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by BS

Trendwatching: Tea Party Edition

Whatever happened to coffee?

Has anyone else noticed you can barely check into the food world nowadays without bumping into someone going on and on about tea? I’ve been in a number of restaurants lately where the after-dinner menus featured “specialty teas” alongside the espresso and brandy. Bon Appetit is telling us to infuse our food with tea. There are tons of blogs about tea, blogs just about green tea — hell there are even blogs about tea cosies.

Over at Oyster Locals, I checked out three new NYC tea houses to see what all the fuss is about. They all featured some far-out flavors, and I certainly finished my teas, but I have to admit I have yet to find one tea that totally knocked my socks off.

So I’m wondering — do all you foodies out there get as excited about tea as you do about say, coffee and cocktails? I mean, I’ll drink a cuppa, but I’m still not totally sold that it’s the greatest thing since sliced bacon.

Thoughts?

(Photo: Rumproast via Look at This Fucking Teabagger)

by BS

ES Local: Four Tribeca Restaurants Worth the Tribeca Prices

We don’t make it to Tribeca restaurants all that often, because, well, our food blogger salary isn’t quite cut out for it (and we don’t mean the subway fare). But you can hardly live among the New York food scene without feeling the urge to splurge once in a while, and this downtown ‘hood is home to some of Manhattan’s trendiest (and priciest) dining scenes. Here are four restaurants that make breaking the bank well worth it.

Corton: New York’s current restaurant critics’ darling gives the greenmarket-fueled locavore trend its highest upgrade yet. You may need a dictionary to decode the menu, which starts with wakame seaweed buttered bread and ends with sour plum/lemon verbana/fig clafoutis for dessert. The three-course prix fixe starts at $85. 239 W. Broadway.

Marc Forgione: Only a year-and-a-half old, this young, Michelin-star chef’s eponymous restaurant — previously known as Forge until a doppelganger Miami resto threatened to sue — has a more laid-back vibe than its longer-standing neighbors, but the food is no less refined. The always-changing menu focuses on local, seasonal ingredients in creative dishes like parsnip agnolotti with braised oxtail and black truffles. 134 Reade St.

in Restaurants 1 comments

by BS

ES Local: The Top 10 Most Anticipated New NYC Restaurants of 2010

2009, as we all know by now, was more a year for restaurant closings than openings. But with the economy kinda-sorta-maybe turning a corner-ish, here’s hoping that 2010 will be a banner year for eating out once again. With that thought in mind, take a look at the top 10 rumored/confirmed/dreamed up/maybe really happening NYC restaurants we’re crossing our fingers for in 2010.

10. No. 7 Sub

Fort Greene’s inventive No. 7—called one of 2009’s best new restaurants in America by Bon Appetit—is heading to Manhattan, of all places, to debut a more wallet-friendly menu. Rumored to open early this year inside midtown’s Ace Hotel, the take-out-only offshoot will feature a selection of under-$10 sandwiches made on house-baked bread and topped with yummy extras like kimchi pickles and Japanese kewpie mayo. 20 W. 29th St.

9. Three More Shake Shacks!

One day, there will be more Shake Shacks in New York than Starbucks. Until that glorious, heart-stopping moment arrives (we’ll set the over/under at February 2014), those not near existing shacks at Madison Square Park, the UWS, and Shea Stadium can get their burger fix at three new locations: downtown (Prince and Mulberry Streets), midtown (8th Avenue and 44th Street), and UES (86th Street and Lex). In the randomest restaurant news ever, there will also be one in Kuwait.

8. The Sam Talbot Project, Continued

The New York foodie set is certifiably obsessed with this Top Chef reject/pin-up model/chef at Long Island’s seasonal Surf Lodge. But despite being constantly seen all over town and rumored to be making a bid on every space that comes on the market, we’re still waiting for the great Sam Talbot restaurant. Supposedly, and emphasis on supposedly, Sam will be cooking at an as-yet-unnamed over-the-top eatery inside Chinatown’s upcoming Mondrian Hotel. Here’s hoping! 150 Lafayette St.

7. DessertTruck

It’s been a full five months since the truck that started the upscale mobile restaurant trend traded in its wheels and then announced it’s transformation into a permanent LES eatery. Let’s get this thing going, guys! New Yorkers can’t be expected to go without $5 rosemary-caramel goat cheese cheesecake for much longer, can we? 6 Clinton Street.

in Bacon / Lists / Sandwich / Top 10 Lists 2 comments

by BS

ES Local: New Year’s Eve Dinners That Won’t Put You Into Debt for All of 2010

Ah, New Year’s Eve dinner at a fancy Manhattan restaurant. Always sounds like such a perfect, romantic idea. That is, until you start calling around and discover that every eatery this side of Applebee’s is offering a “special” NYE menu at a not-so-special price of something like $250 a plate. WTF! Why is it considered OK for New Year’s dinners to cost five times as much as what they cost every other night of the year? Fine, add a special item to the menu or jack up the prices a little, but eating out on New Year’s shouldn’t be more expensive than, say, getting on a plane and flying to another city.

So we scoured the city to find four classy restaurants that that are offering tempting, high-end New Year’s Eve dinners at (relatively) reasonable prices. Here are our recommendations:

Brasserie 8 1/2: At $59 a head, the three-course prix fixe at this Midtown hotspot isn’t exactly bottom-of-the-barrel pricing, but if you simply must eat at a trendy NYC dining palace, this is about as cheap as you’re gonna get on the big night. And for fluke tartare, rack of lamb, and chocolate-chesnut profiteroles, the deal is actually pretty reasonable. Plus you can saunter down 57th Street afterward and get a (somewhat-distant) view of the Times Square ball drop. 9 West 57th St.

Telepan: This high-end Upper West Side eatery has the standard overpriced NYE prix fixe ($165), but they also make a nod to the cheapskates. The catch is that you have to be willing to eat a la grandma — the regular menu is on offer from 5:00 to 6:30 only. This includes a four-course prix fixe, which costs $55 and includes items like foie gras torchon and braised grass-fed beef brisket, or you can order a la carte. Either option leaves plenty of night left for drinking. 72 West 69th St.

in Holiday 0 comments

by BS

Coo-Coo for Coquito

Editor’s Note: Food enthusiast Matthew Wexler, an NYC-based freelance writer and private chef at Good Commons, a boutique retreat center located in Plymouth, VT, joins us this week with this special report on a very unique holiday cocktail.

I am a seasonal drinker. If it’s 90 degrees and stifling outside, there is nothing more satisfying than a Hendrick’s gin and tonic. When the whether chills and the leaves crisp to burnt oranges and reds, that’s how I like to see my cocktail — in the form of a Manhattan on the rocks. So when Daisy Martinez tipped me off about the annual coquito competition and tasting at El Museo del Barrio this past weekend, I had my jingle bells on in a heartbeat. Never mind that this Puerto Rican holiday favorite was completely new to my drinking repertoire, I had a good feeling that both cocktail and culture would welcome me with open arms. For those unfamiliar with said cocktail, International Coquito Federation Founder and President, Debbie Quiñones, gave me the low-down:

“I was introduced to the drink by a family friend, and when she passed I was desperate for coquito. I started inviting family and friends over for Coquito parties, and with this inspiration and enthusiasm, we decided to form the International Coquito Federation and take it to another level.”

The Coquito competition blew up last year, when more than 700 thirsty tasters showed up at Museo del Barrio, and reportedly, attendees were so coo-coo for coquito that the police were called to keep things under control. So what is in this magical ambrosia that elicits such heartfelt madness?

According to Quiñones, a traditional coquito consists of condensed milk, evaporated milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, coconut cream and/or milk; eggs are optional. Oh, and “as much rum as you can possibly put into it without knocking somebody out.”

in Drinks 6 comments

by BS

ES Local: Even More Winter Outer Drinking Spots in NYC

View Where to Drink Outside in the Winter in NYC in a larger map

Don’t fret if you’ve already run through our entire list of New York bars where you can drink outside during winter. We’ve gone ahead and added two brand new entries, the massive rooftop bars that just opened at two midtown spots: The Kimberly Hotel and the Strand Hotel. Both, oddly and amazingly, feature retractable glass roofs. Weird. More deets on both spaces over at Oyster Locals.

Plus, we’ve added Laura‘s suggestion, the Winter Garden at La Laterna, to the map above. Know of any more outdoor drinking spots we missed? Add ’em to the map!

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by BS

Another Sign the Foodiepocalypse is Upon Us

How to know when your kid is watching too much Food Network, via Overheard in New York:

Kid #1:

Paper beats rock. BAM! Your rock is blowed up!

Kid #2:

“Bam” doesn’t blow up, “bam” makes it spicy. Now I got a SPICY ROCK! You can’t defeat that!

Not sure if this is upsetting or awesome. (Hat tip: Alex)

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