Posts Tagged ‘picnic’

Where to Enjoy a Great Picnic in New York City

It’s picnic time! The weather is hot and outdoor dining is the favorite pastime. Here are some ideas for where to hold a picnic to remember.

Central Park

Courtesy centralpark.com

A picnic in the park is a natural and Central Park has a wide variety of locations that you’ll enjoy, many not far from the East Side’s Museum Mile or the Upper West Side’s American Museum of Natural History. Favorites are the Great Lawn which sits in the middle of the park between 79th street and 85th street, Turtle Pond at the southern tip of the Great Lawn near Belvedere Castle, and Sheep Meadow a bit further South. Depending on whether you’re arriving from the East Side or the West Side, there are delis, specialty food shops and a picnic specialist to help you construct your outdoor feast.

Courtesy Butterfield Market

On the East Side, Butterfield Market is a popular gourmet shop with a variety of food departments. You can choose from prepared foods at the gourmet counter including crab cakes, chicken wings and more elaborate dishes like poached salmon or skirt steak, or stay small with pre-made sandwiches, sushi or salads. The talented baristas at the coffee bar will customize your beverage – try an iced dirty chai or an iced matcha latte for a break from a traditional coffee — or choose from many of the gourmet sodas and waters. Add one of their gorgeous cupcakes and you’re good to go. From the West Side, deli fave Barney Greengrass will pack up a super-portable bagel, cream cheese and nova sandwich along with Boylan’s cream soda and a black and white cookie for a very New York-y nosh.

Perfect Picnic NYC © Wendy Weston

Celebrating ten years of feeding hungry New Yorkers, Perfect Picnic NYC puts together picnic assortments from simple to elaborate. Start with a base and add on beverages, a blanket and a basket, if you wish, or just pick up a grab ‘n go meal to add to your own set-up.  You can even arrange a “picnic experience” that is full-service including delivery and clean-up. Owner Wendy Weston creates a menu that changes based on “her cravings” and ingredients of the season. Located near the Northern tip of Central Park at 100th Street and Central Park West, Perfect Picnics can be ordered in advance or onsite.

Bryant Park

Courtesy Picnic Performances

Running through September 20, a variety of New York City performance companies will showcase their talent at Manhattan’s Bryant Park. Dubbed “Picnic Performances,” the shows take advantage of the city’s burgeoning outdoor culture and, hopefully, good weather. If you missed experiencing live music, concerts and opera over the past year, this is a wonderful chance to grab a lawn spot or chair, spread out your picnic with a chilled rosé and enjoy an evening of some of the best talent around.  The scheduled is filled with opera, jazz from Jazz at Lincoln Center, dance performances by Paul Taylor and Elisa Monta Dance, the New York City Opera’s Rigoletto, theater from the Classical Theater of Harlem and a centennial celebration of The Town Hall.

Courtesy Grand Central Terminal Market

What to bring: Park Avenue Liquor Shop near the Morgan Library is the go-to for a choice of chilled wines. Visit Grand Central Terminal’s market by 7pm to put together a picnic from Eli Zabar’s Farm to Table, Murray’s Cheese or Pescatore Sushi & Noodles. Don’t forget your blanket and some reusable wine glasses.

Governor’s Island

Courtesy Pinknic Festival LLC

For the ultimate picnic experience, Governor’s Island is the place to be for the Pinknic Festival, a combination all-day picnic and music festival. Scheduled this year on September 4 and 5, Pinknic celebrates its five-year anniversary with a pink-and-white assemblage of picnickers on the lawns. Your ticket includes a Pinknic tote for your goodies, a wine cup, blanket and more. A variety of NYC restaurants at the food garden add the main ingredient, also offering pink. beverages including rosé and frosé. Then sit back and indulge while you listen to live bands and DJ sets, all with fabulous views of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Wear something pink and something white and you’ll sure to be instagrammed as part of the end-of-summer party

Brooklyn

Courtesy Dinner Party

To tempt you with her upcoming salon dinner series in Fort Greene, Cami Jetta has put together a preview  Dinner Party picnic basket for takeaway dining in the park. Plan your food menu for a day in Fort Greene Park or Prospect Park with the likes of sourdough pita, Ellie’s salad shirazi, beet hummus, roast eggplant and baklava shortbread. The menu is available online and changes frequently. Select from the “Picnic of the Week,” cookie box or sandwich. A tote bag is also available for purchase.

Kokomo © Katrine Moite

Williamsburg’s popular Black-owned and operated Kokomo offers a kicky picnic package complete with a blanket, canned signature cocktails and an array of Caribbean cuisine. For some true island flavor, sample Kokomo’s signature Yardie shrimp pizza with callaloo and grilled pineapple, braised oxtail with rice & peas, a guava BBQ-sauced Calypso burger or jackfruit tacos. Add a Coconut Negroni or a Pain Killer cocktail and you’ll have a picnic to remember. The restaurant sits in a convenient location for picking up your picnic goodies for a day in Brooklyn’s McCarren Park, Domino Park, 5th Pier Park or by the waterfront on Bushwick Inlet.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
Print |  1 Comment

How to Celebrate Mother’s Day in New York City

It’s not too late to buy your mother a tasty gift for Mother’s Day, or, better still, to take her out to celebrate the fact that you exist because of her!

This Mother’s Day, legendary Katz’s Delicatessen on the Lower East Side (and now in Brooklyn) has launched two new packages, specially made to celebrate mom. You can either bring the feast to her with Breakfast in Bed a perfect in-bed food rush with New York bagels and lox, Katz’s signature coffee mug, a T-shirt which makes a perfect sleep shirt, and a limited edition egg cream candle. If mom isn’t the stay-in-bed type of person, I’d suggest taking her to dinner at Katz’s instead for their Mother’s Day Dinner . She’ll get a full taste of New York City local dining with one of Katz’s famous pastrami, corned beef or brisket sandwiches with all the fixing;, a cup of matzoh ball soup; rugelach for dessert; and a take-home Katz’s Deli apron and egg cream candle (it’s always good to give your mother a real present as well as food!). 205 East Houston Street, at Ludlow Street. 1-800-4HOT DOG.

If you live outside of New York, or even if you do live in the city and don’t feel like trucking downtown or over the bridge, Katz’s will send these packages straight to your door through their nationwide shipping service, free with orders over $100.  Instead of sending a salami to your boy in the army, you’ll be sending a pastrami to your mother at home. Yum!

The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park celebrates mothers with an indulgent “Mom and Me” spa package. After choosing between two treatments, a 60-minute Signature La Prairie Facial or a 60-minute Swedish Massage, your mother will spend the afternoon enjoying a special Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea in The Star Lounge with a Champagne toast, savory sandwiches, and other treats personalized with her  initials to make her feel extra special. 50 Central Park South. 212-308-9100 http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/new-york/central-park

If you feel like taking a 30-minute drive outside of the city, The Ritz-Carlton New York, Westchester is also offering a special Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea with a specially crafted menu. Moms are welcomed with a complimentary glass of Shramsberg Blanc de Blanc wine and then a high tea experience that only the Ritz-Carlton could do: a choice of loose leaf tea, fresh homemade scones, housemade jam, and an assortment of savory sandwiches like smoked salmon with dill and asparagus, or cucumber with mint cream cheese on caraway bread.  For a sweet finish, the decadent petit four collection will bring a smile with chocolate opera cake, fresh fruit tarts, French macaroons, and madeleines.

You can add to Mom’s perfect day with a treatment at the Ritz-Carlton Spa such as a Radiance and Renewal facial, or the 90-minute Spring Equinox Spa Treatment, a three-part series of full-body dry brushing, a detoxifying algae wrap, and a massage. 3 Renaissance Square, White Plains. 914-467-5717.

How about surprising your mother with an elegant and indulgent weekend hotel staycation. Make sure you’re enrolled in Hilton’s Honors Program as you select from the Hilton hotels in New York City that are offering discounted stays, a taxi credit, discounted tickets to the Roundabout Theatre, and special meal discounts at restaurants including Lincoln Ristorante, BLT Steak, ATRIO Wine Bar & Restaurant  https://travel.hilton.com/en_us/offers/savor-nyc-weekend

If your inclinations take you somewhere outdoors, New York Hilton Midtown will put together a Mother’s Day picnic for you in Central Park. Stop by the hotel’s gourmet market, Herbs N’ Kitchen, to pick up your picnic basket filled with a blanket, housemade meats, and treats from local vendors including sandwiches, salads, New York cheesecake, and sustainable wine.. 1335 Avenue of the Americas. 212-586-7000.

One of my favorite restaurants near City Center, Carnegie Hall and the Theater District, Molyvos is a wonderful choice for a pre-theater or post-theater Mother’s Day celebration.  An authentic Greek tavern, Molyvos will present a three-course prix fixe menu with specials like jumbo lump crab cake, slow roasted Vermont baby lamb, and the restaurant’s own distinctive Greek dessert, tres leches baklava.  871 Seventh Avenue. 212-582-7500.

We wouldn’t want to forget the great restaurants in Brooklyn also celebrating Mother’s Day. My choice for the perfect place is Olmsted, a lauded sliver of a restaurant with a cozy garden in the back. Bring your mother here for lunch or dinner where a prix fixe selection of the restaurant’s many favorites will be on the menu including their inventive breakfast egg roll, duck duo with crispy duck sausage and duck scrambled eggs, and krapfen (Austrian donuts filled with pear jelly).  For dinner, you can expect more deliciousness. As of this writing, reservations were still (surprisingly) available. http://www.olmstednyc.com/ 659 Vanderbilt Avenue, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. 718- 552-2610.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
Print |  0 Comments

Planning a trip to NYC?