Last night we went to the legendary NY Cafe Wha.

Here’s the intro from their website: Located on the corner of MacDougal and Minetta Streets in Greenwich Village, the original Café Wha? was a “beat/rock” club of the 1960’s at which one could find “soul” food for mind, ear, and body. In addition to a house band that played covers of contemporary popular songs, CafeWha? was famous for both its regular customers - Allen Ginsberg, Abbie Hoffman, and Bob Dylan among them, and its musical and comedy performers. Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen, Kool and the Gang, Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, and many others all began their careers at the Wha? Even the staff had its notables - Mary Travers was a waitress at the Wha? until she joined up with Peter Yarrow and Noel Stookey to form Peter, Paul and Mary. Sounds like a wonderful place to visit on a saturday night right?

My first impression of this place wasn’t all that great, to be honest. I was expecting a big lounge/restaurant setting with brand new decor and hip, uran atmosphere. But it turned out to be a tiny cramped cafe/bar underground. With a small stage in the center that could barely fit a band of 5, black booths, chairs and table arranged too closely to one another, and ultra low ceiling (my suspicion was if I were on the stage which was one foot higher than the ground, I could easily hit the ceiling with my head if I jumped slightly). But then on the other hand, we are talking about a place that has existed since the 60s w/ tons of legendary stars discovered here, what the heck was I thinking when I pictured it to be anything like Hard-rock cafe? The menu, consistent w/ the decor, was nothing fancy , featuring typical bar food such as nachos, buffalo wings and burgers.

While 8 of us sitting at this tiny booth shoulder to shoulder, knee to knee, drinking watered down drinks, the show finally started. A host opened, followed by a stand-up comedian. He made me laugh pretty hard but I really didn’t appreciate him using racist jokes and even made fun of blind children and midgets. It was extremely political incorrect but I couldn’t hold my laughter. Others at the table had the same reaction, shaking their heads saying ‘oh my god, that is so wrong’ while laughing out of breath. Then the Cafe Wha? band came up. Their performance was way beyong my expectation. They played everything, from R&B to Raggae to rock. I’d say it’s the best live band i’ve heard, although I haven’t been to that many live band concerts.

During the performance the Korean girls behind us started screaming like they’ve seen a ghost. I turned around and saw two men walking really fast past us. The first man was wearing a cap w/ glasses, walking with his head down like some celebrity walking out of the airport. I didn’t know what was going on or who he was. But a few minutes later, the host announced that they had a special guest tonight, Eugene Park. The Korean girls started screaming again and my korean friends at my table were both surprised and exicted too. They said he’s really famous in Korea, a genius violinist. Eugene Park performed a few songs with the band with an electric violin and it was amazing to see his fingers moving at the speed of light. The host introduced him as the youngest student admitted at Julliard school. After his mesmorizing performance, he grabbed the mic from the host and started, yes, rapping! The surprise really cracked me up, and he was really good too with the moves and everything. No wonder he’s so popular in Korea. He has the perfect combination of a genius musician (an arrogant looking one too, and untailored of course), rap artist and a comedian. I would’ve stayed for the second show, but towards the end of the first one I flelt nauseous all of a sudden and had to leave right away.
I’m not sure if it’s the food or hang over from the previous night (probablyboth). Other than being physically sick, I really liked this experience. The total came up to be $32 per person, and I’d say i enjoyed much more than teatro Zaninni which cost more than $100.