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Carnaval Maine Puts the Wonder Back in Winter

New York to Maine is a quick trip by air. Nonstop flights to Portland from JFK or LGA make this a deliciously fabulous weekend getaway.

Celebrations of the winter season have been popular for more than a century. Chasing the Northern Lights in Scandinavia and visiting Santa Claus headquarters in Finland are joined in North America in Quebec City, the world’s snow capital, where the first major winter carnival made its debut in 1894. And now in the US.

Courtesy VisitPortland.com

In the 1920s, thousands of visitors flocked to Portland, Maine to enjoy a winter spectacle of ice castles, sculptures, sled dogs, ski jumping and other outdoor festivities. A century later, from January 30-February 1 Carnaval Maine brought the party back Down Maine for a two-day, 100-year commemoration on the city’s Eastern Promenade, all covered with snow, a fitting start to the state’s 2020 winter season.

Courtesy VisitPortland.com

Following in the tradition of Quebec’s Winter Carnival, the Maine Bicentennial Snow Ball celebrated the century’s inaugural winter festival which marked the beginning of the one-month winter celebration. This year is also the 200th year of Maine’s statehood, making the celebration a true milestone.

Train Transport at Carnaval Maine Courtesy VisitPortland.com

If you missed the 2020 Carnaval Maine, you can count on next year to continue this newly rebooted tradition. The reception by the crowds certainly ensured that. Throughout the event, other commemorative events including arrival from the city’s Old Port by a vintage steam locomotive (provided by the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad) were popular tickets. Taking passengers on a coastal ride, a decked-out conductor in his caboose looked like he had come straight from the Polar Express as part of this historic rail car procession. The train traveled along the coast to a snowy hillside area and a towering 600-foot inflatable “igloo” on Cutter Street.

The Hill Courtesy of VisitPortland.com

In partnership with Sunday River Resort in Newry, Maine, Carnaval Maine created a hill active with USASA (United States Amateur Snowboard Association) National Qualifying Rail Jam competitors. Crowds cheered spins, jumps, and flips down rail outcroppings and over ramps. Talented skiers and snowboarders of varying ages accumulated points, showing off talents that could potentially lead to national championships and future Olympic appearances.

Food Igloo Courtesy VisitPortland.com

The igloo was a centerpiece of the festival, with an Aurora Borealis-style alternating light show projected on it, adding to the polar effect. But it was inside that the more tangible “northern lights” occurred. Food and drink were key at this city dubbed one of the country’s newest culinary capitals by Bon Appetit. “Bites & Brews” foodie-oriented events brought Portland’s award-winning chefs and craft brewers together with spirits and dishes from James Beard fave Allagash Brewing Company along with Luke’s Lobster, Rising Tide, Shipyard Brewing Company, Holy Donut, UNION, Maine Beer Company, Urban Farm Fermentory, Noble BBQ and Central Provisions, so many of my Maine favorites happily together in one warm spot.

Noble Barbeque courtesy VisitPortland.com

Central Provisions, my go-to whenever I visit Portland, had one of the most delicious ale-and-food pairings, with Rising Tide Brewing’s Mountainside IPA paired with smoked gouda bratwurst, Brussels sprouts, sauerkraut and Mountainside mustard on rye crostini. I also loved Urban Farm Fermentory and Noble BBQ’s combo, semi-sweet mead and burnt-end chili with corn bread. And how about this for a fabulous Shipyard Brewing Company & Holy Donut dessert pairing, Smashed Blueberry (a hybrid between a Porter and a Scotch ale) with a dark chocolate sea salt donut.

Evenings saw other Rail Jam events and light-covered trees surrounded by people clustered around outdoor fire pits enjoying warming nightcaps of hot chocolate, coffee and other beverages. Befitting Portland’s burgeoning art community, art installations, illumination shows and professional ice sculptors were beautiful additions to the schedule.

Courtesy VisitPortland.com

While Portland’s event does not have the comparable size and history of Quebec’s famous cold-weather festivities, Maine’s first year was an ambitious and exciting reinvention of the early 1900’s version.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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Give Your Sweetie a Valentine’s Day Gift for the Two of You with a Kripalu Retreat

Here’s a Valentine’s Day gift that’s an easy drive or train ride from New York City

Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in the beautiful Berkshires has a couples-centric gift for Valentine’s Day. Their special R&R Relationships Retreat from February 9-14 offers a schedule of daily workshops designed to strengthen your ties to the people you care about most.  Throughout the week, you’ll learn effective ways to mindfully communicate and engage with loved ones; experience yoga and movement classes focused on how to better listen to your body; explore tools and practices for self-love, self-care, and self-compassion; and connect with nature on guided snowshoeing excursions.

Photo by: Meryl Pearlstein

If the weather cooperates, you can join in on a walking meditation through the forest on the center’s grounds where you’ll learn how to be at peace with yourself and hopefully translate that experience to your significant other. I found it to be an incredibly insightful hike.  Regardless, you’ll take away a healthier outlook on your relationship while enjoying healthful dining and learning healthful habits.

Forest Bathing - Photo By: Meryl Pearlstein

If the timing isn’t right, you can also book a retreat for the two of you to any of Kripalu’s more than 700 programs a year. They’ll also customize a program to meet your needs with yoga, massage, dance, hiking, canoeing (in warmer weather), and sightseeing in the area. Here are a couple of others in February perfect for couples, Partner Yoga for Couples – (February 14-17) or Loving Like You Mean It: Emotional Mindfulness to Transform Relationships – (February 14-17).

Yoga Studio - Photo By: Meryl Pearlstein

Kripalu is one of my favorites, and it’s been around for 40 years catering to yogis like me who enjoy exploring yoga, mindfulness, outdoor activities and having an extensive menu of indulgent spa and wellness treatments at any time of the year.

Cooking Lessons - Photo By: Meryl Pearlstein

The all-vegetarian and vegan food choices are pretty wonderful, too, and there are cooking classes to teach you how to make the recipes on your own. The morning’s silent breakfast is a fascinating opportunity for self-contemplation or couples’ contemplation.

57 Interlaken Rd, Stockbridge, MA 01262, (866) 200-5203

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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Legendary Dishes Enjoyed by Former Presidents are Presented in a Special Menu for Presidents’ Day

For one night only, February 22, Blackbarn restaurant pays homage to Presidents’ Day with a special menu befitting presidents past.

Chef Owner John Doherty - Photo By Meryl Pearlstein

The creation of chef-owner John Doherty, the presidential meal is the stuff of food legends. Chef Doherty reprises some of the dishes that he created for dignitaries while executive chef at the Waldorf=Astoria in what he’s labelled the World Leader Menu. The dinner is an exceptional experience, served at Blackbarn’s exclusive Chef’s Table in full view of the restaurant’s open kitchen.

Photo By: Meryl Pearlstein

The five-course meal is curated from dishes that had been served to Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. Bush, George W. Bush,  Bill Clinton and other world leaders, updated for today’s diners with Blackburn’s farm-to-table spin.

Enhanced with wines selected exclusively for the dinner, the meal begins with a consommé and ravioli of wild mushrooms and truffles, a rich (and very pretty) presentation that is perfect for a chilly February evening. The sommelier suggests a pairing with Rojac Malvazja, a local variant of malvasia, from the Istrian peninsula in Slovenia. I can visualize the original 1988 inspiration for this mushroom-based dish, the former Chairman of the Soviet Union of Socialist Republics’ Mikhail Gorbachev and picture him smiling with appreciation along with his hosts President Ronald Regan and President Elect George H. Bush.

Seared Maine Diver Sea Scallops Photo by Meryl Pearlstein

Two strikingly different main courses follow, a seared Maine diver sea scallop set atop a pillow of potato mousseline and graced with a smidge of Oscetra caviar. The somewhat briny taste of the scallops blends beautifully with a California grenache blanc, recommended by the wine team. Both were a favorite of President Clinton.

Rack of Lamb in Rosemary - Photo by Meryl Pearlstein

The second entrée, a gift for any meat lover, is a lovely rack of lamb in rosemary jus, served with a medley of salsify, lemon and tomato and an eggplant terrine, paired, if you wish, with a spectacular red wine, a deep-hued Brunello di Montalcino from Tuscany. The dignitaries who had previously enjoyed this dish were President George H Bush, James Baker, General Brent Scowcroft (the National Security Advisor under Presidents Gerald Ford and George H. Bush) and Prime Minister John Major of the United Kingdom.

Presidential Dessert - Photo By Meryl Pearlstein

A cheese course precedes dessert, a small portion of triple-cream Brillat-Saverin with a dollop of fig jam and a garden salad as perfect now as it had been in 1985 when it delighted the six leaders of the free world during the 40th anniversary of the United Nations.

To finish, you’ll enjoy a dreamy chocolate caramel tarte adorned with gold leaf amid a raspberry coulis, also connected to the United Nations, as it had been served to President George W. Bush after his address to the United Nations Assembly in 1997. The pièce de résistance, a vintage port from the Douro Valley, is suggested to accompany.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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It’s NYC Must-See Week (in addition to NYC Restaurant Week and NYC Broadway Week)

There’s no such thing as the January or February Blues in New York City. New York City’s Must-See Week really isn’t a week — it’s a couple of weeks with exciting programs, all happening at once and offering 2 for 1 tickets for dining, theater and iconic NYC activities. Must-See Week lasts through February 10, giving you at least a week to figure out everything you want to do and connect with your friends. Think 2-for-1 tickets to attractions, museums, tours and more. Now that you’ve made all your Restaurant Week reservations, here’s the next bit of planning that you need to do. Better still, combine these with a dinner reservation or a theater ticket — it’s Broadway Week, too, and tickets at 21 shows including Beetlejuice, Dear Evan Hansen and To Kill a Mockingbird are two-for-one. But, hurry, theater tickets, in particular, are selling quickly.

Bethesda Fountain Central Park NYC

Thanks to NYC&Co. you can overcome your FOGO (Fear of Going out when it’s cold) at least through the first week of February. This is something that will actually give you a case of FOMO (Fear of Missing out), so don’t wait. Do it all. Get your calendar ready.  Pretend you’re a tourist here. Or, if you are a tourist here, revel in the fact that these wonderful programs exist. And INDULGE.

Here are some of the wonderful attractions offering BOGO options this winter:

Mrs. Maisels Marvelous Tour of NYC - photo by Meryl Pearlstein

On Location Tours is offering all of their TV and movie tours at half price.  Their newest and, in my opinion, one of their best is the Mrs. Maisel’s Marvelous Tour of New York City. Led by an actress in perfect 50s Midge Maisel hair, attire and makeup, the tour takes you through the city to visit quite a number of locations seen in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Do you remember where Midge joined in the protest against the new highway in the park? Or where Joel and his buddy Archie commiserated at the bar? Yes, you’ll head to Washington Square Park and then to nearby Old Town Bar and have a drink there, or you can grab a pint at McSorley’s where Midge went after her date at the art gallery. You’ll also visit the diner where Joel proposed to Midge and they danced in the street — it’s in the West Village. I don’t want to spoil all the surprises, but you’ll see actual TV footage to show you the scene as you pass the filming location. You’ll spend a wonderful two a half hours by bus and walking, covering the areas where the Maisels and the Weissmans lived.  The tour is offered Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays at noon. Dress warmly in your 50s colorful best and be prepared to walk. Wear a cool hat, and you’ll fit right in!

https://www.nycgo.com/must-see-week/browse/on-location-tours

New York City Photo Safaris

To prepare for your Mrs. Maisel tour, you might want to sign up first with New York City Photo Safaris. Covering the city from Times Square to Central Park, from the Brooklyn Bridge to Battery Park, the safaris are designed for those who want to learn how to capture the essence of the Big Apple. On these tours, led by photography professionals, you’ll get hands-on instruction to help you sharpen your photography skills, whether you use an iPhone or a DSLR. Bring whatever camera you use and be prepared to view the city from a different perspective. When you’re done, you can sign up for a one-on-one tutorial in Lightroom or Photoshop.

https://www.nycgo.com/must-see-week/browse/new-york-city-photo-safari

Central Park Zoo

Would you rather spend your day communing with nature? Animal lovers will get a chance to visit The Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo and the New York Aquarium for half price. I didn’t get to see the snow monkeys in Japan, but you can see them in Manhattan! Enter password MXW20 at the website below.

https://tickets.wcs.org/affiliate/password.

To add to these, a CityPASS for NYC, might just be the admission ticket to help you cover the truly iconic NYC bases in one discounted package. Don’t be shy — be a tourist. You know haven’t been to these in a long time.

CITYPASS Admission includes:

  • The Empire State Building
  • American Museum of Natural History
  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • Top of the Rock Observation Deck OR Guggenheim Museum
  • Ferry access to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island OR Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises
  • 9/11 Memorial & Museum OR Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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Dine and Shop Til You Drop to Welcome Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year is one of the most celebrated holidays around the world, a time when families gather and celebrate. This year is the Year of the Rat, signifying diligence and thriftiness. Shops and restaurants have gone all out to ensure that you have a lucky and fortune-filled start to the New Year with welcoming events and special menus adding foods symbolizing good fortune.

The Year of the Rat celebrates the return of spring. It’s a festival of unity, a way for friends and family to come together to enjoy traditions that will bring good fortune for the coming year. 2020 celebrates the quick-witted rat as we breathe some optimism into the days ahead. Unlike one-night New Year’s celebrations, Chinese New Year is celebrated for two weeks through February 11 (or even longer in some places) so you have plenty of time to enjoy.

Traditional red lanterns, dragons, wishing trees, lion dances, and, of course, food, mark this important holiday.

Stuff yourself with auspicious foods rich with symbolic meaning to attract good fortune in the coming year.

The sexiest celebrations in New York City happen at Hakkasan. Kicked off by a festive and traditional lion dance on the first evening, the two weeks of the Chinese New Year are filled with special dinners and drinks. For 2020, there is a $98 prix fixe menu (for a minimum of two guests) featuring ingredients traditionally thought to bring luck and good fortune. Dishes have been selected for the cultural significance of their ingredients and their ability to portend good fortune.

Hakkasan - Golden Treasure Pocket

Highlights of the menu include golden treasure pockets with abalone and wild mushrooms, a delicately fried dumpling decorated with gold leaf. The shape of the dumpling resembles a money bag which symbolizes the arrival of wealth in the New Year, and the color gold represents riches. Scallops with taro mousseline and brown butter black bean sauce feature Maine king scallops, a prized ingredient denoting new opportunities and successes on the horizon. Also on the menu are yu sheng salad, a fish salad with cured Scottish salmon and plum sauce, portending a bountiful year ahead; and baked salt crusted chicken, a modern spin on a chicken dish from the Ming dynasty that symbolizes luck, playing off the pronunciation of the word chicken in Chinese which sounds like luck.

Yu Sheng Salad

Hakkasan will also offer a signature cocktail Cheng Zi made with Diplomático Mantuano rum, chili-infused Velvet Falernum, mandarin and chocolate sherbet. The mandarin is a lucky ingredient representing prosperity and fortune, making the cocktail the perfect complement to a festive Lunar New Year meal. Oranges are traditionally given during the New Year to symbolize good luck, happiness and abundance.

A sweet finish with more lucky oranges is the indulgent Lucky Jie, a dessert with salted caramel ganache, mandarin, chili and cocoa that is presented as a Chinese knot to signify good fortune. Chinese knotting is an intricate and historic art form where fabrics are woven into a varying of shapes denoting blessings and wishes for the year ahead.

Throughout Lunar New Year, interiors of Hakkasan locations will be adorned with red wishing ribbons featuring the lucky Chinese knot. The red color of the wishing ribbons symbolizes joy and good luck, creating an auspicious environment for guests to dine in. Guests are additionally invited to write their wishes for the year ahead on the ribbons to be hung on the restaurant’s wooden latticing.

Five other Asian restaurants (and bars) in New York celebrate with special menus:

Little Alley is translated from the Chinese word long tang, the narrow, interconnected alleyways unique to Shanghai that form traditional neighborhoods that co-exist with today’s modern styles. The alleys have long been redolent with aromas of delicious foods, reminding neighbors that everything will be fine as long as you are home.

Little Alley

For Chinese New York, the Murray Hill-based restaurant has a seafood-forward menu with steamed lobster with glass noodles, lobster with ginger scallion, spicy crab, salted duck egg crab, dry-wok prawns, steamed whole fish with chopped chili, blanched clams and stir-fried clams with basil.

Atoboy

At popular Atoboy in the Flatiron District, Chef Junghyun ‘JP’ Park utilizes Korean flavors and traditional Korean techniques with seasonal American ingredients to create a menu inspired by Korean banchan, small plates served with cooked rice. For Chinese New Year, both a regular and prix fixe menu are offered along with a traditional tteokguk, a Korean rice cake soup.

Chinese Tuxedo

In Chinatown, LUCKYRICE celebrates the Lunar New Year in style with an epic Cocktail Feast on January 28 at stylish Chinese Tuxedo and its “no photos,” bar Peachy’s. This historic venue once housed a Chinese theatre in the late 1800s and the theatricality continues to this day both upstairs and downstairs.

LUCKYRICE

Specially created cocktails featuring Remy Martin and delicious bites, each symbolic of the auspiciousness of the New Year, will be served. Tempting menu specials include the fried golden tuxedo money bag dumpling with chicken corn and the duck “long life” chow mein noodles with roasted duck sauce.

Goosefeather

For a quick getaway from the city, Modern-Chinese Goosefeather in Tarrytown, New York highlights Executive Chef Dale Talde’s Hudson Valley take on Hong Kong fare with noodles, Cantonese barbecue and dumplings.The name for Goosefeather is taken from an ancient Chinese proverb dating to the Tang Dynasty which embodies the idea of thoughtful gift-giving. For Chinese New Year week, Goosefeather will offer its regular menu plus specials including prosperity salad of hamachi, cucumbers, radish, pickled wood ear mushrooms, Asian pear, pomelo and golden beets with a citrus-Chinese mustard dressing; longevity noodles with minced chicken, watercress and black bean; cooked whole redfish with black vinegar; and crispy sweet rice with citrus and whipped honey.

Shoppers can participate in a Chinese tradition to celebrate the Year of the Rat

The USA Luxury Shopping Consortium has planned an array of special events and experiences for visitors to New York.

The 5th Annual Madison Avenue Lunar New Year event kicks off on February 1 with a centuries-old tradition by installing wishing trees along Madison Avenue between East 63rd and East 64st Streets. Visitors can place a ribbon with their wish on a branch at the tree on 63rd Street to receive a traditional red envelope with a gift certificate from a participating Madison Avenue store.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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A Tale of Two Epochs: Romeo & Bernadette: A Musical Tale of Verona & Brooklyn

Oh, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? In the case of Romeo & Bernadette: A Musical Tale of Verona & Brooklyn, it all depends. That is, it depends on whether you’re looking to reality to find the answer to the question, or to the fantasy created as an extended reality in this new hilarious off-Broadway show. The best answer is to suspend belief altogether and go with the flow. That’s really what this quirky, fun romp is all about.

The musical is one long exercise in romance.  At the beginning, Romeo is a character in a cheesy version of the traditional Shakespearean play, attended by a Brooklyn couple on a date. Brooklyn Girl is markedly affected by the story, while Brooklyn Guy — who could have been plucked right out of Saturday Night Fever or Grease — has other ideas. He doesn’t quite understand the emotional reaction that’s now limiting his after-date possibilities.  How does he rectify this?  By creating a second Romeo tale, one in which Romeo and Juliet are not dead at the end of the story, but are transported instead to a different reality where a different outcome is possible.

Therein lies the plotline, the extended fantastical tale of the very-much-alive Romeo who meets his revived Juliet (or so he thinks) and transcends time and geography to pursue her. Where the story goes is a tale of hilarity, confusion, and misunderstood and mistaken identities – in effect, a modern-day Montague and Capulet feud with a much sunnier ending.

En route from Brooklyn to Verona and back to Brooklyn, you’ll meet an assortment of stereotypical and atypical Brooklyn characters: a Bobby Darren lookalike, two warring mob patriarchs, a foul-mouthed bride-to-be and her best friend, two men vying for the attention of the beautiful  “Juliet,” a thug at-the-ready, and a dance teacher-priest-dressmaker-florist rolled into one. Costumed by Joseph Shrope and Fabio Toblini, even Romeo sheds his Veronese garb and goes full-on Brooklyn. Action and dialogue are all played out with an over-the-top Brooklyn accent in which Shakespearean English is replaced by a fuggedaboutit version, and the refinement of Italy’s La Scala and Verona disintegrate into scenes with Sal in his underwear and Bernadette in a bow-bedecked wedding dress.  If Shakespeare could have re-imagined his oeuvre as an exercise in camp, he couldn’t have done it any better.

Newcomers to off-Broadway Nikita Burshteyn (Romeo), Anna Kostakis (Bernadette), Michael Notardonato (Dino Del Canto/Brooklyn Guy) and Ari Raskin (Donna/Brooklyn Girl) shine in the show , along with veterans Judy McLane (Mamma Mia, Kiss of the Spider Woman), Zach Schanne (City of Light), Carlos Lopez (Man of La Mancha, Grease)and Viet Vo (Carousel, Evita) as Camille Penza, Tito Titone ,Sal Penza and Lips with winning vocals that soar in light opera motif. Think Gilbert and Sullivan meets the Mafia with a dash of Puccini and Volare. Lyrics by Mark Saltzman are set to songs derived from classic Italian music. Throw in some Guys and Dolls, a few malapropisms, spot-on characterizations and adept staging and you have the makings of two hours of spoofy fun.

Tickets are available through February 16 at the Mezzanine Theatre at A.R.T./NY, 502 West 53rd Street.  The play was produced by Amas Musical Theatre, a performing arts pioneer in promoting  diversity and multi-ethnic casting, currently serving as a not-for-profit laboratory for new musicals.  www.art-newyork.org. www.amasmusical.org

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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