Posts Tagged ‘Chip City’

Break out Your Easter Bonnets for a Festive Easter Celebration in New York City

We might be together as a family this year, but maybe not. Still, there’s every reason to celebrate Easter and the arrival of spring. Here are some ways to make sure you have a sweet holiday with zoom classes, Easter brunches and sweets for every taste.

Enjoy an Easter Brunch with Your Family

NYC restaurants are back in business and are celebrating this year with wonderful Easter brunches. The range of international dining options and the choice to dine indoors or outdoors add a new dimension to this holiday tradition.

Bar Room at the Beekman Courtesy Crafted Hospitality

The Bar Room at the Beekman

From the team behind Tom Colicchio’s Temple Court comes a classically influenced multi-course Easter brunch that’s purely American.  The Bar Room at the Beekman’s first brunch since the return of indoor dining highlights a spring menu from Matthew Dahlkemper and Abby Swain with savory cheddar biscuits, caviar deviled eggs, braised Colorado lamb shank, smoked salmon benedicts & more.

Courtesy The Osprey

The Osprey

At the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, in an airy garden setting, The Osprey has cooked up farm-to-table Easter specials with choices reflecting the global nature of New York City. It’s a tour around the world with the likes of the Osprey’s Nest (poached pasture -raised egg, kadaifi, smoked sablefish, lemon crème fraiche and caviar), chitarra carbonara or rhubarb Pavlova with mascarpone sabayon. The menu comes with a bonus — you can walk over the Brooklyn Bridge when you’re done, so the calories come free of charge.

Courtesy Amali

Amali

Your celebration at Amali is a double Easter fête as it includes a treat for Greek Easter as well.  The Mediterranean-inspired Upper East Sider is all about spring with specials like asparagus salad with a soft boiled red egg, leg of lamb, and ricotta pie with candied lemon and lavender. The bonus is koulourakia, a traditional Greek Easter cookie.

Courtesy La Goulue

La Goulue

A few blocks away, La Goulue adds a French flourish to brunch, as conceived by award-winning Executive Chef Antoine Camin. The special prix fixe menu begins with a patisserie selection of croissants, chocolatines, lemon cake and raisin Danish. The menu itself is a mélange of French and traditional with Easter specials including smoked salmon “Maison,” French toast on brioche, and Croque Monsieur.

Courtesy Via Vai

Via Vai

Astoria’s Via Vai invites you to enjoy an Italian Easter with a four-course prix fixe menu by chef-owner Antonio Morichini. Start with baked eggs with porcini mushroom and fontina cheese, for example, followed by a traditional secondo of pasta. Since lamb is traditional for Easter, order the pappardelle with lamb ragù and, for your main, the scottaditto alla Romana. For dessert, Morichini’s bombolone — sweet Italian donuts filled with vanilla pastry cream — will have you saying grazie mille.

Courtesy Ocean Prime

Ocean Prime

Ocean Prime has an at-home kit should you choose to stay home, but the special Easter brunch at the midtown location might be more of a temptation. Putting a spin on classic American brunch favorites, the in-restaurant menu includes lobster toast, blackened salmon salad, crab and eggs hollandaise, or French toast for something sweet. Known for its innovative cocktails, Ocean Prime serves an Easter-perfect blood orange mimosa to accompany your meal.

Stay Home with the Family

Courtesy Zoom & Bloom

Zoom & Bloom

There may not be an extravagant Easter bonnet parade to watch but Zoom & Bloom has a different idea for a hands-on family activity. You’ll receive a beautiful box of assorted flowers in preparation for a zoom workshop led by NYC floral designer Rebecca Merritt. Everyone can arrange a bloom to make a gorgeous Easter centerpiece.

Courtesy Institute of Culinary Education

ICE

The Institute of Culinary Education will help you ramp up your cooking skills with a Spring Easter Dinner virtual cooking class. Family members, whether in the same room or not, can all participate as Chef Sue Gonsalves demonstrates how to make roast rack of lamb, potato gratin and asparagus with lemon vinaigrette. Attendees will receive recipes and ingredient and equipment lists in advance.

Courtesy Bubby’s

Bubby’s

You could go to Bubby’s in Tribeca to enjoy Chef Ron Silver’s homestyle brunch with sourdough pancakes, Easter ham and his famous pies, but why not turn the pie experience into an at-home activity for all? Bubby’s DIY pie kits come with frozen pie dough, apple or sour cherry filling, a disposable pie tin and a fluted pastry wheel, everything you need to make your own Easter sweet.

Chocolate Eggs, Sprinkles and Sweets

Courtesy Venchi

Venchi

International chocolate sensation Venchi Fine Italian Chocolates has a gift for you for Easter: if you stop by their boutique in Union Square or Columbus Circle, you’ll get a tasting of three of their mini Easter eggs on Easter weekend. True chocoholics will love this place and you’d be remiss if you didn’t take some of their gorgeous (and huge) chocolate eggs home with you. Did I mention that there’s a chocolate waterfall in the downtown shop?

Courtesy Magnolia Bakery

Magnolia Bakery

Everyone goes crazy for Magnolia Bakery‘s cupcakes, but their Easter ones might just be the cutest you’ve ever seen. The special holiday “cupcake dozen” are classic vanilla and chocolate cupcakes done up with pastel buttercream frosting with festive Easter decorations.

Courtesy DO Cookie Dough

DO Cookie Dough

Another contender for most creative Easter sweet treat, DO Cookie Dough’s “Easter taster” is a beautifully packaged two- pack of their classic, safe-to-eat flavors. Divide the packs and share all the great flavors — each one comes with three jars of edible cookie dough with irresistible recipes like cake batter, sugar cookie and gimme s’more.

Courtesy Chip City

Chip City

Gourmet cookie company, Chip City is offering a colorful Easter special that’s sure to sell out early. All ages will love the “Bunny Funfetti,” vanilla sugar cookies mixed with rainbow sprinkles and topped with bunny sprinkles – they’re an Instagram natural.

Courtesy Citarella

Citarella

If all the chocolate, cookie and pie conversation has made you yearn for something that’s not overly sweet, food market Citarella has an option for you too. Their Easter-style buttery Challah bread has just a hint of sugar – it’s decorated with dyed eggs and topped with colorful sprinkles.

For Something Completely Different

Courtesy of The Standard, High Line

The Standard

Play bingo for at The Standard in the Meatpacking District. At 8pm on Easter Sunday, The Standard Biergarten will host a special “Naughty Bunny Bingo” at Not Your Standard Bingo, with games, bunny-themed costumes and an array of colorful shots for guests to win with their bingo successes. The menu is equally fun with a variety of specialty cocktails, punch bowls and “bingo bites” like Korean fried chicken, shrimp spring rolls and fish tacos. Reserve in advance so you won’t be disappointed.

Let’s Toast to the Irish on St. Patrick’s Day

These bakeries, pubs and restaurants will have you celebrating on St. Patty’s Day, March 17.

Make It a Sweet Holiday with These Delicious Treats

Courtesy Clarkson Avenue Crumb Cake Company

Clarkson Avenue Crumb Cake Company

Say “cheers” to St. Patrick’s Day with a stout-flavored crumb cake from Clarkson Avenue Crumb Cake Company. One of the most delicious cakes I’ve had in recent times, the “Brooklyn Danny Boy” crumb cake is a holiday version of their Brooklyn recipe, available only in March. The base is a chocolate stout cake, piled high with Irish cream crumb topping, and demands to be eaten along with an Irish coffee (or a Guinness, if you prefer). Cakes are shipped free from their New York location.

Courtesy Chip City

Chip City

NYC’s Chip City has baked up a festive Irish cookie to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Stop by their locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens for a pack of colorful Lucky Charm cookies to please every leprechaun in the house. The Insta-perfect cereal cookies are filled with marshmallow fluff and topped with Lucky Charms. Order in advance online or pick them up in-person from March 15 – 20.

Leonelli Bakery (c) Emily Chan

Leonelli Bakery

Spanning two important heritages in New York City, Michelin-starred chef Jonathan Benno’s Leonelli Bakery is offering gorgeous Irish-flag inspired Italian Rainbow Cookies in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. The cookies are made with house-made raspberry jam wedged between layers of white, green and orange almond cake. You can order in advance online in larger quantities, or purchase the colorful confections in-shop.

Raise a Toast to the Irish

McSorley’s Old Ale House (c) Meryl Pearlstein

McSorley’s Old Ale House

There’s little discussion when it comes to choosing the most classic (and intriguing) Irish bar in Manhattan. McSorley’s Old Ale House in the East Village has a storied history dating from 1854, surviving all kinds of controversy from not allowing entry to women (with no women’s restrooms for many, many years) to continuously operating during Prohibition and avoiding closure by offering a snack of saltines with mustard, onions and cheese. The original precursor to today’s “Cuomo chips,” the offbeat snack is still on the menu as are the pub’s two original libations. Order a lager or an ale, and there you have it — that’s McSorley’s in a nutshell. You had to wait to get in even before the pandemic – plan to wait a long time to celebrate now.

Courtesy The Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog

The Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog

Founded by two talented Irish bartenders looking for a place to show off their cocktail wizardry, The Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog in the Seaport District is more than a bar. It’s a place to dive into everything Irish with merchandise, beers, cocktails and great Irish food. The 19th-century setting is set up with dividers between tables to allow for safe, St. Patrick’s Day enjoyment. The décor will set the mood immediately – it’s classic Irish with green walls and wood ceilings and floors. Expect the usuals when it comes to lrish dishes from bangers and mash to fish and chips and Irish lamb stew.

The Galway Hooker

Be careful when you say you’re meeting up at the Hooker. Known to many as just that, The Galway Hooker is named for an Irish sailboat of the type typically found off the coast of Ireland in Galway Bay. A great spot to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, the West Village watering hole also offers the usual Irish pub grub like chicken sandwiches and burgers, but with a side of kicky Jameson fries.

Courtesy The Late Late

The Late Late

If you’ve ever watched Irish TV, the name of The Late Late will be immediately familiar. Recognizing Ireland’s “Late Late Show,” the world’s oldest late-night talk show, The Late Late is a Lower East Side staple for drinks and food. Modeled after an Irish residence rather than a typical Irish pub and offering a menu of more than 100 Irish whiskeys, The Late Late brings Irish-ness into dishes like bangers and mash. Order a burger topped with a choice of Jameson habanero, malt mayo or Guinness barbecue sauce to help you soak up all that liquid goodness.

Courtesy The Perfect Pub

The Perfect Pub

Times Square has had its share of Irish pubs over the years, but The Perfect Pub stands out for its conviviality, outdoor balcony and its exceptionally wide range of beer and whiskeys. The food menu goes beyond standard Irish pub grub like bangers and mash, beef stew, Shepherd’s Pie and burgers adding a range of global choices. If it’s available, try the Irish Cream cheesecake. While it would be remiss of you not to order a perfectly poured Guinness here, the pub (and its sister namesake in Midtown) has a range of 30 international brews on tap. Show your love to Times Square and this special Irish day as you share a pint with someone who might have roots in the Emerald Isle and possibly someone you’ve met late-night at a pub in Dingle.

Courtesy Donovan’s Pub

Donovan’s Pub

Welcoming Irish (and non-Irish) revelers to Woodside, Queens since 1966, Donovan’s Pub established a reputation early on for its notable burgers that were the perfect accompaniment to a pint of Guinness. Not a burger eater? No worries – there are plenty of sandwiches, steaks, and a very Irish Shepherd’s Pie to chow down on with your favorite brew.

The Greens (c) Meryl Pearlstein

The Greens on the Rooftop at Pier 17

Combine a view of the Manhattan skyline and Lady Liberty herself, the original green New York City monument, with a visit to the Seaport. At the aptly named Greens on the Rooftop at Pier 17, “go green” in a personal cabin where drinks and food will be served along with modern Irish music playing through the speakers inside. The cabin’s private TV screens will show scenic footage of the rolling hills of Ireland to transport you across the Pond. The menu serves up Ireland, too, with Shepherd’s Pie and Irish whiskey as well as Irish-spirited cocktails from Dante’s.

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