THEATER: Multi-talented and multi-gender performer Justin Bond – the beloved Tony-nominated Kiki from Kiki & Herb – vows to heat up the frigid East Village with Lustre, A Midwinter Trans-Fest. The cabaret show, which opened last night, promises to be a "fast and loose" night of music, dance and monologues for, by, or about transgender people, with a smattering of "neo-pagan revolutionary Appalachian-inspired folk songs." Bond's joined in the festivities by musical director Our......

What’s worth watching on food-TV this week? Tonight on No Reservations (10pm on the Travel Channel), Anthony Bourdain goes to Tuscany. Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares (the US version of his BBC show) is on Wednesday at 9pm (Fox). This week, Ramsay makes over Dillon’s in NYC—this is the makeover over which Ramsay was sued (and charges were subsequently dismissed). Want your restaurant Ramsified? Go to the show’s website for a downloadable application form. On Top......

I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With (directed by Jeff Garlin) While there's quite a few new releases coming out that are worth checking out this weekend (like the western and the spacemen documentary), we wanted to reserve our pick for a charming little movie you might have otherwise ignored. Written, directed and starring comedian Jeff Garlin (who we interviewed earlier this week), it's the kind of modest, looking-for-love-in-all-the-wrong-places story you don't often see these......

Hear about that movie Romance and Cigarettes that premiered last night? You know, the one directed by John Turturro, starring Chris Walken, James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Steve Buscemi, Kate Winslet, Mary Louise-Parker, Bobby Cannavale, Mandy Moore, Elaine Stritch and Amy Sedaris? Well, don’t feel bad if you didn't – that fact that two years since it wrapped the film’s been released all over the world except the town where it was shot speaks volumes......

“I don’t eat anything with a face” is the oft-cited dinnertime proclamation of many vegetarians when faced with dumb questions and pointless cross-examination from meat eaters. “Well, do you eat eggs?” the meat eater asks, “Cause an egg eventually has a face.” The vegetarian shakes her head. The meat eater, content with some pseudo-philosophical victory, usually chortles, and proceeds to bury his face in a giant pile of hot dogs topped with bacon and chili......

On Tuesday, the American -ists will be celebrating democracy and hitting the polls, letting politicians know what they really think. It just made us wonder: if it were up to the -ist-a-verse, what would we be voting for? Londonist votes for better skincare, alternative spaces for art, cute little birds and the men who keep them, and concrete. Lots of concrete. Shanghaiist votes for one of the Bee Gees and Air Supply (it's a......

A prosciutto that plays soccer, a Szechwan pepper who's a karate master, and a chocolate lollipop that bears a striking resemblance to Mr. Hanky. These are but a few of the colorful characters inhabiting the Javits Center during the past few days. It's the 52nd Annual Fancy Food Show, when producers from around the world converge to hawk their goods to buyers. Not everything is gimcrackery though. Some of the next big trends in food......

The Devil may wear prada and Superman may wear tight red briefs but what's really should get you hot and bothered on a long holiday weekend is Amy Sedaris in prosthetic teeth and high rise pants. Wooh-wee, that's some sexy stuff. No matter how you felt about Lauren Weisberger's thinly veiled roman a clef about life in the Vogue trenches, you have to admit that the preview for The Devil Wears Prada movie with Meryl......

- A Brooklyn girl was killed by a bus this afternoon; right now, it seems another student may have released the emergency brake - Senator McCain thinks New School students need a lesson in courtesy - The Empire State Building will be open until 2AM this summer (and then you can head to the 24-hour Apple Store on Fifth Avenue) - Former NJ Governor McGreevey's tell-all book is pretty explicit about what the Garden......

Easter is almost here, which means that the Easter Bunny is almost here - as well as thoughts, "Hey, maybe I should get a bunny." The ASPCA strongly recommends that people buy chocolate bunnies instead of real live ones, because they don't realize what it makes to care for a rabbit and then end up leaving a bunny at a shelter (if people really think they are capable of owning a bunny, they should read......

There are some great benefits happening around town tonight, we suggest you hit one, or both, up if you have the time. Billabong & Boarding for Breast Cancer celebrate See Me Speak Art Collaborative tonight at Melody Weir Gallery. As part of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, 50% of all art sales will benefit Boarding for Breast Cancer Organization. Feature will be work from some of the country's finest emerging and established artists. Cocktail Reception,......

Darci Ratliff, Kittenpants ...

David Lee Roth has done it all: Been the frontman for Van Halen, been busted for a dime bag at Washington Square Park, and now, he's training to be a city paramedic. Roth told the Post, "I have been on over 200 individual rides now. Not once has anyone recognized me, which is perfect for me." He asked the Post not to disclose his locations, because he's trying not to be the attention whore he's......

Even the most jaded New Yorker can be thrilled by the sight of a movie being filmed on our streets, because, even the crappiest of movies with New York scenes can still be amazing if there's that one stunning vista of the city or you can say, "Yeah, that street really is that dirty." This picture of Steve Buscemi and some off-duty firefighters (playing firefighters, natch) gathering around the craft service table was taken......

For the love of tiny cakes with frosting on top: The Daily News turns sixteen adults and children into cupcake testers to find the best cupcakes in New York, rating them on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (lovely). Some of the usual suspects include, Magnolia Bakery, Sage in LIC, Sweet Melissa, Crumbs, Magnolia, Amy Sedaris at Joe, and Polka Dot, but remember, cupcakes are subjective, so don't get bent out of shape if......

New York darlings Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker will be taking roles in the Strangers with Candy movie. Of course, Broderick is still best known for playing Ferris Bueller and Parker honed her teenager-in-high school acting chops as Patty Greene on the short-lived sitcom, Square Pegs (not mentioning playing an immature-as-a-higher-schooler on Sex and the City). The Hollywood Reporter says that the couple's friendship with Strangers with Candy co-creator and star, and all-around amazing......

One of Gothamist's favorite actors AND Park Slope residents, John Turturro, (who else can play Hispanic, Italian, Jewish, crazy, etc) will be appearing on the amusing USA Networks comedy, Monk. Turturro will play the brother of main character Adrian Monk, who is brilliantly played by Tony Shalhoub. The Post reports that the brother, Ambrose Monk, will be an agoraphobe, to Adrian's OCD detective. Gothamist doesn't know if it's making light of neuroses or the police......

Ben McGrath looks at a beef between Times columnist Paul Krugman and investment consultant/blogger Don Luskin of poorandstupid.com in a New Yorker piece, "Blalking." Luskin met Krugman then blogged, "I have looked evil in the face. I�ve been in the same room with it. I don�t know how else to describe my feelings now except to say that I feel unclean, and I�m having to fight being afraid," leading Krugman to call Luskin "stalker-in-chief." And......

A Plexiglass box. A hunger strike. A sort of mock band. Add a DVD release, and you've got a concept for a press conference. Tenacious D announced on Monday their 45 day hunger strike for rock. However, Jack Black told reporters the strike would end early if on the following happened: "The Complete Masterworks" - their new DVD of videos - goes platinum, if "hunger is solved" or if there is peace in Middle......

Holy headrush, the Times has a feature on the cupcaking of New York! Reporter Julia Moskin calls the sight people toting cupcakes around, the way one would a hot dog, a sign of a trend that entrenched itself, and covers how NY bakeries are making bank off teeny little cakes. Cupcakes analyzed come from Magnolia, Cupcake Cafe, Buttercup, Amy Sedaris, Polka Dot, William Greenburg, Yura, Kitchenette, Crumbs, and Downtown Atlantic, and who better to......

Since she's not in a play these days where her baked goods are sold as refreshment, you can try cupcakes made by Amy Sedaris at Joe in Greenwich Village (141 Waverly Place, 212-924-6750). NY Magazine reports that even though Sedaris is admittedly diva-ish when it comes to her baking style, that was no problem for owner Jonathan Rubenstein: �I was like, �I don�t know when I�ll bring them in, never call me at home, I......

It's NY magazine's SEXY (caps are ours) issue and we were excited to see our favorites, Paul Auster (sexy author), Anthony Bourdain (sexy chef - take that, Rocco!), and Amy Sedaris (sexy comedienne) on the list. The rest - eh; Harrison Ford's mid-life crisis is not sexy.......

China's pet ownership is booming due to growth and liberalization; pet ownership had been deemed "too bourgeouis" for the common man, but now bourgeouis is good in China. Posi the Persian cat, seen at the Pet Expo in Shanghai, is going for about US$420, but Gothamist recommends any pet owners to adopt a pet, perhaps from the ASPCA. And did you know that July is "Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month"? As profiled in yesterday's......

Gothamist was walking by the American Museum of Natural History and noticed that the Rose Center was lit up. Then we remembered: It was where the screening and premiere party for Sex and the City was taking place. Newsday interviewed Ron Livingston, who plays Carrie's love interest Jack Berger this season, before the premiere. See pictures from the premiere at WireImage - Amy Sedaris is there!......

Finally! Strangers with Candy, the insanely brilliant Comedy Central show starring Amy Sedaris, will be made into a movie. Gothamist loves Amy Sedaris, and is thrilled that she and Strangers co-creators and co-stars Stephen Colbert, who kills us on The Daily Show and Paul Dinello will be writing the script. We pray that David Sedaris can find a role as a Christmas elf or someone who sings the Oscar Meyer song as Ella Fitzgerald. The......

One of Gothamist's favorite fun, fearless females (tm Cosmopolitan) is Amy Sedaris, featured in Simon Doonan's Observer column today, which in itself is an excerpt of his upcoming book, "Wacky Chicks: Life Lessons from Fearlessly Inappropriate and Fabulously Eccentric Women." Which is the nice way of saying "crazy and in the public." Crazy is what Gothamist loves, and Gothamist loves Amy Sedaris. Ever since Jerri Blank came to Flatpoint High and Comedy Central, we thought,......