It is not normal for me to attend two shows in one day. That said, it was my friend’s only day to reschedule seeing Stereophonic, the Tony-award-winning show at the Golden Theatre about the rollercoaster ride of recording an album. We loved the show, yet felt they could have trimmed the 3+ hour show a lot.

After the show, I headed to Zou Zou’s at Manhattan West — across from Moynihan Train Station — to meet some friends for dinner before attending the one-woman performance of Pretty Good, Not Bad at The Tank that evening. Thank goodness the second show, starring Ellen Toland and directed by Rachel McBath, was just about an hour — an intense hour. The show also appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

When I last ate at Zou Zou, we sat outside, so I had forgotten about the intense noise. Since it was raining, we had to eat inside, straining to hear each other.

Not having our wine selection, the sommelier stopped by to offer a suggestion. We like the Vietti Rosero Arneis ($95), Piedmont, Italy,  that he chose for us.

The mezze was as good as before, although we couldn’t choose which items to include this time. It’s now called “dips” ($39) and comes with cruditè & bazlama, their Turkish flatbread. Their selections included ground chickpea with black garlic oil, ember-roasted eggplant with spiced peppers, whipped ricotta with saffron apricots, green tahini with aquafaba, and smoked carrots with hazelnuts and pomegranate. All delicious, with our fav being the unusual green tahini.

We also added golden beets with grapefruit, chicory and a slice of feta ($18) and their manti, spiced beef-stuffed dumplings with garlicky labneh and oven-dried tomatoes ($24 for 4). I’d recommend everything.

After dinner, off we went to The Tank for Ellen Toland’s impassioned performance about being subjected to violence.

I recommend Zou Zou and both plays.

Zou Zou’s
Manhattan West
385 9th Ave, Suite 85,
New York, NY 10001
(212) 380-8585
zouzousnyc.com

The Tank
312 W 36th St
New York, NY, 10018
thetanknyc.org/