Starkist Creations: Premium New Flavors!

I was recently invited to see and taste the new StarKist products launching this fall. It was a really fun night with delicious food and tasty cocktails! 

Starkist Honey BBQ tuna sliders and Hot Buffalo Tuna pita chips.

Lisa Lillien of Hungry Girl gave a sneak peak of her new book The Hungry Girl Diet Cookbook: Healthy Recipes for Mix-n-Match Meals & Snacks. 

Brazilian Steakhouse: Texas de Brazil Upper East Side NYC

I was recently invited for a complimentary dinner with a guest at Texas de Brazil, located on 1011 3rd Avenue at 60th Street.  I have fond memories of visiting Rio de Janeiro and eating at a churrascaria while sipping capairinhas, so I was looking forward to the experience.  

The space was really large with 2 levels.  We waited by the  bar on the ground floor for a few minutes before being escorted to the 2nd floor where the salad bar is located.   The salad bar had a solid offering of fresh salad, fruit, cold cuts, potato salad, artichoke heart, palm hearts, asparagus.  There was also soup, cocktail shrimp, seared tuna, smoked salmon, and a small selection of sushi or California rolls (which I didn't try since I was saving room for meat!).

We were given the choice of either the house wine or a cocktail.  Our waitress told us the most popular cocktail is the capairinha, which is Brazil's national cocktail, made with cachaça (sugar cane hard liquor), sugar and lime. I chose the regular capairinha, while my friend chose the coconut one.  Both were delicious!  I was pleasantly surprised by the capairinha (I hadn't had a good one since I visited Brazil) which was tasty and refreshing. It was just the right blend of tartness and sweetness.  

Green Festival Launch Party

The Green Festival is coming up April 24 - April 26 at the Javits Center in NYC.  I recently attended their VIP launch party at the Environment Furniture Showroom and sampled some delicious organic foods and drinks.  I started with tasty organic moonshine cocktails from local upstate New York Brewery Dutch's Spirits, that were really light and refreshing. 

I also had some great vegan appetizers from Candle Cafe.  I've visited the restaurant before and really enjoyed it, it was my first time trying their vegan meatballs and they are the best vegan meatballs ever (I would have believed they were meat if I didn't know better)!

  I also tasted organic, non GMO, and gluten free hummus by Hope Foods  based in Bolder, Colorado.  They had interesting flavors like Siracha and Curry Hummus, but my favorite was the dark chocolate hummus, which was really delicious and perfect for people who want their chocolate and protein fix without dairy.  They also use HPP High Pressure Process which allows them to package the food and preserve the natural taste without heat or artificial preservatives.

I also tried Buchi Kambucha, brewed in Asheville, NC.  It was a tart effervescent drink which packed a punch, and full of probiotics.

La Maison du Chocolat Tasting & Giveaway, April 1st

La Maison du Chocolat

Invites you to an afternoon tasting of pastries and chocolates at all our NYC locations, enter your contact information in our raffle to win a gift valued at $60.

April 1^st 2015

 2-6PM

Photo Credit: La Maison du Chocolat

Boutique Locations

1018 Madison Ave (at 78^th St)

30 Rockefeller Center (at 49^th St)

63 Wall St

The Plaza Food Hall: One West 58^th St

The Shops at Columbus Circle: 10 Columbus Circle

Vino 2015 Italian Wines

I recently attended Vino 2015 and Slow Wine, held at the Waldorf Astoria which hosted more than 200 vintners and producers' delegations from all key Italian viticultural areas including producers of wines never before marketed in the United States.  See below for some of the wines and spirits that stood out to me:

Sambuca Arandrea: A delicious, sweet, and smooth sambuca, said to be a favorite of Pope Giovanni XXIII.

Coolhaus Ice Cream Sandwich 3pm- 6pm

Capital One opens its new branch on Columbus Avenue & 97th Street today and to celebrate, they are giving away free Coolhaus Ice Cream. Just stop by outside the store from 3 - 6pm and cool down with Coolhaus.

Macaron Parlour: Second Location Upper West Side

Dessert lovers rejoice!  Macaron Parlour owned by talented married couple, Christine Ha and Simon Tung, has a new location in the Upper West Side located at  560 Columbus Avenue between 87th & 87th Streets.  I was fortunate to be invited to their press launch and sampled lots of delicious treats.  

Aside from the traditional macaron flavors (chocolate, lemon, hazelnut, etc.), Macaron Parlour has some unique flavors such as Cheetos, Rosemary and Olive Oil, and my personal favorite, the savory Thai Chili.

The Village Voice Holiday Spirits Event At Studio Square, LIC

The holiday season...the perfect time to gather with loved ones and overindulge in foods rich in sugar/butter/lard/salt and beverages of the alcoholic variety.  The Village Voice Holiday Spirits Tasting Event at Studio Square, Long Island City, Queens, NY, was the perfect place to sample a multitude of spirits to warm your hearts and stomach.

My favorites were definitely the drinks that were sweet, spicy, or served warm. Scorpion Mezcal mixed with Abuelita hot chocolate and bit of cinnamon...yes, please!  Another favorite was the Southern Hooch, which was Ole Smoky Apple Pie Moonshine and sweet tea.   

New York, NY - "The Village Voice Holiday Spirits" will hold its first annual event on Thursday, December 5th, 2013. The date commemorates the 80 th anniversary of the day that ended the Prohibition era.

The event will be held at Studio Square in Long Island City, Queens and will run from 7:30PM - 10:30PM with a VIP-Only Preview Hour from 6:30PM - 7:30PM. Holiday Spirits will offer all ticket holders unlimited sampling, complimentary hors d’oeuvres, a souvenir glass, and picturesque views of the lit Manhattan skyline. General Admission tickets will be discounted 50% to $25 using the promo code: THANKS.

For tickets visit:http://ticketf.ly/1i9gIIX and for more information, visit: www.villagevoice.com/holidayspirits

“ Holiday Spirits” focuses on bringing event goers samples of New York City’s top distillers and drinks from top-notch local brands, as well as a sprinkling of national ones. The full lineup of this year’s participating spirits offering unlimited tastings include Asahi, Atsby Vermouth, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, Barrow's Intense Ginger Liqueur, Black Dirt Distilling, Breuckelen Distilling, Brooklyn Gin, Brooklyn Winery, Brotherhood, America's Oldest Winery, Catskill Distilling Company, Cooperstown Distillery, Death's Door Spirits, Dutch's Spirits, El Buho Mezcal, Finger Lakes Distilling, Greenhook Ginsmiths, Jack from Brooklyn, Lejay Liqueur, Long Island Spirits, Nahmias et Fils Distillery, Ole Smoky Moonshine, Owney's Rum, Scorpion Mezcal, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, Tirado Distillery, Tuthilltown Spirits, Van Brunt Stillhouse, White Pike Whiskey, Widow Jane Distillery, Tito's Handmade Vodka and Tanteo Tequila.

A drink menu and newly released event map highlighting each of the brand’s spirited offerings is available on the event website, www.villagevoice.com/holidayspirits



Musical entertainment for the night will set the tone for each of the event’s two floors. One floor will feature The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn , a 5-piece jazz, swing and blues band that will transport guests back to the days of Speakeasies and Prohibition. On the floor above, DJ Tim Martell – an MTV VMA Official after-party DJ and opener for massive acts like Beyonce and Robin Thicke - will offer guests a more modern musical selection. Known for his unparalleled cross-genre mixes, DJ Tim Martell is sure to impress the Holiday Spirits guests with his seamless, lengthy, and perfect blends.


Sponsors for the event are Ambassador Wines & Spirits, Asahi Beer, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, Diamond Vision, Dutchess County Tourism, Green Mountain Energy, GTR Store, Marshall Headphones, Seamless and Whole Foods Market. This year’s charitable partner for “Holiday Spirits” will be the ASPCA, a non-profit that works to rescue animals from abuse, pass humane laws and share resources with shelters nationwide.


For the latest on "Holiday Spirits" please have a sip here: http://www.villagevoice.com/holidayspirits http://www.twitter.com/voicestreet http://www.facebook.com/villagevoice

About Village Voice Events: The Village Voice has independently produced and created such celebrated events as the Choice Eats, Obies Awards, 4Knots Music Festival, Choice Streets, Brooklyn Pour, as well as the most anticipated issues and guides of the year including the annual Pazz and Jop music poll, Best of NYC, and its Spring, Summer, and Fall Preview guides. For more information on the Voice or its events, please visit them online at www.villagevoice.com

New York Wine Expo 2013

I attended the sixth annual New York Wine Expo recently at the Javitz Center.  It was a fantastic event with over 500 wines from around the globe, including Europe, the Mediterranean, South American and South Africa.  It can be a little overwhelming with all the different regions and varieties.  However, the sections nicely labeled by region.  One of the wines from South Africa that I tried was produced by The House of Mandela, the family of Nelson Mandela.  It had a pleasant fruity flavor which was not overpowering, which I enjoyed.  See below for more wines that I tasted.  

Everyone knows cheese and wine go together.  The rich and creamy Cambozola Black Label cheeses were a perfect match with the wines that we drank.  My favorite was the truffle flavored cheese.

A pleasant, soft and sweet Riesling by Hosmer.

A regional New York favorite: Ice Wine

Fairway Market & Steak House Cheese and wine Tasting

Thanks to the FeistyFoodie, I had a 3 course meal with a tasting of 6 wines and 9 cheeses at Fairway Market Cafe and Steak house. The head cheesemonger, Steven Jenkins, and the head sommelier, Joshua Wesson, of Fairway Markets gave a great explanation of the different cheese and wines.  We sampled a selection of cow cheeses and sheep cheeses.  The sheep cheese had more complex and sharper flavors while the cow cheeses were more mild in flavor.  I learned that soft cheese have less fat than hard cheeses.  I also sampled a few red and white wines. Chateau La Gironie Monzabillac 2009, a sweet white wine that was very pleasant. My favorite was the sweet and bubbly Saracco 2011 Moscato.  It was so light and refreshing, that I could imagine myself sipping it during the hot summer.

Experience Korean TempleStay and Temple Foods

I attended the Experience Korean Temple Stay at Astor Wine recently.  Korean Templestay is a cultural-experience program designed to help people understand Korean Buddhism better. Templestays offer various kinds of practicing methods such as Yebul (ceremonial service involving chanting), Chamseon (Zen meditation), Dado (tea ceremony) and Baru Gongyang (communal Buddhist meal service). Participants can find their 'true self' amongst the harmony of nature while staying at a temple in Korea.  But a highlight of the program, especially for foodies or vegetarians is the buddhist temple food, which was quite delicious.  We were served a delicious meal, made only from vegetables and I was surprised by the textures and flavors of the food, and felt very satisfied after the meal.  I imagine that staying at a peaceful temple, you would appreciate the food even more.  To learn more about Korean Templestay, visit eng.templestay.com

Unfermented Green Tea

Dried Potatoes, Seaweed chips, and Fruit Chips

Printblocking

Ancient Buddhist Scripture