wait entirely by purchasing a premium Line Cutter pass. For their part, club owners will have the ability to offer promotional discounts and rewards to regular customers, as well as get user-reported analytics about their patrons. The Zowler team already has plans to expand the app to Miami and Las Vegas in the coming months, but the Boston rollout has begun — so this is a rare instance where we’ve beat other cities to the cutting edge of club life. continued on p36

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Th e N ext- Gen eration Groo m ers

The influx of big-name DJs to Boston clubs is impressive enough.

So we’re bowled over by the skills of promoters who have recently started luring major names to New England colleges and universities.

In the fall, the minds at Mass EDMC and NV Concepts teamed up to bring Tiësto’s College Invasion Tour to UMass Amherst and URI. In February, their Winter White Tour brought French bigwig David Guetta to UNH. And this month, Avicii came to UMass Amherst. In our day, we were lucky to get B-listers in the quad on Spirit Day. But these major bookings ensure that future fans get an early education in electronic music.

th e N on sto p Scen es

In the nightlife world, the buzz accompanying a big opening can fade as fast as the ink of a bar scar. But some venues excel at maintaining momentum. Take BOND, which opened in early 2009 in what was once the members’ court of the Federal Reserve Bank.

The Langham Hotel hotspot’s glam interior still impresses, and its Taste Thursdays, Play Fridays, and Flaunt Saturdays give us good reasons to return (like last month’s appearance from acclaimed Russian DJ trio Swanky Tunes). Unique digs and parties likewise continue to draw a dressed-to-thrill crowd to the multiple bars of the Liberty Hotel, which opened in late 2007.

Vestiges of the venue’s former life as the Charles Street Jail lend one-of-a-kind atmosphere, and the hotel’s Liberty Affairs series’ art-, music-, and fashion-themed fetes are great rationales for rallying on a weeknight.

Th e Go ldi locks Gro u p

As we discovered in college while trying to borrow thinner roommates’ jeans, one size doesn’t fit all. That’s especially true for live music. Larger venues are often hesitant to book exciting but untested new acts, for fear of being unable to fill a toobig space. And a too-small venue can leave fans frustrated when tickets sell out in nanoseconds.

But Crossroads Presents has been able to find just-right fits for up-and-coming indie acts and huge stars alike. That’s because Crossroads books for five spots — Brighton Music Hall, the Paradise Rock Club, House of Blues, the Orpheum Theatre, and the Boston Opera House — whose capacities range from 340 to 2,700 concertgoers. And it has instituted a smart system that allows new acts to start at the smallest spot, Brighton Music Hall, and graduate to a larger stage if their ticket sales exceed expectations.

Th e S u b u rban Legen ds

Boston sure beats the suburbs when it comes to clubs per capita, but that doesn’t mean trips outside the city should be limited to the occasional Target pilgrimage. (Shh!) If your ideal Friday night involves onion-ring-smothered steak, margaritas, and arcade games like Frogger and Fruit Ninja, you can’t go wrong with Dave & Buster’s, that guilty pleasure of a food-andgame chain that recently opened a Braintree location. And in the summer, the seaside dance parties at Ocean Club actually manage to lure us to Quincy with impressive DJ lineups that have featured the likes of Calvin Harris and Dirty South. joe bermudez at taste thursdays

<36> 4.24.12

Tiësto at mohegan sun

Th e Top Talent

In March, a few days before swinging through Boston to spin a smaller show at Bijou, Tiësto packed a huge, casino-loving crowd into the Mohegan Sun Arena. After that blow-out, we squeezed in a quick Q&A with one of the globe’s most famous DJs. Your album Club Life Volume Two: Miami drops in April. If you made a mix inspired by Boston, how would it sound? Ha! Who knows? Perhaps Club Life Three will be Boston! The crowds I’ve played there are always incredibly passionate. They clearly love the music and never disappoint. To suit their high energy, I’d definitely play “Maximal Crazy”!

What do you think about recent DJ/pop-star collaborations?

David Guetta with Nicki Minaj, Calvin Harris with Rihanna — do they help EDM gain exposure or compromise the genre? These collaborations have been a really big factor in the rise of EDM in the US. They have without a doubt brought a new audience to the scene via mainstream radio and huge online success, which is great to see. I’m not against collaborations of this kind, but the voice and energy has to be right for my sound and the energy of the song. I don’t always wish to go down a very pop-oriented road, but I don’t look down on others if they take that route.

Are there any rising DJs or producers you think we should be watching? One guy I think is going to really explode in the next six months is Tommy Trash. He has a real rock-star personality and is an awesome producer and DJ. I can’t wait to see what he comes out with in coming months. Also, my boys from Dada Life seem to be getting bigger and bigger all the time.

It’s great to see success come to such talented, nice guys.

You’re working on your new studio album. Some critics thought your last, Kaleidoscope, wandered too far from trance toward harder electro territory. What’s next? There are always going to be people who dislike what you make, but I keep myself open to inspiration and let that guide the music I make. I couldn’t tell you how my music is going to change or even if it’s going to change, but I’m always going to follow my passions and evolve as an artist. The fluidity of genres at the moment is one of the things that seems to be making the EDM world more exciting than ever!

bottom photo by natasha moustache

Summer comes early to the MFA.

Beach Party!

May 4, 5:30–9:30 pm MFA First Friday gets hotter. www.mfa.org/beachparty

This exhibition was organized by the Albertina, Vienna, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

A P R I L 2 8 – J U LY 2 9, 2 012

Sponsored by United Technologies Corporation.

The co-sponsor of MFA Fridays is American Airlines. Additional support provided by Macy’s Foundation.

Additional support from the Shelly and Michael Kassen Fund.

Media sponsor is STUFF Magazine.

Alex Katz, Gray Day (detail), 1992. Screenprint. Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna. Art © Alex Katz/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.

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5 COURSES

STUFF IT

liquid

foodcoma Uyigur Lamb at Moksa

The food and drink in Cambridge’s gritty Central Square has evolved remarkably in just a few short years to include several highly regarded indie restaurants and an outstanding cluster of craft-cocktail bars. Its slew of nightclubs is growing too: a recent addition to the scene is Naga, a gleaming new cavern for national DJ acts. It’s located at the back of Moksa (450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, 617.661.4900), the new and thoroughly modern pan-Asian restaurant that marks a splashy return to the spotlight for chef Patricia Yeo. Moksa covers a lot more Asian territory than its izakaya designation would suggest, though it does serve plenty of nice-priced sake ($17–$21 for 300 ml) and gorgeous cocktails by Noon Inthasuwan. Her inventive, Asian-inflected bartending first garnered raves at Khao Sarn Cuisine; here it features originals like the Peking Sailor ($11), which balances gin, Campari, house-made elderflower vinegar, and cava, and the Tokyo Chic ($11), a milkshake-like blend of white whiskey, absinthe, and puréed edamame, cheekily garnished with a robin’s-egg-blue marshmallow Peep. These go great with yakitori: skewers of grilled meats like crisp chunks of nicely charred chicken skin ($4), thin slabs of tender, rich beef tongue ($4), or baconwrapped chicken-liver nuggets ($4). Stir-fried whole shishito peppers ($4) are made “dancing” with a sprinkle of katsuobushi, gossamer flakes of dried PHOTO BY joel veak

bonito that wave eerily in the steam wafting off the chilies. Shao bing ($5), waffle-textured wheat-bread pressed sandwiches, are loaded with savory/ sweet fillings like duck confit and Fuji apple. Steamed buns ($8) fill pillowy rounds of steamed dough with char siew (Cantonese “BBQ” pork) topped with fiery cucumber pickles, another fierce flavor combination. Roti evoke Kogí truck tacos, stuffing tortilla-like flatbreads with deluxe fillings like steak tartare, oysters, and kimchi ($12).

Yeo salvaged some mementos from the bygone Ginger Park, like the dining room’s zebra-wood booths and noodle specialties like dan dan mein ($13), here done with kinkier pasta and a chunkier pork ragù. And her Uyigur lamb ($15) is still an utter knockout, a dish inspired by the wild frontier and Muslim cookery of remote northwestern China. Chunks of lamb dusted with dried cumin, coriander, ginger, and chili are stir-fried with bell peppers, garlic, bok choy, and chewy flat disks of rice gnocchi. It’s a gorgeous and astonishing bowl, showcasing vivid flavors you might sooner expect from Indian or Mexican cooking and capping a menu of superb drinking food. Add to it a spacious patio comfortably set back from Mass Ave, Inthasuwan’s terrific bar program, and Naga’s thumping disco, and the result is rare combination: fine and fun eating, drinking, and dancing under one roof.

— MC Slim JB

4.24.12 <39>

On the Freedom Trail In Boston’s Historic North End 135 Richmond Street, Boston, MA 02109 | 617.723.MARE | www.marenatural.com

Oyster Bar “It usually takes 10 years or more to create a great restaurant. I’m proud we accomplished it in 3.”

“One of the best new restaurants in America” - John Mariani Esquire Magazine “Voted one of the top 80 tables in the world” Conde Nast Traveler Magazine “The Go List United States & Canada” Food and Wine Magazine “One of the top Italian restaurants in Boston” Travel and Leisure “The greatest fish story ever told” Boston Magazine

Frank DePasquale

Restaurateur

Kinsale STUFF AD Feb 2012:Layout 1

2/3/12

2:50 PM

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Maximum 3 hours. Minimum check $20.00. $13 flat rate for all TD Garden events

www.ClassicIrish.com Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter

<40> 4.24.12

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5

COURSES with:

Ayr Muir of Clover Food Lab

In 2008, in a back corner of MIT, Ayr Muir fired up his first Clover truck.

Hungry hordes gathered — and lo, the local food-truck revolution began. Muir wanted to build a fast-food empire.

Five food trucks and two (soon to be three) non-rolling restaurants later, he may have fished his wish. But perhaps not exactly as he’d planned.

What was your original idea? I wanted to start a fast-food restaurant company. I lucked out and hired Rolando Robledo as our executive chef. He was perfect. He’d worked at the French Laundry and was on the faculty at Johnson & Wales. We were trying to figure out the menu.

We knew we wanted a non-meat menu, but we didn’t want a “vegetarian” concept per se. . . . We wanted food that people would love and tell their friends about — low carbon footprint, locally sourced, mostly organic. We still have people who order one of our Page 1 sandwiches and say, “Hey, I’m vegetarian. Am I okay with this?”

How did you end up with a food truck? We scraped together the money for three focus groups. But then we thought, how is hearing from 30 people going to help us know what to do? So I thought about Betrous’s falafel truck at MIT, where I had the falafel-and-baklava combo every single day for lunch when I was a student. In my innocence I asked him, “What if I gave you the money and you served our food every day, and then I could interview 10 or 20 people a day?” He said, “Absolutely not.” But he said to me, “Come back at four, and I’ll show you around.” He showed me everything: where he bought his food, where he washed his truck, where his commissary was, where he got his truck repaired. He was very generous to me. A few days later, he called and told me there was a once-in-20-years opportunity to take over a food-truck space at MIT. We figured it would be a good way to test our menu. We’d do it for eight weeks and then shut it down. We bought the truck, built it out — I was the electrician, the plumber.

We started with one sandwich on the menu, and at night Rolando and I went to the commissary to make new things. We expected to serve 20 meals a day, and instead we were serving a lot more. My sister helped; my father helped. We started asking customers to help.

Can a food truck be a successful business? Like restaurants, most food trucks will fail. The cost-of-entry economics for a truck are low, so people think they can afford to sink their savings into a truck and hit an oil gusher.

But the costs are high as a percentage of sales as compared to restaurants, and the prices are lower. The food costs more; there’s lots of labor loading and unloading. Utilities are expensive. Most food trucks lose money every time they go out. Maybe two operators in town are truly successful. The only model that really works is a truck like my friend’s falafel truck where he and his wife work, sell a low-priced product, and clear maybe $10K to $15K a year. But he owns his own business and controls his own destiny.

What’s your plan for Clover Food Lab? Thousands of restaurants some day! We love the trucks, too, but we will have many more restaurants than trucks. Restaurants are our future.

What’s your non-food-truck life? Most of the time, I am not working on the business; I am playing with my three kids. I still love food and I used to love to surf. But going surfing again is long off. Exhausted but happy. I am really proud of what I’ve done.

— Louisa Kasdon

Louisa Kasdon can be reached at louisa@louisakasdon.com. photo by janice checchio

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STUFFIT

Time has a way of refining things. Back when he was dropping his drawers (and, um, mad rhymes, yo) all over Dorchester, who could have guessed that the words “Mark Wahlberg” and “Academy Award nominee” would one day share the same sentence?

Julep Bar (200 High Street, Boston, 617.261.4200) is the result of a similarly surprising

transformation, one that required the space to grow up, get some new clothes, and start taking itself more seriously, gosh darn it. You see, last autumn, the space was known as Revolution Rock Bar, a noisy nest of Def Leppard anthems and walking testimonials to the inadvisability of anabolic steroids. Then the joint closed its doors for five weeks and got some swank new décor courtesy of

HGTV’s Taniya Nayak. Goodbye, sticky floors and faux cowhide; hello, chartreuse couches, smoky wood paneling, and sparkling chrome chandeliers.

But just as impressive is the new emphasis on food: the space returned as a lounge and nightspot where you might actually enjoy a plate before enjoying a party. The menu was designed by chef Jason Santos, and Julep shares a kitchen with his neighboring restaurant, Blue Inc. But while Santos indulges his mad-scientist side at Inc. with some molecular gastronomy, Julep boasts more traditional creations that work whether you’re sharing with the table or dining solo. Our picks include boneless buttermilk fried chicken tenders ($9), a bar staple spruced up with a tantalizingly sweet molasses barbeque sauce, and Kobe meatball sliders ($4), juicy beef smothered with fresh provolone and zesty basil-parmesan purée.

And we’re especially smitten with the grilled-tuna soft tacos ($15), laden with savory seared fish, crisp pico de gallo, and creamy farmers’ cheese.

It seemed like an unlikely pairing: a local star chef with a revitalized venue once known as a destination for dancing on the tables. But so far, so good — the Financial District spot should continue to summon not just execs looking for a nosh, but a broader crowd whose idea of pre-gaming for a Friday night hinges on the bites as much as the booze.

— Miles Howard PHOTO BY joel veak

2012 Pitching in for Kids All-Star Celebrity Poker Party & Golf Classic Hosted By: Tim Wakefield, David Ortiz & Jason Varitek

All-Star Poker Party Sponsored By The Mohegan Sun Thursday, May 3rd, 6:00PM

Upper Rotunda of Faneuil Hall , Marketplace, Boston, MA A fun night of comedy, poker, silent & live auction and cocktail reception featuring local restaurant tastings

The Capital Grille & PIFK’s All-Star Celebrity Golf Classic Monday, June 4th

Granite Links Country Club, Quincy, MA Registration opens at 10:00 AM with a shot gun start at Noon

For more info visit us at pitchinginforkids.org or call us at 617-367-3322.

4.24.12 <41>

liquid Shifty Business

In the future, everyone will open a nano-brewery of their own. Andy Warhol said that, I think.

But seriously, with all these new brewers popping up, it does seem like there’s something in the water in Boston this year. (Maybe it’s all the yeast?) Night Shift Brewing is the latest to toss a hat into the fermenter.

Now based out of Everett, Night Shift was launched by three friends. Already avid cooks, the buds started home-brewing in Somerville right out of college, about five years ago. “We became obsessed,” explains co-founder Michael Oxton. “It was something that really struck a chord with us. There was a real passion there.”

Home-brewing with your best pals sounds like a bro’s dream, but it wasn’t as easy as it sounds. In fact, the name Night Shift nods to the fact that all three were balancing day jobs with nightly brewing work that would sometimes run until two or three in the morning. They spent a few years perfecting their techniques, upgrading their equipment, and throwing tasting parties for friends, where they’d hand out comment cards and ask for tasting notes.

And then, of course, there’s all the red tape involved in turning your brews into a business. “It was unbelievably difficult, much more than we ever thought it would be,” Oxton says. First you need to get your federal brewer’s permit from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, followed by your state farmerbrewery license from the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission. Next comes getting your formulas and labels approved; then your facility has to be inspected to make sure it’s up to health and fire codes.

Another complication? The crew didn’t want to do contract brewing, which is when a larger, established brewery creates the actual product. It’s an option used by many small startups, but the Night Shift guys wanted complete control.

So far, that stance seems to have paid off: they opened their own small space in Everett earlier this year, and now their three beers are starting to filter into local bars like Post 390 (406 Stuart Street, Boston, 617.399.0015) and Russell House Tavern (14 JFK Street, Cambridge, 617.500.3055). At the moment, they’re doing about 3.5 barrels per batch, which is a fairly small size. That amounts to about 400 bottles and a few kegs each time.

There’s the Trifecta, a Belgian-style pale ale (7% ABV) that’s extremely yeasty — incorporating three types of Trappist yeast — and lightly spicy with hints of vanilla. It’s light and crisp compared to the bold, full-bodied Taza Stout, a chocolate stout (7.5%) fermented with chicory root and ginger and finished with cocoa nibs from Somerville’s Taza Chocolate after fermentation. On the other end of the spectrum, the Bee Tea is a summery wheat ale (8%) with a kick of orange blossom, honey, sweet orange peel, and green tea from Somerville’s MEM Tea Imports.

“We were trying to make something in the wheat category that’s fairly unique and not on the market now,” Oxton says of the last variety. “Honey is a fascinating ingredient you can do a lot of stuff with.”

Maintaining uniqueness is important, given the spate of new brewers crowding the market. Night Shift is up to the challenge. “It’s hard to establish a nice beer that no one else is producing, but what we are trying to do is create flavors, with ingredients and yeast in a combination that creates a really unique beer,” says Oxton. “There are plenty of honey-beer wheat ales on market, but not a lot of eight-percent wheat ales with green tea and honey, fermented with the yeasts we use and the flavors we’re creating.”

Luckily, the still-widening craft-beer market has made consumers more appreciative of subtle differences. “I think beer education is really spreading,” Oxton says. “People are learning that you can get a great bottle of beer for $10.

How many great wines can you get for the same price? And we’re specifically trying to make beers that you can treat like wines: pair them with a meal, sip them slowly, appreciate the complexity, and even age them, at least certain ones, for a year or two and develop even more intricate flavors.”

Reminds me of another Warhol quote: “An artist is somebody who produces things that people don’t need to have.” Need? Maybe not. But Boston still seems to have a powerful thirst for better beer.

— Luke O’Neil

Got an idea for Liquid? Email lukeoneil47@gmail.com. <42> 4.24.12

Choose the Absolut top bArtender for April Your Your Vote Vote Counts Counts -- Log Log On On Today Today STUFFBOSTON.COM/BARTENDERS THEPHOENIX.COM/BARTENDERS

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Congratulations to Ancelis Nunez our Absolut Top Bartender for March! Try her Absolut Vintage tonight in the Theater District! So who will be the Best Bartender from the Fenway? You decide!

Go to Stuffboston.com/bartenders today and Cast Your Vote!While you’re there, definitely check out Adam and Stefanie’s awesome Video Battle! Log On StuffBoston.com/bartenders and Ch-Ch-Check It! ENJOY WITH ABSOLUT RESPONSIBILITY, ® PRODUCT OF SWEDEN. 40% ALC./VOL. © 2012 IMPORTED BY THE ABSOLUT SPIRITS CO., NEW YORK, NY.

reside

A. C.

D. B.

At Home with Michael Winter Home on the range with a cabin-loving club king Michael Winter worked his way up from Lansdowne Street club bouncer to local nightlife impresario.

He’s catered to a long list of visiting VIPs, and his company, East Coast Clubs, has created some of the city’s hottest parties (right now, that list includes Wednesdays at Julep and Fridays at Gypsy Bar). And Winter’s first foray into the restaurant world, Mija Cantina & Tequila Bar, celebrates its first birthday this month. So it might surprise some to learn that his home feels anything but urban: the main living area is in the style of a log cabin, a testament to Winter’s love of a rustic retreat. This “National Geographic kind of guy” fondly recalls vacationing at his uncle’s chalet in Burlington, Vermont; now he treats his living room as “a private getaway from the noise of the city.” “There’s no TV, no radio,” says Winter, who saves modern amenities for other parts of the home. “This is strictly for relaxation.” We kicked back with the club kingpin.

— Scott Kearnan

<44> 4.24.12

A. The home’s previous owner spent many years living in Montana, and that experience inspired him to build this cabin-style addition to the house. In fact, the logs used to build it were trucked all the way from Big Sky Country. So naturally, the vaulted ceiling here reaches for the clouds — or at least to 18 feet. (The home’s cozy “treetop lounge” rises even higher: climb the spiral staircase, and you’ll find a 23-foot-high loft space with several couches and a big-screen TV.) The room’s height is accentuated by the towering stone chimney, which rises from a wood-burning fireplace. And the already airy space is filled with lots of natural light from a wide wall of windows, the largest of which is about nine feet tall.

B. Winter has a thing for Western motifs. He holds a dual degree in psychology and art, and his favorite artist is Georgia O’Keeffe, whose work inspired one of the heavily inked homeowner’s first tattoos: a bull head that looks not unlike the one hanging by his fireplace. And he fashioned the living room’s coffee table himself, using an old wagon wheel he found during one of his many curio-hunting trips to antique stores and fairs.

Winter also has a longstanding appreciation for Native American culture: he treasures his collection of relics, which includes a hunting spear used to kill nine buffalo — though not the one that gave its hide for the living-room rug.

C. The previous homeowner tried to depart with this massive deer-antler chandelier, which he valued at around $15,000 — but Winter insisted on keeping it as a condition of the sale. For a while, the ornate fixture was adorned by an unusual decoration: women’s underwear. It became a tradition for many of the ladies visiting the nightlife honcho’s home to toss their underwear over his chandelier as a memento. “It looked like I was Hugh Hefner,” laughs Winter. When he met his girlfriend, he cleaned up his act — literally. “Before the first time she came over, I had to get out a ladder and spend 90 minutes taking it all down.”

D. There are still some lingering signs of a woman’s touch. Once upon a time, Winter’s cabin-style space was even more rugged: for instance, it originally boasted a deerskin couch, and the antler lamps were topped with shades of buffalo hide. But a female friend encouraged him to make some small trades that softened the place up. In a room that could easily veer toward shtick, it’s important to avoid going over the top. phoTos by melissa ostrow

The GreaTer BosTon BeveraGe socieTy PresenTs… BosTon Bar sTars hall of fame Brought to you by the Greater Boston Beverage Society, the Boston Bar Stars Hall of Fame highlights Boston’s own homegrown mixological talent! One of the GBBS’s main goals is to preserve and promote Boston’s cocktail and hospitality culture and history. What better way is there to do that than by getting up close and personal the city’s finest?

In October of 2012 the Greater Boston Beverage Society with hold the first ever Boston Cocktail Summit a three-day celebration of Greater Boston’s cocktail culture designed to highlight the city’s fascinating history of mixology, New England’s breweries, wineries, and distilleries, and raise funds to help local charities. The Boston Cocktail Summit will celebrate the culture of the cocktail with three days of events, parties, educational seminars, and an opening gala with proceeds benefitting the newly established Greater Boston Beverage Society. For more information visit www. bostoncocktailsummit.com.

Meet Misty Kalkofen, Bar Manager of Brick & Mortar. Misty has been bartending at hot spots around Boston for over a decade. She’s well known on the national mixology circuit, founder of LUPEC Boston and the Jack Rose Society, and a board member of the Tequila Interchange Project. Her creations have been featured in Bon Appetit, The Wall Street Journal, Wine & Spirits, and more.

• First bar job in Boston? at the lizard lounge in Cambridge under the Cambridge Common. i started as a cocktail server.

• When I’m working, I most like to make... strong, stirred cocktails.

• Spirit you can’t live without? agave distillates - Mezcal, tequila, raicilla.

• Spirit/liqueur/mixer you wish people would drink or use more?

Cognac. i love it and it plays a role in many of my favorite classic cocktails.

• Favorite dive bar in Boston? it was tC’s. two words - Buck hunter.

• What you’re most looking forward to about the Boston Cocktail Summit? sitting on the panel with Kirsten amann, Meaghan dorman and lynnette Marrero for the Women Behind Bars seminar!

• Advice for surviving the Boston Cocktail Summit in one piece?

Monday industry Brunch at trina’s is amazing but when emma picks up the fernet you should run!

• What She’s Drinking…

Misty created this cocktail for a tequila interchange Project trip to Mexico in november 2011.

Cancion del alma - 1.5oz siembra azul Blanco - .75oz Kirsch - .5oz Combier - .25oz Campari - lemon oil Garnish stir ingredients with ice. strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

CHEERS! SEE you at tHE Summit!

this is an advertorial

<46> 4.24.12

sex

head case When my girlfriend recently suggested we talk to “someone,” I immediately went silent. From her tone alone, I knew that in this case the dreaded S-word actually stood in for “psychiatrist.”

If there’s one thing I’ve consistently advocated against since I learned how to French kiss, it’s couples therapy. Mind you, I’m not talking about marriage counseling. That is a different and likely necessary beast for people who are contractually bound and share offspring.

What I’m talking about is therapy for folks who have only been dating for the length of a Kardashian wedding, yet are trying to saddle up and eke out a few more bearable years together.

In fact, I’ve openly mocked couples who sought therapy in their first or second year of a relationship. “Really?” I’d say.

“Here’s my prescription: break up.

You don’t need a therapist. You need a new girlfriend.”

But in an age in which we now have a VH1 reality show dedicated entirely to couples therapy, I’m apparently behind the times.

In trying to coerce me onto the couch, a friend recently recalled her successful experience with couples therapy, which began with a simple question: “Do you want to be in this relationship?” Apparently, this pointed query was all she needed to have an emotional breakthrough and prompt her breakup.

Another couple I know talks openly of their therapist like she’s a third party in their relationship.

She’s their regular go-to girl, not some casual hookup they turn to in desperate times. And they credit her with making their good relationship even better.

Me, I come from an IrishCatholic family in which seeking therapy is viewed as an even worse weakness than not being able to hold your liquor. My incredible coping skills include delivering sarcastic barbs, sleeping on the couch, and leaving. And my ideal couples therapy involves a plane ticket, sandy beaches, and cocktails. (If that’s not a cure-all, then we are all doomed to misery!)

But when presented with this do-or-die option by my more rational girlfriend, I succumbed

in that compassionate way she’s come to adore.

“You find someone, figure out a way to pay for it, and I’ll show up,” I said. (Ladies, I may be on the market soon, if anyone is looking to date a glacier.)

Forgive the pessimism, but my overarching thought is that if we can’t survive even three years without getting mired in whatever mess we’ve created, how the hell are the coming years going to get any easier?

But what is it that I’m so afraid of? Realizing that I have the communication skills of an ox?

Reducing myself to a slobbering mess on some stranger’s couch?

Or actually accepting that for the first time in my life I might be committing to something more than a two-year stint of convenient sex and good laughs? One look around a teeming nightclub recently presented the scariest option of them all — being single.

Sure, I could get out there on the market again and share all my trivial stories over failed first dates and Dutch dinners. That’s the easy crap that I’m good at. But this — this digging in the dirt and trying to come out clean on the other side — this is the hard stuff. And for once I’m trying to act like a big girl and not take the easy route.

So the next time you hear from me, I’ll probably be supine on some stranger’s couch and hopefully not on my back in some stranger’s bed . . . because if it’s the latter, then I have truly lost my mind.

— Jeannie Greeley

Jeannie Greeley is a certifiable freelance writer. She can be reached at jeannieg@comcast.net.

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for more photos, go to stuffboston.com/flash

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stuffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cocktail caravan mad men party at the hawthorne 1. Melissa Rosen and Jack Politis; 2. Kate Cancellieri and Rebecca Strong; 3. Jose Rosa, Rich Acevedo, and Angela Coletta; 4. Leah McCarty and Michele Raposa; 5. Melissa Frederique and Tara Jackson; 6. Vanessa Parker and Simony Resende; 7. John Searson and John Ritchie; 8. Ari Kendall and Marci Green; 9. Nicole Lebedevitch; 10. Amy Osgood, Stanya Komarkova, Armani Thao, Seiyam Suth, and Ari Kendall; 11. Aurora Ransbottom, Sean Weymouth, and Cristina Spiewak.

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bella lunaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s moon shine pop-up whiskey bar 1. Jeff Kirby and Connie Lin; 2. Adam Jones and Laura De Angelo; 3. Luken Weaver and Robin King; 4. Megan Mainzer and Kelly Lydon; 5. Nicole Fonsh and Shannon DiGregorio; 6. Nick Pieri and Trina Heinisch; 7. Marcus Palmer and Lisa Conti; 8. Chris Ransom and Cassie Madden; 9. Steve Laniel, Maya Fayfman, and Andrew Kessel; 10. Stephen Tompkins, Liz Pugh, Mikki Pugh, and Caroline Stevens; 11. Lennon Murphy, Stephanie Tougas, and Charles Anastasia.

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4.24.12 <47>

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the phoenix presents: photography series 2012 at battery wharf 1. Steve Osemwenkhae and Dre Collins; 2. Michael Young, Nat Logar, and Jon Larosa; 3. Karena, Matt, and Troy St. Jacques; 4. Edythe Dyer and John Matthews; 5. Natalie Edwins and Jennifer Adams; 6. Elizabeth Munroe and Sonya Randell; 7. Sam Kane, Kara Hurston, and Kat James; 8. Kari Szul, Sienara Arsyad, and Thierry Clastres; 9. Christine Meade and Erin Leonard; 10. Sandy Poirier, Natasha Moustache, Josh Falk, and Michael Young; 11. Sarah Uziel, Maureen White, Lydia Seven, and Jessica Kehoe.

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photos by derek kouyoumjian

Attention Coors Light FAns!

Is Now Serving Rocky Mountain Cold Coors Light 12oz Bottles!!

As seen in the movie the Social Network The Thirsty Scholar has 26 Beers on Tap ... Stump Trivia on Sundays at 8PM ... ... and AWESOME Food & Drink Specials!

Come Quench Your Thirst with Ice Cold Coors Light!

The Thirsty Scholar - 70 Beacon Street, Somerville (617) 497-2294 - www.thirstyscholarpub.com <48> 4.24.12

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local 149’s first birthday party

1. Ross Colby, Tom Johnson, and Rob Haigh; 2. Sarah Sullivan and Kristin Scales; 3. Kristen Green, Anna Noonan, and Meredith Bruenjes; 4. Carey Lyddy, Cathy Murphy, and Lauren Lasky; 5. Laura Harris and Nick Homsy; 6. Mary Bennett and Mike Barker; 7. David Rosenberg and Scott Kanter; 8. Bree Millis, Yelena Pavlenko, and Liz Dunn; 9. Mackenzie Holway, Stevie Milhaven, and Chelsea Herr; 10. Joe Hawkins, Ian Stuart, and Mark Vallely; 11. Jessica Rosenberg, Leah Dubois, Tara Rostamnezhad, Samantha Bonnano, and Katie Case.

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PHOTOS BY melissa ostrow

Celebrate the 10 Year anniversarY of

With an Ice Cold Coors Light!

The Party will be on April 26th Featuring the Joshua Tree LIVE! Hugh O’Neil’s • 45 Pleasant Street, Malden (781) 338-9977 • www.hughoneills.com 4.24.12 <49>

Nicole Russo’s STUFF Nicole Russo is a powerhouse Boston publicist — so it’s fitting that she once found herself in the middle of one of America’s biggest media firestorms.

Before becoming a bigwig in Hub hospitality PR, Russo served as a White House intern in the Clinton administration’s Social Office, planning parties for heads of state, visiting celebrities, and, of course, the commander-in-chief.

Then an acquaintance, Monica Lewinsky (maybe you’ve heard of her?), made headlines for playing the other woman to the first lady. Eventually, Russo, then just 24 and building her career in Boston, received a subpoena to testify before Ken Starr’s grand jury. She used some impressive sass to extricate herself quickly — but Russo kept many souvenirs from her White House days. Most are fond reminders of scandal-free times, like M&M’s emblazoned with the presidential seal, napkins from cocktail parties, and photos of her walking Socks, the first family’s famous cat. And she even left with an actual piece of the White House: a turtle made from copper pipes from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, a gift from a friendly (and crafty) contractor.

So besides the party planning, one of your jobs as an intern was to walk Socks, the cat? Yes! I’d walk Socks on a leash on the North Lawn. A couple of times he got out of the collar, and I’d literally panic and go, “Oh my God, I just lost the president’s cat!” I’d be running around, sweating and scared to death. “What did I do? I just lost the leader of the free world’s pet!

It was in my protection!” I’d be diving through bushes, but I always got him back, thank God. What most impressed you when you met President Clinton? What I found most amazing was that he remembered my name from the first time I met him. There had to be 100 interns, but he always remembered and repeated my name — “Hello, Nicole.” And though I wasn’t some swooning girl, he was someone who took your breath away. His presence was so engaging and charismatic.

Speaking of swooning interns . . . how did you meet Monica? She was a volunteer in the Visitors Office in the East Wing. It’s the first lady’s wing: the Visitors Office, the Social Office, the calligrapher — everything light and fluffy. <50> 4.24.12

Monica’s office was on the first floor, and mine was on the second. I’d see her every morning when I came in. . . . And when photos came out from events, I’d always bring down to her pictures of her with the president and first lady.

Eventually she got moved to the West Wing.

We know what happened then. What was your reaction to the subpoena? I thought the whole thing was a mockery of our legislative system. It infuriated me! They gave you a stipend of money to come down, like $100. I took the money and bought shots for everyone at the Irish Times, my favorite bar in the world. We all toasted to Kenneth Starr. I made a copy of my subpoena on foam core and gave it to the bar.

What did they ask? If I believed the rumors that the president had been having an affair. I said, “What does it matter what I believe? I could believe the moon was made of Swiss cheese. Would that hold up in a court of law?”

I was such a little bitch! [Laughs] They said, “Why didn’t you come down here voluntarily?” Well, when you go voluntarily, they go to the White House and say, “Just so you know, these people volunteered info.” I didn’t want that. I answered, “I didn’t think you’d waste taxpayer money to fly me down so I could spread rumors and gossip to the grand jury. Am I done now?”

Afterward, some of the jurors came up laughing and gave me high-fives.

Smart move! I also remember there were caricature artists drawing your face on the way out. So I contorted my face while I was walking out of there. I didn’t want them to be able to draw my face right. I’d push my head up, blink my eyes weird, stick my tongue out, and mush my hand against my head.

I looked like an idiot. I found a news story afterward: “Former White House intern testifies at Starr’s grand jury, sticks her tongue out to press.” My mom was like, “Nicole!”

You could turn this into a book. I’ve always wanted to write a book about it!

I know the title: How to Survive in the White House without Going Down. The cover would be a pair of suit pants with the Washington Monument coming out of the middle.

— Scott Kearnan

PHOTO BY michael diskin

840 SUMMER ST SOUTH BOSTON | 617.268.2500 | www.SHagBOSTON.cOM cLOTHINg BY RIccaRDI BOSTON PHOTOgRaPHY BY www.SaNDYPOIRIER.cOM