On Wednesday, February 22nd, Contorno’s Restaurant celebrated their official grand opening with an invite-only media tasting event at their new space, located at 30 West 31st Street inside the new boutique Holiday Inn Express. Guests enjoyed wine tastings as well as a selection of small plate passed hors d’oeuvres from the menu developed by executive chef David Buico. Popular items included a Hand Rolled Ricotta Gnocchi w/ Wild Boar Bolognese & Shaved Dry Ricotta, Shrimp Al Pancha w/ White Heirloom Beans, Spicy Salami and Tomato Jus, and Grilled Zucchini w/ English Mint and Pine Nut Pesto as well as a Milk Chocolate & Pistachio Tart and a New York Cheese Cake. The regular menu is filled with Rustic Italian style “small plate” options designed to be paired with the extensive wine list. With the lights turned down low and the music playing, a mood was set. The open layout (with seating for 110) allowed guests ample space to explore, mingle and sample wines from around the world. Contorno’s General Manager, Marta Cisneros, and owner, Andrew Impagliazzo, worked the room— mingling with the crowd and making sure that everyone was being taken care of. Contorno’s is certainly the new kid in an interesting neighborhood (i.e. Empire State Building, Herald Square, Korea Town), but Cisneros says, “There’s really nothing like us in this area and we’re looking forward to surprising people with everything that we have to offer— from our wines, to our food to our general ambiance. We want to create relationships with our customers and keep them coming back for more,” and after last night they definitely will be.

Check out all the photos from the Tasting Event on the Contorno’s Facebook fan page.

This week, Contorno’s also introduced “Swirl Tuesday’s”. Each week GM/Sommelier Marta Cisneros will lead customers in sampling a red or white wine flight from a different region, and help them learn about the wine and how to pair it with different dishes.

Contorno’s restaurant is located at 30 West 31st Street, between 5th Avenue and Broadway (www.ContornosRestaurant.com).

This fall, Nolcha Fashion Week began with Fashion’s Night Out on September 8th, 2011. Nolcha hosted an Independent Pop Up Shop at the Opia Lounge on 57th Street. The event was hosted by The New York Post, Ricardo Ralph Lopez, Farasha Boutique, and Globalfashionbrands.com.

Seventeen fashion brands were presented at FNO; at least three of which are eco friendly. Press and Industry personnel had the opportunity to browse the different collections; visit the beauty bar set up by Kroma Makeup and Kiss Nails; and sample cocktails provided by Don Q Rum. The first 100 shoppers who attended received a gift bag with goodies from vitabath and LypSyl among others.

Nolcha Fashion Week continued on Monday September 12th at The Metropolitan Pavilion. The event featured 3 runway shows, and an all day Apparel and Accessories Exhibition. People could browse the various collections at the exhibit while waiting for the runway shows to begin; or they could visit stations sponsored by Kiss Nails and vitabath. The runway shows were scheduled at 1pm, 4pm and 7pm and featured 12 different collections.

Nolcha Fashion Week officially concluded on Wednesday with the closing party presented by kiss nails at The Sanctuary Hotel on West 47th Street.

Nolcha in the Press:
Joonbug
Diva Gals Daily
Glam.com
MTV Act
New York Gossip Gal
Style and the Startup
BeautyCrasher.com
The Fashionisette
Runway Passport

Milk Street Cafe held a private press preview this past Monday night, June 6th, at their new New York City location at 40 Wall Street in the Trump Building. The new Milk Street Cafe is a 23,000 square foot ‘food hall’ space featuring a high-end selection of various food stations and gourmet cuisine which will include: a barista station, made-to-order breakfasts, made-from-scratch breads, desserts and pastries, pasta bar, Asian specialties, sushi bar, two create-your-own salad bars (one vegetarian, one not), homemade soups, a grill, a rotisserie and a carving station.

The press preview featured guided-tours of the space, interviews with the owner, Marc Epstein, as well as samples based off of the menu (created by Executive Chef Steven Mettle) including brushetta and risotto, spring rolls and pan fried noodles, fresh sushi and sashimi, and specialty dessert smoothies like strawberry-banana, vanilla bean, and mocha espresso.

The public opening of the Milk Street Cafe Food Hall will kick off on June 23rd with an Opening Bell Ceremony and complimentary cookies and coffee between 10-11am.

Check out photos from the Milk Street Press Preview on their Facebook Fan Page: http://on.fb.me/lxgUUY

La Vie Lounge celebrated their Grand Opening last night, April 28th, with a private party featuring tastings from their new French-Moroccan fusion menu, designed by Chef Momo Terien.

Guests at the event were treated to an open bar, hookah, passed hors d’oeuvres from the new menu, and an impromptu belly dancing performance.

Check out all the photos from the night on the La Vie Lounge Facebook fan page.

In honor of Earth Month this April, our client Global Fashion Brands (a new indie fashion shopping site) will be running an Eco Pop-Up Store featuring only the best in ethical womenswear, menswear and accessories. There will be a virtual pop-up storefront running all month long (online), as well as a physical pop-up shopping event in midtown Manhattan on Thursday, April 14th, at the Nexus Townhouse.

Keeping the Earth in mind, 10% of all proceeds from the pop-up store will be donated back to the Red Cross for Japan Relief, giving you more than one way to feel great about your sustainable spending. Plus, the roster will house two non-profit designer collections for a cause, including modernized muumuus courtesy of Care 4 Kenya and faux-leather cuffs by Project Migration.

Other Earth Month designers will include ethical fashion favorites like Lara Miller, Ailin, Chak Chel, Moonlight, Vella Mode, Boutique Ethique, Tammam, Elena Garcia and Tompkins Point, just to name a few.

“Earth Month is a great time to highlight ethical fashion,” says CEO Kerry Bannigan, “Not only to celebrate the brands that practice fair trade but also to remind consumers of the trends and wearable products within sustainable fashion.”

The virtual pop-up store will launch on Friday, April 1st at www.globalfashionbrands.com/earthmonth and the physical pop-up shop opens on Thursday, April 14 at the Nexus Townhouse, located at 39 W. 56th St., between 5th & 6th Aves.

Shopping never felt so good.

On Monday, April 11th, Singer/Songwriter Marcus Goldhaber and The Jon Davis Trio will be performing two sets at 7:30pm and 9:00pm presented by GlenGrant Scotch at Opia—a restaurant & lounge in the mezzanine of the Renaissance Hotel.

The event is free of charge and will feature live jazz including both standards and original music by Marcus Goldhaber, as well as complimentary scotch tastings courtesy of GlenGrant throughout the evening.

At the show, Marcus will be joined by The Jon Davis Trio, featuring Tom Hubbard (bass) and Marcello Pellitteri (drums).

Opia is located at 130 East 57th Street at Lexington Avenue (nearest subways: 5, 6, N, R, Q to 59th Street). No cover, no minimum. For reservations, phone 212-688-3939 or email Opia@AMP3pr.com. For more information about Opia, visit www.OpiaRestaurant.com.

AMP3 PR client A.R.T. has opened a new pop-up storefront in Brooklyn. This new store is the first destination of its kind, carrying exclusively modular products. Specifically, they’ll be featuring their sister brand Module R, an aggregation of modular art & design products from around the world. With Module R, they will retail 52+ modular products, such as: wine racks, shelving units, room dividers, housewares–something for every room—all items that make sense to be customizable and modular based on the taste and space requirements of the buyer.

The A.R.T. pop-up store opened to the public on November 5th and will run until January 9th. Located at 400 Atlantic Avenue, store hours are Wed-Sun from 11am-7pm. A.R.T. will be holding an opening reception in honor of the new A.R.T. | Module R storefront on December 2nd from 6-8pm. If you wish to attend, please RSVP to RSVP@amp3pr.com.

A.R.T., founded by architect/artist Donald Rattner in March 2010, can also be found online at www.art-rethought.com.

Recent Press Mentions of A.R.T./Module R
NY Magazine
Brooklyn Paper
Ponoko
Brooklyn Exposed
Socially Superlative
Associated Content
NY Post
24SevenBrooklyn
Bustler
ChicTip
Time Out New York

The opening for Amanda’s latest installation of artwork will be held on Sunday, August 29th and the reception will feature wine, cupcakes, music and photo opps–in true ‘Amanda’ style. “Dress Up” will introduce a darker, edgier side of Amanda in this fashion-inspired series.

“Dress Up”~where style & art intersect.
Kick start your Fall fashion senses with some canvas eye-candy.

Ward-Nasse Gallery
178 Prince Street
(between Thompson & Sullivan)
Sunday, August 29th
5pm – 8pm

PR Inquiries?
Alyson Campbell
AMP3 Public Relations
646.827.9594
ADart@AMP3pr.com
www.AMP3pr.com

AMP3PR music client 6th Street will be performing two shows in New York this week.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 27th, 6th Street will be performing at Kenny’s Castaways at 8pm. There will be no cover for the show.
Kenny’s Castaways is located at 157 Bleecker Street, NYC 10012 (between Thompson and Sullivan)

Saturday, May 1st, 6th Street will be performing at Arlene’s Grocery at 8pm. There will be a $10 cover for the show.
Arlene’s Grocery is located at 95 Stanton Street, NYC 10002

We are representing A.R.T., and on March 19th, they will launch their inaugural collection with an online store as well as a pop-up store in NYC.

ModulA.R.T. by A.R.T. is a fully-customizable modular art collection, with scalable contemporary art modules that can be pieced together in an infinite number of ways, designed by artist and architect, Donald Rattner. What’s cool is that you can buy one piece, or you can buy 10! They all integrate together, with infinite choice of color, texture, and layout combinations. It’s contemporary art that can grow and change with you, allowing the works to be a co-creative process that is accessible and endlessly unique.

POP-UP OPENING RECEPTION:
ModulA.R.T. by A.R.T.
Thursday, March 25th
7pm-9pm
81 Front Street (Main & Washington)
DUMBO area of Brooklyn
F to York Street, A/C to High Street
*MUST RSVP direct to ArtRethought@AMP3pr.com

REGULAR POP-UP HOURS:
March 19th – April 18th
Wednesday – Sunday, 12pm – 8pm
www.Art-Rethought.com