REMEMBER: JIMMY’S CHICKEN SHACK ON SUGAR HILL
Harlem Bespoke: We looked up a few more original 1940s New York City tax photos of Sugar Hill and got a better closeup of Jimmy’s Chicken Shack by 148th Street on St. Nicholas Avenue. The iconic hanging fowl-centric neon sign is the one image that always comes to mind but the storefront of the jazz spot was also quite interesting because it was actually a circular shack. Most in the neighborhood know that this is one of uptown’s historic district and the shop address still remains today but currently has a restaurant within: LINK
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Harlem Bespoke: Harlem’s most followed blog on Facebook! Join our growing community of over 14,645 followers on the Harlem Bespoke Facebook site and receive daily to your account by liking our page: LINK
LGBTQ MEETUP AT THE CLIFFS HARLEM
Harlem Bespoke: CRUX empowers members of the LGBTQ community to participate in rock climbing and outdoor recreation in New York. CRUX will host meetup nights at The Cliffs at Harlem on the second Tuesday of every month.
Tuesday, April 11th, 7:00PM-9:00PM, CRUX LGBTQ Meetup Night at The Cliffs climbing facility in Harlem located at 256 West 125th Street across from the Apollo Theater between Frederick Douglass and Adam Clayton Powell. This is a great way to try out the sport and meet the community before signing up for a monthly membership. At 15,000 square feet, The Cliffs is Manhattan’s largest rock climbing gym featuring hundreds of climbs (refreshed weekly), and state-of-the-art climbing training equipment. $15 climbing pass with rentals. Learn more on the official Cliffs Harlem site: LINK
AMATEUR NIGHT AT THE APOLLO APRIL 2023
Harlem Bespoke: The renowned Amateur Night at the Apollo returns in 2023 after almost almost a two years absence and tickets are now on sale for November.
Wednesday, April 5th, 7:30PM, Amateur Night live at the Apollo Theater, 253 West 125th Street between 7th and 8th Avenue. Local events have been selling out way in advance recently so those who want to get a head start on good seats should do so sooner than later. More details and advance online tickets at the official Apollo site: LINK
BESPOKE: HARLEM’S BEST RED VELVET CUPCAKES
Harlem Bespoke: We were feeling very nostalgic for red velvet cupcakes lately and headed over to Loretta Alston’s namesake specialty bakery on Lenox by 120th Street. Red velvet was everywhere when we started blogging over the decades but has since become harder to find these days and most offerings are pretty basic. Not at L.A. Sweets! Everything at the boutique shop is baked freshly within hours and is hands down the most super moist cupcake we have had over the years. Our red velvet experience was absolutely on point with flavor and the cupcake was still warm with the cream cheese icing just whipped on top per order.
A salted caramel offering also caught our eye and this sticky sweet confection was also devastatingly decadent. The cube of caramel on top is absolutely extra and we would recommend to give it to your kids since we thought everything underneath was so rich in flavor already. We had a lackluster cupcake experience at Magnolia further downtown since everything was cold with that day-old taste and so would highly recommend to go out of the way for this under the radar Harlem shop which opened on the boulevard eight years ago: LINK