Oh the weather outside is frightful!

If the frigid temperatures, Christmas tree vendors on the sidewalk or red holiday cups at Starbucks didn’t clue you in already, it’s finally December! There’s always the standard holiday-related things to do around the city – the Rockefeller tree, ice skating at Wolman Rink in Central Park, hot chocolate at Serendipity3 – but there’s also plenty to do down here, right in the neighborhood:

The Seaport's Christmas tree

The Christmas tree at the Seaport has been up since the beginning of the month. The 50-foot tree serves as a sparkling backdrop for performances from the Big Apple Chorus, an a capella group singing blues, barbershop, jazz, gospel and Broadway tunes. Hopefully, they’ll throw in a “Frosty the Snowman” or “O Christmas Tree” too! Here’s their performance schedule.

Everyone is eagerly anticipating the opening of Seaport Ice, the new skating rink on Pier 17 that opens to the public Dec. 19. It will feature 8,000 square ft. of ice to glide on. There’s also beautiful views of the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, the USS Peking and other ships docked at the piers, and the city’s skyline to look at while taking turns around the rink. Admission is $5, and skate rentals are $7. It’s a great way to enjoy a holiday staple without having to deal with the hubbub of midtown.

Tree? Check. Skating? Check. How about hot chocolate? After an informal survey (read: my roommate and I have been drinking a lot of hot chocolate in the past month), we decided the best ho cho in the neighborhood is the creamy, rich offering ($2.75 for a small) at Financier Patisserie, which has three locations in the area. If you’re as avid a sweet tooth as me, their coffee éclairs ($3.25) make a great accompaniment.

Bonus tip: if caffeinated concoctions are more your style, head over to Jack’s Coffee on Front Street. Their cappuccinos (around $4) are the perfect mix of froth and espresso, and their cider ($3) is great for getting in the holiday spirit.

You don’t even need to leave the neighborhood to have a fabulous New York winter experience. But whatever you do to get in the mood for the holidays, have a good one!

Ain't that the truth!

“They say life's what happens when you're busy making other plans. But sometimes in New York, life is what happens when you're waiting for a table.”

- Sex and the City's Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker)

Beer is the new king on Wall Street

Maynard Sikowski doesn’t look like he belongs at Ryan McGuire’s Ale House. With his nice suit and gold cufflinks, the 45-year-old business consultant is clearly in a different tax bracket than the Cliff Street pub’s core jeans-and-T-shirt clientele. He also prefers to drink 1980s vintage Opus One wine, which typically retails for $400 a bottle.

But the recession has made the place his new favorite dive. “I’m at an economic class where nothing at this bar would be a splurge,” Sikowski said as he sipped a $5 pint of Blue Moon.

These days, beer is king for the Wall Street crowd. People are shelving the expensive wines and instead grabbing a beer or hard liquor. And the mood is different too.

“After-work drinks used to be more celebratory,” said Gary Pai, a regular at Ryan McGuire’s. “But now the tone is more sulking.”

Bartender Gavin Doherty offers Gary Pai, 31, and Gladstone Alexander, 49, an after-work Guinness at Ryan Maguire’s Ale House.

That night, the 31-year-old software product manager was nursing a $5 pint of Guinness, which bartender Gavin Doherty said is a top seller because of its affordable price.

“We’ve been selling a lot of beer,” Doherty added. “Miller Genuine Draft is the most popular, because it’s the cheapest. A pint for $3, a pitcher for $10. It’s popular with the young working crowd.”

Wall Street has a bunch of pubs and dive bars that report similar trends. Traditional American beers like Miller, Coors, and Bud Light have always been popular, but they’re really becoming go-to drinks now.

“Very few people are ordering a $9 beer,” Jeremy’s Ale House bartender Gina Carey said. “They’re drinking our $6 quarts of Coors Light or doing a couple of $4 shots.”

And it seems what’s happening on Wall Street is a national trend. Around the country, the sense is that more budget-conscious wine and cocktail drinkers are turning to beer, according to Rick Sellers, beer director for DRAFT Magazine.

“The economy is definitely affecting what people drink,” agreed Julia Herz, craft beer program director for the Brewers Association. “People are trading down in wine and spirits, but beer seems to be more resilient.”

The shift to beer has meant less business for Wall Street’s tony wine bars.

“Instead of coming in four days a week, our customers are coming in two days a week or less,” said Mauricio Ortegón, manager of the chic wine bar Bin No. 220.

Local liquor stores are also feeling the pinch. Though there are still plenty of shoppers, their choices have changed.

“People always buy alcohol, no matter what,” explained Peter Muscat, owner of Maiden Lane Wine and Liquor Store. “But they’re buying less expensive stuff because they have less money. Less expensive wines especially.”

This week, Muscat’s top seller was a 2007 Domaine Barry Côtes du Rhône, on sale for $9.99. On South Street, Pasanella and Son Vintners has also started offering promotions in order to drum up business. The cavernous store’s weekly jam sessions and movie nights, often paired with free wine tastings, have become a big hit.

“We wanted to have events where people didn’t have to spend money to have fun,” owner Marco Pasanella said. “Who doesn’t like to have a free tasting and a movie?”

Even so, area residents are reluctant to spend money on alcohol. Many have cut back on drinks when dining out.

“I’m still going out to eat once a week, but I’m not ordering as much wine,” teacher Mary Broydrick, 27, said.

Health care manager David Smithson has made more drastic cutbacks. The 40-year-old has omitted alcohol completely from his dining experience.

“That’s what kills the bills,” he said.

A chat with Shaun Hergatt, executive chef at SHO Shaun Hergatt

Restaurateur Shaun Hergatt, of Atelier fame, is gearing up for the opening of SHO Shaun Hergatt, his eponymous new hot spot in The Setai building at 40 Broad St. The Australian-born chef chatted with me briefly about this new venture, which has been eagerly anticipated by the gourmands of Wall Street.

IS: What’s the timeline for the restaurant’s opening?
SH: We’re opening at the end of December or early January. Construction is a tough thing to oversee, which is the reason for the delay.

What will SHO Shaun Hergatt look like?
We’ve created two sections of the restaurant: the Pearl Room and the Show Room. The Pearl Room is without tablecloths, and it’s a lighter experience than the Show Room, which is for the typical serious dining experience. We split the room in two, so regardless of your economic background, you can have the dining experience you like.

Speaking of the economy, how are you planning on opening a restaurant in the middle of a recession?
Opening this restaurant has been three years in the process. We didn’t dream that this economic schnozzle would occur. We want to build something long-term, want to face the economic crisis and are dealing with it in reacting in an efficient way.

We put a number to that offered our menu at a competitive price for the quality and investment (we can’t divulge actual prices until restaurant opens, but will be much less than most three- and four-star establishments).

Who do you expect as customers?
Our market is a local market [initially]: Wall Street, the Financial District and Lower Manhattan, but eventually we want to be a destination restaurant.

We’re targeting special areas of the market. We want to market to the correct people, and quality of the product is always going to drive business, regardless of the economy. Value for money is key. People will say, “If I spend $50, what am I gonna get?”

Now, the money question: what will the food be like?
The food is modern French with bold Asian flavors. I have classical training, but coming from Australia, I have influences from Asia.

In tribute to the never-ending construction on Fulton...

“New York will be a great place when they finish it.”

- Anonymous

Sums up life on Fulton Street perfectly.

A Local Landmark: The Paris

The bar at the Paris, lit up for the holidays

When you walk in, The Paris looks like an average bar. Eleven flat-screen TVs line the walls, each displaying a different game. But a closer look reveals intricately carved dark-wood molding, creeping out from beneath the sleek black screens.

It’s a juxtaposition of styles: technology of the 21st century next to a holdover from the original Paris Café, established in 1873.

Traces of the past are common at The Paris, located at 119 South St. Even the name lingers on. Though owners John Ronaghan and Peter O’Connell changed the name to The Paris Bar when they bought the restaurant in 2000, locals still refer to the place as the Paris Café. One hundred and twenty years of history is hard to ignore.

Black-and-white photographs of old New York hang on the exposed brick walls, alongside framed reprints of recent newspaper articles lauding the Paris’s success. The wine list is scribbled messily on a chalkboard, but few customers even glance at it. With 18 beers on tap, no one’s drinking wine.

Locals flock to the restaurant’s candle-lit tables and mahogany bar. A couple clad in jeans sits next to a group of men in suits, Blackberries in hand. It was pretty full on the Monday night I went, but waitress Annette Jackman worried that the ongoing financial crisis will slow business.

“We get lots of Wall Street people, especially from AIG,” Jackman said. “Are they still going to show up? We don’t know.”

While the Paris’s traditional demographic is declining, the changing face of the neighborhood is bringing in a new sort of patron: the resident.

“We never saw people walking their dogs before,” bartender Bob Grant said. “The neighbors are mixing with Wall Street.”

New clients are ordering differently too. Though the bar has always been known for its beer, vodka has become popular recently, Grant said.

“They’re like sheep,” Grant said. “If there’s one brand in fashion at the moment – that’s what’s big.”

Even the menu contrasts old and new. Traditional bar favorites are popular, especially the fish and chips ($13). A cod fillet the size of a pint glass is coated in a rich beer batter, cushioned on the plate by a mound of thick-cut fries. It’s old-school Irish pub grub, comparable to any in Dublin.

But the kitchen also serves up more fashionable fare: farfalle with shrimp and sun-dried tomatoes ($15), sesame-crusted tuna salad ($15), and blackened snapper with mixed vegetables and mashed potatoes ($18). The snapper is smoky, spicy and a little salty, but a valiant effort at creating something more than bar food.

The Paris has been open since 1871

The flexibility with the menu and drink list has helped the Paris stay open in an area where many mainstays have recently closed. When the Fulton Fish Market moved to the Bronx in 2005, fish market workers who had often stopped in for a post-work beer also moved north, which proved fatal for such landmarks as Sweets and Sloppy Louie’s.

“I miss the Fish Market,” Grant lamented. “The neighborhood is much more residential, so [the restaurant] is changing.”

The Paris may be changing, but it still retains its storied past. Anyone that walks in and sees the centuries-old molding on the walls can attest to that.

Thoughts from the neighborhood on Election Day

Though the election buzz has calmed down a little, here's a little recap of what locals thought about Nov. 4. I was surprised to hear that most people didn't care about the historic day:

Stella, a 26-year-old employee at Yorganic in the Financial District, wasn’t sure if she would vote today. She said that she should, but didn’t know enough about the candidates to make an informed decision.

Regina, a 22-year-old employee at Pylones, said the same thing. “I’m not sure [if I’m voting] because I’m not aware of their economic policies, and I think it would depend on that.”

Though this is one of the most exciting elections in recent history, business owners and employees by Wall Street were unenthusiastic about Nov. 4. No one believed that the election would affect his or her business. The owner of Wall Street Wine Merchants said, “If people want to drink, they want to drink.” Martin, an employee at the Stone St. Financier Patisserie said, “people still need their coffee.” Newell Cheung, an investor of B4, said, “people are still going to want to come in [to the bar] and unwind.”

No one cared about the election because they thought it would not create immediate change. As Stella said, “just because one person becomes the president, the economy’s not going to go up the next day.” She couldn’t talk specifically about the candidates’ economic plans, however, because she didn’t know anything about them. Like Stella, most people I talked to had little to say about the election, simply because they were uninformed.

The proprietor of a hair salon on Maiden St. summed it up best: “I’m not voting and I don’t want to talk about it.”

***

I was pretty excited - it was my first time voting!