Best of NYC – Valentine's Day Dining
For some, the fourteenth of February brings fear. Either the pressure of setting up the perfect date or the anxiety of not having one can throw the most confident diner into a tizzy. Then, there’s the often dreaded Valentine’s prix fixe menu, which can feel forced. Thankfully, restaurateurs are easing up on the prix-fixe and offering alternative ways for singles and coupled alike to celebrate. Whether you’d like a full, sit-down dinner, a laid-back bite or a rowdy party, you’ll find plenty of great options in New York. Below are a few spots… A Great Place to get Lei’d1534Address: 20 Prince St., btwn. Elizabeth & Mott Sts.Phone: (212)966-5073Website: jacquesnyc.comGrab a bunch of girlfriends and head over to this alternative V-day party where everyone is guaranteed to get lei’d. From 8-11pm the uber-chill, unpretentious joint will be turned into a...
Read MorePizza Making Set
2010 was a very big year for pizza and we don’t expect it to go out of style anytime soon. Really, what’s not to love about pizza? While we love to recreate our favorite dishes at home, the art of pizza making is something we leave up to the pizzaiolos of the world. Besides, most of us don’t have a pizza oven in our tiny urban kitchens. This pizza stone and peel set (pictured right) is a game changer. I’ve experimented with pies at home, but they always come out of the oven slightly soggy. This stone heats up evenly and absorbs all the moisture, ensuring a really crispy pie. The peel component helps you slip the pie in and out of the oven without burning yourself or lifting the heavy stone. You can even leave the stone in...
Read MoreQ & A With Turks & Frogs' Osman Cakir
Osman Cakir had no intentions of becoming a restaurateur. He began his career as an antique collector. One day, he decided to transform his West Village shop into what maybe believe was New York’s first wine bar, Turks & Frogs. Cakir designed every inch of the Turks and Frogs in the West Village and Tribeca, as well as the interior of his newly opened cocktail bar, Orient Express. This gorgeous spot in the West Village, outfitted with bronze luggage racks and wood paneling, is modeled after the European train of the same name. Cakir is currently developing a Turks & Frogs wine label, made with Turkish grapes, of course. He’s so passionate about bringing good Turkish wine to American that he calls it “a cultural mission.” Until his wines debut, you can sample Turkish wines or cocktails called, The...
Read MorePeanut Butter & Jelly Cocktail
Happy National Peanut Butter Day! This is even better than my birthday. Yes, really. Peanut butter, especially the chunky type, might just be my favorite food. Oh, the velvety texture, the crazy crunch, and the intoxicating roasted peanut butter perfume. I have absolutely no control around anything laced with peanut butter (Le Vain’s chocolate peanut butter chip cookies come to mind), but I’ve never had a peanut butter and jelly cocktail until now! PB & J CocktailCreated By Gianfranco (Tippling Bros.) Ingredients 1.5 oz Flor de Caña 7 yr rum .5 oz Lustau Palo Cortado Vides .25 oz Strawberry jam .25 oz Peanut syrup* (recipe below) *1 Egg white 1 banana PreparationShake all ingredients in a shaker without ice, then add ice and shake vigorously again.Strain into a chilled cocktail glass that is rimmed with minced salted-peanuts. For the...
Read MoreTop Ten Peanut Butter Eats
Happy National Peanut Butter Day! (Yes, really.) Today, January 24th, is a national holiday that ranks right up there with Christmas. It’s no secret that I’m obsessed with peanut butter any way I can get it. Hell, I’ll eat it straight from the jar, preferably Skippy Super Chunk, but there’s so many more delicious and creative ways to get it. There’s the peanut butter BLT sandwich at Peanut Butter & Co., the monster-size dark chocolate peanut butter chip cookies at LeVain Bakery, the peanut butter and grape jelly sundae at Oceana, and The Breslin’s fried peanut and banana sandwich to name just a few. Here’s my top ten… Peanut Butter & Co. – Peanut Butter BLT Address: 240 Sullivan St., btwn West 3rd & Bleecker Sts. Phone: (212)677-3995 This West Village spot makes their own peanut butter in lots...
Read MoreQ & A with RBC NYC's Director Cora Lambert
New York’s not typically late in the game to anything. But places like Seattle and Portland were setting trends in coffee before us. Finally, New Yorkers are taking their coffee more seriously than ever. There’s options far beyond Starbuck’s nowadays, like Stumptown, Intelligentsia and Cafe Grumpy. But for hard-core coffee fanatics, none quite compare to RBC NYC in Tribeca, or more specifically, to its Slayer an$ 18,000 custom made espresso machine. This high-tech piece of equipment needs a skilled operator, which is where Cora Lambert comes in. Lambert, the coffee director at RBC NYC, oversees the art of stellar coffee here. She controls the brewing pressure of the Slayer to alter drinks’ flavor and body. To coffee drinkers, that’s a big responsibility. One of her most popular creations is the Vietnamese coffee, which is made with both sweetened...
Read MoreNew Year's Resolution Dishes
We love holiday food, but we’re not too crazy about the consequences. Oops. But we can make up for our December food indiscretions with smarter choices in the New Year. We usually have to lock ourselves at home for a few weeks to eat ho-hum healthy dishes. (There goes our social life.) Not this year. Chefs at some of the city’s new restaurants are serving some deliciously healthy dishes that don’t sacrifice flavor. If you’re in need of lean protein, you could head to Fish Tag on the Upper West Side for grilled sea bass and fig sorbet, or Marcus Samuelsson’s new Red Rooster in Harlem for grilled red snapper. Okay, so plain old flour pizza’s not the best idea, but Jean-Georges’ whole wheat pizza at ABC Kitchen works or you could sample the modern Korean cooking at Danji...
Read MoreBest Northern European Eats
Right about this frigid time of year every year, it gets hard to motivate out of the house. Really, the only thing inspires me to brave the outdoors is hearty, warming foods, so this season I’ve turned to Northern Europe — experts at cold fronts and frigid winters, these cuisines really know how to get people through frigid winters. There are some very compelling dishes and new restaurants, like Vandaag or Edi & The Wolf, to go out for dinner. Vandaag Address: 103 Second Ave., at 7th St Phone: (212) 253-0470 If you haven’t been to this Dutch newcomer in the East Village, you’ll want to put it on the top of your to-try list in 2011. The setting is cozy, yet elegant, and the food is excellent. So are the cocktails, which are thoughtfully imagined by Katie Stipe,...
Read MoreOnion Goggles
Finding these goggles (pictured right) was fate. Just last night I was tearing up as I chopped onions for a few batches of soup. If you’re wearing eye makeup, forget it. You’ll have to wash your face and start from scratch. Unless you have a pair of onion goggles. It undoubtedly sounds a little silly to buy goggles, never mind wear them, to chop onions, but it makes the process much more pleasant and practical, especially when you’re entertaining. Guys don’t have to wear pink. They’ve made a white pair as well. So now you can avoid tearing up, red eyes and squinting, which isn’t exactly the safest way to chop onions. Onion Goggles...
Read MoreJunoon – Restaurant Reviewed
Wow, they must have sunk a fortune into this place. That’s the first thing that comes to mind when you step foot inside Junoon and find yourself standing in front of a tranquil reflecting pool. This new Indian restaurant, located on the outskirts of Madison Square Park, literally looks like a palace. The bar room alone is bigger than most restaurants, ornamented with antique teak swings, glossy marble floors and high ceilings. While the cocktails at ethnic restaurants tend to be gimmicky, these are both elegant and creative — a martini with a splash of vermouth and garam masala or a beautifully balanced “Agave Thyme” cocktail with rum and a fresh sprig of thyme. A long walkway leading to the dining room is trimmed with 200-year old arched gates and hand-carved sculptures from India. There’s a glassed-in spice room...
Read MoreCheck out My Book – Try This
