The Waiter in the Wings

Crooning “Sta Dosa Ola,” Antonis Armeftis, true to the title of the Greek pop tune, gives his customers everything — a menu and an invitation to his next show. His service with a smile and a serenade turns more than a few heads at Michael’s Restaurant. “You have a beautiful voice!” a woman of a certain age gushes as he hits the chorus of “I Gave You Everything.” “Is the entertainment free?” Antonis gives her a Broadway-wide grin and a wink.…

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The Continuous Counterman

As long as anyone can remember, there’s been a deli at the southwest corner of Ditmars Boulevard and Crescent Street. Owners and names have come and gone, but in the last decade, there’s been one constant at the convenience store that sells everything from condoms and kitty litter to snacks and smokes. It’s Amaro Azeredo, the flamboyant fellow with the amorous accent and the long, raven-black Medusa locks who commands the counter of the Ditmars Deli like a Fortune 500 CEO. Amaro…

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The Hot Chicks in the Cool Band

OK, you guys, where’s all the music? You’re in a rock band, but there’s no radio, no record player, no iPod, no computer pounding out mood music. There’s an acoustic guitar in the corner that looks as though it hasn’t licked a lyric since Dylan, and there’s a vintage Talking Heads record album cover tacked up on the wall like an old master. So what’s this sounds of silence thing all about anyway? Right now, it’s about conversation. Jamie Stellini and…

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The Dinner-Club Queen

Leave your shoes at the door, feed your cash to the kitty and come on in for dinner. Tamara Reynolds, the barefoot chef with the flamboyant carrot color hair and cherry-red toenails, is still whipping up stuff in the kitchen. The skillet is searing something, and the Cuisinart is crunching and crushing against time. So just help yourself to some wine; the glasses — mason jars — are on the serving cart. Tamara’s not big on formality. You don’t have to meet her to know that.…

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The Proud Parader

The kettle is on the stove, the cats are on the couch, the St. Pat’s statue is on the table, and Brendan Fay is elbow-deep in the paperwork and politics of parade preparations. As Brendan knows only too well, March is Irish season in New York, the time when the city shows its true colors. In the palette of Brendan’s St. Pat’s for All Parade & Fair, the hues run not only to the orange and the green but also to every color of the rainbow. “Parades are very important community…

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