Winter Restaurant Week

Just a reminder to get your reservations in now for winter restaurant week. Many of the city's best restaurants offer 3-course prix fixe tasting menus, $24.07 for lunch and $35.00 for dinner. This year it runs from Jan 21-25 and Jan 28-Feb 1. You can book through open table.
Another good tip for you is that Monday January 21st is Martin Luther King Day, meaning those of you that work may have a chance at one of the lunch only deals (cough cough Nobu...cough Union Square Cafe)

Grub Street's recommendations

Midtown Lunch

If you haven't heard about Midtown Lunch blog, I recommend you check it out (particularly if you work in midtown). Zach Brooks, creator of the site just posted pictures of all of his lunches from 2007 in one giant picture. It makes me hungry just looking at it. The Times also just revealed that Zach is more than paying for his meals with his blogging. (in case you're wondering I think I could pay for maybe a weeks worth of lunches with mine...)

Time to Reflect

The year's almost up and now its time for the picks and pans lists. First up Bruni reviews 2007.
10 best new restaurants
best new dishes
impressive transformations
disappointing restaurants (ouch)

Free Food Roundup, Finally!

Zagats comes out with a full list of bars that offer free food with your purchase of a drink. Full list below:

Alligator Lounge: This Williamsburg dive is one of the original free-pizza-with-every-drink bars (along with siblings the Crocodile Lounge and the late Capone's). That’s right, order a pint of beer or other alcoholic beverage, and you get a free pizza – not a slice, but a personal pie. Only the cheese pizza is complimentary, but at $2 a topping, it’s still a good value.
dell’anima: This new West Village cocktail lounge features an afternoon apertivo hour, when you can snack on free Italian vittles like olives and salads while sipping Dale DeGroff–designed cocktails (Thursday–Saturday, 4–6 PM).
Ditch Plains: Named for a Long Island surfing spot, chef Marc Murphy’s Greenwich Village ode to seafood shacks gives saltwater taffy to diners as a parting gift to help keep the seashore vibe alive.
Hank’s Saloon: Enjoy free barbecue at this dive bar in Boerum Hill where there is live entertainment every day of the week. Sunday night is barbecue night – no cover charge, no nothing (Sundays, around 10 PM).
Home: This welcoming American eatery has been giving free chocolate-chip cookies to its customers since it opened in the Village 15 years ago.
Il Giglio: After being seated at this TriBeCa Tuscan, diners are served free appetizers, including marinated zucchini, bruschetta and cheese, to start the meal off right.
Ithaka: Diners expect a free dessert at this Greek Upper Eastsider – and they don't leave disappointed thanks to the gratis loukoumades, best described as Greek-style doughnuts, made with flour, yeast, honey and a little cinnamon.
Mermaid Inn: Neither the Upper West Side nor the East Village location of this seafood restaurant has a dessert menu. Instead, complimentary pudding is served at the end of each meal.
The Modern: During the holidays, Danny Meyer's French–New American in the MoMA gives homemade Stollen, a traditional German fruitcake, to customers to take home. Sadly, there is no such parting gift when dining at the museum's less expensive and less formal Bar Room.
Rodeo Bar: This Southern-themed bar in Gramercy has a free nacho and wing buffet during its daily four-hour happy hour (4–8 PM).
Rudy’s Bar: The drinks are cheap at this Hell’s Kitchen dive, which makes the free hot dog you get with every one all the better.
Telepan: After a meal at this New American near Lincoln Center, every diner receives a free macaroon. Nothing too big, but a sweet treat nonetheless.
The Thirsty Scholar: In addition to great drink deals, this East Village Irish bar offers a free buffet during happy hour. The menu varies, but always includes a pasta dish, a chicken dish and a vegetarian dish, as well as bread (weekdays, 5–8 PM).

This weekend check out The Wild Style Exhibit hosted by Fab Five Freddy, a celebration of graffiti art featuring works by Fab 5 himself, Futura 2000, Basquiat, Keith Haring and more. One of the murals has a very interesting backstory, recently having been uncovered during the conversion of a SoHo building into a luxury condo. (full story here)

The Wild Style Exhibit
Gallery 151
151 Wooster St. (Btwn Houston & Prince)
2nd Floor
212-375-0151
Saturday-February 15th by appointment

The 2nd 2nd Ave Deli

I last wrote about the second coming of the 2nd Ave Deli in October, but finally the time is here. Next Monday (Dec. 17), the 2nd Ave Deli is reopening for business at its new Murray Hill location. Check out previews at Gothamist and Eater, a Q&A with the heir to the deli and a video sneak preview

More Underground Dining

From Grub Street:

We got a note from everyone’s favorite secret-supper-club chef, the mysterious “D” of Bite Club NY. (Bite Club, like the Ghetto Gourmet and other secret-dinner societies, serves invitation-only meals by trained chefs at private homes around town.) Bite Club is pretty much the French Laundry of the dinner clubs, and now the cocktail program is of equal stature, thanks to the addition of Joaquin Simo from Death & Co. The next dinner, with such Simo-created pairings as foie gras–infused bourbon, is on December 22. Bite Club is accepting new members.
Bite Club NY [Official site]
Bite Club menu

A Secret Dinner, and Everyone's Invited

If my previous post about underground eating clubs piqued your interest, you'll be happy to hear that the Whisk and Ladle Supper Club has opened their invitations to readers who creatively attempt to book their spot (for tonight!) via Gothamist. The cost will be $40-50 per person depending on the cost of ingredients, and the menu is as follows...

Friday’s Whisk & Ladle
Menu:
First course:Port-Poached Fig stuffed with Goat CheeseStrawberry Black Pepper Granita.
Entrée:Beef Tenderloin with Black Bear Romesco and homegrown sweet potatoes (from the neighbor's garden boxes).
Dessert and cocktails are TBD.

If you miss out on tonight's dinner, there are also 5 spots open for Sunday's "Evening Brunch" featuring DJ's David and Morgan from Apes & Androids. Its the last Whisk & Ladle dinner of 2007 before they resume bi-monthly in 2008 on Saturday nights.

David Blaine Torture

I doubt I'm the only one to be excited to hear we'll get to witness David Blaine torturing himself yet again. This time he's planning to stay awake for as long as possible (how very New York of him) possibly in Central Park.

Is it any wonder people love seeing him tortured...
He tells the New York Post's gossip column PageSix, "It's been tried before. In 1959, Peter Tripp stayed awake eight days, but it resulted in permanent brain damage. In 1964, 17-year-old Randy Gardner did it for a high school science project. He lasted 11 and a half days but recovered fully. No damage. If I do this thing, I'll do it on my feet. Standing up."The problem is there's no way to know how to offset brain damage or to train for this because there isn't sufficient research. I believe the first guy's mistake was not being in great physical condition. Also he used stimulants to keep awake, which I assume did him in."

But for a reason not to hate him, his income from the stunt is going to go to the Brooke Medical Center which helps kids.

Something's Missing in the Art World

Above is a picture of the exhibit "You", an Urs Fischer installation at Gavin Brown's Enterprise Gallery. Its a 38x30 foot, eight foot deep crater dug within the gallery.
More information about how it was created (10 days) and at what cost ($250,000) can be found at the following posts
cool hunting post
new york magazine post
New York Times post

I'd say we one upped the artists across the pond

The exhibit is open through December 22
Gavin Brown's Enterprise
620 Greenwich Street
212-627-5258

Peepee in the Park

Madison Square Park just debuted their brand new toilets. curbed coverage here and here. gothamist coverage here. that's a lot of coverage for a public bathroom...perhaps its because it provides even more of an excuse to linger by the shake shack.

Santacon 2007: Pictures

Some pictures from this year's Santacon.

Bad Santa

On Saturday beware of naughty santas roaming the streets. Its Santacon 2007! Every December crazy people dress like Santa and drink like sin on a pub crawl starting at 10am. Santacon NYC site. location announced tonight!
wikipedia entry

The Bodega Chef: Cream Sauce

As a reminder...

Here are the rules: Any meat, any spices, the rest of the ingredients must be available from one of the bodegas within a 3 block radius from me.

sidenote: I typically keep chicken and ground beef or turkey in the freezer and I have a pretty decent collection of spices.

Fettucini Alfredo or Fettucini with a Salmon Cream Sauce

12 oz. dried fettucini, spaghetti or linguini
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste
parsley

(if you want it/have it)
1 cup canned green peas
2 cups canned salmon flaked

1. cook the pasta in boiling water until done
2. melt 2 tablespoons butter, add the peas (if you want) and saute until tender over medium heat
3. add the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter and the cream, reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the butter melts.
4. add 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg and the salmon (if you want)
5. simmer until cheese melts, about 2 minutes.
6. drain pasta, pour sauce over pasta sprinkle remaining cheese over it garnish with parsley and serve.

adapted from cooks.com recipe for Pasta with Salmon Cream Sauce

Bon Apetit in New York

Perhaps in response to some recent heckling from grub street, that they’ll never be hip or in touch with the daily goings on of the food world, epicurious.com posts a guide to their favorite eats in the big apple.