Give Carnations a Shot

Carnations are thought of as kind of tacky; I usually try to avoid them altogether. However, now they can provide an inexpensive way to enjoy fresh flowers.

I  recently saw these arrangements; they’re a ton of carnations gathered together into a large glamorous poof and tied together with a clear rubber band. It’s a simple way to make these flowers with a bad reputation finally look chic.

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Loomstate + Chipotle

Loomstate, a causal clothing company that is socially/environmentally responsible and uses certified organic cotton, showed off a new line last night called 321 (clothes you can wear like a gazillion ways). Fun fact: Loomsstate actually has a partnership with Chipotle and designs, among many things, Chipotle’s in-store uniforms. So for the event Chipotle provided the margaritas and apps  in an unexpected way (no, not massive burritos).

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Philly, Just Give it a Shot

Most people underestimate the Philly food scene; they just don’t realize how many good places there are packed into a relatively small amount of space.  The restaurants have great food, they’re different, accessible…and many are BYOB. Good luck stumbling upon that combination in NY.

 If you find yourself in Philly on a Saturday, I dare you to choose one if the following adventures:

START HERE: Head to Garces Trading Co., they have a wine shop INSIDE the actual restaurant.  Pick up a bottle of Prosecco and then go a few blocks over to Kanella.  This is a Greek place, where literally everything is amazing. but order the Cyprus Breakfast (eggs fried in olive oil, halloumi, lounza and bread, $11). It’s unlike any egg breakfast you’ve had before.

Now, it’s a hard call for your dinner plans, but either way you win…

OPTION 1: Go back to Garces Trading Co. (make a reservation if you can, it’s small and fills up). Get another bottle of wine and order their Saturday night special, Steak Frites ($34).  It’s hard to explain how good it is. You could instead order a deep dish pie, I suggest with smoked bacon and cipollini onions ($26 + toppings).

OPTION 2: Go somewhere (anywhere!)and get a bottle of wine. Before this point we were staying within Center City, but jump in a cab and head over to Northern Liberties to Koo Zee Doo. It’s a Portuguese restaurant that feels like you are in someone’s living room, in a good way.  They will bring you amazing homemade bread when you sit down.  You should start with the Salada de Marisco (Spicy seafood salad, hearts of palm, orange, watercress, $18) and then get the Bife à Portuguesa (Picanha steak, presunto, fried egg, fried potatoes, $36).  It’s going to be hard to fathom dessert, but never say never.

Just give Philly a shot, you’ll be happy (…fat, drunk and satisfied) when you do.

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Top of Mind

Here are a few things that are top of mind, given both the wave of warm weather in NY and my general tendency toward being a fat kid.

1. chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies from city bakery

2. outside patio at mulberry project

3. ice coffee from the mud truck, I am a recent 22nd st groupie

4. hibiscus donuts from dough, often found at the smorgasburg

5. green grasshopper from liquiteria, apple, pear, pineapple, wheatgrass & mint

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Friday Nights

Sometimes the best Friday nights are not spent raging at a club, but rather at dinner and drinks with friends (and if the drinks are strong enough, then maybe you go raging?). To come across a fun, affordable, West Village-kind-of-night is a commendable find that’s worth sharing.

Friday Night:

Drinks: Alta (tapas).  No one is quite sure what they put in their sangria, though we all can agree its probably equal parts wine, liquor and Ruffalin.

(Alta: 64 W. 10th Street near Sixth Ave; West Village; 212-505-7777)

Dinner: Piadina (Italian). Here it seems you can always get a reservation, the pastas go for around $14, and they have cheap wine and cute tables under cozy lighting and for future reference, it’s a great place for big groups and birthday parties.

(Piadina: 7 W. 10th Street, near Sixth Ave; West Village; 212-460-8017)

After Dinner: There are many options at this point, but if you would like to head to Diablo Royale for margaritas, it would be just fine with me. It’s a little bit of an obvious choice,  but fun nonetheless.

(Diablo Royale: 189 W. 10th Street, near Bleecker; West Village; 212-620-0223)

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R.I.P. Gourmet… Thanks for Everything

 

Click the picture to read about the tragedy. 

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Man-Made Meat

This is the creepiest contraption I’ve ever seen. The Cocoon Cooker makes meat. You know those cute mini herb gardens you grow in your kitchen? Yeah, OK, minus the herbs and add beef…or fish?  You  use food packets consisting of animal muscle cells, oxygen and nutrients in this device to create pure meat. They claim we can get quality meat without killing animals or risking contamination. I say, that’s some disgusting shit.

 

 

Read more and watch a video

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Crack Fiend

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Reasons to Skip Work…or More Things to Do While Unemployed

The Bon Appétit Supper Club and Cafe! From September 21-25 Bon Appétit will host a market, café (with a super star filled menu), cooking demonstrations and book signings! The theme is “Grown in Manhattan” and it will be held at 101 West 57th Street at 6th Avenue. If we were the shit in the food world we would be invited to the “exclusive dinners and parties,” but we’re not (ugh! One day! One day.)  so I’ll settle for the “open to the public” events. I’ve never been to the supper club cafe before but I’m determined to go this year; my roommate already sent me a gmail event confirming our lunch date. You can take a peek at last year’s menu to get a taste of what we can expect. If you have work, take an extended lunch break or “go to the doctor.” If you’re unemployed, well make your day a little less monotonous.

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How Much Do You Love Food?

My friend’s little sister one said, “I love bacon. I love bacon so much that I think I want to get “Bacon” tattooed across my forehead. Well I hope she’ll settle for some bacon flavored lip balm or a subscription to a “bacon of the month club” because once she, and you, see these fugly food tattoos I’m sure everyone is going just to opt for the regular fugly butterflies, barbed wire, or Chinese characters. These people here are not only tattoo tools, but if you gain weight and have something like “McDonald’s” tattooed across your chest, I mean you are just setting your self up… and if you love McDonald’s  that much chances are that you in fact will gain lots of weight. 

 

The tattoos were on a blog that I found to be wholly entertaining, especially if you are a Food Network junkie. You’ll see some pretty creative and funny spoofs of all our favorite personalities. You gotta check it out, here’s a preview below. FoodNetworkHumor.com

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