Ninja

I’m in a rut, and I bet you are, too.

I love exploring new places—it’s the main reason I love to travel, and it’s been among the prime joys of running this site. And yet, I feel like I need to force myself outside of my comfort zone. I love the restaurants I go to again and again, but I usually complain that the menu doesn’t change enough. Is that the restaurant’s fault, or is it mine? And if I feel this way, even though I go everywhere new around here, I must not be the only one.

So I’ve decided that we shall celebrate April with a series of First-Time Tuesdays. The idea is that every Tuesday, or at least one Tuesday in April, you’ll go somewhere you’ve never been. But I’ve been everywhere, you say. Horsefeathers! Have you been to Atera, or its downstairs lounge? Have you been to Le Restaurant inside All Good Things? Have you been to Cherrywood Kitchen, just open on Spring? Have you watched the new cabaret night—on Tuesdays—at Maxwell’s? Older places are just as valid, and in some ways, even better: Il Giglio? Ponte’s? Acappella? Ninja? (I haven’t! So I’m going to go. And then I’m going to hit 20/20 on Warren….) Silver Lining? The Hideaway? B Flat? Shigure? Aamanns-Copenhagen? The Dead Rabbit? The Loopy Doopy? (It reopens Monday, April 29.) I could go on, or you could visit the Tribeca Citizen Restaurant Guide.

Ideally, you’ll report back to me—with photos—about your experience. Let’s not get hung up on whether it was good or not; let’s just revel in the novelty. If Tuesdays are bad for you, then go some other day—I’m sure I don’t care. And let’s not stop at restaurants: Visit a gallery, perhaps to see Apexart’s spaceballs. Or something fun at 92YTribeca. Or Pen Parentis’s monthly salon, where authors with kids read from their work. (The next one is Tuesday, April 9.) Or pop into Patron of the New, Steven Alan Home Shop, Kanjo tea shop on Harrison…. Or take a class at Barry’s Bootcamp or Alycea Ungaro’s Real Pilates or whatever. You get the idea!

Make plans. Invite someone fun. Have an adventure. And email me all about it: tribecacitizen@gmail.com.