Forget reality TV, Top Chef and cooking shows for one night- Pressure Cooker is a real life drama about life in the kitchen.  Jennifer Grausman and Mark Becker’s new documentary follows three students from low income areas of Philly through culinary school and into the real world.  The documentary is  inspired by the Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP), which provides scholarships, education and internships to underserved students across the country,    Pressure Cooker has already won the Special Jury Prize at the Los Angeles Film Festival for Best Documentary at the Philadelphia Cinequest as well as Audience Awards at the Aspen Film Festival and Portland International Film Festival.

Pressure Cooker comes to New York’s IFC on May 27^th.  To preview the trailer -- www.nonsequiturproductions.com.

It’s the only upside to a down economy- restaurants around town are coming up with all kinds of deals to draw in the guests.  From prix fixe, buy one get one free, reduced prices, wines, and lots of other deals, we’ve combed the city to find some of the best recession specials.

Halfsteak at Craftsteak
85 Tenth Ave., btwn. W. 15th St. & W. 16th St.
(212) 400-6699
www.craftrestaurant.com
Every weekday the cafe at Tom Colicchio's steakhouse ingeniously morphs into the terrifically affordable Half Steak. There's tons of great small plates, half-pints of beer, cocktail specials, and small desserts, all under $15.  I'm fond of the pig trotters, fried oysters, and the namesake dish -- a half-portion of Craftsteak’s dry-aged steak, served with their hand-cut fries.

Del Posto's Enoteca
85 Tenth Ave., btwn. W. 15th St. & W. 16th St.
(212) 497-8090
www.delposto.com
Just next door to Craft is another great bargain.  This one's available Wednesday through Friday in Del Posto’s enoteca.   The $35 prix fixe menu will get you an antipasto, secondi, and dessert plus a pasta for the table.  Not to be missed: the octopus alla griglia, the pennette with cauliflower, and the housemade gelato.

Elizabeth
265 Elizabeth St., btwn. Houston St. & Prince St.
(212) 334-2426
www.elizabethny.com
Every Monday night,  Elizabeth in Soho offering a $25 prix fixe menu, which includes two courses plus a glass of wine or beer.  Start with a flute of Veuve Clicquot or a glass of Cabernet.  Among the menu options are an endive salad and seared scallops, and a Caesar and their burger with garlic fries. 

Gotham Bar & Grill
12 E. 12th St., btwn. University Pl. & Fifth Ave.
(212) 620-4020
www.gothambarandgrill.com
Gotham’s turning 25 and the celebration lasts all month long.  Both the $25 three course lunch and $75 five course dinner menus change weekly and feature chef Alfred Portale’s favorites from the past- you might recognize the duck carpaccio with artichoke salad, grilled lamb sausage with eggplant caviar, and goat cheese ravioli.  Gotham’s also created a special cocktail for the occasion- the “25” features Bulleit Bourbon, blanc and rouge Dolin Vermouth de Chambery, Domaine de Canton, and house-made ginger syrup, with a lemon twist.

Jean-Georges
1 Central Park West, Trump International Hotel
(212) 299-3900
www.jean-georges.com
Always wanted to have dinner at Jean-Georges, but didn’t feel comfortable dropping $148 on the tasting menu, especially in this economy?  Well, if you don’t mind eating between 5:30 and 6 p.m. or 10 and 11 p.m. on Monday through Thursday nights, you can get the Jean-Georges experience for only $58.  The prix fixe changes weekly and includes three courses picked by Jean-Georges himself.  Of course, Johnny Iuzzini pitches in with a dessert. 

Eighty One
45 W. 81st St., btwn. Central Park West & Columbus Ave.
(212) 873-8181
www.81nyc.com
This upscale Upper West Sider has rolled with the punches and is newly economy friendly.  Eighty One has two courses for $30.81 Sunday through Friday nights.   Chef Ed Brown adds a few daily specials to the prix fixe, but  there's always pumpkin risotto and a scallop ravioli.  For dessert, there's a great bourbon vanilla ice cream float with gingersnaps, well worth the extra $8.10 dessert fee.  And Sommelier Heather Branch is offering great wine deals by the glass and bottle.

Dressler
149 Broadway, btwn. Bedford Ave. & Driggs Ave.
(718) 384-6343
www.dresslernyc.com
Just over the Williamsburg bridge, Dressler will be offering a $45 five-course tasting menu starting March 9th.  Available Sundays through Thursdays, the menu changes weekly, but expect to see the likes of a roasted baby beet and citrus salad, oxtail ragout, braised Berkshire pork belly, and sweet potato crème caramel.  Look for wine pairings in the spring.

Pizza Gruppo
186 Avenue B., btwn. E. 11th St.& E. 12th St.
(212) 995-2100
www.gruppothincrust.com
The combination of beer and pizza doesn’t ever get old, especially at this price or at this East Village sleeper.  From 5 to 7 p.m. everday, Pizza Grupo offers a pitcher and pizza special.  Order a pitcher of Yuengling and one of their thin-crust pies for $18.  I'm a fan of the Classica, El Greco, and best of all, the pesto and fresh mozzarella.  Not to worry, wine drinkers -- there’s a two for one special on Pinot Grigio and Montepulciano also.

Allen & Delancey

The phrase "Restaurant Week" is being used pretty loosely these days.  Winter Restaurant Week became Restaurant Month and it looks like it's not going anywhere, at least until Friday, March 20th (the first day of Spring.)  A whopping 130 restaurants will be participating, lunch for $24.07 and dinner for $35.00.

And this year, it's a whole new Restaurant Week.   The good ones aren't offering B list menus, most are serving dishes from their regular menu.  The best deals?  Le Cirque and Matsugen are both participating for lunch and dinner.  And you might want to consider taking a long lunch because Cafe Boulud, Aquavit, and Telepan are all open for restaurant week lunch and they're not holding back on the menu.  

You might want to make reservations fast.

See the list of restaurants and make your reservations at www.nycgo.com/restaurantweek.

Last night, New Yorkers gathered to raise money for the Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP).  Their mission?  To provide underserved high school students with culinary training, jobs, and scholarships.  Restaurateur Drew Nieporent (Nobu, Corton, Tribeca Grill) was honored for his contributions to C-CAP.   Attendees tasted dishes from thirty-six chefs at the city’s top restaurants, who were assisted by over 60 C-CAP culinary high school students.  This was one tasting experience that was hard to beat- where else can you find bites from the likes of Dan Barber, Wylie Dufresne, Michael White, Marcus Samuelsson, and Alfred Portale all under the same roof?

    Some of the best vegetable dishes were Blue Hill’s forono beet salad and buttermilk panna cotta with horseradish, and Payard’s petit pois and soft scrambled eggs with a uni-leek broth and caviar.  On the seafood side of things as well as the Park Avenue Soon-To-Be-Spring’s peekytoe crab salad with avocado and raspberry puree, served in tiny cones (pictured above.)

    Though we're predicting spring menus peppered with crudo and ceviche, winter's last licks included Landmarc’s lamb meatballs with red lentils and Dovetail’s duck sausage with cranberry-mustard relish.  For dessert,   Corton’s served an excellent cocoa nib financier with golden raisins and yuzu and chocolate peanut butter crunch from Gramercy Tavern.  Still, we want to know who won that dinner for five at Rao’s so we can claim a seat at the table.

Forget your breakfast blueberry muffin for breakfast, lunch sandwich or even supper slice, today it's all about pancakes.  Because it's National Pancake Day and hear are some of the city’s best options.  

If you're a fruit in your pancakes kind of guy/girl, head for Clinton Street Baking Company.  They serve up a stack with your choice of wild Maine blueberries or bananas and walnuts.  Just don’t skip the maple butter topping.

You can get anything imaginable in your pancakes at Shopsin’s in Essex Market.  We're fans of the slutty cakes - six pancakes to an order, all made with peanut butter, pumpkin puree, and topped with a blend of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg.

If you have more refined taste in pancakes, visit lemon ricotta pancakes at Sarabeth’s Upper East Side location are the way to go.  Get them with fresh berries to offset the lemon flavor - you definitely won’t need any syrup on these.

If savory is more your style, try the eggs benedict at Norma’s.  Served on two buttermilk pancakes, these eggs are layered with Canadian bacon and grilled asparagus and drizzled with Hollandaise.  

For something really out of the ordinary, visit Prune.  They’ve got a Dutch pancake on the menu - it’s a one enormous pancake, baked in the oven with pears and topped with maple syrup.


Clinton Street Baking Company
4 Clinton St., btwn. Houston St. & Stanton St.
(646) 602-6263
www.clintonstbaking.com

Shopsin’s
Stall no. 16, Essex Street Market, 160 Essex St.
www.shopsins.com

Sarabeth’s
1295 Madison Ave., btwn. E. 92nd St. & E. 93rd St.
(212) 410-7335
www.sarabethseast.com

Norma’s
Le Parker Meridien Hotel, 119 W. 56th St.
(212) 245-5000
www.normasnyc.com

Prune
54 E. First St., btwn. First Ave. & Second Ave.
(212) 677-6221
www.prunerestaurant.com