DINE IN BROOKLYN
Bubby’s is one of more than two hundred restaurants participating in Dine In Brooklyn, March 15-25 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Multiple locations
March 15-25, lunch $20.10 , dinner $25
718-802-3846
www.visitbrooklyn.org
Once upon a time, Brooklyn was not exactly known for its fancy food, aside from just a few classic joints — the River Café, Peter Luger’s, Junior’s, Lundy’s, Gage & Tollner, Gargiulo’s — but the last ten years or so have seen a steady rise in the quantity of quality restaurants in the world’s greatest borough, and you can try many of them during the annual Dine In Brooklyn festival. From March 15 to 25, more than two hundred Brooklyn eateries will be offering special prix-fixe lunches and brunches for $20.10 and dinners for $25. Among the many participants are the Pearl Room and Fushimi in Bay Ridge, Bacchus in Boerum Hill, Chestnut and La Petite Provence in Carroll Gardens, Bubby’s in DUMBO, Madiba in Fort Greene, Alchemy and Melt in Park Slope, Mazzat in Red Hook, and Zenkichi in Williamsburg. Oh, there are also these places called the River Café, Junior’s, and Gargiulo’s. In addition, a bunch of smaller restaurants will be offering an even better deal, cutting prices in half, so brunch and lunch for two is $20.10, and dinner is $25 per couple, at such dining establishments as Saint Germain, Rice, the Smoke Joint, Aperitivo, Gialeti’s Café, Chipshop, and Il Fometto. Mangia, bambinos!
DIVINALE
WOMEN OF WINE WEEK
City Winery
155 Varick St.
March 8-13, $40-$75
212-608-0555
www.citywinery.com
www.divinale.com
We regularly feature great music events at City Winery, but we shouldn’t forget about how the venue got its name. From March 8 through 13, City Winery will be celebrating the women of wine with a festival of tastings, talks, dinners, and other special events. Today, International Women’s Day, features Cristina Mariani-May leading a tasting of Castello Banfi, Italy’s four-time International Winery of the Year that was started by Mariani-May’s grandfather in 1919. On March 9, winemaker Melissa Stackhouse helms a tasting of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from La Crema in Sonoma; on March 10, sommelier and wine director Mollie Battenhouse hosts a Women of Wine World Wine Tour with wine coaches and Cathy Corison, Laura Brunelli, Isabel Ferrando, and Brigitte Roch; March 11 is Working Women’s Evening, featuring food by Anne Burrell and Lee Anne Wong and wine poured by Master of Wine Lisa Granik; Alessia Antinori takes oenophiles on an afternoon Tuscan Wine Tour for lunch, followed at night by a BYOB Dinner Celebrating the Wines of Helen Turley, hosted by Granik, during which you can bring your own wine with no corkage fee; and the party concludes on March 13 with a Charity Grand Tasting of more than seventy wines produced by women, along with seminars, benefiting the Global Fund for Women.
PURIM 2010
Masks and Mayhem is only one of many Purim parties taking place all over the city on February 27
The Jewish holiday of Purim is a time of rejoicing, celebrating the defeat of the Persian leader Haman, who, serving under Persian king Ahasuerus in the fifth century BCE, sought to kill all the Jews. There will be Purim parties all over town on Saturday night, when people will gather with noisemakers and good grog, partaking in the triangular delicacy known as hamentashen, and reading from the Megillah. Chris Noth will host the Aish Center’s “Masks and Mayhem” in the Sony Atrium, with food from Eli Kirshstein, a free drink, music by DJ Roy Baron, and a costume contest that can earn you a pair of first-class tickets to Israel or a Private Chef’s Table for Ten at Solo. The Shushan Channel will be going crazy at 92yTribeca with their eighth annual Purim spiel, “Lady Graga,” led by Daily Show creator Lizz Winstead and taking on pop culture as only they can. JDub records will be getting down at the CSV Cultural Center with a Hamanbashin costume contest and party featuring live performances by the Shondes, Can!!Can, and Gangsta Rabbi, DJ sets by Ultragrrrl and Matt Elkin, and Patrick Aleph delivering the whole Megillah channeled through Sid Vicious. Israeli hip-hoppers Hadag Nahash will be partying late into the night at (le) poisson rouge. At City Winery, Storahtelling presents Bloody Esther, starring Rebbetzin Hadassah Gross, better known as the First Lady of Judeo Kitsch. And in Brooklyn, Heeb magazine has teamed up with 3rd Ward for the Pour ’em Party, featuring Team Facelift, the Shining Twins, Dirty Fences, and DJs Johnny Tropical, Drew Heffron, and Kool Jew, while the Sway Machinery will headline the third annual Purim Bash at Littlefield, along with Djarara.
NYC RESTAURANT WEEK EXTENDED
Extended through February 28
Lunch: $24.07; dinner: $35
www.nycgo.com/restaurantweek
Begun in 1992, Restaurant Week has become a New York City institution, as eateries across the five boroughs offer special prix-fixe menus, including some of the hottest, most expensive places, giving everyone the opportunity to sample their wares. Winter Restaurant Week has been extended through February and features nearly two hundred city dining establishments offering three-course lunches for $24.07 and dinners for $35 (Saturdays excluded, Sundays optional). Among the many participating restaurants are the ‘21’ Club, Aquavit, Asia de Cuba, B. Smith, Butter, Estiatorio Milos, Gotham Bar & Grill, I Trulli, Le Cirque, Megu, Nice Matin, Nobu, Patroon, Petrossian, the River Café, Rosa Mexicano, Shun Lee Palace, Tamarind, Tocqueville, and the Water Club. The above Web site includes many of the special menus so you’ll know exactly what you’re in for before making that coveted reservation.
HOT CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL
City Bakery will be featuring a different hot chocolate flavor every day this month (photo by Peter Kirn)
The City Bakery
3 West 18th St, between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Through February 28
212-366-1414
www.hotchocolatefestival.com
While fighting off blizzard conditions, you can warm up at City Bakery’s 18th annual Hot Chocolate Festival, which continues all month long at the popular Union Square spot. Every day the bakery will be featuring a different flavor; for the rest of the week, Thursday is Tropical, Friday is Bourbon, Saturday is Milk Chocolate, and Sunday is Love Potion for Valentine’s Day. We’re particularly looking forward to Darkest Dark (2/18), Creamy Stout (2/19), Sunken Treasure (2/21), Beer + Brown Sugar (2/25), and Banana Peel (2/27). And while you’re there, don’t forget about their amazing melted chocolate cookies and other delights.
HARLEM RESTAURANT + RETAIL WEEK
Multiple locations in Harlem
February 15 – March 15
Restaurant meals and select retail items and services: $20.10
www.harlemrestaurantandretailweek.com
In honor of Black History Month, dozens of Harlem restaurants and retail shops are participating in a special promotion, offering meals and retail items for $20.10. It might be called Harlem Restaurant + Retail Week, but it’s actually a month of promotions in which $1 of each related purchase will be donated to UNICEF for Haitian relief. Participating dining establishments include Chez Lucienne, Melba’s, Mojo, Nectar, Sylvia’s and the Den, while you can shop in such stores as Harlem Vintage Wine, the Hueman Bookstore & Café, Karrot Health Foods, Katrina Parris Flowers, Mod Squad Cycles, and Posh Paws Pet Supplies. There will also be deals at the Apollo Theater, Bikram Yoga, the Dwyer Cultural Center, the Harlem Arts Alliance, the Little Gym of Harlem, Harlem Lanes, the Maysles Institute, and Renaissance Fine Art, among others.
IHOP NATIONAL PANCAKE DAY CELEBRATION
International House of Pancakes
2294 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd., 73-01 Northern Blvd., and other locations
Tuesday, February 23, free, 7:00 am – 10:00 pm
www.ihoppancakeday.com
When we were kids, we always looked forward to those Sundays when our family headed over to IHOP for big breakfasts, for us usually consisting of the Young People’s Plate with boysenberry syrup. We hope you haven’t had breakfast yet this morning, because today is IHOP’s National Pancake Day Celebration. Starting at 7:00 am and continuing through 10:00 tonight, the International House of Pancakes will be serving free short stacks of buttermilk pancakes, one to a customer, all over the country. Yes, it might be free, but IHOP is asking that each person make a donation in return, benefiting local children’s hospitals through the Children’s Miracle Network as well as other local community charities. IHOP started National Pancake Day in 2006 and has raised $3.25 million so far, looking to reach the $5 million level today. They generally hold the event in conjunction with Fat Tuesday, but they’re a week late this year. In any case, cityfolk can get their flapjack fix in Harlem or Jackson Heights, while Jersey and Long Island residents have a lot more choices.
