Odds ‘n ends posts about things happening in NYC area , plus leftover posts from original BIte of the Best site
Devour (IN) Downtown Restaurant Week runs through Monday, August 19 to Sunday, September 1, 2013, featuring a variety of participating restuarants and offering 3-course meals at a valued price. For additional information or a listing of participating restaurants, click here.
On July 19-20, the 3rd Annual Hudson Valley Food Lover's' Festival is holding two fundraising events at Columbia County's Copake Country Club. The first event, "Hootenanny" Farm Fresh Dinner on July 19, 6-11 pm will include a Hudson Valley cheese course and golf cart drive-in movie. The goal of the second event, "Friends of the Farmer" Festival July 20th, 11 am-6 pm is to raise funds for the Farm On! Foundation and Camp Farm On!, which educates students about having careers involving the local food system. For more information click here.
Tickets are now available for Gramercy Tavern’s annual Autumn Harvest Dinner, taking place Monday, September 30th at the restaurant (42 East 20th Street New York City). It's the 20th anniversary benefiting Share Our Strength. The stellar line-up of chefs includes Linton Hopkins (Restaurant Eugene) Stephanie Izard (Girl & The Goat) Marc Vetri (Vetri, Osteria, Amis, Alla Spina) Mindy Segal (Hot Chocolate) The event will include a Champagne & hors d’oeuvres reception, a five-course dinner prepared by the chefs, extraordinary wines paired by celebrated sommeliers, as well as a luxury silent and live auction. For more information or to purchase tickets, please click here.
Chef Todd English and friends present a “Feast” to Benefit Cancer Research on July 27 from 6:30 to 9:30 pm at the home of Maria and Kenneth Fishel in Bridgehampton, New York. The 9th Annual “A Hamptons Happening,” — an evening of food, drink, music, dancing and an impressive auction— benefits the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation (SWCRF). Founded in 1976, the SWCRF is a pioneer in cancer research, focusing on uncovering the causes of cancer and reprogramming cancer cells. In addition to honoring celebrity Chef English, the event also honors fashion legend Ruth Finley, creator of the well-known Fashion Calendar. WCBS-TV News Anchor Chris Wragge is the evening’s emcee. [...]
On Saturday, July 20th, the James Beard Foundation (JBF) will honor multiple James Beard Award-winning TV personality, chef, food writer and teacher Andrew Zimmern at Chefs & Champagne New York, the Foundation's annual summer fundraiser in the Hamptons at the Wölffer Estate Vineyard (Wölffer Estate, 183 Sagg Road, Sagaponack, NY 11962). This sumptuous tasting party will feature flowing Champagne, the wines of Wölffer Estate Vineyard, Stella Artois Belgian lager and culinary offerings from a select group of more than 35 renowned chefs, many from JBF Award–winning restaurants. General Admission from 6:00 to 8:30 pm is $200 for JBF Members, $275 for non-members and includes all tastings, silent auction bidding opportunities, [...]
Jacques Torres — king among chocolatiers — welcomed the summer with an ice cream social celebrating National Strawberry Shortcake Day starring Driscoll's sweet berries at Jacques Torres Chocolate, 350 Hudson Street, New York City. The evening included berry cocktails, a sampling of Jacques new ice cream flavors and a tour of the chocolate factory. Plus lots of fresh berries. - Special correspondent Jean Bortner
Make Mother’s Day extra sweet with Perugina’s chocolate school at La Scuola Grande (Eataly, 200 Fifth Avenue @ 23rd Street, NYC) hosted by cookbook author Francine Segan, Saturday, May 11 --- 2:00 to 3:30 pm Perugina — known worldwide for its Baci candy and commitment to the art of creating quality confections — invites you to attend the chocolate class where you will create your very own hand-crafted Baci and also explore a guided tasting of specialty chocolate bars as well as gain a deeper understanding about this popular ingredient. You'll.... Meet chocolate expert & class instructor, Francine Segan, trained at the legendary Perugina La Scuola del Cioccolato in Perugia [...]
This year’s 19th Annual Taste of Tribeca kicks off with a cocktail party on Wednesday, May 1st from 6-9pm at Macao Trading Company at 311 Church Street, New York, NY 10013; 212.431.8750. This exclusive event starts the celebration of local downtown flavor. The spirited evening will include special cocktails created by Steve Olson, aka wine geek, along with exotic hors d’oeuvres provided by Macao, including Mushroom & Truffle Croquettes, Macanese Chili Prawns, Veal & Lamb Meatballs with Francesinhas Sauce,and Mini Chicken Dumplings in chili oil. Cocktail Party tickets are $75 per person and include a General Taste Ticket to Taste of Tribeca on May 18th. All proceeds will ensure the [...]
Hamptons Restaurant Week runs from Sunday, April 7 to Sunday, April 14, 2013, featuring a variety of participating restaurants offering a 3-course prix fixe lunches for $19.95 and dinners for $27.95 all night, except for Saturday when it will only be offer until 7pm. For additional information, click here. -guest contributor
Imagine this. You’re out to dinner with some friends. You see some awesome new dish with some weird new ingredient you’ve read about on your food blog (you’re pretty cultured after all). You’re dying to try it, but you have no idea how to even pronounce it. You call over the waiter and give it a shot. It’s a massacre of the English language. Plates drop, silverware clinks and the entire restaurant points and laughs at you until you run home and cry into your giant pillow. It’s OK. This is why you order food online. No phones, no talking, no pronunciation. Order that weird dish with too many vowels [...]
Atlantic City Restaurant Week runs from Sunday, March 3 to Saturday, March 9, 2013, featuring participating restaurants with selected prix-fixe lunches for $15.13 and dinners for $33.13 . Prices are per person and do not include beverage, tax, or gratuity. For additional information or to see a full listing or participating restaurants and their menus, click here. -guest contributor
Jeux de Mots trans.WORDPLAY presents FOODACTS a new play at the Lion Theatre (410 West 42nd Street) conceived and directed by Barbara Bosch with only 16 performances, February 6-24, 2013. FOODACTS is a culinary stage adventure that explores our primal connections to food and its power to unite. Through an entertaining encounter with established novels, colorful poetry, historic essays, personal letters and other literary works by Langston Hughes, Proust, Homer, and Dickens, among others, FOODACTS serves up the joys of food and eating. It goes beyond the mere palate, revealing how human beings relate to and obsess over food from as far back as The Bible to today. Barbara Bosch [...]
Put on your best apron and compete to win nearly $1.1 million in cash, prizes and trips, including a $1 million Grand Prize! The always-classic Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest is redesigned and now open for entries at www.BakeOff.com. Contest finals will take place November 10-12, 2013, at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. What’s new? • For the first time, America will vote to determine all 100 finalists to compete for the Grand Prize at the Bake-Off Contest finals. • To encourage simpler, original recipes, submissions must include no more than seven ingredients and take 30 minutes or less to prepare, not including baking or cooling time. • The [...]
Organic Avenue has officially opened a new pop-up boutique at 1701 Broadway on the west side of the street between West 53rd and 54th Streets. Organic Avenue’s newest boutique is located next to the Late Night With David Letterman studio. The 1,000-square-foot space will remain open through May 2013. The pop-up boutique will offer Organic Avenue’s full selection of cold-pressed juices and organic, vegan food items complimented by snacks and private label supplements. Recent new offerings — including cold-pressed, fair-trade coffee, Gingerbread Latte and LOVE*nog. A special cleanse titled LOVE*POP54 will be available to customers in-store only – a one-day, all-juice cleanse that floods the body with pure nutrition ($56). [...]
Bonnie, Bryan & Eric: Instead of reviewing a product this week, we’re asking you to share… share what you’re thankful for this year in our comments section, and share with those less fortunate.
Many of us in the northeast are thankful for electricity and for still having our homes. Others aren’t so lucky as a result of Sandy, a storm that devastated our region last month. Many others have also been affected by economic hardships. 
That's why — in addition to sharing your holiday thoughts here — we're asking you to please share food and other donations with those less fortunate by giving to food banks, food drives and any organization that help those in need.
To encourage you to do so, we’re offering a chance to win All-Clad Turkey Lifters: a set of two stainless steel lifters to use for moving large roasts or turkeys from the cooking vessel to the carving board, or to secure meat while carving; value $35.
To win: Post comment telling us which charity...
Ocean Spray’s Holiday Helpline at 1-800-662-3263 is a resource for holiday related cooking and entertainment questions. The help line is open: Today through Wednesday, Nov. 21 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. On Thanksgiving, Nov. 22 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. On Friday, Nov. 23; 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. for your leftover questions From November 26-December 23 only Monday-Friday 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. For additional information click here.
Celebrity Chef Aaron Sanchez and wife Ife Sanchez Mora are teaming up with 3 other "Chopped" judges to help raise money for The Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls with a Celebrity Tasting meet and greet November 27th at 7pm at The Tribeca Loft above Tribeca Grill. Tickets are $100. Come taste the food of Chef's Chris Santos, Aaron Sanchez, Amanda Frietag and Maneet Chauhan of "Chopped" and help raise money for young girls building self esteem through musical education and performance. For tickets click here. - guest contributor
The Curry Club, dedicated to the exploration of the myriad iterations of the pungently spiced dish, will debut at Jones Wood Foundry, 401 E. 76th Street, New York on Monday, November 5 and continue on throughout the month, specifically on November 12, 19 and 26. Each evening will feature a curry, along with the special Indian beers and wines, throughout Jones Wood Foundry’s normal dinner service, 6:00 to 11:00 p.m. Jason Hicks, chef/ co-owner of the Upper East Side food-driven pub, and Saira Malhotra, food writer on the Indian food scene, will partner to present New York City a uniquely British experience each Monday night in November with a different [...]
In an effort to examine the role of women in leadership positions in the culinary industry, the James Beard Foundation and Vermilion are launching the "Women in Culinary Leadership Program." The initiative will be announced September 18, 2012 at the "Women in Culinary Leadership Evening" at Vermilion in New York City in an event featuring a thought-provoking panel discussion plus a five-course Indian-Latin fusion dinner. The program — spearheaded by Rohini Dey, founder of Vermilion, and Susan Ungaro, president of the James Beard Foundation — aims to examine the gender imbalance in the food industry, celebrate the accomplishments of women in the field and support women working to make it [...]
