NYC Tastes

2017 was a very strange year in the world of food.  It started out incredibly boring, with fast casual restaurants and big Japanese chains taking over the city.  And has ended unsteady and downright disturbing, with allegations of sexual harassment exploding in what seems to be every facet of the food industry and country as a whole.  I honestly feel more uncertain as a person than I ever have before.  Which is probably why I've leaned towards comfort food this year with big bowls of ramen, spicy chili oil wontons and other hearty, homey dishes dominating much of my time dining out. Union Square Cafe reopened at the end of 2016 and has been my go-to place for spicy, carrot studded Candele Pasta while their sister cafe Daily Provisions actually took the spot for best new restaurant of 2017. This may seem like an odd choice but it had everything I needed this year; incredible crullers for breakfast, inventive sandwiches for lunch and a quiet, relaxing environment...

Wow 2016 is almost over and what crazy year it was.  If I was to look simply at the year in American culture I would have to use the word devastating.  So many incredible artists passed away, the political state of the nation was a non-stop roller coaster ride of shock, disgust, anger, frustration and for the first time in a while the future feels incredibly uncertain.  Of course the NYC dining scene took a huge hit this year with the closing of classic restaurants like The Four Seasons, Les Halles and most recently Blue Ribbon Bakery Kitchen.  I was saddened most by the closing of my two favorite cocktail bars; underground vodka great Pravda and the gorgeous Campbell Apartment in Grand Central Terminal.  We also lost the fabulous  Juni , my go-to spot for a fancy lunch from Shaun Hergatt.   But I'm always one to look on the positive side and 2016 was actually a good year on a personal level.  Mr. T and I had some great East Coast trips to B...

2016 was another fantastic year for craft beer especially in New York City.  New breweries have been popping up at an amazing pace and the demand for local beer is at an all time high.  Of course with such quick, rapid growth comes growing pains which can be witnessed at a Saturday morning Other Half can release where lines start as early as 1:00 AM or the crazy race for Grimm cans that fly off the shelf in minutes.  Hopefully things in 2017 will bring a bit more calm to the beer chase but it's wonderful to have so many great brews in our own backyard along with these five fabulous beauties.  Cheers to  the New Year! Hill Farmstead - Clover I probably could have written a"Best of List" for 2016 with just Hill Farmstead beers and there would be little to argue about.  Shaun Hill is a master at brewing and his recent bottle of Clover was one of my favorites to date.  A blend of three different saison's Ann, Art & Flora, aged for 12-22 mont...

Day Two of StarChefs kicked off with the amazing Somm Slam, easily one of the best events of the congress where top sommeliers battle it out in a head to head wine and food pairing challenge.  The competition inside the circle was fierce but outside things were heating up as well at Eat@ICC featuring the theme All in The Family.  Chef Jose Mendin of the  Pubbelly Group  cooked up a comforting Mofongo Ramen studded with fried chicken and sofrito with a rich Kikkoman soy-cured egg... ...while local Chef Christopher Rendall of Flinders Lane created a homey coconut curry broth with thai basil, laksa and chunks of Glacier 51 Toothfish.  Italian family comfort was found in Nona's Meatballs from Tony Ferrari and Jonathan Sutton at the Hillside Supper Club ... ...while Chef Kwame Williams of Vital Dining went back to his Jamaican roots with a crispy Cod Cake served with ackee, stewed peppers and cassava dumplings. One of my favorite bites of the day were...

Kick off March like a lion with one of these incredible events including NYC Beer Week, Slow Wine and Great Wines of Italy 2018 at the IAC.  There's something for just about any wine and beer lover in NYC~ Cheers! Wednesday February 28th Other Half Beer Dinner at Grotta Azzurra - Celebrate NYC Beer Week in style with a four course dinner at one of Little Italy's most romantic restaurants Grotta Azzurra.  Brewers from Brooklyn's Other Half will be on hand pairing their award winning beers with each course.  Tickets are $85 and available on the NYC Beer Week website or by clicking  here. Thursday March 1st Slow Wine at Eataly Downtown - Over 100 wines from Italy and California will be on display Thursday evening as Slow Wine takes over Eataly Downtown.  Just like its sister organization Slow Food, Slow Wine promotes wine that is good, clean and fair; working with winemakers who focus on traditional, sustainable techniques that promote a better e...

Our last trip to Brussels we ubered out to the countryside of Beersel to Drie Fonteinen , my favorite geuze producer of all time. It was just a small blendery back then starting to brew their own beer on site for the very first time.  Fast forward to 2017 and owner Armand has opened up a brand new spot called lambik-O-droom which is much closer to Brussels center and boasts a massive space for bottling, blending and barrel aging along with a beautiful tasting room. Since we had done the full tour of the old facility last time we decided to devote all of our time this trip to relaxing and enjoying his delicious geuzes.  We met up with a friend who also happened to be visiting from NYC and sat down to share some bottles. Oude Geuze Vintage 2012- one of my favorites of the Drie Fonteinen geuzes.   So bright and lemony with that fantastic lingering toasted sesame funk.  This was so perfect we ordered a second bottle right away along with the delicious house geuze ch...

2016 saw the closing of two of my favorite cocktail bars of all time; the incredible Russian vodka room Pravda and the formidable Campbell Apartments in Grand Central Terminal.  Unfortunately as 2017 comes to an end another great spot will be closing its doors, the fantastic Temple Bar. My first visit to this fabulous spot was way back in 2003 when Yankees (now manger) Aaron Boone hit a walk off home run against the Boston Red Sox to win the American League Championship Series.  It was easily the best night of my young NYC life.   We had been watching the game at nearby Tom and Jerry's for about six hours prior and decided to move our celebration over to Temple Bar.  I'm not sure if the bar was actually closing down for the night or if the bouncer noticed our glassy eyes, hoarse voices and general rowdy drunkenness, but we weren't allowed inside.  No this place required a bit more reserved behavior, a bit more class; neither of which we had at that mome...

Gotham made my pick as the best fancy lunch spot  for 2017 and this NYC institution just continues to wow me in every way.  My last visit I stopped in for a relaxing meal at the bar and opted for the three course Greenmarket lunch. First Course- Roasted Celery & Beet Root Soup with cranberry foam.  This was so creamy and smooth it could almost been seen as a veloute but with a distinctly lighter finish, while the drizzle of cranberry foam added a seasonal warmth to the dish. Second Course- Free Range Chicken with farro, broccolini, cauliflower and cippolini onion in a charred meyer lemon sauce.   Third Course- Brown Butter Parfait with with poached pear, brown sugar cookie and smoked cinnamon ice cream.  This was actually the very first time I veered away from the signature Gotham Chocolate Cake  and it was every bit as fabulous.  I absolutely loved the  crunchy brown sugar cookie crumbles on top of the ...