By Tracy Zwick
Did you watch the Oscars and notice the Best Picture and Best International Feature winners had both been recommended right here in UWS Weekend? We haven’t got any movie recs this week, but I do have a couple of books to commend and some tea shops where you can grab a cup to sip while reading. There’s also music from Bloomingdale School of Music, and a chance to learn about the architectural history of a prominent Upper West Side church.
Let’s Weekend!
March 7th to March 9th, 2025
Read & Sip
In the last few years, tea shops have been proliferating on the Upper West Side the way retail pharmacies did in the early 2000s. I’ve recently tried a trio of tea shops on upper Broadway: Hey Tea (between 108th and 109th Street), T Bar between 107th and 108th, and Qahwah House (between 111th and 112th). I’m no connoisseur, so the bubble teas at Hey Tea, T Bar, and even Gong Cha (on Broadway between 108th and 109th Streets) tasted about the same to me: like delicious smoothies or milkshakes with gummy-like tapioca pearls (boba) at the bottom. Hey Tea offers low-sugar and no-sugar options and most shops can make these teas caffeine-free or dairy-free. Qahwah stands out for its pastries and variety of hot drinks, unlike the others that focus on bubble tea. Qahwah also has a spacious second level with tables and huge windows allowing in plenty of sunlight. It’s a great spot to read or work while enjoying a Yemeni snack.
If you’re looking for a book, Booker Prize-winning author Alan Hollinghurst’s new one, “Our Evenings,” features prose as soothing as the story is timely. (It involves a right-wing politician with a reactionary vision for England). If you’re interested in a decidedly non-soothing romantic thriller, the pages of “Lucky Night” by Eliza Kennedy practically turn themselves. Married paramours spending the night in a Manhattan hotel unexpectedly find their lives on the line. With nothing to lose and time slipping away, they’re finally honest with one another and themselves. Kennedy’s currently adapting the novel for the stage, after selling the rights to Amy Adams’s production company. It’s out March 25th.
Bloomingdale School of Music Concerts: Friday, March 7th at 7 p.m.; 323 West 108th Street (between Riverside Drive and West End Avenue); Free; Saturday, March 8th at 3:30 p.m. at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street; Tickets $25
My kids studied piano at BSM, so our family has a long and happy connection to this neighborhood music school. On Friday evening, violinist Claudia Schaer and pianist Marc Péloquin will play contemporary duos including Philip Wharton’s Tombeau de Ravel and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Partita at the school’s home on 108th Street. The Saturday concert at Symphony Space will feature 24 student compositions, ranging from solo works for piano to works for small chamber ensembles. It will also include a newly commissioned work for violin, cello, clarinet, and percussion by composer Seong Ae Kim.
Architectural Discussion and Guided Church Tours: Sunday, March 9th from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.; St. Paul & St. Andrew United Methodist Church at 263 West 86th Street (between Broadway and West End Avenue); Free
Columbia University professor of historic preservation Andrew Dolkart will be part of a panel talking about the architectural history of St. Paul & St. Andrew Church, built in 1894.. He’ll be in conversation with principals of the architectural firm of Walter B. Melvin and members of the St. Paul & St. Andrews community. After the discussion, visitors may take guided tours of the historic space. Refreshments will be provided. To learn more about the history of St. Paul & St. Andrew, click here.
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Want to be on the solutions side of single use plastic pollution and keep microplastics out of your body too? Let’s BYO – bring our own containers to sample the delicious looking teas now offered by the new tea shops on upper Broadway.
BYO is definitely catching on as several shops in the UWS are displaying the BYO sticker in their windows that tells customers that they will fill the customer’s own container with the drink of their choice!