Brooklyn's Best New Coffee

If there's one thing that New York City runs off of, it's coffee. And you can never, never, never, never, never have too many coffee places. Good thing too because a certain chain...ahem, Starbucks...seems to sometimes have a monopoly. However, another Seattle chain is seeking to change the game, opening it's first full-on cafe yesterday in Brooklyn after a super successful (we're talking 3,000+ people) family and friends preview day on Wednesday.

Of course the company at the heart of it all, Seattle's Best, couldn't open just another storefront. They recently went through a menu revamp and came up with some pretty awesome new stuff. I was invited to come check out the new store and was pleasantly surprised. First of all the place is huge. There's plenty of space to relax, plug in your computer to do some work, or catch up with friends. The staff were incredibly friendly and treated me to a Hazelnut Creme Iced Latte ($3.49 for a small). With choices like Birthday Cake Latte and Caramel Pretzel Mocha, I had a pretty tough time making up my mind.

Hazelnut Creme Latte

Then it was onto the pastry case. The new menu was designed with the commuter in mind. Whether you're walking, taking the subway, or driving a car, all of the pastry items should be fairly easy to eat. I opted for the Very Berry Handheld Pie ($2.49) which also comes in caramel apple. I also sampled the cinnamon roll ($2.49), sour cream coffee cake ($2.39), and warm oatmeal raisin cookie ($1.99)

Handheld Pies

Coffee Cake and Cookie

Cinnamon Roll

To celebrate their grand opening the new Seattle's Best cafe will be giving out FREE COFFEE!  Swing by the Brooklyn retail location (253 Livingston Street) from 5:30am – 11pm on Wednesday, June 27, for a free small 12 oz. hot brewed coffee – a perfect perk for New Yorkers!

The Best Little Known Cupcake Secret

NYC has it's fair share of cupcakeries to choose from. There's Magnolia with it's uber creamy frosting, Butter Lane with it's wide array of flavors. Baked By Melissa has the teeny ones and Crumbs has the Big Kahuna ones. West Coast transplant Sprinkles quietly opened up one location in midtown (Lexington between 60th and 61st) and what I'm about to tell you will blow your cupcake mind--they give away free cupcakes EVERY DAY!

Really, I feel foolish spreading this news with the world because I love knowing that should I ever have the craving, I can walk the 1.5 blocks to the shop (aren't I lucky to work so close?!) and grab a little pick-me-up with nothing expected of me in return. However, this deal is too good not to share and I honestly don't think they even give away the 50 or so they are allowed to every day.

How does this magical deal work you ask? Well, every day between 12-2 Sprinkles posts a code word or phrase on both their national Twitter account and Facebook page. Usually the code word will give you a specific flavor of cupcake, but some days you are allowed to choose what you want. You walk into Sprinkles, say the code word and you are handed a cupcake. I often get stares from people waiting in line to buy cupcakes with, you know, money, and that just adds to my overall satisfaction of the experience. Oh and did I mention that this codeword is good at all of the Sprinkles stores in the country? So if you ever find yourself in LA, Chicago, Dallas, DC, etc. you can still score yourself a free treat.

In addition to this lovely little promotion, if you join Sprinkle's birthday club you will get a coupon for a free cupcake on your birthday. Could it get any sweeter?

Macaron Gratuit (AKA: Free Macarons!)

Ever since attempting to make macarons on my own have I come to appreciate the beauty of a perfectly made little sandwich cookie. These guys are HARD to make and that's why they come with the hefty price tag you've no doubt seen at dozens of macaron bakeries that have popped up around the city in the past year.

So imagine my glee when I discovered that ALL 11 Financier Patisserie locations are giving away free macarons tomorrow 3/1 at 10:30 am. To get yours, you just need to show your loyalty card, which you can get from their website for free. From the email I received, it seems that supplies are limited so make sure to get there early if you want to taste some sweet goodness. If you miss the macarons, I'd highly recommend any thing else in their pastry display. Seriously, it's all good.

AWESOME ALERT: Free Awesome Concert Thursday 3/1

Attention readers! You may have seen me allude to the fact that big things were going to happen on the blog this month on Twitter. Well, now's the time you need to pay attention.

I can't give away too many details, but if I were you I'd clear your calendars on Thursday evening March 1 for the most epic concert of the year, happening right here in NYC. There will be some big names you will all recognize, and best of all, you can get in for free!

Stay tuned next week and I'll reveal more details. I will say this, while tickets are free, you still have to snag one. In addition to the 3 I'll be giving away next week, tickets will go "on sale" here on Monday morning 2/27 Tuesday morning 2/28 at 9:00 am EST (The link won't work until then but I thought I'd give you the heads up). Who's excited?

Put A Little Ohm In It

If you didn't get enough R&R during the Hurricane Irene "NYC Shutdown" weekend and find that you could use a little more ohm in your life, you should get blissfully excited as September is National Yoga Month. Frankly, I think every month should be yoga month as I always find that I can relax and unwind from urban stresses with a little downward dog.

photo credit: www.myyogaloft.com

The biggest perk of National Yoga Month is, well, free yoga, but more specifically, a free week of yoga at close to 30 Manhattan studios and hundreds more across the globe. By visiting this website, you can search for your studio of choice (including the likes of Yogaworks, Pure Yoga, The Sports Club LA and Reebok Sports Club/NY) and claim your free week pass. Keep in mind this is for new students only so if you've already checked out Yogaworks, you won't be able to go back there.

Yoga in Bryant Park, sponsored by Lululemon, also continues through the month on Tuesdays at 10 am and Thursdays at 6 pm. These free classes are open level and mats are provided. The athletics-wear brand is also sponsoring free celebrity-endorsed Physique 57 classes every Friday at 12:15, free with RSVP. Designed to tone and create lean bodies, this class isn't yoga, but it sure looks like a good workout to me.

While I'm talking about yoga, I must also throw a little plug in here for my favorite yoga class in the city. Recently featured on Good Morning America, Anti-Gravity yoga is a class that has changed my life by challenging me to push my limits (hello?! you're upside down and doing flips!) and helped me to find more (literal and figurative) balance. It's taught at a few locations throughout the city now, but my favorite is Om Factory in midtown. You can see photos and videos of classes on their website, but basically the class involves traditional yoga poses mixed with aerial arts all using the aid of man-made silk hammocks hanging from the ceiling. If you're like me and can't do or hate the feeling of traditional yoga inversion poses, you will love this class.

Why are you still sitting at your computer? Slip into your favorite pair of yoga pants, grab your mat and goooooooooooohm!

AWESOME GIVEAWAY: $20 to Allmenus.com

Hello awesome readers! Sorry I took a bit of a hiatus these past few weeks, but I'm back, and with a bang.

You've heard me go on and on about Signpost (formerly known as Postabon) and all the great stuff I won from them over the course of the last year (exhibit a, exhibit b, and exhibit c, not to mention my iPad). Well not only has Signpost grown into a lovely website and community for deal sharers, it now offers some of its own merchant deals including $60 for $120 Worth of Clothing at Heartbeat Style (Hoboken) and $15 for 2 Comedy Show Tickets + Half-Off Drink Minimum. You can still earn Karma Points by posting deals you see around town and by interacting with other users, but you can then go and spend those points like money on Signpost's merchant deals. The company also hosts monthly happy hours, often with free drinks (the next one is Wed. 4/6 at SideBar with a one hour open bar). So really it's a win, win, win, win, win.

One of Signpost's current merchant deals is $10 for $20 to spend at Allmenus.com, an online food delivery website serving NYC. I bought the voucher and tried out the service, and I was very pleased with the user-friendly website and assortment of restaurants available to choose from. Plus what's better than half off Pad Thai or Pepperoni Pizza delivered fresh to your door?

Well, how about a free voucher?

That's right, I'm giving away one $20 voucher to Allmenus.com courtesty of the awesome folks at Signpost. There are 4 easy ways to win and each comment counts as an entry. So to maximize your entries you should leave multiple comments. 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 - Sign up for Signpost and leave a comment with your username. If you are already a member, that's ok. Just leave a comment with your username telling me so.


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


4) Tweet or blog about this contest an let me know you did so with a link to your tweet or blog in a comment below.


One winner will be chosen using Random.org on Friday 3/25. You have until Friday 3/25 at 2 p.m. EST to enter the contest. Good luck!

A winner has been chosen! Congratulations to Christine! She was the 13th commenter and wins $20 to AllMenus.com! Enjoy Christine! And thanks to all who entered. Have a great weekend!

Peanutastic!

Heading into the Nutripolitan Museum of Art, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. However, it's NYC, a city full of unique ideas, and I knew that this one was going to be awesome. My friend Jen came along for the festivities and as soon as we walked in, we were asked to "donate" a jar of peanut butter to the Food Bank just by putting a sticker with our name on it on the wall. Easiest thing I've ever donated!

Jen and I with the wall of stickers behind us

The invitation-only launch party was sponsored by a whole host of companies, but mainly put on by the fantastic folks over at Peanut Butter & Co. to celebrate National Peanut Month. The idea behind the gallery was basically, let's style peanut butter with a whole host of foods that may or may not go with it, photograph these creations and then display larger than life-size food porn posterboards.

Some of the food porn displayed in the gallery

Jen's favorite was titled "Pizzelle Perfect"

The crowd with a rotating peanut butter art slideshow above the bar

The space in Openhouse Gallery was packed to the brim with peanut butter lovers. I'm pretty sure they had more attendees than planned as the bar line stretched almost to the exit, but the creative peanut butter themed libations were well worth the wait. I sampled the PB&J Hooray which had Purple 3 Olives Vodka and egg whites shaken over ice with peanut butter whipped cream topping. It was quite the different sort of drink, but I liked the playfulness between the grape flavored vodka and the peanut butter on top. Jen tried the Peanut Butter Java Whiplash which had 3 Olives Vanilla, Chocolate and Espresso Vodka shaken with milk and topped with peanut butter whipped cream and chopped peanuts and graham crackers.

Peanut Butter Java Whiplash (L) and PB&J Hooray (R)

At a peanut butter party, one would expect peanut butter, but not quite in the myriad of combinations that were served by waiters who could barely pass their trays out the door before having to return to the kitchen for refills. The first thing I tried was the Peanut Slaw prepared by Chef Suvir Saran of Devi. It was rather spicy, but refreshing. Other savory favorites included the Peanut Potage by Chef Ben Leezal of Buerre d'Arachede et Cie. I still can't tell you what potage is, but it was like a viscous soup with maybe some potatoes and an essence of peanut. The Penne with Peanut Pesto and Chicken Sate were wonderful as well. 

Peanut Slaw with the event's menu

Onto more sweet options, waiters were passing around breads with four different combinations of peanut butters and toppings. Using Peanut Butter & Co.'s own flavored peanut butters, the combinations were White Chocolate Wonderful with fresh blueberries, Dark Chocolate Dreams with sliced strawberries, Crunch Time with toasted marshmallows and Mighty Maple with smoked bacon, although I think the flavors and toppings may have gotten switched around a bit. The Mighty Maple was my favorite peanut butter, but it was so nice to enjoy fresh strawberries for the first time in a while. To top it all off, we also tried Magic Bars, which are like an "everything but the kitchen sink" sort of sweet concoction. So delicious and I got the recipe!

Dark Chocolate Dreams with a Toasted Marshmallow

Mighty Maple with Smoked Bacon

The rest of the night was spent noshing, enjoying the art and palling around with my new monkey friend. Everyone seemed to have a great time celebrating an awesome New York idea brought to life.

Me and my monkey friend

To me, a great event is one that I leave happy, full and feeling like I've experienced something unique. Major bonus points come in the form of a great gift bag, and this party scored major awesome bonus points! Not only did I take home two jars of Peanut Butter & Co.'s famous peanut butters (Mighty Maple and Smooth Operator), but I also received Traditional Virginian Peanut Soup from Montebello Kitchens, a ladle to go with it, Protein Plus Peanut Flour, Sir Francis Bacon Peanut Brittle, Peri-Peri Good hot spiced peanuts, Q.bel peanut butter and chocolate cookies, peanut caramels from Liddabit Sweets and packaged peanuts from Ricky's Lucky Nuts. Let's just say I'll be getting my peanut fix for the next year. 

My awesome peanut goodie bag

Thanks to my friend Jeff, who writes the awesome food blog I8NYC, I also scored a jar of Peanut Butter & Co.'s The Heat is On peanut butter. I can't wait to experiment with that one!

The Nutripolitan Museum of Art is open through tomorrow at the Openhouse Gallery in Soho. I would totally recommend going not only for the art, but every guest will get to take home a jar of peanut butter. In addition, Peanut Butter & Co. will donate one jar of peanut butter to the Food Bank for NYC for every person who visits the gallery.

AWESOME ALERT: See Some Peanut Butter Art and Get a Free Jar to Take Home!

Did your mom ever tell you not to play with your food? Well apparently not everyone had that experience as a child. Case in point...The Nutropolitan Museum of Art. That's right, our beloved friends over at Peanut Butter & Co. have decided to celebrate National Peanut Month in a rather messy, yet creative way.

Starting tomorrow, you can visit the world's first PB&J art exhibit, complete with fun activities like meeting a peanut farmer and creating your own PB&J art! This free event runs through Sunday at the Openhouse Gallery (201 Mulberry Street, between Spring and Kenmare) in Nolita. But not only is it free, just by visiting you will receive a free jar of scrumptious Peanut Butter & Co. peanut butter, which you can eat or conduct some Picasso-esque experiments of your own. In addition to your peanut butter, Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream will be providing snacks on Saturday from 11-4 and the Treats Truck will be providing, well, treats on Sunday from 11-4. You can also feel good about going because for every person who visits, Peanut Butter & Co. will donate a jar to the Food Bank for New York City as well.

So drop by the gallery, check out some unique art, indulge in a few snacks and celebrate National Peanut Month the nuttiest way you know how.

Go to the Guggenheim

Sometimes, I just need a good dose of art. And living in NYC, I have no excuse not to get one at a major cultural institution known round the world. A couple of Saturday's ago, I went to the Guggenheim for one of their Pay-As-You-Wish evenings. If you don't know about this promotion, you should definitely check it out. Every week, the museum, known for it's modern and contemporary collection and special exhibits and housed in one of the most unique Frank Lloyd Wright buildings I've ever seen, opens it's doors to the public from 5:45-7:45 p.m. While you still have to wait in line and get a ticket, you can hand the cashier anything from a $20, to a nickel, to zero and everything in between. Even on a cold, rainy evening, the museum drew quite the crowd, but as soon as the clock hit 5:45, the line practically dissolved. (Note to self: don't get there early next time!).

I handed the cashier $2, checked my coat (the Guggenheim is one of those check it or wear it institutions when it comes to coats) and headed up the spiral ramp. One thing I love about this museum is that you can completely go through everything in two hours and feel content and not rushed. The architecture of the building is also very innovative for an art museum.

The current exhibition is called "The Great Upheaval: Modern Art from the Guggenheim Collection 1910-1918." It is arranged chronologically and as you go up the ramp, each spiral encompasses another year. Prominent artists in this exhibit are mostly from Germany, Austria, France and Italy and include Franz Mark, Vasily Kandinsky (one of my favorites), Pablo Picasso, Henri Rousseau, Umberto Boccioni, among others. With more than 100 works spread throughout the exhibit, it provides an interactive and comparative view of the art world around the time preceding and during World War I.

A side exhibit, if you hadn't seen enough of him yet, "Kandinski at the Bauhaus, 1922-1933,"  showcases many of the artists geometrical and flat planed paintings from the time period in which he taught at the renowned German school of art.

Vasily Kandinsky, Decisive Rose (Entscheidendes Rosa), March 1932. Courtesy of Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

So the next time you find yourself with an itch for culture and nothing to do in the pre-dinner hours on a Saturday, head over to the Upper East Side for some awesome art at the Guggenheim. Your brain and your wallet will thank you.

A Neue Experience

I'm constantly amazed by the selection of museums in this city. It's easily to get overwhelmed in the Metropolitan Museum, and though I love it there, I've been making a conscious effort to get to know all of the smaller, more specialized institutions scattered across a relatively small patch of land.

The Neue Galerie is one of those museums that I've walked by several times and didn't even know how to pronounce it correctly (it's German so "noy-yah" instead of "new" as I was saying). After being alerted to the museum's First Fridays program, when the museum opens up to the public for free from 6-8 p.m. on the first Friday of every month, I decided to give it a go and start my weekend off with some culture.

Another awesome thing about smaller art museums in the city is that they all seem to inhabit remarkably interesting buildings. The Neue Galerie is housed in a Beaux-Arts style mansion built in 1914 and last inhabited by Grace Wilson Vanderbilt in the 1950s. After serving as the offices of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, it was purchased by Serge Sabarsky, an art dealer, and Ronald Lauder, of Estee Lauder, in 1994 and restored to its original state. Celebrating its ten year anniversary this year, the museum opened as a center for German and Austrian art in 2001. Walking into the building, I like to imagine myself living in a mansion like that and what it must have been like. The architects who restored the Neue Galerie took great pains to keep everything original, even converting the dining room into a fully-functioning restaurant, Cafe Sabarsky, that packed quite the crowd on Friday night.

Sadly, after arriving and checking my coat, I learned that the museum was in installation and only had two rooms open for viewing of their permanent collection. However, I thankfully arrived right when a curator-led tour began and I learned a lot of interesting factoids. The main artists featured are from the early 1900's Germany and Austria -- including Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimpt and Oskar Kokoschka. Schiele has this thing for bony fingers which is quite disturbing, but did some really interesting landscapes. Klimpt's infamous painting Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer (infamous because it was stolen by the Nazi's, restituted to it's proper heirs, but then sold to the museum in 2006), is beautiful and on display with sculptures it was presented alongside with a hundred years ago. The gallery also displays three gorgeous clocks made with precious materials and intricate decoration.

After leaving the museum, my friends and I decided to make it a theme night and had dinner at Heidelberg on 2nd Avenue. Between the bratwurst, sauerkraut, spaetzle and mug of beer, dinner was delicious and a definite new experience. I would highly recommend combining the two activities for a date-night or casual friends outing. 

The schedule of First Fridays is on the Neue Galerie website. For March, the museum will be fully open and attendees will get to tour the latest exhibition Birth of the Modern: Style and Identity in Vienna 1900. I plan to go back and see what the rest of the museum has to offer. Have you been to the Neue Galerie? What do you think? 

AWESOME ALERT: Fashion's Night Out 9/10/10

Sometimes it's hard to know if something is going to be awesome before the actual event. The majority of my posts are post-event details with photos to oogle and stories that stir. However awesome people, I'm here to tell you about an event that you have 4 whole weeks to plan for and is sure to knock your Louis Vuitton socks off!

Last year, Fashion's Night Out was a fabulous night coordinated by Vogue and many of the fashion powerhouses in the city to promote, well, fashion and especially spark shopping in the midst of the recession. Not really knowing what to expect, my friend Rebecca and I mapped out our evening really according to who had the best giveaways and food. Tory Burch had great Champagne, Chanel was giving manicures and I received a freshwater pearl bracelet from Tous - all for free! Celebrities were everywhere and people were out having fun in full force. We did the majority of our frolicking in Soho, but stores are participating from the West Village to Soho and Midtown to the Upper East Side.

This year's event will be held on Friday September 10, 2010 in many cities throughout the world. You will be able to find great designer clothing in a fun setting with some discounts and The first participants have been posted to the website so check it out and start planning your adventure now!