Category Archives: Harlem

World Cup madness at Cafe Amrita in Harlem

Jun 18, 2010 @ 10:41
By HarlemGal
This morning (Friday), I walked into Cafe Amrita, located at 301 West 110th Street (between Frederick Douglass Blvd and Manhattan Ave), to get some iced coffee while on my way to work…and I could not believe the scene in there so early in the morning once I entered the place! It it was packed full of people! Harlemites were up bright and early on Friday having their breakfast along with a good dose of World Cup-mania!
I assume the crowd was large due to the fact that the American soccer team was playing Slovenia! Plus they were there cause Cafe Amrita has a nice size screen to watch the soccer games.
If your interested in watching this year’s 2010 World Cup at a public venue in Harlem, Cafe Amrita may be the place for you! Check it out!
And if you can’t make it to Amrita in the mornings, swing by in the evening for Happy Hour, which lasts until 8 PM every night! They now offer sangria! I have had it and it’s quite good and refreshing! I just might go there tonight for some sangria given how nice the weather is and it’s Friday! A nice summer drink to start my weekend in Harlem sounds like the way to go. See you around in Harlem!

Harlem Lanes is a ‘strike’ full of fun

Jun 16, 2010 @ 15:30

HarlemCondoLife

By HarlemGal
It’s mid week and you’re wondering what you should do for fun on a Thursday? We were asking ourselves that same question recently. We solved it with one simple idea: Let’s go bowling! And that we did! We headed to Harlem Lanes located at 2116 7th Avenue (between 125th and 126th Street) on a Thursday night recently and had a blast!
There are a ton of things to do in Harlem, however we wanted something different, yet playful. Harlem Lanes was the perfect solution. It is a two level, 24 lane bowling alley and entertainment complex with a bar and cafe.
For a couple of hours, we bowled two games at $6 dollars each. Our shoe rental was $5 bucks a piece. Drinks were around $10 and very tasty I might add. They put whip cream on their piƱa coladas. Yum.
While at Harlem Lanes, we laughed, danced a little to the music being played from the jukebox-at least I did, made fun of our bowling skills and at times watched the other people in the lanes close by who were great at bowling. One cannot help but stare at those who seem to get a strike at every turn. It’s a natural tendency…right? Then you ask yourself, why can’t I do that?
We did all this for very little and had a great time! Plus we walked home from there. We did not have to trek back uptown! However, we stress going on a week night. There were plenty of lanes available, limited crowds; and not much of a wait for drinks.
So if you want to do something fun, different and close to home on a week night, check out the first bowling alley to open in Harlem since the eighties. Harlem Lanes is the perfect to do during the week!

Harlem Lanes
2116 7th Avenue
New York, NY 10027-4411
(212) 678-2695

Marcus Samuelsson wins Top Chef Masters

Jun 10, 2010 @ 2:02
By HarlemGal
HarlemCondoLife would like to congratulate Marcus Samuelsson, celebrity chef, owner of the up and coming Red Rooster and Harlem resident, for winning Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters. Way to go Marcus!

http://www.hulu.com/watch/153860/top-chef-masters-its-about-time-for-marcus

Two Harlemites set to launch Harlem Delivers

Jun 9, 2010 @ 17:52

By HarlemGal
Michael Leopold and Steve Friedson, who reside in Harlem and have been for five years, were brainstorming one day about how they would like to have an abundance of food delivery options in Harlem right at their finger tips. Leopold and Friedson love their Harlem community they live in, however, they feel there is limited food delivery options in the area. After wishing and brainstorming further, they decided to put those thoughts into action. The result, a service called Harlem Delivers. Harlem Delivers is exactly just that, a delivery service that will bring food to Harlem residents only from outside food vendors. Leopold, a co-founder, tells HarlemCondoLife that they already have six Upper Westside food establishments that have signed on the dotted line to deliver their food products to Harlemites. They are: Soy y Sombra, a Spanish restaurant, Gabriela’s, offers Mexican, Earthen Over, serves Indian, Bodrum offer Turkish cuisine, Fusha West, and Blossum, which is no meat and Kosher.
But don’t start dialing up to order some dinner just yet. Harlem Delivers plans to open at the end of June, if they have all the staff power in place, and they are only offering the initial service to a targeted area, which will be from 145th Street to 149th from Frederick Douglass Blvd to Edgecomb Avenue. Once the business is launched and they have this particular area fully serviced, Harlem Delivers hopes to expand the business and service throughout Harlem. “Our strategy will be similar to a business like Fresh Direct. They expanded zip code by zip code,” said Leopold.
I asked about where local businesses/restaurant establishments fit in their business strategy and Harlem Delivers plans to work in partnership with them as well. Leopold said they already have one local business that is interested! So sit tight hombres, all of us in Harlem may soon get to order food delivery from wherever and whenever!

Emmitt Smith Harlem project receives green light, high end grocery store and hotel expected

Jun 8, 2010 @ 21:43

By HarlemGal
Crain’s New York is reporting that Emmitt Smith and his partner/investors received federal tax-exempt financing today. ESmith Legacy Harlem was approved for $19.7 million in Recovery Zone Facility Bonds, which it received through the New York City Capital Resource Corporation.Ā I believe this was the last hurdle Mr. Smith’s firm was waiting for. Now they can proceed to build on the empty lot at 125th Street and Lenox Avenue. Once that happens, the entire make-up of that area will continue to change.

Online reports are saying that the plan could bring a Whole Foods to Harlem, a Hyatt-branded hotel along with 129 construction jobs and 81 permanent jobs. Nice. Let’s just hope the project does not take forever to build.

I Ā have one message for Emmitt Smith: build it in a timely and reasonable manner. Please do not take forever!

5 & Diamond in Harlem launches supper club and cooking class

Jun 6, 2010 @ 18:03
By HarlemGal
Ever wondered about how to learn to butcher, prep, cook and serve lamb? Well, now is your chance to pick up that skill right here in Harlem at 5 & Diamond located at 2072 Frederick Douglass Blvd.
Starting Monday, June 7, Five & Diamond is launching its first bi-weekly supper club/cooking class. For $55 bucks a person, you can learn all the attributes of lamb! And the interesting part of this course aside from learning about the lamb, Ā is you’ll get to learn from bad boy chef Ryan Skeen. Hmm…could be fun and interesting! Let’s just hope the cooking class is much better than his hand/keg stand shown below.

Five & Diamond flier

Photo by Joannie

Frederick Douglass Circle in Harlem opens, people already visiting

Jun 2, 2010 @ 20:27

By HarlemGal

Today is the first day that Frederick Douglass Circle in Harlem is available to the public. Yes, it is officially open after more than seven years in the making.Wow. It’s about time and long overdue. According to a worker at Cafe Amrita, City workers were taking down the barriers last night around 1 AM.

Thank you to whomever said or convinced the City to open the circle now. Nice timing. Harlemites can enjoy the Circle during the summer months and on. I was out there today looking at every aspect of the Circle. It looks fabulous.

Below are pictures of locals looking around Harlem’s brand new Frederick Douglass Circle or better yet, come by and see it for yourself! Take the B/C to 110th Street/Catherdral Parkway or the 2/3 to 110 Street/Central Park North.

Kate Winslet and Evan Rachel Wood on set in Harlem for HBO’s Mildred Pierce

Jun 2, 2010 @ 16:13

By HarlemGal

We heard online that Kate Winslet was going to be in Harlem June 1 filming scenes for HBO’s Mildred Pierce…and turns out she was in Harlem! We also found out that Evan Rachel Wood was in Harlem yesterday as well. They were both in the Mount Morris Historic District, which is located between 120th to 124th Street from Lenox Avenue to Madison Avenue .

In my view, perfect location to capture some gorgeous brownstones for the background shots forĀ Mildred Pierce. I will definitely be watching Kate and Evan Rachel on HBO when the film comes out. In the mean time, check out the photos of Kate and Evan Rachel in Harlem! Cool!

UPDATE: Bier International in Harlem aims to open soon

Jun 2, 2010 @ 12:24

By HarlemGal

We reached out Ā yesterday to the folks at Bier International, which will be located at 2099 Frederick Douglass Blvd., to see what’s up with the planning around Harlem’s first beer garden. Here is what they told us:

“Thanks for your support. After some delays, we anticipate opening in about three weeks.”

Yes! That means Bier International in Harlem will be open during the 2010 World Cup! Folks, get your beer drinking hats ready! We Harlemites will soon have another place to hang those hats, relax, and drink our brew!

Workers seen on site in Harlem at expected Bier International

Jun 1, 2010 @ 7:30

By HarlemGal

A month ago, we mentioned that 2099 Frederick Douglass Blvd is expected to be the home of Bier International, Harlem’s first beer garden; and that we didn’t think it would open at the end of May. The opening did not happen in May. However, we’re happy to report we have seen work activity on site recently. Over the Memorial Day weekend, we saw workers outside of the property and one side of the rolling steel doors up.

From the photos below, there is something happening inside the retail space. However, the real question is what type of deadline are these workers on? We asked when the beer garden in Harlem is scheduled to open, one replied “a month from now.”

What a complete bummer-if in fact that is the case! With the 2010 World Cup starting on June 11 and lasting for several weeks, that is prime beer drinking time. Maybe the worker on site meant to say “we’re opening in two weeks for the World Cup or midway through the World Cup.” We are keep our fingers crossed hoping that one of those scenarios is the case! If you have heard otherwise, chime in!