By Michael Barbieri **** Tastiskank is not your typical cabaret act, but then The Green Room 42 is not your typical cabaret venue! On a chilly Monday evening, my partner and I checked out this new club and not only was the food terrific, but Sarah Litzsinger and Kate Reinders, also known as Tastiskank, blew us away with their fabulously “skanky” show!
The Green Room 42 is located inside the Yotel hotel, on 10th Avenue and 42nd street. The street entrance is unexpectedly spare—six computerized check-in kiosks, a small concierge desk, and a huge robotic arm for luggage handling. The actual lobby, the main hub of activity, is on the 4th floor. Here you’ll find banks of elevators to take you to your “Cabins,” as the rooms are known; the 24/7 Mission Control Service desk for activity, advice and assistance; a coffee bar and lounge; a wraparound balcony with amazing views; a modern bar/restaurant called Green Fig and a modular nightclub/reception hall called The Green Room 42.
The Green Room 42 has a Mediterranean-inspired menu almost identical to that of Green Fig, so we had dinner before the show. Vincent started with a cocktail called the 42 Above—vodka, pineapple, pomegranate and cranberry juices, with a touch of Chambord liqueur. Fruity but not too sweet, the Chambord gave it nice depth of flavor. I had the Mistletoe—vodka, pomegranate and lemon juices, maple syrup and rosemary. The fruit notes were balanced out by the tartness of the lemon and I enjoyed the herbal pop from the rosemary. We shared several appetizers: the Yellowtail Fattoush—rich, buttery chunks of raw amberjack, cured in a biting citrus base, tossed with cucumber, tomato, onion, daikon radish and scallions, served with crispy za’atar-spiced pita chips. Like a ceviche with a middle eastern twist, it was cold, with bright, clean flavors—a great way to start the meal. We also tried the Pork Belly with Swiss chard, accompanied by a tasty Persian lemon stew dotted with chick peas. The belly was extremely fatty in the middle, but the strips of meat surrounding the fat were flavorful and subtly salty. There was also a Mushroom Risotto—a selection of sautéed wild mushrooms on a bed of Israeli cous cous, accented with roasted fennel and pastis. While this was hardly a risotto—a true risotto is made with starchy rice cooked in broth with a creamy texture—this variation was still delicious and I’d order it again anytime.
We then ordered one of the sharable plates, the Calamari Flatbread. This to me was the only misstep in the meal. The entire dish was a bit bland and needed more aggressive spicing. The flatbread itself could have used a longer bake, while the toppings—fried calamari rings, potato, a yogurt cheese called labane, tomato, sautéed onion, curry, shaved radishes and arugula, seemed to weigh the whole thing down, making it difficult to eat. If they had done away with the potato, onion, radishes and about half the arugula, and swapped out the calamari rings for, say, chopped calamari in garlic butter, I feel the dish might have been more successful.
I’ve often thought a great test of a restaurant is how well they present a burger. Vincent’s @GR42 Burger passed the test beautifully! A bit sloppy, as a good burger should be, it was flavorful, with a hint of char and smokiness from the grill. A nice twist was the garlic aioli in place of ketchup. The garlicky flavor was irresistible and to my palate, no other condiments were needed. I chose the Duck Confit Pici, a rich, pleasantly gamey shredded duck cooked in its own fat, hand rolled pici pasta, spinach, chestnuts—for a subtle bitter note—and quince, which gave the dish a lovely sweetness. This may well have been my favorite dish of the night. Finally, we split a dessert, the Jack Daniels Chocolate Mousse, which despite a humorously questionable pre
sentation, was really yummy, with a nicely boozy flavor balancing out the sweetness of the chocolate. A winner!
No sooner had the table been cleared and our remaining food packed up, Tastiskank hit the stage!
Kate Reinders and Sarah Litzsinger have some serious Broadway credentials. But this night, Litzsinger (Beauty and the Beast, Amour) and Reinders (Wicked, Something Rotten) were anything but serious! From start to finish, the ‘Skanks had the crowd roaring with laughter! Their opening number, “Smoke and Mirrors” told of the subterfuge they employ just to be presentable, because these days they’re “..a little less tasty and a little more 
skank!” They rapped, “…we may be old dogs, but we got mad tricks,” which included Spanx, body glitter, pharmaceuticals, Botox and pleas for the techie to “turn the lights down NOW!” They even confided that “…we need new tits” and passed around a bucket labeled “New Tit Fund!”
Much of the material revolved, not unexpectedly, about their sexual misadventures. We got a song called “Mr. Softee,” about a certain male problem they’ve encountered, with lyrics like “…when I’m-a gettin’ you outta your clothes, I don’t wanna see Mr. Softee” and “…are you on the Lexapro? Cause that can make a boner go away.” “Like It or Not” revealed their propensity for stalking. “I Heart Dirty Boys” contained the lyric “…you give me summer lovin’ in my Easy Bake Oven” and a story about how their doctor telling them to “stop sleeping with dirty dicks” led into “The Gift,” a ballad about HPV that was very funny and just plain wrong!
Later, the duo brought out their special guest, Matthew McConaughey! Well, it was actually a life-sized cardboard cutout of the star, to whom they pledged love and devotion in “Matthew McConaughey Day.” And in a show full of standout moments, one of the best was “The Sex Song,” a screamingly funny number about an unsatisfactory lover, with lyrics like “…you couldn’t ever find my clit, even if I drew a map to it.” With all these man problems, they deci
ded that the best thing to do would be to pull a full-on Anna Nicole and marry a wealthy retiree; so we got a very funny video commercial for a retirement community called “The Village: Where women can’t get pregnant and the men look like they are!” The pair closed out the night with a song about a sexual escapade in Italy with a man who finished the act, then immediately asked if it was okay to call his mother—to which she responded, “Get Out of Me First!”
Now, basically this is a one-joke show: they’re skanky! But the material is undeniably funny, and in Reinders’ and Litzsinger’s talented hands, the joke never got old, at least not for me and certainly not for the rest of the audience, who rewarded the ‘Skanks with huge laughs and a loud, cheering standing ovation!
This was an exciting evening – we discovered a slick new club that books amazing talent, we had a lovely dinner and we got to get our skank on with the girls of Tastiskank!
With an exciting line up of Broadway, jazz and drag artists, I’m looking forward to seeing many more shows at this hot new venue, which I’m sure will be a welcome addition to the New York cabaret scene!
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