Category: Fun

  • Weekend Wrapup Redux

    Shrimp 
    Wrote an entire post that got deleted somehow. Grr. So, here goes take two. As with the last post, I am noting, for the record, that this post will do absolutely nothing to convince my father that I do not, in fact, spend all of my free time jaunting about the city eating and drinking.  That said, I do it to keep up with the scene about which I write, but I do it mostly as a way to catch up with friends, who share similar passions (probably why we get along so well).  The weekend started off on Friday with post-work cocktails at Pegu Club with @daisy17 & @jordanarothman and then moved on to tapas at Tertulia, which is quickly becoming a neighborhood favorite.  I need to gather a large group to get their paella and also go sometime to their chef's dinner.

    Saturday I slept late and shopped for provisions, produce and flowers at the Greenmarket. Once home, after lingering over coffee and the paper for a bit, I met up Karen once again for our maiden voyage to Smorgasburg, a food-only market by the Brooklyn Flea folks, where we joined up with Jordana and Daniel, and later John P. I had a decadent CT-style (all butter, no mayo) lobster roll from the Red Hook Lobster Pound followed up with a People's Pop made from Stumptown coffee, cream and sugar — have to try to recreate those at home. Delicious. Next we walked over to Maison Premiere (where Vince joined us), where we lingered in their beautiful back garden over oysters, drinks and conversation. For the grand finale, the majority of us headed back to Manhattan, where we had a drink at Employees Only while we waited for dinner at Red Farm, another new favorite. Their dumplings are outrageous, as is the rib eye!

    Sunday morning I went for a much-needed run, then headed up to Yankees Stadium with fellow USBGNY members where I was utterly spoiled from all future baseball games by sitting in a swanky suite. Truly luxurious!  Pictures from the game are here. After the game, a small group of us went out for drinks and nibbles, stopping at Pete's Tavern, Death & Company and Dram.

    Chrishannahmenu 
    Monday, the bonus day, I relaxed at home, did laundry, and made a batch of cold sesame noodles using sauce I had gotten from the Shorty Tang folks at Smorgasburg (see, Dad? Relaxing! Cooking! Being domestic!). Those were my contribution to @BeerGuy1's barbecue later that afternoon/evening; the food was fantastic — that's what you get when the team behind Hearth is manning the grill — and featured falling-off-the-bone smoked ribs and these beauties pictured above, among other delights. I made one final stop before heading home to bed: back to Maison Premiere to visit a friend who was guest bartending from New Orleans. He made me a perfect French 75 on my last trip there and decided that his French 75 would be a perfect way to cap off an amazing Labor Day weekend.

  • Family Fun Time!

    This weekend and today were family-filled and full of celebrations.  First, I spent Saturday and Sunday celebrating the wedding of my cousin Jennifer to her lovely husband Dawson, then returned to attend my brother Bill's graduation(cum laude – smartypants!) from Brooklyn Law School today.  It was great to spend time with my many cousins, aunts & uncles who I don't get to see all that often, and I'm so proud of my baby brother, who will be following in my footsteps and joining the public interest legal world (do-gooderism runs in the family).  Congrats and Mazel Tov to all!

  • Crickets

    Sorry for the quiet around here, gang, but I've been recovering from some crash cocktail writing followed by MCC followed by VEGAS.  Sloooowly getting back to the grind. Pics, recaps, and more coming soon. In the meantime, to tide you over, please enjoy this picture, taken from my window at the lovely Marriott Springhill Suites in Vegas:

    Vegas 

  • Weekend Wrapup: The Maine Edition

    Paella 
    Took a stupidly early flight this morning back to NYC from Portland, Maine, where I spent the weekend visiting my Dad, stepmom, and sister. When I leave NYC, my body naturally slows down a few notches, and naps become a strong priority on my agenda. This weekend was no exception.  I arrived mid-afternoon on Friday (despite the weather) and went out to shop for the evening's dinner — paella. My sister and I made a variation of this recipe (which I've also made at the beach house), adding pieces of chicken thighs, substituting Maine shrimp for the regular shrimp, and adding a lobster (the shells of which we used to fortify the stock). The end result was damn tasty.  Gotta make it in NYC.

    We awoke early Saturday morning for 8 a.m. yoga (no, that is not a typo), and had a relaxing day.  Met my sister and her boyfriend for lunch at Pai Men Miyake for some ramen, dumplings and pork buns, and later we took the dogs to the beach, where they can run off-leash, for some hard-core tennis ball fetching. We had dinner at Caiola's, a neighborhood favorite, and enjoyed their crab cakes, fried oyster caesar salad, and strip steak with a lick-the-plate pan sauce.

    Sunday was uber-relaxing, capped off with leftover paella.  And now, I'm going to try to make it through my day despite waking up at 4:30 a.m. this morning to catch my flight. Wish me luck.

  • Booze You Can Use: The Manhattan Cocktail Classic

    Great Lawn Sour

    Tickets officially go on sale tomorrow, but there's a pre-sale going on today.  If you sign up for their email list by 5 p.m. today (move fast!), they'll send you all the details. Trust me ladies and gents, you don't want to miss this: seminars, parties, mayhem, and even a pig roast.  And, of course, cocktails. Go get 'em!

  • A Generous Celebration

    Bday2 
    As you may know, I turned 40 on December 26th. To celebrate, I threw a party for family and friends in early January, which was absolutely wonderful. I had some trepidation about turning 40, but looking at a room full of people I love from all areas of my life was a clear illustration to me of how lucky I am.  To top it all off, all of you amazing people gave generously in honor of the occastion to Just Food.  Thanks to you, we raised over $2100 to support their mission to increase access to fresh, healthy food in NYC and to support the local farms and urban gardens that grow it.

    And speaking of generosity, my friend Rachel set up a "photo booth" at the party and took some fantastic pictures — I've posted my favorites here.  Thanks again to everyone for helping me celebrate and for giving so generously.

  • Pro Bono Rocks!

    JaleomenuSee?  Our menu says so! Once again I had a wonderful visit to DC for the annual Pro Bono Institute and a visit to our DC office.  I also, as usual, managed to eat and drink quite well while I was down there.  Wednesday night was a lovely Indian dinner at Rasika, Thursday was a huge group dinner at Jaleo (partial menu above), and Friday night was a cocktail/food crawl, courtesy of the DC Twitter crew: @VAScofflaw, @jakehparrott, @jasonmader & @highwaystar.  First stop, PS7's to visit the lovely @MixtressDC, next, Cafe Atlantico for a cocktail that included leather-infused tequila (yep, leather), after that, a wonderful visit to Proof (must go back for a full-on meal next time I'm in town), and finished up the evening at the Passenger. On my way back to NY, I had the pleasant surprise of running into my cousin at the train station; we took the train back together until she got off in Baltimore. 

    The rest of the weekend was all about relaxation, with a quick trip to Fatty Johnson's to bid it farewell on Sunday night.  Sad.  Looking forward to seeing what's next!

  • Laughing Out Loud

    Lately I have taken to downloading podcasts of Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me! and listening to them at the gym, on the bus/subway, and walking down the street.  The result of this is basically that I burst out laughing every so often while I'm listening to them — I'm sure that to the random observer I merely look insane, but I couldn't care less.  Listening to them — but even more so laughing — always puts me in a great mood, especially when I think about how silly I might look/sound.

    And on that note — support public radio! Donate to WNYC and NPR!

  • Spread Love

    Valentine2011

    Spread the love, people.  Happy Valentine's Day, courtesy of the chalkboard at Terroir, designed by @ColinTuska