Summer Concert Archives

This Thursday: Strawberry Fields

Posted in Programs and Events on August 12 2013, by Matt Newman

We’ve made our way through cucumbers and gin, berry-tinged tequila, and the finest in Italian jazz, and as we near Thursday night’s final Cocktail Evening & Summer Concert of the Wild Medicine exhibition, we’re changing it up one more time. If you’re as much a fan of the smoky nuance of bourbon as I am, you’ll want to clear your evening schedule.

This round’s specialty cocktail is “Strawberry Fields,” a balanced mix of Crème Yvette, bourbon, ginger ale and lime—all matched to the tenor of Michéal Castaldo, our guest singer. Backed by his string quartet, he brings the classic standards of his Italian homeland to our stage for one night only.

Preface your evening out with a quiet walk through our Wild Medicine displays in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, strolling around the Italian Renaissance Garden and the many medicinal plants growing in our glasshouse. Afterward, grab your complementary cocktail and a few samples from Mike’s Deli and the Bronx Beer Hall, or bring a blanket and pick up a picnic dinner to enjoy the concert from the Conservatory Lawn. Those looking to keep the night moving will find a cash bar with wine, beer, food, and other refreshments available.

For MasterCard holders, we also offer a champagne pre-party beginning in the Shop in the Garden and moving on to Wild Medicine. We even offer discounts at famed Arthur Avenue restaurants nearby for those holding Cocktail Evening tickets. Because why wouldn’t you make a full night of it?

With only a few days remaining between now and our last Cocktail Evening on August 15, not to mention tickets dwindling, you may want to think about registering as soon as possible. You just bring yourself—we’ll bring the drinks!

This Thursday: Cooling Cocktails and a Touch of Jazz

Posted in Programs and Events on June 26 2013, by Matt Newman

Don’t let your sweltering New York City apartment define your summer experience—even if you love a good sit in a banya, spending every night in one is probably pushing the boundaries of good sense. Instead, I’ve got a few words that might distract you from your wheezy air conditioner and all the half moments lingering in front of the open freezer: gin, cucumber, violet liqueur.

Cocktail Evenings & Summer Concerts are back, swinging, and set to take the edge off the city’s muggy summer nights—and we’re not skimping on the “cocktail” bit. This Thursday, June 27, from 6 – 9 p.m., we slip into our latest after-dark series with the help of a liqueur appropriate to the quiet viewing of Wild Medicine you’ll get with your ticket. Crème Yvette blends mûre, framboise, cassis, and fraise sauvage berries with the dried violet petals of Provence, leaving no question as to its plant pedigree. And our first featured cocktail, the Yvette Cup, doesn’t waste the flavor, mixing gin, cucumber, lime, ginger, and mint for a bracing sip that’ll put the drawbacks of summer in your rear view.