6/23/11

AWESOME GIVEAWAY: 2 Tickets to Voca People

Ever wanted to see an intergalactic, a capella musical complete with white aliens and lots of fun? The specific desire may not have crossed your mind, but you can now enjoy this showcase of uniqueness at Voca People - a new musical theater event playing at the Westside Theater in Hell's Kitchen.




The show, which has traveled around the world, features talented performers who entertain the crowd with familiar songs without the use of instruments. The characters hail from the planet Voca, where all communication is made by musical and vocal expressions. 



All my readers are in luck! I'm giving away a pair of tickets to see Voca PeopleThe tickets must be picked up at the box office the day of the show. There are 5 easy ways to win and each comment counts as an entry. Please include your email in any comments so I know how to contact you if you are the winner.

1) REQUIRED - Follow this blog by clicking on the button on the right panel and leave a comment below letting me know you did so.

2) REQUIRED - Leave a comment below letting me know why you want to see this show.

3) Follow me on Twitter @yaelleah and leave a comment below letting me know you did so.

4) Tweet or blog about this event and let me know with a link to your tweet or blog in a comment below.

5) Subscribe to this blog by email, using the submission box in the right panel and leave a comment below letting me know you did so.

One winner will be chosen using Random.org on Wednesday 6/29. You have until Wednesday 6/29 at 12 p.m. EST to enter the contest. Good luck!



A winner has been chosen! Congratulations Cindy! She was the 1st commenter and wins two tickets to see Voca People! Thanks everyone for entering and stay tuned for more awesomeness.

6/10/11

Manhattan in Motion

It's hard to think of everything going on around the city when you're stuck in an overheated subway car or a cubicle far from a coveted window, but New York City is flippin' fantastic. I stumbled across a time lapse video called "Manhattan in Motion" by a man named Josh Owens and I was mesmerized by what he was able to capture. I especially liked seeing the Astor Place Cube spin round like a top that won't fall down and the way he panned from the quiet solitude of a rooftop to the busy streets below.


Mindrelic - Manhattan in motion from Mindrelic on Vimeo.

The original video can be found here. Enjoy!

6/8/11

FINALLY! Good Mexican in Manhattan

Being from Los Angeles, I have been searching high and low in NYC for something to even come close to replicating the often-craved, authentic Mexican food I can find readily available at home. There's the Mexican take-out joints run by Chinese people, and they have decent, cheap food, but the meat always seems like it could double in a Mongolian beef dish as well. Chipotle makes a decent burrito, but come on, burritos are more American than apple pie at this point. 

So when the oh-so-reliable blog Midtown Lunch alerted me to a new Mexican food purveyor near my office, I had to check it out. Taqueria Nixtamalito excited me because the name alone wasn't dumbed down to something a typical American office worker could say easily (not that it didn't take everyone a while to learn the correct pronunciation of Chipotle, but that's a different story). The "permanent cart," I'll call it, is an offshoot of Tortilleria Nixtamal in Corona, Queens. They've been dishing out fresh made tortillas, tamales and enchiladas (and wholesaling to NYC staples like Mexicue, Dos Toros Tacos and Rosa Mexicano) and decided to take their show to the big leagues by opening in a space just south of the Municipal Building (1 Centre Street).


When I arrived at 12:15 on a beautiful Tuesday, the line was about five people deep. I read that it can get much longer so I decided to take lunch on the earlier side. For such a small place, I was happy to see such a large menu. Tamales are one of my favorite foods if they're made right, and Taqueria Nixtamalito offered several varieties including chicken mole, chipotle with pork and chicken, and verde with pork all $3.50. The taco menu was also extensive and included chicken ($2.50), pork ($2.50), barbacoa ($2.75), carnitas ($2.50), shrimp ($3.00) and fish ($3.00). Rounding out the menu were chicken mole enchiladas, tortas, guacamole and salads. They also sell the Mexican soda Jarritos!


Although I was tempted by the chicken mole enchiladas, I couldn't pass up what I thought would hopefully be the most amazing (read = only) tamale I've had in years. I ordered the shrimp taco and chicken mole tamale. The cashier asked me if I'd like salsa and I said yes please. Then he made my day even more and asked if I'd like green or red. Salsa verde (green salsa) is amazing with tamales! 

Shrimp Taco
Chicken Mole Tamale 
Tamale Post-Salsa Verde
Ay carumba was I happy! With only three tables next to the actual stand, I took my food across the street to city hall park to eat in the shade and people watch. However, I would totally advocate for finding a table to eat this meal at. After carefully covering my lap in a napkin layered with the plastic bag layered with another napkin, I dug in. The shrimp taco came with mango, cucumber, a tangy mayo-based sauce and of course chunks of succulent shrimp. The handmade tortilla made all the difference as well.

I covered my tamale in the smoky salsa verde and enjoyed the mix of flavors with the mole. There were large pieces of shredded chicken that I enjoyed until I was scraping the extra off of the corn husk. For $6.50, this was a pretty filling lunch. I definitely could not eat two whole tamales without feeling super full. Next time I'm ordering the enchiladas. Who's with me?

The cashier said that they will soon be launching a system where customers can order online, but until then... Viva Taqueria Nixtamalito!

Taqueria Nixtamalito on Urbanspoon

Awesome Reads

Awesome in New York New York restaurants

Awesome Keywords

art gallery art museum Astoria atlantic city awesome alert Awesome Deal awesome giveaway awesome savings bakeries bar bar crawl BBQ beach beauty beer beer event birthday Book Launch brazilian breakfast Broadway Brooklyn Brooklyn Bridge Brunch Bryant Park carnegie hall celebrity spotting Central Park cheap tickets cheese Chelsea Market Chinatown Chinese Food Choice Eats class cocktails coffee columbus circle concert concert in the park contest cookies cooking creativity crunch cuban dance Deals Delicatessen delivery designer clothing dessert. food dinner Dior discount spa treatments discounted tickets doughnuts Downtown drink specials drinks East Village Ebates Entertainment event exercise Facebook giveaway fashion film fitness Flatiron Flushing Meadows-Corona park Food Food event food truck free Free Champagne free coffee Free Concerts free cupcake free dessert free drinks free food free museum admission free stuff Free Ticket free wine French food fundraising gift Gilt City giveaway gourmet food store Grand Central Greek Greenwich Village Groupon Guggenheim Museum half marathon halloween health healthy living helicopter tour hell's kitchen historic site history holiday shopping hot chocolate Italian food jazz jazz club jewelry lincoln center local food Lombardi Long Island City Lower East Side lunch macaron Madison Square Park Manhattan margaritas MCNY memberships Met mexican food MOMA movie premiere ms walk museum music New Year's Eve New York new york botanic garden New York City Food and Wine Festival New York Magazine New York Times New York Wine Expo Nolita NYC Off-Broadway online shopping open bar out of towners outdoors pancakes party photos pizza public art publications Queens restaurant Restaurant Review Restaurant Week Riesling Crawl rooftop roosevelt running sake save money shopping shopping deals skincare social media Social Media Week Soho spirits summer Super Bowl sushi sweetery tapas taxi TDF Terroir The Jewish Museum Theater thrift store Thrillist Times Square travel Twitter giveaway upper east side video views Village Voice volunteer opportunity website West Village williamsburg win wine wine class wine event Yankee Stadium yelp yoga Ziegfeld Theater