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Air’s Champagne Parlor is All About the Bubbly
Beer, wine and even cider bars abound in NYC, but Air’s Champagne Parlor is one of the few area drinkeries devoted to bubbly. To be fair, the Riddling Widow briefly preceded it, but owner Ariel Arce was actually beverage director during its tenure, as well as Birds & Bubbles before that, and Chicago’s Pops for Champagne (not to mention Grant Achatz’s exclusive, original The Office) before that. Meaning her reputation as queen of Cuvèe absolutely proceeds her.
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Where to Celebrate Oktoberfest 2017
If you’re already mourning the loss of summer, Oktoberfest is a reliable way to get you over the hump. Essentially spanning the duration of fall (kicking off on September 16th this year & extending all the way to October 31st, allowing revelers to seamlessly transition to Halloween), the 16 to 18-day festival is a giddy saturnalia of German culture…
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Spotlight on the Finalists for the 2017 Vendy Awards
As a fun challenge to the James Beard Awards, the Vendy ceremony — now in its 13th year — is dedicated to honoring the very best in street food. So here’s who’s in the running during the September 16th event at Governors Island; from an artisanal twinkie baker to an upstart french toast sandwich maker, to a Chinese meat skewer purveyor, whose been tapped for the Vendy Cup…
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Gourmet Gossip NY – August 2013
In this great dining city of ours, barely a day passes without news of an exciting new restaurant opening, a devastating closing, a shocking chef shuffle, or a groundbreaking, must-try dish.That’s why we’re keeping you apprised of this week’s most noteworthy bits and bites, including Marc Forgione’s Asian expansion in Tribeca, Drew Nieporent’s accelerated chef search at Corton, and the food industry’s fond farewell to a true Brooklyn pioneer.
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Best Places to Pack a Picnic Basket in New York
One of the best parts of summer is ditching dining indoors and dining al fresco; either at an outdoor concert, a park, a beach, or maybe just as part of an imagined getaway on the rooftop of your pre-war walkup. Luckily, what the city lacks in rolling green spaces, it makes up in prime spots to pack a killer basket of eclectic goodies — whether your taste runs to Sheep’s Milk Cheese and local Honey from Murray’s in the West Village, Hummus and Baklava from Pera in Midtown, or sloppy sandwiches and Cheerwine from Court Street Grocers in Brooklyn. Here are a few other top, New York spots specializing in gourmet grab-and-go fare!
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First Bite – Estela
Ignacio Mattos is an eccentric chef to say the least. In fact, being eccentric is what garnered him so much attention last year at Isa in Williamsburg. Remember Isa? It was a quirky eatery designed by Taavo Somer (Freeman’s Alley & Peels) with an oddball menu dreamed up by Ignacio Mattos, who once helmed the kitchen at il buco. But it was at Isa that he really turned heads, serving up dishes, like deep-fried sardine skeleton with olives and celery, or pickled chanterelles mingled with roasted pig’s ear under a tangle of arugula. With Mattos in the kitchen, Isa received a star from the New York Times, and more importantly, tons of attention for its curious, cutting edge cuisine. Then suddenly, Taavo Somer let go of the entire kitchen staff, including Mattos, changing the concept to casual Mediterranean. That was just over a year ago, but Mattos is officially back on the New York dining scene with Estela, a new Nolita eatery, located along Houston Street just above a dive bar named Botanica.
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No-Cook Zucchini & Pesto Lasagna
Did you know that today is National Lasagna Day? Except considering that it’s over 80 degrees outside, we’re going to have to swap out that standard noodle/meat sauce and melted cheese version for something a whole lot lighter. In fact, we’re not even turning on our ovens at all. This no-cook lasagna is made with layers of thinly sliced Zucchini, bright clouds of Lemon Ricotta, dollops of herbaceous Pistachio Pesto, and wedges of impossibly juicy Heirloom Tomatoes fresh from the farmers market. Now there’s a dish worthy of building a holiday around!
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Seasonal Eats: Artichokes
As happy as we are to order artichokes from seasonal restaurant menus, and as excited as we are to see them at Greenmarkets, artichokes rarely seem to wind up in our grocery baskets. That’s because the spiny, edible flowers can be awfully intimidating to deal with at home. Actually the bud of a plant from the thistle family, this ancient Mediterranean vegetable has a complex, largely inedible outer structure. The tender heart is encased by a sheath of sharp hairs, called the choke, which is further surrounded by a tight formation of fleshy, purplish-green petals.
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Q & A with Distilled’s Chef Shane Lyons
Despite a six-year tenure as a child actor, it would have been a surprise if Shane Lyons had become anything but a chef. Both of his parents are industry vets, and began teaching him how to cook at three years old. He eventually enrolled in the C.I.A, his mother’s alma mater, and became the youngest ever graduate at the age of 18. And this led to various respectable kitchen stints… first as a private chef, and then at restaurants like Craft Bar, Café Boulud and Momofuku Noodle Bar. But it’s at the recently opened Distilled that Lyons has achieved his ultimate goal, to become an executive chef and owner of a bustling New York eatery.
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Grill Wrangler: Three-In-One Barbecue Tool
While the summer lasts, you’ll want to squeeze in as many grill side dinners as you can. But who wants to deal with the hassle of toting a bundle of barbecue tools to and from the grill? Not to mention the frustration of forgetting a necessary utensil and trying to make do with what you have. With this Three-In-One Barbecue tool you’ll never again have to stress about having the right equipment for the job, since it puts the utility of all your grilling tools in the palm of one hand. The Grill Wrangler is the only thing you’ll need next to the grill as you masterfully chef up anything your taste buds desire.
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Sneak Peek: Corvo Bianco
Remind me not to go to a restaurant on opening night again. I know I probably should’ve known better, but I’ve been to plenty of thrilling opening nights. It’s a lot like attending a movie premiere or Broadway debut. There’s just something about being one of the first diners in the door, one of the first to see it all come together, to christen a new menu, and spy the chef on his or her brand new stage. As we all well know, it’s entirely risky to open a restaurant, a brave endeavor that too often ends in failur
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New York’s Tastiest Chilled Soups
Our coats may still be buried away in the back of our closets, but that’s no reason to abandon characteristically cold weather fare like soup. Think about it — what better way to beat the heat than with a chilled soup made of seasonal fruits and vegetables, like Watermelon Gazpacho topped with Feta Cheese or cold Corn Soup crowned with Crabmeat? Is your mouth watering yet? Check out the creamy Cucumber Vichyssoise at Dovetail, or the sweet and savory Borscht at Joseph Leonard, and it will be. Here are a few other cool soups to savor before summer’s end.
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Dreamy Summer Dishes In New York
There are so many reasons to love summer. Al fresco dining. Outdoor food festivals and markets. Seafood shacks. And best of all, tons of fresh, local produce. Succulent Sweet Corn, tender Yellow Squash and juicy Heirloom Tomatoes are only really available for a fleeting three months, tops. That’s why the city’s best restaurants are taking full advantage of the Greenmarket, like Franny’s Crostini with Fava Beans, Pecorino, Alder’s Foie Gras Terrine with Watermelon and Yuzu, and Ignacio Mattos’ newly...
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Marshmallow Roasting Tree
With the summer in full swing, we can’t help but daydream about beachside bonfires involving America’s favorite camp classic, S’mores. Whether you like your marshmallows coaxed to a light, golden brown or burnt to a crisp, you’ve no doubt experienced a lost marshmallow here and there. That’s the problem with using twigs as your roasting device. But with this quirky Marshmallow Tree, you can eliminate the casualties and master the quest to find your perfect shade of done! Elegance meets functionality with The Marshmallow Tree by Rome Industries.
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Sizzling BBQ Spots for Summer
There’s really no need to travel cross-country in search of a smoked meat fix this summer. Because from the Brontosaurus Ribs at Mighty Quinn’s in Manhattan to the pepper-rubbed beef at BrisketTown in Brooklyn and caper-brined pastrami at The Strand Smokehouse in Queens, our city is shaping up to become one of the next great hubs of righteous, wood-fired ‘cue!
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Dish Spotting: Alder’s Rye & Pastrami Pasta
If you know anything about Wylie Dufresne and his original Lower East Side restaurant, wd-50, it’s hard not to enter his newest spot, Alder, with certain pre-conceived notions. But in reality, the two-month-old Alder represents a more sedate side of the chef, without being too buttoned up or self-serious. It starts with the restaurant’s back-to-nature name (Alder is a type of birch tree), which is also reflected in the rustic, rough-hewn décor… think ceilings made of reclaimed wood slates from a farmhouse in upstate New York. And while, like at wd-50, innocuously named dishes can yield unexpected surprises, none of the dishes at Alder are overwrought, overthought, or off-puttingly jokey or tricky.
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Hamptons Great Chefs Dinner 2013
There’s never a shortage of great food events, mostly because there’s never a shortage of good causes to support, but this is one of our summer favorites. This is the ninth annual Great Chefs Dinner held on Sunday, July 28th, at Hayground School in Bridgehampton, New York, benefiting Hayground School’s Jeff’s Kitchen and the Jeff Salaway Scholarship Fund.
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New York’s Top Hot Dogs
In case you didn’t know it, July is National Hot Dog Month. And happily, New York has a lot more to celebrate with nowadays than shriveled ballpark franks and dirty water dogs from street carts. In fact, fancified forcemeat is starting to become just as popular at local restaurants as haute cuisine hamburgers, from the Green Papaya and Quail Egg-topped links at DBGB Kitchen & Bar to the fiery curry-injected Phaal Dog at Brick Lane Curry House and even a hot dog made with Foie Gras at Prospect in Fort Greene. Here are just a few other stellar sausages you’ll want to sink your teeth into this summer…
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Best Of Venice
One of my favorite things about Venice is that there are no cars allowed. It’s one of the few enchanted walking cities, notably quiet and blissfully stuck in the past. Instead of taxis, there are vaporetto boats and gondolas with men in striped shirts rowing mostly tourists through the narrow canals. Then, there’s the food, which seems to evolve around seafood of the briny sorts: Cuttlefish baked in squid ink, Steamed Spider Crabs and Scampi come immediately to mind. There’s the oh-so-traditional Squid Ink Risotto studded with Cuttlefish, Spaghetti with Eggplant and Tomato, Ricotta Ravioli, Artichokes every which way, fried squid, calamari and shrimp with a squirt of lemon and salt. For dessert, there’s nougat, biscotti and the holy grail of sweets, gelato, of course. My favorite spot and the most famous shop is Boutique Del Gelato with a killer dark chocolate variety and an even better Banana and Zabaglione flavor.
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Gourmet Gossip New York – July 2013
In this great dining city of ours, barely a day passes without news of an exciting new restaurant opening, a devastating closing, a shocking chef shuffle, or a groundbreaking, must-try dish. That’s why we’re keeping you apprised of the industry’s most noteworthy bits and bites, from Ippudo’s brand new Midtown outpost and Aldea’s hyper regional Portuguese tasting menus to the impending debut of The Elm, Paul Liebrandt’s majorly buzzy restaurant in Williamsburg!
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BBQ GrillComb Skewers
Every summer, we search out the Best BBQ Tools to ensure we’re grill ready for the season. And as far as BBQ gadgets are concerned, we’ve seen it all… LED BBQ thermometers, slider trays, fancy burger molds, flexible grilling skewers, and we could go on. But this is one was a first for us.
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