I hate this stubble thing. At the Oscars and all trillion other award ceremonies, good-looking guys like Justin Timberlake look like they’ved been marrooned on a desert island — for a very short period of time — then plunked into their tuxes before they had a chance to shave. Am I the only one who doesn’t like the look? Please say no. All the stars are...

Chicken Recipe, Anyone? I have a foolproof recipe for roast chicken, but that’s not the point. Although if you want to, you can skip to Read More, grab a chicken, and have at it. As for the rest of you, this isn’t really about chickens, but  about expectations and reality. About the saying, “Be careful what you wish for because you will surely...

  It’s official: you can fall in love with an electronic device. Take me: I’m in love with my new Apple IPhone4S.And we haven’t even met. OBJECTUM SEXUAL? I’m not talking about that weird psychological phenomenon you saw on Boston Legal, where a person is incapable of actual affection for another human, but develops a deep devotion to say, a...

La Petite Auberge, The Final Days  They can’t do this to me! Mon dieu! They are doing this to me. La Petite Auberge, my very favorite French restaurant in Manhattan, is going to close on October 8. I don’t think I can deal with this. How do I love this place? Let me count the ways: it’s small, popular but not trendy, has consistently good...

Are bikes a menace in our fair city? The simple answer is yes — IF the bikers continue to flaunt the law and the law continues to ignore the flauntiness. This has turned me into a Card-Carrying Crank. It is so not funny. Yes, yes, biking in the city is a great idea in principle: it’s healthier for the biker and greener for us all. But not so much for anyone...

  The confession you are about to hear is true.Only the names have been changed to protect . . . me. Who else? Bless me, Father . . .  For I have shoplifted. It’s been a hundred years since my last confession, so let’s not go there. But about the shoplifting: There were two specific times I can remember and probably a few additional incidents I have...

  Okay, so it’s technically off-Broadway, just around the corner at 50th, but let’s not quibble. The point is that this play has been around (in various locations in Manhattan) for 24 years — the longest run of a non-musical in history. And yet, you probably have never heard of it, much less seen it. It’s called: PERFECT CRIME And it’s a...

Stranded by Hurricane Irene . . . With lots to eat. Lots to drink. Lots to read. But no working toilets. Whoops. To tell the truth, we weren’t exactly in the Hamptons when Irene hit, but close enough —on the island of Shelter, where Hugh Carey’s ghost roams the golf course and so many high end restaurants are sprouting up that this lovely getaway may end...