Sunday, November 28th, 2010—Bar 322
Day 322—Saturday, November 27th, 2010
Jerry's Cafe
Live from New York, it’s Cheeseburger Saturday Night! Starring Jerry’s Cafe with a special guest appearance of Shawn Washburne and the Visual Vaudeville art exhibition. Featuring the ready for prime beef player, Marty Wombacher. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Shawn Washburne, Visual Vaudeville and Jerry’s Cafe!
One of the cool things about doing this bar crawl is the interesting people I meet along this journey. A week or so ago I was in Biddy Early’s bar and I met Shawn Washburne who is an artist and President of Toast—Tribeca Open Artist Studio Tour, and he told me about an art show they were putting together called, Visual Vaudeville. I told him I’d stop by and check it out and so tonight I did. The video above is from the opening night and Shawn explains the idea behind the exhibition. Below are some photos I took of some of the art in the show.
Here's the front window display of Visual Vaudeville at 368 Broadway. The exhibit answers the question of, "What if Andy Warhol and P.T. Barnum shared a bottle of wine?"
And here's artist and President of Toast, Shawn Washburn. Behind him and above are two of the planets he created for the show.
More of Shawn's planets and globes float overhead. Art is everywhere in this three-floor installation. Let's go check some of it out.
"Sunken Garden," by Jonathan Lux.
This was an interesting painting by Eric Wats. This side is the painting he created for the show...
And the backside is an older painting, he did earlier on the same canvas.
"Shadow," by Alkan Nalllbani.
"Untitled," by Mark Demos.
Obligatory Visual Vaudeville mirror shot.
"Warrior Doll," by Natasha Shapiro.
"Logan Airport," by Judy Somerville. A funny thing happened while Shawn and I were discussing this painting...
Judy walked in the front door! Here's Shawn greeting her on the first floor.
A portrait of the artist and her art.
Hanging on the door to the basement level display is, "Mask On Canvas," by Olga Spiegel.
"Natasha," by Lizzie Pantirer.
They also had art on display that wasn't done on a canvas, such as, "Blue Electric Guitar," by Chris Totaro.
And art in the form of hats! "13 Hats," by Jacqueline Lamont.
By now my stomach was grumbling and Shawn suggested we stop by Jerry's Cafe which is nearby and is famous for their cheeseburger, among other things.
It's just a couple of blocks away and here we are!
Since it's a holiday weekend it's unusually slow and we have our choice of seats at the bar.
Friendly and cute bartender, Angela serves up a Corona and lime using Jerry's patented lime inserter.
Ana's the lovely manager of Jerry's and she was doing some research for the bar. "Drink up?" I'll drink to that!
Cheers!
A shot of the zebra-styled bar.
Ana is also a mathematician and Angela is an actress. So while Angela tapdances a drink your way, Ana is busy preparing your bill.
Happy hour!
There's tables and chairs opposite the bar and in the back room. Art and photos line the walls.
And it's not just your run of the mill art on the walls either. The owners are art collectors and this is a Robert Rauschenberg original.
Here's another Rauschenberg piece.
There's several photos by John Albash on the walls, with inscriptions by him below the photos. This one says, "Jersey boy in market place."
Here's an original Andy Warhol piece. And thanks to Shawn and Toast, we all know now what would've happened if he would've met P.T. Barnum and shared a glass of wine.
A couple of pieces of art by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who did The Gates installation in Central Park a while back.
A famous photo of painter Marcel Duchamp playing chess with a model.
Meanwhile back at the bar, Shawn, Ana and Angela are discussing various ways to throw people out when they want to use the bathroom without asking or buying anything.
Robert came in and gave me several suggestions for bars, which I dutifully recorded in my notebook.
Here's Natasha and Siobhan who are artists and are from...(drumroll)...Melbourne, Australia! I keep running into Australians and I love it. You can check out Natasha's website here: Natasha Johns-Messenger.
Angela poses with Brian, who's rumored to be 21-years-old.
And finally, the star of tonight's show, the cheeseburger from Jerry's Cafe!
Delicious!
And here's the man responsible for the delicious burger, Santiago, posing with Shawn as we get ready to leave. Goodnight, everybody!
Review
Okay, this was a massive post to put together, so once again I slack on the review section here and I’m posting a review from New York magazine. I’ll be back to writing reviews tomorrow, unless I’m too lazy to do it. Thanks so much to Shawn, Ana and Angela for a wonderful evening on the bar crawl!
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In 2008, the original Jerry’s in Soho fell victim to skyrocketing rent. Owner Jerry Joseph picked up and moved operations to Tribeca, where he opened a short-lived fast-food joint called YourAsian. He’s now reverted back to his roots: Despite the diner décor and the location on an out-of-the-way block of Chambers Street, the full bar up front and Gramercy Park Hotel alum chef in the kitchen make it clear that Jerry’s is a far cry from a gritty greasy spoon. The shiny, black-and-white checkered floor is set off by red vinyl booths and a dash of zebra print here and there. The staples are the star of the menu—the namesake burger, cooked to order, is served on a brioche bun with perfectly crisp shoestring fries—but adventurous inclusions like grilled-octopus risotto with mascarpone, brick roasted chicken with broccoli rabe, and grilled pizza with goat cheese and fig preserve elevate Jerry’s above the average neighborhood diner. — Randi Eichenbaum
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Jerry's Cafe
90 Chambers St. (Near Church St.)
212-608-1700
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Bonus Interview From the Greg and Dan Show on WMBD Radio!
I was interviewed by my old friends Greg Batton and Dan Diorio on the Greg and Dan Show on 1470 WMBD—Peoria’s News and Talk Station and yesterday Gene from the BBC found the podcast link. Check it out here: Marty interviewed on the Greg and Dan Show.
17 Comments
Reader Comments (17)
Wow, another epic post! Art, cheeseburgers and beer! A wonderful combination and a great post. A great tour of the art show and Jerry's looks like a cool downtown bar and restaurant. And that's a great interview you did on the radio! Cheers!
The radio interview answered my question concerning the close calls you've had that don't get written up here at 365, and as for that visual vaudeville video, I really liked the sneaker with the mouthful of fangs. Jerry's Cafe seems to have a classic beatnicky gestalt about the place. Great stop over, Marty!
What a packed night with art, beer and cheeseburgers! Looks like a lot of fun. Really like Shawn's planets. And I'm not sure how anyone could not have a crush on Marty after that interview.
I enjoyed the radio interview. Jerry's I did not like, just not my kind of place, atmosphere wise and decor wise also.
this was a lot of fun! loved the video of the opening and all the art. and jerrys seems to be a place that is be a great hangout for artists and real new yorkers. ahd i agree with the others, great interview! i'm sure there's more publicity to come! yay!
I can't believe I missed yesterday's post. I'll go back and check it out.
Another great burger Marty.
Cheers to the Melbournians! I love Melbourne. It's by far the coolest city in Australia.
Massive week for me so I've been a little bit absent minded and find it a challenge to sling a few words together on the post.
@Clacky: No worries, it's always a little slow here on weekends. Good to hear you finally got a day off, I hope beer is involved!
@I'm sure I find a few to quietly sip away on. I was drinking Batcans last night. Barcardi and Cola pre mixed. Very good indeed.
really not much to add to what to what has already said...i could rant about this or another but it would most likely be way off topic...another post w/lots of smiles...bring us more...KOC
rr
@raginrr: Will do, the holiday special is coming up tomorrow!
Okay, first of all I LOVED Shawn Washburne, Visual Vaudeville! And the zebra bar at Jerry's is totally super awesome! I wished I had been with you that night! WOW!
@365....
Just heard the news...Leslie Neilson has died today. I don't mean to bring down the mood but all
I can say is....
"Your dog certainly has an interesting look on his face!"
"That's because you're looking at his butt"
"Well, he's not going to enjoy that treat I just gave him!"
- From WRONGFULLY ACCUSED. A true story based on actual events from other movies.
R.I.P Leslie. Nice Beaver!
Thank you for sharing the photos with us of the Visual Vaudeville exhibition. What a dazzling array of composition and color. Very impressive.
Jerry's Cafe looks like such a cool bar/restaurant. I love the zebra design behind the bar. Very cool indeed! Thanks for letting us tag along Marty!
Cheers everyone!
@Clacky: Yeah, I heard the news yesterday, R.I.P. Leslie Neilsen.
@Tiki Bar Susie: Welcome back! Glad to see you got unblocked! Cheers!
Nice Beaver !!!
I would of liked to have tagged along with you on that Art opening !!
Oh well .
I kinda like Jerry's. A little bright for my tastes, but that's more than made up for with friendly bartenders and delicious-looking cheeseburgers. Plus, the art's cool. Speaking of which, thanks for taking us along to Visual Vaudeville! Just another reason Manhattan's such a great place to be!!
TO MANHATTAN!
AND TO LESLIE NIELSEN!
AND TO BEAVERS! AND SHIRLEYS! AND BEAVERS NAMED SHIRLEY! I'M SERIOUS!