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NYC’s First Peranakan Restaurant Is Bringing Chinese, Malay, & Indonesian Flavors To Flatiron
NYC’s first ever restaurant focusing on Peranakan cuisine, Kebaya, has officially opened in the heart of the Flatiron District, and it’s offering a truly one-of-a-kind experience.
Peranakan cuisine, also referred to as Nonya cuisine, comes from the Peranakans–descendants of early Chinese migrants who settled in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. The cuisine is a combination of Chinese, Malay, and Indonesian cuisines, which is to say it’s a mouthwatering combination of tang, spice, herbs, and aromatics.
The name Kebaya comes from the intricate and vibrant garment worn by women in Southeast Asia and is a symbol of the Peranakan and Malay communities.
At Kebaya, acclaimed pioneering chef, Salil Mehta, and renowned NYC-based food consultant, Margaret Goh serve traditional Peranakan plates with a modern take on the classics.
Highlights on the menu include Hoppers with Coconut Chutney, Tamarind Sambal, and Podi Ghee, which are fermented rice batter hoppers, similar to dosa, Sate Lilit with Chili Kicap Sambal, mince beef wrapped over lemongrass root and grilled to perfection, and Nasi Ulam with Charred Macherel, a mouth-watering Jasmine rice with toasted coconut, herbs, torch ginger flower, sambal, and dry shrimp.
A selection of handcrafted cocktails make for the perfect accompaniment to your meal, and also showcase Malaysian, Singapore, and Indonesia’s myriad of flavors.
Cocktails include The Girl from Ipoh, a Rum-based pandan milk punch, Umami, a mushroom infused whiskey with ameri, and a citrus concoction, and Tiger Stripe, a tantalizing combination of guava, tequila, spicy gunpowder, and lime, among others.
Beers, wines, champagne, and Peranakan tea are also available to order.
Kebaya is the newest addition to Fungi Hospitality’s restaurant portfolio, which includes restaurants such as Laut, Singapura, and WAU.
Representing rich history, vibrant culture, and endless ingredients, Kebaya offers guests a unique journey through Southeast Asia’s diverse and vibrant flavors.
You can learn more and make reservations on their website.
Kebaya, 20 E 17th St.
Tuesday-Thursday 5p.m. – 11p.m., Friday 5p.m. – 12a.m., Saturday 1p.m. – 12a.m., Sunday 1p.m. – 10p.m.
The post NYC’s First Peranakan Restaurant Is Bringing Chinese, Malay, & Indonesian Flavors To Flatiron appeared first on Secret NYC.
Neil Patrick Harris will star in this Broadway show for a limited time this month!
Broadway royalty and overall Hollywood fixture Neil Patrick Harris will take on many different roles on when joining the cast of Peter Pan Goes Wrong at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre for a limited time later this month.
Starting Tuesday, April 11 through Sunday, April 30, Harris will play Francis, a member of the Cornley Drama Society that portrays the show’s narrator and a bunch of other parts on the show. Note that the actor will not appear on stage during the April 21 show and the April 22 matinee performance.
“I’m a massive fan of Team Mischief and physical comedy in general, so I jumped (fell?) at the chance to join their genius on stage,” said the 49-year-old actor about his guest starring in an official statement. “That said, the role of the Narrator mostly sits in a chair and reads a book, so apparently no rehearsals are required. I guess that’s fine… what could possibly go wrong?”
Harris is just the first of a number of special guest stars that the Broadway production has promised will appear every so often during the run of the show. No word yet on who, or when, is part of that roster just yet—but it’s safe to say that their very first pick is a solid one.
In addition to his Emmy Award winning work on Glee, Harris took on the role of Hedwig in the Broadway rendition of Hedwig and The Angry Inch, a part that earned him a Tony Award in 2014.
We’re sure Harris will only add spirit to an already lively show.
Brooklyn’s Billie Holiday Theatre just won the nation’s most prestigious arts award
Describing the venue as “an incredible place” that is “nurturing a new generation of Black playwrights, performers,” President Joe Biden awarded Bed-Stuy’s Billie Holiday Theatre with the National Medal of Arts in a ceremony late last month. The accolade is the nation’s highest honor awarded to artists and organizations by the U.S. government for outstanding contributions to the excellence and growth of the arts.
With the national medal as a catalyst, there’s even more to come from the theater in its next chapter, the organization’s leader Blondel A. Pinnock says.
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The Billie Holiday Theatre was founded 50 years ago in 1972 at the height of the Black Arts movement by Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, of which Pinnock now leads as president and CEO. In the past five decades, it’s promoted the voices of Black artists including Samuel L. Jackson, Debbie Allen, Tichina Arnold and Phyllis Yvonne Stickney. Rooted in racial justice, the theatre produces, presents and commissions works in theater, dance, music, visual arts and film, along with offering educational programming for all ages.
“The Billie Holiday Theatre was created as a vehicle for the voice of the community. It was a place where the creatives who lived in Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights certain parts of Black Brooklyn could come and they could hone their craft, they could create plays, they could learn and practice their acting skills,” Pinnock tells Time Out. “The Billie Holiday stage itself became the catalyst and the breeding ground for the Black arts culture.”
An artistic jewel for the nation, channeling its namesake’s exploration of freedom and identity.
During the ceremony at the White House, President Biden awarded the medal—golden with a regal purple ribbon—during a star-studded event. While Pinnock received the award on behalf of the organization, she credits the theater’s past leaders including Marjorie Moon, Franklin Thomas and Indira Etwaroo for their work in helping The Billie ascend to this point.
Fellow NYC organizations Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and the Apollo Theater have received the award in past years. Fellow awardees this year include Mindy Kaling, Bruce Springsteen, Gladys Knight, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Antonio Martorell-Cardona, Vera Wang and The International Association of Blacks in Dance. Here’s the full list of awardees.
“It’s wonderful to have an organization based in Brooklyn, based Bed-Stuy that can stand toe to toe with these other nationally recognized art institutions,” Pinnock says.
Recently, the Billie Holiday Theatre staged Moments of Black Genius in the American Theater, hosted journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones for a Women’s History Month event and brought actress Sheryl Lee Ralph to the stage for a speech. Looking ahead, The Billie will collaborate with 651 Arts to showcase musical performances in May and stage a production of Fabulation next year in collaboration with playwright Lynn Nottage.
The Billie will be a pivotal center of renovations to the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation’s Bed-Stuy campus over the next several years. The campus will be taken to grade level, eliminating steps to help with accessibility. Plus, leaders are talking about adding a genealogy center, black box theaters, studios for podcast creation and a training program for those interested in theater set design professions. They want to spotlight the theater, dance, studios and art galleries, bringing these internal spaces more external. The renovated campus is designed as a global hub dedicated to closing Brooklyn’s racial wealth gap, including increasing Black workers’ access to jobs in creative industries.
“Our goal in listening to the community is that they want to see arts and culture be the center of this,” Pinnock explains. “They want to see that when you walk on Fulton, you see, ‘that’s the arts and culture building, that’s where The Billie is, that’s where all the dance studios are, that’s where our theater program is, that’s where the art gallery is.'”
Of course, they’ll also find a place to proudly display their new national medal.
“We have to figure out a way to let this community know about this greatness that exists right here in the heart of Brooklyn,” Pinnock says. “This type of genius exists right here; you don’t have to go to Manhattan, you don’t have go to other places. We have this right here that passes through our buildings and through our neighborhoods every single day.”
The award presentation in Washington, D.C. echoed that sentiment describing the theater as “an artistic jewel for the nation, channeling its namesake’s exploration of freedom and identity.”