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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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What To Do This Fourth Of July
July Fourth is like the perfect storm of holidays – warm weather, sun (fingers crossed), barbecue, beer, and if you’re spending it in the city, spectacular fireworks. But there’s a lot more to do than watching the fireworks this weekend, like Nathan’s annual, hot dog eating contest where food is a spectator spot. If you can’t backyard barbecue, Dinosaur BBQ ain’t no conciliation prize. We’ve rounded up a few of our favorite options for the holiday weekend. Nathan’s Famous...
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Q & A With Xi'an Famous Foods' Jason Wang
Jason Wang has big plans for his family business, Xi’an Famous Foods. In fact, what began as a basement food stall in Flushing, Queens has quickly become a city-wide chain and now he’s determined to make expand across the country. The 23-year-old business school graduate is the brains behind this unique, Chinese food empire, specializing in home-style dishes from the city of Xi’an. Thanks to Wang, there are now four outposts to get their famous, cumin-rich lamb dishes and...
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Strawberry Stem Remover
It’s summer and that means strawberry season. Finally! Sure, the Argentinian berries are big and admittedly blemish-free, but there’s something much more endearing about the ruby red, wild strawberries we discovered at the Greenmarket this week. Besides, we prefer to eat local when we can. The only problem is just how tiny these are. Try to pull the stem off with your bare hands and you’ll bruise your precious berries. We found an alternative — the Chef’n Stem Strawberry...
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New York’s Best Thai Desserts
We’re crazy for Thai food: The scent of fish sauce, coconut milk and peanuts mingling in a bowl of rice noodles. It doesn’t get much better. When you’re through with the heat of a spicy duck salad or chile-rich curry, there’s nothing better than a cool, creamy dessert. Apart from gelato and fruit pies, Thai sweets are some of our all-time favorites. Fact. There’s the more commonplace mango-topped sticky rice or coconut custard over black rice. And then there’s...
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Dish Spotting – Kenka
St. Mark’s Place is famous for its cheap, mostly Asian eats. This small stretch of the East Village has become a destination for its Japanese izakayas, Korean bbq joints, and ramen – some admittedly better than others. (And, of course, some are just plain awful.) But there are a few gems that are worth visiting, and even worth waiting in line for. Kenka is one of those places. Just across from two 2 Bro’s Pizzas and sunken below street...
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Dish Spotting: Whelks
Oysters, crabs, lobsters, mussels, and shrimp are raw bar staples, but recently we discovered a new entree onto the ice display. They’re called whelks and we discovered them at The John Dory Oyster Bar. Whelks are giant snails, plump, sweet and briny and pretty hard-to-find in New York. We’ve always admired April Bloomfield’s finesse with pork at The Breslin and hamburgers at The Spotted Pig, but it wasn’t until the opening of the original John Dory that we...
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Where To Dine for Father's Day
Father’s Day is right around the corner (Sunday, in fact), so you might want to get on that dinner or brunch reservation. Thankfully, there is still time and reservations available at some pretty great restaurants around the city. Whether your dad loves Italian, barbecue, American, deli or steaks, we’ve got you covered. Marc ForgioneAddress: 134 Reade St. between Hudson and Greenwich Sts.Phone: 212-941-9401Website: www.marcforgione.comChef Marc Forgione may be the only Iron Chef in his family but he certainly isn’t...
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New York’s Finest Ice Cream Shops
If you’re like us, the recent heat has been making you crave the sweet, cool relief of ice cream. These gelaterias and ice cream trucks can serve as oases during your hot summer walks. We listed a few of our favorites, some new and trendy and some old NYC classics. There are ice cream types for everyone, whether you’re looking for exotic flavors, authentic gelato, or want to top your sundae with everything but the kitchen sink. Can’t stand...
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Rose Season – Our Favorite Bottles For 2011
Summer is the season for rose. Of course, you can drink it all year round, but it’s the perfect match for oysters, lobster rolls, summery salads and even a burger off the grill. Nowadays, winemakers make rose from all types of grapes in all different varieties — from earthy and aged to light and bubbly. Together with Brian Quinn, co-founder of the traveling wine saloon The Noble Rot, we’ve picked a few bottles of rose we’re excited about from...
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Three-Blade Vegetable Peeler
Have you ever tried to peel something after you’ve just washed it? It ain’t easy, not to mention it can be a little dangerous. But this peeler (pictured right) has finger grips along the top and sides for easy-gripping and it fits in the palm of your hand. What really sets this peeler apart is that it features three different blades, so you can peel, slice and julienne with the same, $12 gadget. We don’t own stock or...
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Try This – Traveling The Globe Without Leaving The Table
I’m thrilled to share the news that my book hit bookstores this morning! Try Thisis a modern guide to dining out in the 21st century — a cheat sheet to everything from British gastropubs to Italian, Thai, Vietnamese, and everything in between. From banh mi to bocadillos, spotted dick to soup dumplings, meze to ma po tofu, travels the restaurant globe as it demystifies unfamiliar foods and makes you hungry for more. If you’ve ever had a question about...
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Dish Spotting – Cocoron's Yuba Soba
A bowl of warm noodle soup sounds great in the winter, but there’s plenty of other things I’d rather eat when summer arrives. That’s why the Japanese invented cold noodle salads. (Genius.) Chilled, slippery noodles are just as refreshing as a salad and a lot more interesting. If you’re a noodle freak, you’ve probably been to Cocoron, an noodle shop, which opened on the Lower East Side in December. The chefs, Yoshihito Kida and Mika Ohie, met at Yakitori...
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New York’s Best & Most Interesting Barbecue
New York is on its way to becoming a bonafide barbecue town. What makes our city so unique is that we’ve got so many different styles of barbecue from all over not just the country, but also the world at-large. While Hill Country’s focus is authentic, Texas-style beef brisket, Daisy May’s offers a gigantic Oklahoma-style beef rib. But there’s more than just classic American barbecue, as chefs and pitmasters have mastered ‘cue from all over the world, like Malaysian,...
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Q & A with Imperial No 9's Sam Talbot
It’s nearly impossible not to notice Sam Talbot. He first got our attention competing on Top Chef and has been making waves in New York ever since. A bit of a beach bum, Talbot headed Montauk to open The Surf Lodge, where he gave us a preview of his ocean-to-table cooking. But with Imperial No. 9, he proves he has staying power, and more importantly, a talent for cooking globally-inspired seafood. As for his critics, Talbot says, “My mother...
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Memorial Day Dining In NYC
We weren’t sure it would ever arrive, but it’s finally Memorial Day weekend. Bring on the sunshine, the rooftop bbq’s, and monster weekend traffic getting out of the city on a Friday afternoon. Some New Yorkers will head upstate to country houses and others will don their Nantucket reds and lobster belts to head up to Martha’s Vineyard. The Hamptons will go from ghost town to can’t walk or park anywhere. But not everyone has the luxury of leaving...
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Meatopia Madness
If you’re a hard-core carnivore, Meatopia is pretty much as good as it gets. This year, the event will feature an epic number of chefs – 45 to be exact. The gluttony will take place on Thursday, July 23rd, at Brooklyn Bridge Park. This is an all-star line-up of culinary talent and meat-inspired dishes, paired with free-flowing beer. There will be live music, butchering and even ranching seminars. Yes, really. Chefs include New York’s own, April Bloomfield (The Spotted...
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A Talk With Taste Of The Nation's Chefs Dan Kluger & Amanda Cohen
Tonight, May 23rd, is a very big night for the food world. It’s not often you can drag 45 of the city’s best chefs out of their kitchens, never mind get them all in the same room to demonstrate their culinary talents. But this is a great cause: It’s Share Our Strength’s Taste of The Nation, which raises money to end childhood hunger across the country. If you can’t get a reservation at ABC Kitchen, Blue Hill, Eleven Madison...
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Self-Stirring Electric Pot
While we enjoy the idea of cooking at home, all the prep work can sometimes seem daunting. We often long for a sous chef to help us chop, season, saute or at least stir the pot, so our pricey greenmarket vegetables don’t burn. And that’s why the discovery of this electric self stirring electric pot (pictured right) has been so clutch. It’s equipped with a rotating spatula that moves around whatever ingredients you throw into the pot from meat...
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