Yes, and…

AYUN HALLIDAY, The East Village Inky

CULTURE & LEISURE • Friday Routine

AYUN HALLIDAY • chief primatologist, The East Village Inky; queen of the apes, Theater of the Apes
Neighborhood you live in: East Harlem

It’s Friday afternoon, how are you rolling into the weekend?
On Fridays, I take a break from writing and rehearsing to volunteer all day at the NY Common Pantry in East Harlem, a wonderful organization that reduces hunger and promotes dignity, health and self-sufficiency. It’s an opportunity to put my meager Duolingo gains to the test as I help Spanish-speaking clients order their groceries — they’re gracious and encouraging. I’ve made a lot of friends there..

At 4 p.m., after we’ve swept up and wiped down the counters, I may grab a couple of minutes in nearby Central Park — I love the Harlem Meer and the Conservatory Garden (though ye gods, I am sick of the construction!).

Where are you drinking or dining this weekend?
I love introducing friends from outside the neighborhood to Ollin, a cheerful, tiny, festively decorated, family-owned Mexican restaurant all the way east on 108th. I always resolve to branch out from the Plato Juancho, but it’s so damn good. The only thing that can turn my head is the mole, which is not always on the menu.

Another weekend fave is Amuse Bouche Bistro in La Marqueta, East Harlem’s historic indoor market. If I’m trying to err on the side of virtue, I’ll get their salad Niçoise with smoked duck, then go to the devil with some warm bread pudding for dessert. This is a daytime pick, as they close when the market closes. The owners are lovely, and stock a small selection of hard to find French groceries.

How about a little leisure or culture?
I’ve been getting into improv again, both as a performer and a spectator. If it’s a Friday night, you’ll probably find me at The Magnet for Premiere, the improvised musical, or the PIT for Centralia, a totally unique 3-man group that doesn’t solicit audience suggestions, just weaves one weird scene into another. I also dig Hell Yeah!, a younger group improvising hour-long musicals. 

Any weekend getaways?
It takes a lot to get me to leave the city, but I’m heading upstate to the Mutual Aid Society, a cooperative artists’ retreat in Stamford, NY later this month, to participate in Ariel Gore’s Wayward Writer’s Camp. Taking the bus because I’ve gone native and forgotten how to drive a car. On one of Ariel’s last visits to NYC, I took her to the Coney Island New Year’s Day Polar Bear Plunge. Generally speaking, that’s more my style, weekend getaway-wise.

What was your last great vacation?
It’s been my pleasure to tagalong on several trips to Mexico City, to see Icaro Teatro’s excellent Spanish language productions of my husband Greg Kotis’ musicals. If we find a place we love, we become short-time regulars. The visit before last, it was Restaurante Mux. This trip, it was breakfast at Juana Juana. We also splashed out with a last minute reservation to Esquina Común, a semi-secret restaurant in the chef’s apartment building.

What store or service do you always recommend?
Orchard Corset. It’s such a beautifully old-school, no frills establishment, a throwback to a Lower East Side that no longer exists. You don’t get to pick. They size you up, and bring you a handful of bras to try on in the storeroom, which functions as a sort of communal dressing room. They fitted my daughter for her first bra and she loved it.