It is our family tradition to gather in NYC to celebrate Thanksgiving every year.  That means we can toast to all that we are thankful for with some fabulous wines and appetizers in our Manhattan apartment, but cooking up a full fledged Thanksgiving feast is a bit difficult with limited oven and fridge space.  So, [...]

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, we should all take a moment to think about everything that we have to be thankful for and to think about those who may be going through very difficult times, whether health-related, job-related, etc.  Thanksgiving is all about putting things in proper perspective. We wish all of our friends and family [...]

We were really excited to try Prune - especially after hearing it is a favorite among chefs/restaurateurs (Bourdain and Ripert swear by it) and seeing the crowds that form outside on any given Saturday and Sunday for brunch. Critics have been heaping praise upon chef Gabrielle Hamilton (Prune apparently was her childhood nickname) for years now. This past [...]

BYO restaurants are the best way to dull the pain of the price of dining in NYC and represent some of the city’s hidden gems. The problem is not too many restaurants are willing to forgo an alcohol revenue stream with its huge mark-ups. One thing we’ve noticed is that restaurants will open before receiving their liquor license [...]

NYC & Company today announced the launch of the third phase of the Just Ask The Locals campaign that includes city dining tips from local chefs and celebs. Though the chefs and restaurateurs are quick to plug some of their own establishments, it’s interesting to see some of the other places around the five boroughs they [...]

Vero Panini & Wine Bar: (2nd Ave @ 53rd) On Monday nights, order a glass of wine, martini, cocktail or a beer and receive a free panini.
Bloomingdale Road: (Broadway @ 88th) Offering half-price bottles of wine on Monday nights.
Park Avenue Bistro: (Park b/t 26th and 27th) Starting next week, PAB is offering a two-for-one deal on Mondays and Tuesdays. [...]

Wine Spectator announced today its much-anticipated list of the Top 100 Wines of 2008. According to WS, they reviewed more than 19,500 wines from around the world in blind tastings. More than 5,300 of them earned outstanding ratings (90 points or higher on the WS 100-point scale). They then narrowed the list down based on four criteria: quality (represented [...]

We attended the Undergrounds Unite 12-course Thanksgiving-inspired feast on Friday night. Undergrounds Unite is a consortium of five of the city’s underground supper clubs. Late Wednesday we got an email from UU about the undisclosed loft location where the feast would be held. Here’s what it said:
So, wondering how it works?
-Please arrive at the Playwright (35th [...]

Sound redundant? I thought so too until I realized there actually is a wine producer that calls itself ‘Recession Wines.’ Apparently, they are offering 2 Recession Reds, a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Merlot, and 1 Recession White Chardonnay. The best part by far is their promotional video featuring Recession Wines’ spokesperson Poris Hilton. You gotta see this for [...]

Over the past couple of years, we’ve been hearing alot about super-secretive supper clubs that have been popping up around the city (like NY Bite Club) which hold multi-course tasting dinners semi-regularly in private lofts and apartments around town. This weekend five of these underground supper clubs will be joining forces for a massive, 150-seat communal dinner in an undisclosed [...]

We picked up a bottle of this Wine Spectator 90-pointer from our local wine shop last night to pair with our homemade Top Chef dinner. We had no idea at the time this under $12 riesling had just received mention in the Nov. 15th issue of Wine Spectator as a great value buy, but we can [...]

Ready for a ‘culinary boner’? Our favorite tv show starts up again tonight on Bravo at 10pm. Needless to say, we’re pretty psyched. We’ll be keeping with tradition from last season and preparing a home-cooked meal beforehand to enjoy while we watch the show…and what’s a Top Chef premiere without a recession special value wine. [...]

With the worldwide financial crisis in full swing, it’s a time when a lot of wine lovers will be looking to dial back their wine budgets. From people we’ve spoken to and articles we’ve read, it seems that most are still drinking the same amount of wine, but less expensive selections.
With that in mind, we’ve decided [...]

We should have known better- arriving at the Sunburnt Cow at prime brunch time on a Sunday… What were we thinking? After learning of the over 1 1/2 hour wait to partake in the biggest Sunday Funday all-you-can-drink brunches/parties in town, we decided to go elsewhere. We were intrigued by the french/chill/islandy music and the [...]

Before there was the Spotted Pig and before the rise of the gastropub, there was Waterfront Ale House. You would never guess from the outside that this Murray Hill saloon (there’s a second location in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill) serves up some amazing grub. A hand-painted sign on the wall self-depracatingly proclaims this pub to be the [...]