Posts Tagged ‘dining’

Chanukah Events in New York City

If you’re planning to be in New York City this week, you can join in the Chanukah celebration that’s a fitting part of the city’s winter comeback.

Chanukah, the “Festival of Lights,” commemorates the victory of the Maccabees against the Sellucid Greeks and the miracle of oil that lasted eight nights during the re-sanctification of the Temple in Jerusalem. Remembering this miracle, a menorah (or Hanukkiah) is lit for eight nights with one candle added each nights until all eight (plus the “helper” Shamash candle) glow brightly.

Chanukah Dining

Courtesy Empellon Taqueria

New York has a wealth of culinary experiences designed for celebrating Chanukah. Many restaurants offer special menus or add latkes, brisket, sufganiyot and traditional matzoh ball soup to their menus. Some of the most notable are The Ribbon, Empellon Taqueria, Barney Greengrass, Veselka, Russ & Daughters, Zou Zou’s, Who’s Jac W.? and Dagon.

The Ribbon © Meryl Pearlstein

Newcomer Breads Bakery has treats to add to the festivities while delis PJ Bernstein, Katz’s Deli, Second Ave. Deli and Zabar’s offer Chanukah dishes year-round.

Light the Menorah

Grand Army Plaza Holiday Menorah © Julienne Schaer NYC & Co.

In addition, two of the United States’ largest menorahs stand tall in the city and are lit each of the eight nights of Chanukah, one in Manhattan at the southern edge of Central Park at Grand Army Plaza and the other in Brooklyn at its own Grand Army Plaza. Each menorah is 32-feet-tall and is made of 4000 pounds of steel.

Museums

Courtesy Hanukkah Hunt Gallery at The Jewish Museum

Two museums celebrate the holiday with fun activities:

Hanukkah Hunt Gallery at The Jewish Museum – On December 5, families can explore the Manhattan museum’s collection of menorahs from around the world. Children are encouraged to hunt through the collection, draw their discoveries in a sketchbook, and learn about the history of holiday through the years. In observance of health requirements, timed tickets are required.

11th Annual Latke Festival at the Brooklyn Museum © Hechler Photographers

11th Annual Latke Festival at the Brooklyn Museum – One of NYC’s most distinctive holiday tastings, the Latke Festival on December 6 is a charity event that celebrates the most delicious and most creative potato pancakes. Past winners have included Chef Dima Martseniuk of Veselka for “Best Vegetarian Latke” and Chef David Burke for “Best Newcomer Latke.”

Drink Up!

Courtesy Dekō Cocktails

Lest you think that Chanukah isn’t celebrated with some bubbly or other special libation, Dekō Cocktails is a new, certified kosher bottled cocktail company out of Long Island, New York with two beverages introduced just in time for the holiday. The ready-to-drink Bee’s Knees and Gold Rush cocktails use the fresh produce of the North Fork to create classic cocktails with a Long Island twist. Order these online for shipping anywhere or for delivery in NYC and Long Island. They also make a perfect hostess gift with their opulent Art Deco design bottles.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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Where to Get Your Christmas Eve and Christmas Meals in the Hamptons

Restaurant and takeout/delivery options in The Hamptons and North Fork of Long Island offer a variety of dining options for this year’s unusual Christmas holiday.

The Halyard

On Christmas Eve, The Halyard at Sound View Greenport will be open for waterfront dining, meals to-go and room service. Reservations are required for seating in the airy dining room overlooking the Long Island Sound. Chef Stephan Bogardus will serve up a seasonal menu with locally sourced produce including Hamptons favorites like New England clam chowder, seared Hudson Valley foie gras and hamachi sashimi, Shinnecock sea scallops and grilled Montauk monkfish. Chef’s Christmas eve special is a decadent white truffle and lobster tagliatelle dish with a 1½ pound lobster (out of the shell), hand-cut pasts and tableside Alba truffles.

Kissaki

Kissaki, the New York City Japanese favorite, is open for delivery from its Water Mill location on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The” chef’s choice” omakase menu takes sushi to a new level with futomaki (fat rolled sushi) and nigiri (individual pieces) creatively designed and topped to enhance and surprise. A variety of sets are available with each including miso soup and edamame as well. The sushiya’s delicate chiffon cakes make a festive dessert option. Choose from matcha red bean with layers of sweetened red bean and matcha whipped cream, blueberry Earl Grey with layers of Earl Grey-infused whipped cream balanced with sweet blueberries, and Kissaki’s signature vanilla dulce de leche with whipped cream and Biscoff cookie crumbles.

Baron’s Cove

Baron’s Cove Chef Nick Vogel has created special culinary event on Christmas weekend from December 24-27. The decked-out Sag Harbor inn is filled with festivity from the climbing Santa Claus’s on the exterior to the cozy lobby with its welcoming fireplace. The weekend stay/dine package of culinary delights features local dishes with Christmas treats. With scheduled meals hosted by Chef Nick, breakfast, lunch and two dinners are included, including an elaborate multi-course Chef’s Table dinner using ingredients from the restaurant’s farm and artisan partnerships across the East End. Menus are subject to whatever is “of the moment, “ designed to ensure a distinctive experience that reflects both chef proclivities and the bounty of the Hamptons rich location.

Main Street Tavern

For a more casual experience, Main Street Tavern in Amagansett invites guests to reserve Christmas Eve at the new restaurant. For Christmas Day itself, you can order the tavern’s “oven ready” meals, food and drink pairings, and new desserts are available for pickup any day including their popular Shepherd’s Pie, ribs and wings, lasagna and pastas. For the holidays, they have introduced new desserts to their already robust menu with lemon and chocolate tarts, carrot cake, apple crumble, sticky toffee pudding and ice cream pints. The restaurant is open for dining on Christmas Eve if you don’t feel like “cooking.”

Topping Rose House

At Topping Rose House in Bridgehampton, Christmas diners will enjoy a luxurious three-course feast from Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Choose from six appetizers on the prix fixe menu including Jean-Georges’ signature tuna tartare with avocado, spicy radish and ginger dressing or his acclaimed crispy salmon sushi served with chipotle mayonnaise and soy glaze. A choice of entree takes advantage of the inn’s prime location near the ocean and farms, offering roasted black sea bass, parmesan-crusted organic chicken and vegetarian roasted cauliflower with cous cous and turmeric tahini sauce. Dessert is Chef’s signature Buche de Noel, a chocolatey confection served only on Christmas. If you don’t like chocolate, you’ll have other choices, too.

The 1770 House Restaurant & Inn

The 1770 House Restaurant & Inn in East Hampton has created a holiday feast for home celebration. Order by December 19 for pickup on December 23 or 24. Designed for four-six people, entrees and sides are ready-to-cook and come with preparation instructions. The traditional meal includes a choice of beef tenderloin roast, Berkshires pork rib roast, leg of Australian lamb or Long Island dark as mains. All include root vegetable gratin, creamed spinach, truffled pasta cacio e pepe and French green beans. The dessert choices are Hamptons all the way – either Tate’s chocolate chip pie or 1170 House sticky toffee date cake. And everyone gets caramel popcorn.

Elegant Affairs

Elegant Affairs can create a very personalized Christmas dinner with more than 56 appetizers, entrees, sides and desserts, all for delivery for parties of 3-4 or 8-10 on December 23 and 24. Possibilities include giving your holiday feast an Italian theme with baked clams oreganata and fennel sausage Stromboli loaf . Then switch to something more traditional with bourbon-glazed ham or whole roasted turkey, or stay Italian with shrimp scampi or Nona’s meatballs marinara. Add cranberry citrus compote and creamy Long Island corn pudding for regional flair. Elegant Affairs’ desserts will be the highlight with their beyond adorable Santa hat cupcakes, cheesecake lollipops, or Santa cake.

Christmas House Long Island

Christmas House Long Island is a first-ever sweet-tooth experience in Riverhead, Christmas House combines a bakery wonderland with an immersive Christmas setting for the entire family. The attraction has cakes to brighten the holidays, gingerbread and cookies to munch on, and rooms curated by Hollywood set designers using lighting and theatrical effects that bring to life the sights, characters and traditions of Christmas. Cake Walk is a must-visit with its playful array of purchasable 3D cakes designed by Andy Cakes, New York City artist-turned- cakemaster.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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A Weekend Away from NYC: The Hamptons

You may have missed last month’s premier foodie event in the Hamptons, the James Beard Foundation’s Chefs and Champagne tasting showcase, but there’s still much to sample for a weekend in the Hamptons at the tip of New York’s Long Island.

Starting with Art and the Great Outdoors

Peconic Land Trust

The Hamptons have perfected the art of the garden. And while most of the mansion have theirs hidden away behind their unfriendly privets, the Peconic Land Trust has created one that’s open to the public at any time. Bridge Gardens on Mitchell Lane in Bridgehampton is the kind of oasis among the Hamptons scene that will make you rethink your plans, even on a sunny beach day. In this decidedly uncrowded setting of multiple flower and vegetable gardens you might feel that you’re in an English garden, one hidden and exclusively yours. In fact, you might have the gardens entirely to yourself, a rarity for New Yorkers. It’s a beautiful place to Zen out and ignore the Hamptons traffic.

Take Me Indoors, It’s Too Hot

The Parrish Art Museum

Museums also offer a respite from the summer heat.  The Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill is one of the country’s finest, with a collection of art from local artists. The permanent collection is enhanced by frequently featured exhibits. This summer’s “live” Light Waves exhibit projects videos on the outside of the museum’s distinctive building.  A café and bookstore are welcoming and creative as well.  If you’re in town on August 21, a special Solar Eclipse program in conjunction with the Montauk Observatory will be hosted from 1-4pm on the museum grounds. In Southampton, the Southampton Art Center offers changing exhibits as well as other performing arts programming.

So You Must Be Hungry

Shinnecock Lobster Factory

Dining is one of the pleasures of the Hamptons.  Each town has its local favorites, some with outdoor dining.  For a quick lobster fix, the Shinnecock Lobster Factory in Southampton,  Bay Burger in Sag Harbor, and Canal Café in Hampton Bays have the best lobster rolls around.  At each, you can choose to enjoy your sandwich outdoors or indoors.

Manna in Water Mill

If you like Italian food, you can try secluded Manna in Water Mill or go family-style at La Parmigiana or the casual Paul’s Italian Restaurant in Southampton, where the heroes are large enough to be shared and pizzas by the slice include interesting versions such as Buffalo chicken. Yearling Doppio la Spaggia in Sag Harbor, and this year in East Hampton as well, serves up crudo, pasta, carpaccio and other Italian favorites, each with a special farm-fresh twist. Note: sit outside if you’re sensitive to noise. The North Fork has two Italian eateries worth traveling for: Grana in Jamesport is a rustic, inventive trattoria which plates whatever vegetables are freshest of the moment. Chef Marco Pellegrini of Caci has brought his Umbrian savvy to Southhold to a setting on a farmstead. Here, Chef has a kitchen entirely devoted to pasta making. His green basil tagliatelle is as close to Italian perfection as I’ve ever eaten. Wines, if not from Italy, are all from the North Fork and menus proudly list the local purveyors of the proteins and produce.

For breakfast, two standouts are Hampton Bay’s The Hampton Maid, an inn with a restaurant that only serves breakfast; nearby Orlando’s adds a bit of Costa Rican spice to the dishes at this homey restaurant. Estia’s Little Kitchen in Sag Harbor is a popular choice for breakfast and lunch as well with Mexican-inflected dishes.

For a restaurant experience that’s more sophisticated, lunch at Sant Ambroeus, Le Charlot or Silver’s in Southampton is casually elegant with Italian, French, and American cuisines respectively.

Calissa in Water Mill

Among the newest restaurants in the Hamptons, Calissa in Water Mill and Kuzo in Southampton will keep you satisfied with their Mediterranean and Japanese-Peruvian flavors, respectively. Save these for a splurge, as the prices are as high as the quality. Book late for Calissa so you can dine to live music.

Wölffer Estate Vineyard

If you love wine, the Hamptons are New York’s answer to the West Coast. The North Fork has 43 vineyards, many of which offer daily tastings. Wölffer Estate Vineyard and Channing Daughters Winery on the South Fork offer two gorgeous settings where you can tour, taste, or enjoy an open-air yoga class.  Pick up a bottle of Wolffer’s acclaimed “Summer in a Bottle Rosé” at their new Drive-thru Rosé Stand if you’re short on time! Wölffer also has two restaurants, Wölffer Kitchen in Sag Harbor and a new one in Amagansett, where you can sample their many varietals as well as enjoy their farm-to-table expertise.

The Maidstone Hotel

Don’t feel like driving? Have a taxi bring you to The Maidstone Hotel in East Hampton. The hotel offers a charming Scandinavian-influenced setting on the town’s historic mall. Here, you can spend the night, drink some fabulous wines and Aquavit, and enjoy the cozy hotel restaurant, all without worrying about joining the car parade on Montauk Highway.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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Harlem MeatUp!

Harlem is a great place for dining. Going well beyond traditional soul food places like Londel’s, Sylvia’s, or Amy Ruth’s, the neighborhood now tempts with a variety of eating establishments that compete on many levels with their downtown counterparts.  The Harlem EatUp! Festival invites you to travel uptown to try some of these fine establishments, with dinners sponsored by many organizations and often in conjunction with guest chefs from around the country.  Organized by Marcus Samuelsson of Red Rooster fame, the first annual Harlem EatUp! Festival takes place May 14-17.

While many of the dining events are sold out (they booked out in a flash!), there are still seven to choose from for May 15. Take a look at these one-time, special-menu events, and jump online before it’s too late.  Book your tickets at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/harlem-eatup-tickets-15321833015?aff=Website

Vinateria

VINATERÍA

VINATERÍA
I love this wine-centric restaurant, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy the evening’s international menu by Owner Yvette Leeper-Bueno, Chef Gustavo Lopez, Guest Chef Linton Hopkins and Co-Host Ted Allen, May 15, 6pm $85, 2211 Frederick Douglass Blvd.

The Cecil
Afro-Asian specialties are served in this cool space at 210 W 118th St.  The dinner features the pairing of Chef Joseph “JJ” Johnson and Guest Chef Nick Anderer, May 15, 7pm, $125. Minton’s Jazz Club is just around the corner.

Dinosaur

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
Who doesn’t like the BBQ at this mammoth Harlem institution? On May 15 Chef John Stage joins Guest Chef Ludo Lefebvre at 7pm for a rollicking feast.  $85, 700 W 125th St.

Jin Ramen
There was no way Harlem could escape the Ramen craze.  Jin Ramen’s third restaurant is located at 3183 Broadway.  The evening features Owner Richard Kashida, Chef Mark Viloria together with Guest Chef Preston Clark, May 15, 6pm, $85

Madiba Harlem

Madiba Harlem

Madiba Harlem
The May 15 dinner at this South African restaurant is hosted by South African Tourism, with a special meal by Chef Mark Henegan and Guest Chef Ken Oringer, 7pm, $85, 46 W 116th St.

Settepani
Although desserts are the specialty, the cuisine here is Mediterranean and Italian in focus. The evening showcases the trio of Chef Antonino Settepani, Guest Chef Angelo Sosa, and Mixologist Karl Franz Williams of 67 Orange Street. May 15, 6pm, $85, 196 Malcolm X Blvd.

Bier International
You can keep it casual at Bier International, a beer hall with a menu of brats, beers from around the world and other German bites. The special evening pairs Partners Chris Pollok and Ousmane Keita with Guest Chef Amanda Freitag, 2099 Frederick Douglass Blvd.  May 15, 6pm, $125

The 5 and Diamond
Now five years old, The 5 and Diamond serves New American food in Lower Harlem.  The May 15 evening features Chef Joseph Hayes III and Guest Chef Marvin Woods. 6pm and 8:30pm seatings are available. $85. 2072 Frederick Do

5 and Diamond

The 5 and Diamond

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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