Menu
Holiday
by gansie
I really hate when things are such cliches, but also so, so true. I’m not sure of one event that is as joked about, but yet is so strikingly correct as a Jewish person’s day on Christmas. There’s two ultimate truths: going to the movies and eating Chinese food. I don’t know how this happened. But these are the only two options for out-of-the-house entertainment in the Northeast (I’m sure Jews in warmer climates are sunning themselves or golfing.)
My family has been going to the movies for 20 years on Christmas. A number we recently calculated by remembering our first film together on Jesus’ birthday: The Little Mermaid.
This year we saw The Blind Side and I wanted to dismiss it as a cheesy, feel good, predicable sports movie. And in many ways it was that, but it was also really fulfilling and fun and sad to watch. And I cried. And I loved it.
But in unpredictability, the Family Gansie did not chow down on lo mein. We ventured to another continent.
Read More›
by BS
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.
Read More›
by BS
Still searching for that special something to stuff in that special someone’s stocking? From bacon toothpicks to one-click butter, don’t miss our list of the most pointless, but amazing Top 10 Stocking Stuffers for Foodies.
