Don't Miss Alert

Well, I was all set to you remind you not to miss the Guggenheim's Works & Process Monday evening, when Frederic Franklin will discuss his extraordinary dancing career, from the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo to a number of American troupes where he was revered as ballet master. The 93-year-old is said to be the oldest ballet dancer who's still dancing. Sorry gang, it's sold out. All the more reason to get your tickets asap for these upcoming Works & Process performances!

Ballet in Sneakers
Jan 20 & 21, 7:30 p.m., $30; Call 212-423-3587
New York City Ballet soloists re-cast Jerome Robbins’s work. Live and in person, Ellen Bar and Sean Suozzi, the film's creators explore the dance/film genre with dancers from NYCB.


Dead Man’s Cell Phone
Jan 27 & 28, 7:30 p.m., $30; Call 212-423-3587
A wildly imaginative comedy by Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl, directed by Obie Award-winner Anne Bogart, about what happens when a woman answers a ringing phone belonging to the dead man beside her at a café.

In other news and reviews, I've discovered a new Southwestern haunt in the nabe deserving of a dinner visit: Cilantro. It's a comfortable, cozy spot to take the refreshing kind of out-of-town visitor who's more interested in catching up than paying a visit to the Statue of Liberty. I ended up there with my college roommate, in town from North Carolina. It's a friendly, throw-on-a-pair-of-jeans-and-hit-it type of restaurant where you can kick back and relax without being rushed.

Walk into this warm, informal joint and you're surrounded by smiling sunshines, desert cacti, and kokopelli. It's intimately small, and pleasantly lively, attracting a thirty-something apres-work crowd. Crisp, cool Corona or frozen Margarita, either will smoothly wash down the fresh, homemade salsa and colorful chips you chomp on while contemplating the menu. Portions are large, which cancels out the cost factor of the specialty dishes.

Try standard Southwestern fare (steak tacos, $8; steak burritos, $9; steak fajitas, $16) or venture out on a menu limb, ordering up something different (spinach, portabello & goat cheese enchilada, $13; chipotle shrimp, $16; or New York Strip with tequila mushroom sauce, $19). And for dessert? Lime flan. ($5) Mmm.

Cilantro: 1712 Second Avenue (b/t E. 88-89) Call 212-722-4242
Or 1321 First Avenue at E. 71st St. Call 212-537-4040

See you there real soon! I can already tell this is one of my new faves.

YGAT