First Course
New Yorkers love their food. Subsequently, they love their food trucks. Wafels & Dinges, Kelvin's Slush and Korilla BBQ are just a few of our favorites. Lately, food truck festivals are all the rage, bringing together a major chunk of NYC's trucks to one spot for foodies to go crazy over. But what happens when your favorite food trucks are nowhere to be found? However much we love them, we also hate them because you just have to be at the right spot at the right time to find them. Thank goodness for LunchCalling, a new delivery site just for food trucks. A great alternative to Seamless, this new site allows people to order from street vendors and other mobile food vendors.
Don’t want to clean up after cooking Seder for famiy and friends? You won’t have to—eateries around the city have made Passover-approved menus that cater to the traditional Seder meal without skimping out on the foodie flare. From sweet treats to succulent meats these restaurants have got all your Seder needs covered.
Lattanzi Ristorante (361 West 46th Street)
Make your Passover meal Italian at Lattanzi. They are offering Passover diners a four-course meal that starts with Chicken Soup with rice and a choice entrée of Baked Striped Bass with sautéed spinach with raisins and pine nuts or Baby Lamb entrée with Jewish style artichokes. For dessert, enjoy almond cookies served with a glass of sweet wine.
Who doesn't like to enjoy some wine while getting a taste of what another country has to offer? On April 17th, The Wines of Argentina, Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Tourism and the Consulate General in New York will host the 3rd Annual World Malbec Day, celebrating the iconic wines from Argentina.
The worldwide celebration will have events happening throughout New York, London, Los Angeles, and other big cities. Events will include wine tastings, tango performances, and a Malbec crush. New York will be hosting an invitation-only gala and tasting at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which will have wine industry executives, experts, and aficionados in attendance.
One of the interesting things about holidays is that the traditions surrounding them can be so enjoyable, and oftentimes so delicious, that even the most staunch atheist can feel hesitant to completely abandon them. Even those who still identify with a particular religion can often forgo the rituals, services, and prayers associated with certain holidays but will definitely embrace the gift exchanges, parties, and most definitely the food. I’m certain that not everyone has been making sacrifices for Lent. Many Catholics have probably forgotten that Palm Sunday was this past weekend, many more will be observing Holy Week as just another week, and there are probably quite a few who don’t plan on going to church this coming Sunday. Nevertheless, many self-identifying Christians will probably be making plans to enjoy an Easter meal this weekend. Along with the warmer weather our northern compatriots hope to experience, our recent “spring forward” to which many of us are still adjusting also marks an unofficial start to “the brunch season”. Sure, we enjoy leisurely al fresco brunches all the time in South Florida, but brunch never seems as mandatory as it does during one of the Spring’s most brunch-friendly holidays, Easter. In case you have yet to make plans for this weekend, here are few of Joonbug’s suggestions for restaurants serving up Easter brunch in South Florida:
March 28th kicks off the first installment of “America on the Rocks: Local Spirits and Cheese,” a first-of-its kind tasting event organized by Rhys & Rylee, a New York City-based producer of handcrafted vermouths. The pairing series, set to be held at Murray’s Cheese Shop on Bleecker Street, will celebrate artisanal New York State spirits while pairing them with a range of cheeses curated by the city’s most famous cheese-monger. Although it seems unusual to pair cheeses with vermouth, as it is much more common to pair cheese with beer or wine, vermouth, a type of aromatized wine, has a distinctive, robust flavor that pairs very nicely with cheese.
Easter candy may be the best time of year if you’re as much of a chocoholic, candy-feign as we are. Just think about it; there’s peeps dipped in chocolate, pectin jelly beans in every flavor imaginable, there’s chocolate eggs, mello-creams, Cadbury cream eggs, and chocolate bunnies, lambs, cows, ducks, etc. Not to mention specialty cookies and cakes that are holiday specific. So, are you drooling yet?
We’ve compiled a list of delicious and decadent holiday gifts to help you narrow down what to put in your basket or someone else’s if you’re feeling generous enough. Don’t live in NYC? Don’t worry some of our Easter favs ship nationwide.
Nobody likes to cook a giant Easter meal, so head out on the town and have one of New York City's amazing chefs whip you and your family up something divine. We've got the best Easter specials and meals below for you to choose from. Happy Holidays!
On Easter Sunday, Marco Polo Ristorante will feature a prix fixe menu comprised of traditional Italian dishes and contemporary interpretations. Standouts from the menu include Tortellini in Brodo and Schiaffoni con Ragu D'Agnello. The restaurant will accommodate seatings at 1pm, 3pm, 5pm, and 7pm. Please call for reservations.
Früzen Ice is the "21st century antidote to drinking boredom." Their ice is the coolest (both literally and figuratively) thing to happen to drinks since we discovered alcohol. The company is the first and only manufacturer and distributor of crystal clear ice containing fruits, vegetables, herbs, and candies within. The ice is used to refresh both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages while creating a unique visual display and enhancing the flavor of the drink, without additives once the ice melts.
Last night foodies from all corners of the 5 boroughs gathered together to mingle and nibble on the some of the city’s top eats to raise funds for Slow Food NYC at the Village Voice’s Sixth Annual Choice Eats at the 69th Regiment Armory. Joonbug, for one, should’ve went with a better plan instead of trying to eat everything in sight. We don’t recommend eating Liberian, brownies, ramen noodles, halibut ceviche, and sweet shrimp rolls in the same sitting but we absolutely don’t regret it either. In an otherwise impossible feat in a 3-hour time frame, Choice Eats allowed foodies to sample foods that may have been outside of their comfort zone and not within the reaches of their neighborhood.
For those of you New Yorkers who are all about the downtown nightlife scene, it might be time to rethink your location. The Upper West Side welcomed the French bistro and lounge, Cafe Tallulah, in January and it is one spot you need to check out. The main floor is comprised of a fine dining area and the UWS's longest bar made of zinc, which plays homage to old Penn Station. Additionally, during the summer the windowed walls open up to create outside sidewalk seating.
After sufficiently stuffing your belly, head to the sophisticated lounge downstairs, which is open Thursday through Saturday from 8pm-2am. Award winning mixologist, Dushan Zaric, of Employees Only and Macao Trading Company, created the the innovative cocktail menu, while Tom Gannon serves as the wine director for the venue. Between the pair, you can sip on the drink of your dreams whether you're at the bar upstairs, pairing libations with your dinner, or downstairs in the lounge. The lounge can be best described as cosmopolitan, with vintage seating, exposed brick, and even a pool table.