Partying like it’s Against the Law

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We may have finally hit peak-trend with ’20s era speakeasy bars and secret watering holes, now that the relatively well known (if still ostensibly “secret”) bar Angel’s Share has it’s own secret offshoot. But the fun of places like these, which reward a little internet research or in-crowd know-how with great drinks and exclusivity, is undeniable. We may not see as many pop up in 2016, but it doesn’t seem like they’ll be disappearing too quickly either.

The question is, with all these prohibition era bars around offering nightlife Gatsby would approve of, what do you do for the biggest party night of the year? Many of these bars simply do what they do best on New Years Eve: offer great cocktails and an opulent setting, and wait for those in-the-know to show up (and avoid the $100+ cover at many other places). Some offer even grander celebrations, like the Manderley Bar at the McKittrick Hotel (which you may know of as the setting of the nightlife experience that is Sleep No More). They’ll be hosting a Winter Masquerade this year with a  number of ticket options for those looking to go all in. Sleep No More‘s sister performance, the incredibly opulent Queen of the Night, likewise has a special New Year’s party which promises to (somehow) be even bigger than their usual performances. Excess is what these options offer, and they aren’t for the faint of heart. But is there any better holiday to really gild the lily?

For a list of more ’20s-themed New Years celebrations, click here.

NYCHG Event: Coffee in NYC

Screen Shot 2015-10-29 at 2.57.05 PMThe New York City Hospitality Group will hold an event where industry professionals can meet industry experts of the NYC Coffee Industry and Hospitality professionals. There will be a speaker panel of Larry Fish, President of Financier Patisserie, Marina Halpern, Owner of Padoca Bakery, and Teresa von Fuchs, Director of Wholesale at Irving Farm.

Where: Financier Patisserie, 35 Cedar St. New York

When: Nov 2nd from 6:30 PM- 9:30 PM

To RSVP for this amazing event, click here. For further questions about the event, please contact Kash Singh kash@aerialdesignandbuild.com or at the web http://www.nych.org.

Webinar: The ABC’s Of EMV

Tuesday, October 6 at 2 PM the New York State Restaurant Association will be hosting a webinar on How EMV security works, security at the POS, the liability shift, restaurant tip processing and who to contact for questions. Starting October 2015, credit card fraud liability shifts from the credit card company to the business itself. Businesses will now be liable to accept EMV security cards in order to protect their transactions and from fraud. While credit cards were always liable and took initiatives between business and customer fraud relations, a shift in liability will have all businesses in more alert. To learn more about the new business implementations that every owner needs to use, register for the webinar here.

8 Food Festivals and Events this Fall

534656441_640This Autumn there is a variety of excellent food themed festivals and events to look forward to. Some have already been established and some are new- New York Magazine’s own annual tasting extravaganza, Puerto Rico Meets New York City.

Puerto Rico Meets New York City is a brand new culinary event that is similar to Baja Meets NYC. This new culinary event pairs chefs from New York like Eric Ripert and Camille Becerra with compatriots in Puerto Rico for a series of collaborative five and six course tasting menus. The most anticipated section of this event is the Lechon Asado Block Party in Roberta’s backyard. Prices for this event range from $75 to $200 and is on September 20th to October 4th.

NORTH Nordic Food Festival is a celebration of food from the Nordic regions. There is a children’s baking class and Denmark day with Noma co-founder Claus Meyer, a pop-up dinner with the Michelin-starred Stockholm Volt, a conversation about what’s next for New Nordic cuisines, and a closing dinner featuring Acme’s Mads Reflund, Luksus’s Daniel Burns, and Fredrik Berselius. This event will be from September 23rd to September 28th. The Denmark, Iceland, Finland and #TrySwedish days are free while other events cost between $45 and $179.

New York Taste Presented by Citi is New York Magazine’s annual eating and drinking gala. Star-studded chefs and bartenders including Upland’s Justin Smillie, Julie Reiner, L’Amico’s Laurent Tourondel will be present. Tickets cost $100 for general admission and $195 for VIP. Tickets give unlimited access to food and drinks. The event will be on November 10.

New York City Food & Wine Festival is on October 15th to October 18th. This event will be lined with food personalities, and events range from Tiki Cocktails 101 to hot-dog competitions and the annual Burger Bash. Many celebrities and famous chefs, bartenders and foodies will be attending.

CHEERS NY is a festival that gathers New York State’s top “boozy” beverage producers and food-makers. Located in Brooklyn Eats Marketplace, tickets are $50 and there is a separate food-oriented BK Eats event for $10.

This  year will be the ninth year in a row that NYC Food Film Festival will be returning. This event is focused around pairing food-focused films with appropriately themed dinners. Twenty-three films covering a variety of subjects will be shown at this year’s event. Ticket prices are $23 to $129, or $449 for VIP. NYC Food Film Festival also benefits nonprofits like Billion Oyster Project and the Good Food Project.

Slice Out Hunger will be returning again on October 7th. Last year the nonprofit organization raised $30,000 in 3 hours. This year, Scott Wiener and 50 of the city’s top pizzerias will collaborate together for this charity event. Slices of pizza will be sold for $1 and admission into the event is free. All of the proceeds will be donated to the Food Bank of New York.

To read more, click here.

The New York Coffee Festival 2015

NewYorkCoffeeFestival_LogoThe New York Coffee Festival 2015 is set to be held on September 25th- 27th at the 69th Regiment Armory.

The New York Coffee Festival is New York’s flagship coffee event, that celebrates the specialty coffee scene in the city. The festival will feature over 70 coffee, food and equipment suppliers, where visitors will have access to endless free coffee tastings, interactive workshops, demonstrations form world-class baristas, delicious street food, coffee cocktails, live music and art. More than 10,000 visitors are expected to come from across the USA and abroad.

Many events will take place at the festival like the Lab program. The Lab program will feature interactive demonstrations, workshops, talks and tasting from industry experts. Participants will witness demonstrations on coffee art, the science of coffee, and the latest brewing techniques. Moreover, participants can discover current industry trends, gain top tips for setting up a coffee shop, and explore the history of coffee.

The festival is also the official launch event for the charitable Coffee Week NYC, which promotes the coffee industry while raising money for clean water and sanitation projects in coffee producing communities. 50% of ticket sales will be donated to Project Waterfall. Standard ticket prices are $20 online and $25 at the door.

Some exhibitors that will be present during the festival include Stumptown Coffee, Brooklyn Cold Brew, Bluestone Lane Coffee, Dough, Gregorys Coffee, Irving Farm, La Colombe, etc. The full list of exhibitors can be found here.

To read more, click here.

Institute of Culinary Education hosts an Open House

logoThe Institute of Culinary Education will be hosting their Open House on Saturday September 19th. ICE (Institute of Culinary Education) is a renowned program that introduces and develops skills for those interested in culinary fields. Attendees will have the chance to learn more about career programs in Culinary Arts, Pastry & Baking Arts, Culinary management and Hospitality Management. Moreover there will be a tour of the new Brookfield place ICE facility, and can experience cooking demonstrations with chef instructors.

Past students, like Christen Clinkscales, boasts about how ICE has helped her cultivate her dreams of becoming a chef. “My first two months of culinary school have been full of lessons…But the biggest lesson I’ve learned is the importance of following your passion.” She was a past attendee of the open house and it has aided her in career development, and her place in the culinary arts.

To register, click here.

Dominique Ansel Hosts its First “Pie Night”

FoodFightBlackWhite_cropped-e1441319093825On October 1st, Dominique Ansel will host their first ever Pie Night. Dominique Ansel has gained a lot of attention and popularity because of its mashup phenomenons like the Cronut, the Cookie shots, etc. And now, Dominique Ansel Kitchen will feature nine different varieties of confection for their ‘Pie Night’ event. The Salted-caramel apple pie, blueberry pie with buttermilk-oat crumble, flaméed banana-cream pie, bourbon-pecan pie, 66 percent dark-chocolate cream pie, whiskey-kissed sweet-potato pie with torched marshmallow, lemon-cream pie with thyme and brown-sugar meringue, dark-meat chicken and fall-vegetable potpie, and lastly the roasted heirloom-tomato tart will be be featured on Pie Night.

Tickets are priced at $35 and includes unlimited slices of pie, a glass of Champagne, and Ansel’s homemade ice creams. Tickets started to go on sale at 12 PM, September 10th. There are three one-hour time slots from 7PM-10PM. Many are anticipating Ansel’s first after-hours event, hoping that there will be many more to come. Ticket sales are on a first come first serve basis. Participants must email events@domiqueanselkitchen.com with their Full Name, Phone Number, the Number of people in your party (max 2), Time slot, and Credit Card Information.

To read more, click here.

Barclays Center Event: Tapped

27-tapped-beer-festival.w529.h529Barclays Center will host its first-ever beer festival. Barclays Center is home to the NBA team Brooklyn Nets, but with such a large and new facilities, new events are being put into the arena. On October 25, it will host a beer festival. Many lauded craft brewers like Florida’s Cigar City, Michigan’s Founders, New York’s War Flag are all expected to be participating in the event. This event will potentially attract all beer lovers and food lovers.

Food lovers will have the opportunity to taste celebrity chef Josh Capon’s Bash Burger, five-time winner of the New York Wine & Food Festival’s Burger Bash and other award-winning foods. Not only will craft beer, wine tasting and renowned foods be available but will also have interactive games like large-scale beer pong and Jenga. Moreover, Sunday Football will be streaming through TV’s.

General admissions tickets to each session of three hours is sold at $29 for early bird until September 2nd. The admissions ticket includes a souvenir cup and drink samples. VIP access tickets include early entrance 30 minutes prior to general admissions, and access to Calvin Klein Coursed Club, exclusive craft beer tastings, and televisions for Sunday Football games.

To read more, click here.

James Beard Award Chef and Restaurant Finalists Announced

After months of deliberation, the James Beard Foundation has finally honed in on the selection of finalists for this years’ Chef and Restaurant awards.  The awards will be held May 4 in Chicago–the first time outside NYC in 24 years! Here is a quick review of the local talent that made the cut:

  • Batard, nominated for Best New Restaurant
  • Jim Lahey, nominated for Outstanding Baker
  • Maison Premiere, nominated for Outstanding Bar Program
  • Michael Anthony, Gramercy Tavern, nominated for Outstanding Chef
  • Ghaya Oliveira, Daniel, nominated for Outstanding Pastry Chef
  • Christina Tosi, Momofuku, nominated for Outstanding Pastry Chef
  • Momofuku Noodle Bar, Per Se, and The Spotted Pig nominated for Outstanding Restaurant
  • Marea, nominated for for Outstanding Service

To see the complete list, click here.

New York City Tipped Workers to Get Big Raise End of Year

Workers receiving tipped wages–which are traditionally well below the minimum wage–are getting a big boost from Governor Andrew Cuomo.  Last month, he and labor commissioner Mario Musolino announced and approved the measure to increase the rate to $7.50 per hour.  Tipped wages, which range from $4.90 to $5.65 currently, will be reclassified into one single category given the $7.50 rate come the end of 2015.

The governor and commissioner spoke before labor leaders at a union hall in Manhattan to celebrate the change.  Cuomo used the time to call for further increase–the governor is proposing a $10.50 per hour minimum wage for non-tipped employees.  Currently, the minimum is $8.75 and is set to increase to $9 at the end of the year.

The changes are welcomed by employees as the income gap widens and is more widely recognized.  At $9/hour, the pre-tax annual income would be approximately $18,000–too little to “raise a family, pay for rent and food and insurance and health care… in the city of New York,” Cuomo said.

Not everyone is welcoming the change, however.  The New York State Restaurant Association points out that this effectively increased payroll by 50 percent.  Chris Hickey, regional director for the NYSRA, pointed out that the increase “is going to hit small businesses the hardest.”  Amanda Cohen, chef of Dirt Candy, added that restaurants “are going to have to raise their prices or go to a new tipping model.  My guess is that restaurants are going to have to raise their prices and be honest about it and say this is what it costs to operate this business.”

To read more on the increase, click here.