Posts Tagged ‘East Village’

Celebrate Chinese New Year: Where to Dine for Good Luck and Prosperity during the Year of the Dog

The Year of the Dog celebrates the return of spring and the beginning of the Chinese New Year.  This is a festival of unity, a way for friends and family to come together to enjoy traditions that will bring good fortune for the coming year. 2018 celebrates the dog, a symbol of loyalty and honesty, as we breathe some optimism into the days ahead. Unlike one-night New Year’s celebrations, Chinese New Year is celebrated for two weeks, through March 2 so you have plenty of time to enjoy. Here are some ways you can participate in this important holiday:

The sexiest celebration in New York City happens at Hakkasan in the Theater District. Kicked off by a lion dance on the first evening, the two weeks of the Chinese New Year are filled with special dinners and drinks.  For 2018, there is a $118 prix fixe menu (for a minimum of two guests) featuring the best of Hakkasan’s modern Cantonese signature dishes. Dishes have been selected for the cultural significance of their ingredients and their ability to portend good fortune. Baked Chilean sea bass with kumquat glaze will bring prosperity as eating fish at the New Year is said to increase wealth. Similarly, oysters, traditionally symbolizing fortune and good luck, are included in Szechuan oyster with lotus root and crispy rice in mantau.  Fat choy is an ingredient that means “to grow wealth” in Chinese and is found in the abalone fried rice in bean curd wrap with Chinese sausage and shiitake mushroom.

Hakkasan’s dinner also features a special Chinese New Year cocktail, the Good Fortune, made with Grey Goose Orange and fresh blood orange ice (oranges are traditionally given during the new year to symbolize good luck, happiness and abundance); five-spice pomegranate syrup, adding red to the drink, an important color of good luck, and the pomegranates to inspire fertility; satsuma godai; lime juice; and an orange peel rosette to add a touch of floral design, signifying rebirth and luck. Toast away!

A sweet finish is provided with Hakkasan’s reimagined fortune cookie, the macartune, which has 88 (8 represents prosperity in Chinese tradition) New York-centric fortunes written by author Jay McInerney like “Your train will arrive on time and there will be a seat available” (happy) or “A new skyscraper is being built next door to your building and your view is about to disappear” (sad). The writer of “Bright Lights, Big City” and Hakkasan  Executive Pastry Chef Alexander Zecena have imagined the vanilla-flavored cooked as a riff on New York’s beloved black and white, with one half coated in chocolate and then stamped with a red chocolate seal to symbolize good luck for the New Year.

Another tradition continues at Hakkasan, too, the annual wishing tree. Guests receive a red ribbon upon arrival on which they write their wishes. Ribbons are hung around the dining areas, a custom that is said to have begun hundreds of years ago in Hong Kong. In Lam Tsuen, Hong Kong, villagers would arrive to visit the secret Wishing Trees and hang notes on the branches with wishes for the year ahead.  Today, as yesterday, guests are encouraged to write their wishes with the hope that all written down will come true. www.hakkasan.com/newyork.

Little Tong Noodle Shop in the East Village pays homage to its Yunnanese roots with its first-ever 16-Day Chinese New Year Celebration.  The mixian menu here is enhanced with a special dish at both lunch and dinner such as Day 3’s goubull 18-fold dumplings and Day 16’s Yuan Xiao, a sweet sticky rice ball soup.  Each day represents a different celebration starting with the Celebration of the Chicken on February 16 with shaokao, fire-grilled chicken wings with gingko and the Celebration of the Dog on February 17 and finishing with the Celebration of the Dragon on March 1 when red snapper and dragon fruit slaw will be served. The grand finale happens on March 2, the Lantern Festival. www.littletong.com.

3 New Happy Hours to Keep You Toasty this Winter

We sometimes forget how much fun Happy Hour can be.  We work too late.  We begrudgingly meet our friends just in time for dinner, or dinner and a show, or maybe we schedule a late drink.  It’s time to turn back the clock, step out early, and enjoy three new happy hours that will keep you warm this winter.

Brooklyn’s Syndicated, the restaurant/ bar/ independent movie theater in Bushwick, has debuted  hearty, movie-themed food and drink pairings offered during their early-starting happy hour, from 4-7pm, Monday through Friday. Try the Titanic (popcorn fried oysters served with Rockaway Pale Ale); Mary’s Poppins (house-cured corned beef scrumpets, panko-crusted and fried, paired with Kelso Brown Ale); Cloudy with a Chance Of… (bacon-butter meatballs with an Old Fashioned); or the King and Rye (peanut butter-banana sandwich with a shot of rye whiskey).  Pairing prices are $11-16. Happy hour beverages at the bar are discounted as well.  40 Bogart St., Brooklyn, 718-386-3399, www.syndicatedbk.com

Syndicated Bacon Butter Maple Meatballs 1 by Michael Tulipan

In the West Village, Michelin-starred Piora tempts with an ambitious Japanese-style cocktail program, the Lucky 7 Happy Hour. Weekdays from 5:30 – 7pm, Head Bartender Shinya Yamao will offer 7 cocktails for just $7 each, along with $7 glasses of red and white wine selected by Wine Director Victoria James. $6 draft beers are also available. At 6pm, just to confuse you a bit, bar guests will receive a complimentary bar snack such as herb-parmesan cornmeal financiers. Guests at the bar can also play the Lucky 7 card draw – draw a number 7 card to win a free cocktail from the happy hour list, which includes creative libations like the savory Adonis (sherry, sweet vermouth, orange bitters)  or Salary Man (Nikka Japanese whiskey, club soda and lemon, on draft).  Bespoke signature cocktails from Piora’s regular drink list can be enjoyed for a discounted $10 versus the usual $15-18 price. 430 Hudson St., 212-960-3801, www.pioranyc.com

Piora's Salary man Credit: Michael Tulipan

Timna’s new Aperitif Hour is a real bargain, asking only $12 for a drink and food pairing.  At this modern Israeli restaurant, from Tuesday through Friday, 5:30 – 7:30pm, the bar room offers beer and house wines by the glass, paired with a choice of menu selections such as farro and vegetables with warm tahini and dates molasses; Chinatown salad; a mass of glass noodles, green bean tempura, ginger-cilantro pesto and baby radish; or small plates like kubaneh bread accompanied by crushed tomatoes and labaneh cheese or chestnut soup with enoki mushrooms and quail egg yolk. 109 St. Mark’s Place, 646-964-5181, www.timna.nyc

Hurricane Safety in New York City – Stay Safe and Dry

For those of you tempted to walk outside to see the waves crashing over the FDR or the West Side Highway, don’t.  Stay tuned to local news stations like New York 1 and stay indoors. And, if you’re located in the Zone 1 areas that are in immediate danger including the Rockaways, City Island, Battery Park City, and low-lying areas of the East Village, we hope you’ve heeded the warning to find shelter in the city’s evacuation centers.
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New York Neighborhoods: a Traveler’s Guide

New York is a city of neighborhoods in a way that few others are. Wander through Manhattan, and you’re taken on a tour through New York’s colorful and diverse history. Little Italy, Greenwich, East Village: all these are names which trip off the tongue of foreign and domestic visitors alike. However, if you’re not from the city, you may not have much idea of what each district is actually like. That’s why we’ve put together this run-down of the best of each of New York’s most famous neighborhoods. Wealthy visitors arriving in the city on cruises from Southampton, and student backpackers on cheap flights from Canada should both find this guide equally useful. Take it, and use it to devise your own walking tour through the heart of New York.

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Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth in the East Village

For NYC dwellers, the East Village is probably most known for its bars, as it has the highest concentration of bars in the city. It is a young and hip area with a large college student population. With college students comes cheap eats. Streets like St. Mark’s, a holdover from punk days and still going strong, are lined with restaurants where one can have a complete, belly-patting meal for ten dollars (give or take a little).  After a nice savory meal, comes the best part: dessert. The dessert bars of the East Village are the hidden secrets of the area.

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