Best of Westchester’s Top 5 Tables of 2009

Events, Interviews, My Dudes, Published Material

BOW09-Home-Page-Image

My wife and I, along with my dude Killa Kam, attended the event of the year last night, Westchester Magazine’s Best of Westchester party at the Glen Island Harbor Club in New Rochelle. Over 2,500 people came out to celebrate the finest Westchester County has to offer. Best of Westchester winners had tables set up all over the premises, giving out free samples of different foods, drinks, and products. It’s mad fun just hopping from table to table, schmoozing, and tasting all the amazing dishes (and indulging in every free alcoholic beverage on the premises). Plus, there’s live music playing inside and outside, and plenty of locals to meet and talk to. We had a blast (and got blasted) just like last year. Having lifetime free passes to this event is one of the great perks of writing for Westchester Magazine. Thanks to “Lawyer Mike” Martinelli for the hook up and hospitality. And for this year’s Top 5 Tables, I once again will refer to Pelham Bay’s finest food critic and Westcheddar correspondent, Billy Henderson…

Shout to Uncle Ralph for hosting my friends and family. Shouts to the Martinelli’s, Hayes’ and the Krueger’s for being so kind. Shout to Caitlin Krueger for burying Bronxville by her lonesome while Carlito had a national championship ring on his finger. Shouts to Stan Ipcus, Mrs. Ipcus, Killa Kam, and Miss Info. On to the food.

1. Crabtree Kittle House
    11 Kittle Road
    Chappaqua, NY 10514
    www.kittlehouse.com
    914.666.8044

I was served a shrimp dumpling in a ginger broth. My broth was served by two blondes warm. Sorry, that’s the effect I have on blondes. Delicious.

2. The Willett House
    20 Willett Ave.
    Port Chester, NY 10573
    www.thewilletthouse.com
914.939.1894

Best steak at the place. Frankie and Johnnie’s or Johnnie’s and Frankie’s need to to step their steak game up. Holla.

3.   Sushi Mike’s
      146 Main Street
      Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
      www.sushimikes.com
      914.591.0054

They were #1 for three years. Did they fall off? Absolutely not. Did they leave the only Japanese speaking chef alone with me to explain what I was eating? Yes. A Westchester County can’t miss. God bless.

4.    BLT
       Ritz Carlton Westchester
       White Plains, NY 10601
       www.bltrestaurants.com
        (914) 467-5500

They served a braised beef cheek with a jalapeno mashed potato and mango mayo (which is a version of something close to a French Aioli). I take notes like a retarded two year old. Sorry. Very tasty.

5.     Sonora
        179 Rectory Street
        Port Chester, NY 10573
        www.sonorany.com
        914.933.0200

A free range chicken/ avocado/ yogurt mix served on a corn cake with a beet vinagarette (a Venezuelan Pepeiada ladies) and a chive oil.

*Sorry little Iron Chef you didn’t make the list.

Nice job Billy as usual. Cop the new Westchester Magazine, at your local news stand now, for the complete rundown of this year’s Best of Westchester winners (cover above). And check out my Groom Guy blog and Wedding of the Month feature on Westchester Magazine’s website if you missed it. See you next year. Scream.

All Star Sale

Events, My Dudes, Sports

allstar

Cop it while it’s hot, in celebration of the MLB All Star Break….here’s the details about the No Mas All Star Sale via my cuz CI…

A major league deal for the midsummer classic: 25% off everything except our vintage sunglasses. The store has just been restocked with full runs of classics shirts like The Catch,Thunderbird Hotel, Thank Ew, Fuckface, Boom Boom Mancini,hats, shorts, etc. The sale ends when the NY season resumes: 7pm Thursday night.

NO MAS NYC STORE

Light Up

Events, My Dudes, Stan Ipcus

lightart

Matisyahu put on an amazing show last night at the Central Park Summerstage in the heart of NYC, gearing his fans up for his new album Light (cover above), which is in stores August 25th. He swung back into town in the midst of a monster US touring schedule, and got a perfect night of weather to play some old favorites and show off his new single “One Day”. Check out the official video and a stripped down, in studio clip from WNYC’s Soundcheck of “One Day”below:

Back to last night’s show. Lots of good vibes and love backstage and out in the crowd, and I saw a lot of old friends from White Plains, University of Maryland, and even my boy Ben who used to work for me at Kidsco, which was amazing. Big Moshe (pictured below) sat in on the congas and did his thing, and I came out on “WP” for my 16 bars of fame, which is always a thrill. I spotted a few dudes in the front row spitting my verse along with me word for word (or at least trying to, it’s a tricky one huh fellas LOL). Check the pics from backstage that my wife took (pardon the sunburned face I was at Playland all day with a bunch of crazy summer camp kids) and the video of “WP” courtesy of LC at www.dreamtime.tv…

Get ready for that Light album, it’s dope (“One Day” is available now on Itunes). I got a copy of the whole thing last month, and it’s got some great songs on it and a lot of new sounds. DJ Roz is also finishing up his Matisyahu No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn mixtape, which will drop exclusively here at Westcheddar before the album comes out, so stay tuned for that it’s going to be crazy. And Moshe and I will finally be holding our live music/open mic River Ciphers on Wednesday, July 22nd at The Rec Room in Dobbs Ferry, so come through for that.

RecRoom_eBlast_v3

I’ll leave you with a couple recent interviews/live performances Matis did on the radio. First is a fun one from Philly’s Preston and Steve morning show, courtesy of my boy Ariel from WP at themerchan.com, and second is the full audio link to Matis and the boys on WNYC’s Soundcheck…

Matisyahu on Preston and Steve in Philly

Matisyahu on WNYC’s Soundcheck

*BONUS*

Read this recap of the Matisyahu Central Park Summerstage show written by my boy Craig Dershowitz, which also includes some great pictures…

The Grateful Matisyahu

The Dunk

My Dudes, Sports

John Starks Dunks On Horace Grant

My dog Tommy Dee of The Knicks Blog had the pleasure of interviewing 90’s Knicks legend John Starks this week. Tommy’s been doing his thing recently. I keep seeing him on TV! Love it. And to think, I used to be able to get the color commentary right from our leather couch in good old apartment #503 at the University Of Maryland (we were roomies). Sounds like there’s hope for Knicks fans on the horizon. Wouldn’t it be great if we really got Lebron? Stay tuned to The Knicks Blog for all our NYK needs, and click the link below to listen to TD’s interview with John Starks…

Tommy Dee interview with John Starks

Looking forward to another Westcheddar exclusive assessment of the upcoming Knicks season with Tommy Dee…here’s last year’s preview if you missed it…peace out…

Westcheddar 2008 Exclusive with Tommy Dee: More Bricks for the Knicks?

Just Does It

Events, My Dudes, Stan Ipcus

idoesthis My geeeeee JK at Dirty Jax sent this over to me yesterday. I’ve been telling him to put my favorite catch phrase on a shirt for a minute now, and he finally doesd it! Look for these to be available soon here at Westcheddar. Oh yeah, Dirty Jax popped up at Cipha Sounds and Rosenberg’s Juan Epstein Live podcast at the 92Y in Tribeca this week. Check the pics, then download the show, which features special appearances from Jim Jones and Buckshot of Black Moon…

14176921

14177656

Juan Epstein: LIVE!

Oh yeah, cop that Dirty Jaxson BAD t-shirt, which JK re-released yesterday in tribute to MJ. Link below to that (it’s available in white too) and the rest of the summer ’09 line…

badblack

Dirty Jax Store

*BONUS*

I stole the beat from the classic Biz Markie song “What Comes Around Goes Around”, and used it to describe how my G used to be with the ladies back in my younger days (first verse middle school, second verse college). A nice little old school story joint, strictly for the summer. Link below…

DOWNLOAD NEW STAN IPCUS “THE GOOD OLD DAYS” ON NAHRIGHT

WP’s Finest

My Dudes, Youth

5118_1179460687874_1268877127_502815_5502253_n

Gotta show some love to my dude Sancheeze a.k.a. Mr. Sanchez, a teacher at Highlands Middle School who has been overseas since April with the U.S. Army in Iraq. Check the picture he posted on Facebook today, sending his congrats back home to his students in White Plains. Awesome. Shout out to all the students celebrating graduations this year, and all our soldiers overseas…peace and love…

Big Daddy

My Dudes, Published Material, The Good Old Days

Had a great Westchester afternoon with my Dad yesterday. Went out to lunch in Yonkers together then took a walk at Pepsico Gardens in Purchase. We talked about life, family, our wives, work, friends, old times, and new plans. Then we met up with the rest of the Izo clan for dinner at Turquoise in Larchmont to celebrate Father’s Day and also my parents’ 40th anniversary. Lots of laughs. Anyway, here’s an article my father wrote for the Journal News (our local Gannett paper) about his son’s use of slang, published back when I was a senior at White Plains High School in 1996. Check it out…

dad article 1291

dad article 4294

dad article 3293

Hope all the fathers out there enjoyed their holiday. Shout out to all my dudes with seeds…

Step Your Beatbox Game Up

My Dudes, Youth

I happen to be longtime friends with two of the best beatboxers on the planet, Max B and Matisyahu (above playing “SWITCH” at my wedding reception). Matisyahu used to beatbox at parties for me back when I first started rapping in high school, and I met Max B at College Park up at the campus radio station, and from there we’ve all been great friends, hanging out, making music, and performing together for years (see the banner pic at the top of the blog). I will put either of their skills up against anyone.

Max B is definitely the more technical of the two (though you should not sleep, Matisyahu’s techniques are quite advanced). These guys are not students of the game, they are teachers. Max actually has had a DVD out on the market for a few years now, teaching people how to beatbox. I sware, kids at my Cultural Arts Center and friends and other people I know are constantly telling me to “check out this guy beatboxing” or saying “you’ve got to watch this beatbox video”, and what I’m starting to realize is that lots of these cats are learning from MAX’S DVD!!!!! I can just tell. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think I’m right. Check out a couple clips I found online from Max’s tutorial…

Yo Max, this clip about snares has alot of views on youtube my dude! Almost 300,000!

I own this DVD, but I still can’t beatbox very well. I’ll stick to rapping. It’s not Max’s fault, I just crack up watching it because he’s my friend and it’s so damn funny to me! Don’t front Max, you know this is hilarious, with the mouth close-ups and the headband. Ha! But seriously, this video is an excellent way to learn how to beatbox. It’s an extremely thorough tutorial. And on the beatbox.tv website, you can cop ipod downloads of the DVD so you can learn on the go, as well as sample packs of beatbox sounds for production. Here’s the link:

bbtv_fs

www.beatbox.tv

Recently, BEATBOXBATTLE.COM held an online world championship, and a girl from Canada won first place. Check out this video of Julia Dales, and tell me she didn’t learn some of her techniques from watching Max’s video. Props to her though, she’s pretty nice!

Check out the other Top 5 winners from around the world HERE…

Also, I have to post this video that the kids I work with are obsessed with watching, and I’m convinced he’s one of Max’s students too. Check this kid out, he’s only 14 and he’s pretty ill. Can’t tell what that accent is, but he’s definitely not from the states. Watch for 2:00 in, that’s my favorite part…

Oh yeah, there’s some crazy beatboxing flute players out there. Lots of them actually. Chcck this link, they’re pretty cool.

BEATBOX x FLUTE

And last but not least, I have to pay homage to Rahzel the Godfather of Noize. I first saw him with The Roots a long time ago, and have since seen him a bunch of times live and had the pleasure of hanging out with him and Max one day at an NYC studio session for a beatbox project they were working on together. This guy is a living legend, and I’m sure both of my beatboxing buddies will agree. Sure, Biz Markie and Doug E. Fresh came before him, as did others, but Rahzel is from my era, so I’m rocking with him as my G.B.O.A.T. (Greatest Beatboxer Of All Time). Check this live rendition of him beatboxing Justin Timberlake/Timbaland’s “Sexy Back”…

Step your beatbox game up. Peace.

The Rec Room

Events, My Dudes, Stan Ipcus, Youth

Looking for something fly to wear for the summer, but don’t want to leave Westchester? I got the spot for you. The Rec Room (above), nestled in the quaint river town of Dobbs Ferry, is perfect for local shoppers searching for Soho style gear. Located right on the corner of Cedar Street and Broadway, The Rec Room has a lot of really dope t-shirts, clothes, hats, kicks, cd’s, stickers, toys, and more. With a really clean, laidback vibe, this is the place for you to find something cool and impressive to wear to your next barbeque or give to someone as a present, without having to make the trek downtown. And they carry my cousin’s line No Mas NYC!!! Check out some more pics…

By a twist of fate, my man Moshe, who lives up the hill from The Rec Room, discovered the new store (it’s not even a year old) and became friendly with Bahr, the owner of the shop. Moshe quickly hit me up, telling me about the possibilities of us doing some sort of live music event at the shop, and that Bahr was into hip hop culture and all that good stuff that he knows I can’t get enough of. Well the moment we all started exchanging emails and I discovered Bahr knew my cousin and carried No Mas, I could tell this was the beginning of something special. And last night, the three of us sat down at The Rec Room and came up with a great idea for a monthly event. We all hit it off right away, and realized the need for something new and exciting here in Westchester. And what better location and people to host that type of event. I mean, we all are heavy in the community, with all sorts of connections to artists and musicians, both young and old. Check out this artwork The Rec Room is currently displaying in partnership with a local after school program…

P1040412

So our event is tentatively going to be called River Ciphers, live from The Rec Room and hosted by Stan Ipcus with Marlon “Moshe” Sobol on house drums. The idea is to unite everyone together at the beginning of each month to share whatever it is they’re into musically and artistically. It is a chance for Moshe and I to rock together again (which we’ve done alot in the past), and bring our friends, family, kids we work with, community members, and special guests, to perform in an open mic type setting. We want to embrace the talent that is right here in Westchester County. I am proud to be a part of this partnership with Bahr and Moshe, and look forward to turning River Ciphers into something passionate, historic, and FUN! Stay tuned for more details on our first event, which is going to be held Thursday July 2nd, and check out this video of Moshe killing it on the drums a few years ago at one of my shows at The Thirsty Turtle, and also the link to The Rec Room website…

The Rec Room Website

Mag Bag

Events, Fly Spots, My Dudes, Published Material, Stan Ipcus

I got a great response from the Jay-Z and the Roc live at the Tunnel videos I posted yesterday. Almost every respectable hip hop blog, from Nahright to Rap Radar to Miss Info’s blog to 2dopeboyz linked to Westcheddar and gave it props, and my site hits skyrocketed! So thanks for that. In coalition with that classic footage, I completed my Cribs series with my final installments, where I dig into my hip hop magazine collection and also open up a package I received from Amazon.com courtesy of my wife’s birthday gift certificate to her rapping husband. Created for hip hop enthusiasts who went to high school in the 90’s and anyone who wants to get to know me and my interests a little better. Check out Stan Ipcus “Cribs” part 3 and 3 1/2…

In addition, our recent nuptials are being featured as the Wedding of the Month on Westchester Magazine’s website! Check the link for the story and pics from the big day, and also my GROOM GUY blog that I write for the magazine too…

Westchester Magazine Wedding of the Month

Westchester Magazine GROOM GUY Blog