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Mario & Lidia Host Private Dinner Tonight; NYC Burger Week Events; Ethiopian Pop-up in Williamsburg; and More Edible Activities This Week

By Mikaela Flynn on April 29, 2013 / No Comments / Categorized Celebrity Chefs, Featured, Good Reads, Pop-Up Dinners, Round Up, Underground Eats, Unique Dinners, Unique Events

Those who nabbed tickets to the sold out Masters at the Table event hosted by non other than Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich at Del Posto, may need to pinch themselves because tonight is the night it’s all happening. This evening at Del Posto the two superstar chef personalities will go head-to-head as they prepare a dueling menu of their favorite Italian dishes. The 10-course dinner will most likely go down in history as one of the most epic meals of any of the 200+ guests’ lives.

Wednesday is May Day which means that spring finally feels like it’s really here. Ok, maybe it doesn’t actually feel like it’s here since the temperature still seems to disagree, but at least we know that it really can’t be far along now. With May comes its perfect weather for BBQ’ing burgers and dogs and so it only seems appropriate that Wednesday is also the first day of NYC Burger Week. Starting May 1st and continuing through May 7th there will be a slew of burger-centric events happening throughout the city. On Thursday Hardings NYC will host a Burger and Bourbon Dinner while Boozy Burbs hosts an Off-Menu Burger and Putts Beer Dinner the same night. On Friday Get Real Presents will host a Beer, Bowling and Burgers Festival at Bowlmor Lanes. If you really want to be in the know about all the best burgerlicious events happening be sure to follow our favorite burger blog, Burger Conquest.

If you are so over the American classic burger, than perhaps you’d be more interested in something a bit more international. This Saturday the traveling NYC Ethiopian pop-up restaurant Bunna Cafe is hosting their biggest event ever in a secret location in Williamsburg. The evening will celebrate Fasika, the Ethiopian Easter, when traditionally Ethiopians rejoice as they end a seven-week fasting period with a huge feast and party. After dinner guests will take part in a traditional coffee ceremony and have the opportunity to watch a live performance staring Tadele Daba, a world famous dancer and choreographer, as well as a former judge of Ethiopian Idol. VIP tickets can be found here.

The Food Book Fair kicks off this Thursday night and will continue through the weekend hosting a number of events that include cooking demonstrations, panel discussions, and tasting events. The fair will take place at three different locations: the Wythe Hotel, Brooklyn Winery, and The Brooklyn Kitchen. Participants include Bon Appetit’s Editor-in-Chief Adam Rapoport, The New York Times’ Oliver Strand, Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman, Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver, and Chef Elizabeth Falkner. Full schedule and ticketing information can be found here.

If you are missing tonight’s dinner at Del Posto and are kicking yourself since you would LOVE to have a unique experience at one of your favorite Italian restaurants, then be sure to grab a spot at this Saturday’s The Art of Sauce Making class with Del Posto’s Chef de Cuisine Matt Abdoo. The course will blow your mind as you learn all the ins and outs of making the most delicious Italian sauces from scratch by a highly esteemed Italian chef. After the course, everyone is invited for a sit-down family-style Italian lunch with Del Posto’s selected wine pairings. This will absolutely be unlike any other cooking class you’ve ever attended. Find tickets here.

And then it’s Sunday. But this week, Sunday should not be treated like a typical low-key, get-ready-for-the-week Sunday. Why? Because it’s Cinco de Mayo! And you need a margarita! If you are looking to celebrate the holiday in full festive form then we encourage you to do so at Fatta Cuckoo. The Lower East Side restaurant will continue its Sunday Supper: Friends of Fatta guest chef series by welcoming Chef William Huffman who is a master of cuisine hailing from the south of the boarder. Dinner includes margarita and mezcal pairings and will feature six courses of Mexican favorites. Learn more and purchase tickets here.

On Our Culinary Radar: Chef Jonah Miller

By Mikaela Flynn on April 24, 2013 / No Comments / Categorized Featured, Pop-Up Dinners, Pop-Ups

On March 26th NYC’s culinary salon, City Grit, hosted the “Next Big Thing” dinner featuring rising star Chef Jonah Miller. The dinner sold out and the event received attention from culinary insiders and the press. As this young chef from New York gears up for the opening of his own restaurant, a (most-likely) Brooklyn establishment offering Spanish comfort food, you can find him popping up throughout the city where you can sample his authentic Spanish cuisine.

Chef Jonah Miller at the Old Bowery Station last week for his pop-up of drinks and small bites

Jonah started his career as a chef when he was 14 and has since worked at restaurants including Gramercy Tavern, Savoy, and Maialino where he became sous-chef. After his three-year stint at Maialino, Jonah travelled to northern Spain and ate his way through the region while taking notes for his own restaurant concept.

Now that the prodigal son has returned, he is hoping to share his love for traditional Spanish cuisine back home in New York with the future opening of his restaurant, Huertas. Huertas will focus on traditional Spanish dishes as offered a casual atmosphere.

Pulpos gallegos, a traditional northern Spanish bar snack of grilled octopus and potato

Last week at Old Bowery Station, the fairly new venue for pop-ups on the Bowery, Jonah invited guests to join him for pinxtos (mini tapas that are traditionally offered at bars in Spain), cider from northern Spain, and Spanish wines. Rather than cooking up a multi-course sit-down dinner he laid out a spread of his favorite pinxtos that included pulps gallegos (grilled octopus with potatoes), skewers of anchovies, olives, and peppers, tortilla española, and chorizos.

Skewers of anchovies, Spanish olives, and peppers

A full plate of pinxtos (mini bar tapas) including chorizo with peppers, shrimp and egg salad, anchovy skewers, mussels in tomato broth, tortilla española, and jamon with pea puree

For his next event he is going back to a more formal dinner format at City Grit on May 9th, 10th, and 11th. The menu will feature modern takes on classic northern Spanish dishes. If you missed the boat last time around, be sure to catch him in May. The dinner is $55 with wine and beer available for purchase. Learn more here.

If you don’t make it to any of his upcoming pop-ups, we recommend to at least keep and your eyes and ears on high alert for any word about the opening of Huertas. Good luck, Jonah!

This Weekend: Pasta Making at Del Posto; Wu Pops Up at Old Bowery Station; Senegalese Cooking Class with Global Kitchen

By Underground Eats on March 22, 2013 / No Comments / Categorized Featured, Pop-Up Dinners, Pop-Ups, Round Up

It’s Friday, oh happy day! The weekend is nearly upon us. And in case you are still looking for some activities to fill up your Saturday and Sunday, here are a few food-centric events that may just fit the bill:

Tomorrow Del Posto is hosting one of their exquisite pasta making classes with its Chef de Cuisine, Matt Abdoo. Aspiring at-home chefs will learn the secrets of crafting the perfect stuffed pasta. Recipes will include egg-based pasta dough four fillings: ricotta, pumpkin, meat and mushroom. Students will see a demonstration of Del Posto’s famous 100 layer lasagne and create their own agnolotti, mezzaluna, pansoti and cappellacci. The experience ends with a sit-down Italian lunch with wine pairings. Some seats are still available here.

Global Kitchen will be hosting a unique Senegalese cooking class Saturday evening from 6:30pm – 10:30pm. Students will learn about this small West African nation’s history and its traditional cuisine during a hands-on cooking course. Instructor Nafissa Camara will teach everyone how to make Senegalese dishes including chicken yassa, fish fatayas, and more. Tickets are $65 and the class is BYOB.

Jonathan Wu is popping up this Sunday evening at the Old Bowery Station. The Per Se alum’s Wu Pops Up series features “innovative Chinese food inspired by family recipes” including dishes like broadbean curd with chopped kale & salted egg yolk and wheat noodles with pumpkin seed sauce, winter squash & scallion oil. The nine-course family-style dinner is $55 and BYOB. He will also be involved with year’s LUCKYRICE festival in May, so if you can’t make this Sunday then be sure to look out for him then.

Passover Ideas You Shouldn’t Passover

By Khushbu Shah on March 21, 2013 / No Comments / Categorized Featured, Food for Thought, Pop-Up Dinners, Underground Eats, Unique Dinners, Video

Tradition is great and all, especially if it includes your bubbie cooking up a crazy feast for Passover. But if you are in charge of Seder dinner and don’t have bubbie’s deft hand when it comes to making all matzah everything- don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Avoid being a schmuck this Seder by embracing the alternative.

Gefilte fish may be hard for Chris Tucker to pronounce:

… And even harder for some people to stomach. Guzzy up gefilte for passover by transforming it into a sexy smooth pate.

Perhaps you should try to step up your Tzimmes game. Tzimmes loosely translates to “a fuss over something,” which is exactly what is going to happen to this dish if you get fancy and serve your guests Sweet Potato Matzo Ball Tzimmes with Apricot Sauce.

For folks with lusher tendencies or are on an “all liquid diet” it’s possible to have a traditional Seder plate in cocktail form. “It’s as if they put Passover in a juicer and served it up straight.” — direct quote from the website Sippable Seder.

If you have a bit of a sweet tooth and are interested in throwing a completely chocolate kosher Seder dinner, than by all means- go for it! You can even trade four glasses of wine for four glasses of chocolate milk. Find complete instructions here.

For dessert, grab a couple of pints of Chozen (a.k.a ice cream for the chosen people). They come in flavors like rugelach and matzoh crunch.

Or let our favorite latke-making, dreidel-spinning, menorah-lighting gang-bangers show you how to do Passover munchies in style.

If you’re better at eating than cooking, and happen to live in or around NYC, here are some excellent alternative Seder dinner options.

Chow down on a traditional Seder dinner with some untraditional Spanish cider pairings at Jimmy No. 43′s. Get your tickets here.

If fusion food is more your style, head over to Louro for Passover dinner where they’re going south of the border with Mexican twists on classic Seder dishes. Louro’s Chef David Santos is teaming up with La Newyorkina‘s Fany Gerson for a special guest chef dinner celebrating the holiday with a unique Mexican twist. Yes, that includes Mexican-style matzoh ball soup. Tickets for this dinner can be found here.

On March 28th BoozeMenus.com is hosting a private Passover cocktail party at Kutsher’s Tribeca. Rather than being stuck around family members drinking kosher wine, hang with friends at this downtown Jewish bistro and sip on cocktails mixed with springtime ingredients and nibble on Kutsher’s signature modern Jewish fare. Learn more and find tickets here.

L’chaim!

Dining Amongst Art In An Abandoned Space

By Khushbu Shah on March 18, 2013 / No Comments / Categorized Featured, Fundraisers, Pop-Up Dinners, Pop-Ups, Underground Eats, Unique Dinners, Unique Events

Perhaps some of the best alternative dining experiences occur when two seemingly separate worlds collide to create one incredible night. That is exactly what happened this past Saturday evening. The vacant lobby of the old Bank of Manhattan in Long Island City became the stage for a seamless fusion between the world of art and the world of food. The interaction between art and food was the theme that wove its way through the entire course of the evening, making an appearance in conversations, on the beautiful plates of food, and during the closing art performance.

Art work from the How Much Do I Owe You? exhibit- L: Tom Sanford, Dollar Bill Y’All, 2008 R: Ghost of a Dream Price of Happiness, 2011

No Longer Empty, a public arts organization that takes vacant spaces and transforms them into site-specific contemporary art exhibitions, teamed up with Untapped Cities and Local Roots NYC to throw an upscale dinner amongst incredible works of art. The guests mingled with cocktails in hand while checking out the pieces from How Much Do I Owe You? – the suitably debt/money-themed exhibition. Attendees were also granted an opportunity to explore the stunning, almost 360 degree views of New York City from the top of the Clock Tower.

Tables were set in the middle of the art space

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