It’s my favorite time of the year!  It just doesn’t get any better than this.  St. Patty’s Day, College Basketball and Beer.  There’s also the Brewing News National IPA Championship. An IPA tournament with 64 entries judged by brewers in blind-tasting style.  The bracket includes many of the familiar names as well as several from smaller, regional producers. Click here for the current bracket.  Last year, our friends Riki and Kelly decided to set up their own little IPA tournament after watching some of their favorites get knocked off by some relatively unknown IPA’s.  They went about procuring some of the winning obscure beers, as well as some old favorites, and about 12 of us beer lovers met up in Brooklyn for the tasting competition.  At the end of the day, Southern Tier Unearthly IPA was the last beer standing.  The 2nd Annual IPA-Off is today in Williamsburg.  We will follow the same eight beer, single-elimination blind tasting format as last year.  Each judge tastes two different unmarked beers from clear plastic cups (to ensure a good look at the color of the beer, not because we’re cheap) and the majority decides which one moves on to the next round.  We’ll certainly miss one of our esteemed judges and fellow hop-head, Martin Walker, who’s spending some time tasting his way around the England beer world.  We’ll be live-tweeting all the action from Brooklyn starting at 2:30pm.  Follow us here.

Wanna try your hand at brewin’ some beer but don’t think you can manage it in your 350 sq ft NYC studio?  Brooklyn Brew Shop has got you covered.  They’ve come up with a 1-gallon brewing kit designed specifically with small NYC apartments in mind.  About 1 sq ft of space is all you’re gonna need.  Your dirty socks are probably taking up more space than that.  The apartment brewing kit comes with a glass gallon jug, a three-piece air lock, and an auto siphon for pouring the beer into bottles, as well as your choice of mix for just $40.  You can choose from Black & Tan, Grapefruit Honey Ale, and a Well Made Trippel, among others.  They are also featuring a new juniper and coriander spiced “Bel-Gin” Strong.  You just provide the stove, stockpot, strainer and 12 bottles that you can snag from a local bar.  The brewing kits are available at The Brooklyn Flea, Whole Foods on the Bowery, Northern Spy Food Co, or online here.  Or you can try to win one this Sunday, March 14th when Brooklyn Brew Shop and The Double Windsor (210 Prospect Park West) team up for a craft beer trivia night starting at 7pm in honor of St. Patty’s Day.  They’ll be giving away brewing kits to the winners complete with Black & Tan, Grapefruit Honey Ale, and “Bel-Gin” Strong mixes, black and tan pouring spoons as well as some of their home-brewed Black & Tan favorite.  Grab 3, 4 or 5 of your beer-drinking buddies and sign-up your team by emailing beer@brooklynbrewshop.com. Don’t have any friends?  You can fly solo, too, and join a team there.

On a whim, we headed down to New Orleans on the Sunday before Fat Tuesday for a last-minute Mardi Gras/Valentine’s Day trip.  Over the past several months, I’ve become good Twitter friends with Chef Scott Boswell (you can follow him on Twitter here), who, together with his lovely wife Tanya, owns and operates two of the most popular and highly regarded restaurants in the French Quarter, Stella! and Stanley.  Where Stanley is their bustling all-day comfort food-driven breakfast/lunch spot right on Jackson Square, their flagship Stella! serves as Chef Scott’s fine dining blank canvas where he takes the artistry of food to a new level with indulgent and over-the-top culinary creations.  Following each other’s eating and drinking adventures and zeal for all things food and wine over Twitter, we kind of knew the four of us would hit it off in person.  And it didn’t take us long to realize we were right.

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Check out this footage from Sirius XM of Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain & Eric Ripert talking about “Food Porn”.

This post was submitted by John.

Poco, home of one of our favorite all-you-can-drink boozy brunches, is celebrating its one-year anniversary tonight with three hours of complimentary open bar and tapas, burlesque by the Dilettaunts, Goose the band & music mixed by DJ Eric Visa. 

Poco // 33 Ave. B at 3rd St. // no rsvp needed // 7:00pm-10:00pm

Boy do I love me some stinky cheese.  You know, the kind that makes you think there’s some majorly rotten stuff festering in the garbage can.  I’ve actually looked around the apartment for nearly 20 minutes before in search of what could be causing the stench, only to finally remember that we had brought back some “funky” cheeses from Murray’s or Whole Foods.  Well, it’s even better when you can enjoy the stinky cheese at someone else’s place.  Starting today and going through March 12th, the Winter Stinky Cheese Festival returns to NYC with nine restaurants offering stinky cheese menus during their lunch and dinner service. Just follow your nose to Nice Matin, Marseille, Café D’Alsace, French Roast (Uptown & Downtown), Le Monde, L’Express, Maison or Pigalle where each of the chefs will be creating Stinky Cheese appetizers, entrees and desserts in addition to their regular menu for the next 10 days.  The menu items will feature over 20 cheeses, including Limburger, Taleggio, Epoisse and Stinky Bishop.  Items not to be missed are the Limburger Steak Hache with vidalia onions and a fried egg at Nice Matin, the  Alsatian Muenster Short Rib and potato tart at Marseille and the Roasted Figs Crumble with aged port, crème fraîche, cookies crumbs, and gratinée with Livarot at Café D’Alsace.  Each restaurant will also have special wine pairings available.  For more info about the festival, click here.

Dylan & the Dead, Mondavi and Rothschild, Bowie & Arcade Fire, Siegfried & Roy (well, maybe not).  Nothing beats a great collaboration.  And it’s no different come Tuesday, March 9th when Back Forty and Captain Lawrence team up for a one-of-a-kind 4-course craft beer dinner.  Back Forty Chef Shanna Pacifico has created a special menu to pair alongside Captain Lawrence Brewing Company’s top beers.  The culinary highlight of the beer dinner has to be Chef Pacifico’s take on the Alsatian winter dish, Choucroute, which will be paired with Captain Lawrence’s Smoked Porter.  French for sauerkraut, her Choucroute is a hearty mix of House Smoked and Braised Pork, German Beer Sausage, Slow Cooked Pork Ribs, Housemade Sauerkraut.  As an added bonus, Scott Vaccaro, owner and brewer of Captain Lawrence, will also be there to answer any questions you may have about their local beers.  All seating is communal and reservations are highly recommended (see below).  Be sure to stay on the lookout for more great craft beer events from Back Forty.  This is already their second one of the year (the first was the Sixpoint Mardi Gras dinner last month).  We’ll keep you updated here with all the events and details.  Check out the full pairing menu after the jump…

Date: Tuesday, March 9th
Time: 6:30, 7, 7:30, 8:30, 9 and 9:30 reservations available (please note: all seating is communal)
Location: Back Forty (190 Avenue B, at 12th St.)
Cost: $55 per person (includes beer; excludes tax and gratuity)
Reservations: 212-388-1990 Continue Reading »

The city of Dijon, France has sent a contingent here to NYC to show us that there’s more to their city than just President Obama’s favorite mustard.  After all, Dijon is located in the heart of Burgundy, one of our favorite wine regions.  They’re calling the weeklong project Dijon Must’art.  Their delegation consists of chefs, wine experts, artists, musicians and businesspeople.  But here’s what you want to know: Dijon Must’art is hosting a free all-day public event at Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central Terminal on Wednesday, March 3^rd from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. There will be cooking demos and free tastings of regional specialties like Duck Foie Gras with Honey Gingerbread, Crawfish Flan flavored with Marc de Bourgogne, Baked Époisses Cheese in a pound-cake crust; and Cassis-flavored Marshmallows.  There will also be a wine and spirits lounge featuring Burgundy’s wines including the Domaines of Humbert, Gallois, and Faiveley, as well as cocktails made with Gabriel Boudier Cassis de Dijon Liqueur, Crème de Framboise Raspberry Liqueur, and new Saffron Gin.  Live music performers and works of art will also be on display.  For more info about Dijon Must’art, click here.

Our favorite lunchtime wine-drinking deal is back!  During the week of March 1-5, head to Smith & Wollensky, Park Avenue Autumn, Maloney & Porcelli, Quality Meats or The Post House for lunch and for just $10 you will get ten generous samples of wine!  The wines vary by restaurant and by day. So, check out the different wines that will be poured each day at each of the restaurants here and plan accordingly.  I’d recommend hitting up Quality Meats next Thursday, March 4th when they’ll be pouring Mulderbosch (South Africa), Errazuriz (Chile) and Torres (Spain), among others.  If you head to Smith & Wollensky any of the days, one of your ten samples will be their in-house S&W Private Reserve wine.

They’re baaaaack!  Praise the lard.  Our favorite food and drink event from last year is returning for some more wining and swining. Cochon 555 is a culinary event featuring 5 chefs, 5 heritage pigs and 5 winemakers with the chefs squaring off in a friendly competition for a good cause.  This year the event is taking place at Pier 60 at Chelsea Piers on March 21st ($125 general admission; $175 VIP; ticket info).  It all started in Atlanta where event founder Brady Lowe is from and has grown to become an 11-city event.  The 5 chefs for the NYC stop include Mark Ladner (Del Posto), Marco Canora (Hearth), Adam Kaye (Blue Hill at Stone Barns), Gavin Kaysen (Cafe Boulud), and last year’s winner Corwin Kave (Fatty ‘Cue).  The VIP Butcher is Tom Mylan from The Meat Hook.  The VIP experience starts early with a special wine tasting, artisanal cheese reception, signature cocktails, craft beers and a “meat” and greet with the chefs, winemakers and judges.  Each chef gets a 125lb heritage pig that can be pre-cooked, braised, grilled, pressed, pickled, rubbed, smoked, seared, sauced, spiced, injected, marinated, cured in any way, or otherwise prepared. Guests then get to taste all the chef creations during a 2.5 hour walk-around.  I’m telling you this is a DO-NOT-MISS EVENT.  Get your tickets before they sell out.  You will not be disappointed.  Check out our coverage from last year’s Cochon 555 event here.

We love providing our friends, family and co-workers with NYC restaurant and bar recommendations.  We get all sorts of requests, whether it’s a friend looking for a date night wine bar, out-of-towners looking for a good pre-theater spot, friends looking for a good Sunday-Funday brunch spot, or a fellow wino looking for a great BYO deal.  We enjoy putting our knowledge of the NYC food and drink scene to good use.  So, we thought why not lend a little of our NYC expertise to everyone.  Today we launched our free “Get a Recommendation” service.  All you have to do is fill out a simple form here with as much or as little info about what you are looking for (neighborhood, type of food, occasion, price, time, breakfast/brunch/lunch/dinner, non-touristy, etc). and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can by email with our best ideas and recommendations.  Even if you already have a pretty good idea for a place, why not test us out and see how you compare to what we come up with.  We’ve even created a Twitter account @NYCRecos where you can follow all of the Recommendation Requests (anonymous) we receive and our Recommendations in response.  We’ve already had 10+ requests for recommendations come across the wire today alone and we look forward to many more.  We also hear there’s another recommendation request service that recently launched called Eatery Expert.  I say try us both out and see whose recommendations you prefer.

Can’t believe it’s still coming down like this!  The blizzard party hasn’t stopped at Cabrito , Fatty Crab West Village, or Fatty Crab Upper West Side where yesterday they promised happy hour food and drink specials at the bar until the snow stops falling.  Specials at Cabrito include $3 tacos, $3 Dos Equis drafts, $5 margaritas ($30/pitcher), 1/2 price specialty cocktails w/ purchase of entree and more.  Specials at Fatty Crab include $5 sliders and buns and $6 well drinks.  Centro Vinoteca will be serving complimentary bar snacks from 5-7pm during happy hour, along with $7 quartinos of wine.  We’re heading to the NY Wine Expo Grand Tasting from 6-10pm tonight at Javits Center.  If you want to join us they are offering $15 off the regular $85 tickets here with the CODE: WINED.  We’ll leave you with some before and after shots of our terrace.

BEFORE

AFTER

In honor of its 6th birthday on Wednesday, March 3rd, the original BLT Steak on E. 57th St. will celebrate by offering their delicious steaks and entrees (think filets, ribeye, NY strips, Dover sole and more), sides, desserts and cocktails at ridiculously low prices.  In fact, all the BLT Steak’s and BLT Prime’s across the country will be joining in the celebration.  For one day only (lunch and dinner), all main courses at all BLT Steak and BLT Prime locations will be priced at $33.04 (representing its March 3, 2004 birthday), sides (like jalapeño mashed potatoes, creamy spinach and hen of the woods mushrooms) that normally range from $8-$10, will be $3.03, and signature cocktails, which are regularly $14-$15, will also be $3.03.  Not sweet enough for you, then desserts like peanut butter chocolate mousse with banana ice cream, crêpe soufflé with passion fruit sauce and caramelized NY cheesecake with citrus soup and blood orange sorbet will also be just $3.03 also, reduced from $10.  This is a pretty sick deal given their normal prices! Reservations are strongly suggested.

We try to hit up as many of the “Taste of …” events as possible.  They’re a great opportunity to network and try bites from many of our favorite NYC restaurants in one-stop-shop fashion, not to mention a pretty good opportunity to drink copious amounts of alcohol.  This past Tuesday night StreetWise Partners held its 3rd Annual Taste of Success at City Winery.  Picture the ultimate mall food court, but instead of Auntie Anne’s and Sbarro, you’ve got top-notch places like SushiSAMBA, Luke’s Lobster, Meze Grill and Kittichai serving up samplings of their signature plates…and with unlimited high-end alcohol to boot.  My Mom was in town so we brought her with us to give her a taste of what we do when we’re not working.  I have to hand it to StreetWise Partners for assembling a pretty amazing lineup of bars and restaurants for the event: Barros Luco, Brother Jimmy’s, Kittichai, SushiSAMBA, Balade, Cascabel Taqueria, Macbar, Delicatessen, Luke’s Lobster, Poco, and Macelleria were all there, among several others.  I was pretty happy to see my favorite beer bar Rattle N Hum there pouring craft beers, as well as Brandy Library, who was pouring single malt scotches in 3 varieties.  We each had our own favorite tastes of the event, though I must say we didn’t try everything (and not because there wasn’t enough).  My Mom was a huge fan of the yellowfin taquitos from SushiSAMBA, Jill loved the manakeesh (Lebanese breakfast pizza) from Balade, a new Lebanese spot in the E Village, and my favorites were the chicken chipotle mac n’ cheese from Macbar and the pulled pork sliders from Brother Jimmy’s.  Honorable mentions included the truffled risotto balls from Poco, the gnocchi bolognese from Macelleria and shepherd’s pie from The Crooked Knife.  Ok, now for some pictures…

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What better way to celebrate a snow day than with free food and a full open bar?  Tomorrow, February 26th, Butterfield 8 (5 E. 38th St) is celebrating its 4-Year Anniversary with a complimentary full open bar and free passed appetizers from 6-7pm and again from 10-11pm.  To take advantage of this freebie deal, you must RSVP to info@butterfield8lounge.com to be added to the guest list.