I came here to catch Matthew Shipp's trio (one of THE great jazz trios of the past quarter century). Doors open at 5 p.m. but they don't actually seat people for the 7:30 show until 7 p.m. That was fine with me - there was a nice bar that was mostly empty until show time, and I ordered an empanada (black bean & plantain) and an arepa (reina pepiada, which is a Venezuelan chicken salad), both coming with different dipping sauces. Both flavors had been recommended and they both were indeed delicious. There are a few jazz clubs in NYC that require a food purchase, and this is the first venue I've been to where the food was actually really, really good - I heard good things about everything else, so it's not just these items. Eventually I was able to go into the performance room, and there's bar there as well, but I didn't want any alcohol while I listened to this group, I just had some ice water. The room is very intimate and even though the room filled up, the one chair no one took was the one behind Shipp - had you sat in that chair, it probably would've been very awkward because you'd be literally breathing down Shipp's neck. Enjoyed the performance, hope they book more acts like this. read more