• (Le) Poisson Rouge

  158 Bleecker St., nr. Sullivan St.; 212-505-3474

  Okay, so the name is a little pretentious, especially for a place that used to be the pretense-free jazz spot the Village Gate. But LPR, as frequenters call it, has surmounted its high-gloss insides to become the best place to hear genre-less music south of Joe’s Pub. It’s the new home of the Wordless Music Series, whose open-minded ethos—one program featured a composer, an Appalachian folk singer, and an indie pianist—exemplifies the venue’s programming strategy. A flexible design lets the club decide which layout goes best with each act’s music; one moment it’s a traditional cabaret setup, the next it’s a concert in the round.

From the 2009 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine