It's Boro Time

Move over Time Out New York, there's a new 'zine in Astoria-town. Launched late last year, BORO Magazine is a free publication dedicated to providing the latest news and happenings in our favorite part of Queens (because you know, there's more to Astoria than just the beer garden after all).

Filled with restaurant reviews, stories about interesting Astorians and interviews with small business owners, the magazine also provides great resources for those both new and veteran to the area including a map listing all stores and restaurants mentioned in the issue, great promotions and coupons (I found one for a free yoga class and one for a free glass of wine in the February issue!) and updates on upcoming events. Small enough to fit in your pocket and concise enough to flip through in one subway ride, BORO is a spunky little publication with a lot of heart (and I have to throw a plug in there for my friend Rebecca who is an amazing staff writer!).

Hurry over to BORO's website before the end of the month to enter their pick-up line contest. Leave your best pick-up line in the comments of this post and you'll be entered to win $100 to a bar in Astoria. I submitted "If you were a booger I’d pick you first." Can you beat that?

An Awesome Choice

Sometimes I wonder, does any other city in the world have as many amazing food tastings as we do? And then I stop wondering...NO, OF COURSE NOT! I'm super exciting for one of the kings of food tastings coming up on Tuesday March 29 at the Park Avenue Armory - Choice Eats! Put on yearly by the Village Voice, this festival of the palate will feature more than 50 Gotham restaurants serving food representing more than 35 nations!

Scrolling through the list of restaurants, I'm flabbergasted as to how I'm supposed to fit that much deliciousness into my digestive system in only one night. At this point, I'm most excited about sampling food from the following vendors I've never had the pleasure of eating before: The Taim Mobile, Del Posto, Cascabel Taqueria, Dirt Candy, Northern Spy Food Co, Porchetta. And of course some of my already-faves will be there as well: Luke's Lobster, The Meatball Shop and This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef. Libation specialists will also be on hand with custom beer, wine and spirits pairings.

Tickets are on sale through the Choice Eats website. General admission are currently priced at $35 but it's a special price, so I'm sure it will go up to $45 soon. If you'd like to partake in the VIP hour from 5:30-6:30, tickets are currently $70, and in addition to receiving early entrance, you'll get complimentary beverages, a VIP gift bag ($100 value), entertainment and access to the VIP room. The organizers are pulling out the stops for those waiting outside to get in this year as well. Calling it "Choice Streets," a food truck will be parked outside the entrance of the event sampling the top truck food from across the city.

Holler if you'll be there. You definitely won't want to miss this night!

Cocoa Loko

Let's just get to the point. The hot chocolate at City Bakery might as well be crack (or that banned drink referenced in the title of this post). It's the definition of awesome and it's addicting.

For some reason that I'm kicking myself for, I'd never been to the rather large bakery just north of Union Square. Upon entering, my nostrils were besieged by the aromas of fresh baked [insert something chocolate-y and amazing] and I surrendered to the sweet gluttony of everything on display.

I didn't just aimlessly wander into this temple of sugar, but rather I was on a mission. It's February, and that can only mean one thing - the Hot Chocolate Festival at City Bakery is in full swing. On the day I was there, Caramel Hot Chocolate was the flavor of the day, which seems pretty tame when you look at some of the other daily flavors. 

In addition to my steaming cup of thick, frothy goodness (with a signature homemade marshmallow to boot!), I indulged in a peanut butter cookie. Even though I so didn't need it, this cookie will go down in the history of peanut butter cookies I've ever eaten as the one of the best I've ever tasted. Thick and gooey with just the right amount of crisp on the outside, at only 75 cents, you've got to try one when you go for your cocoa. 

Time to be concise. You. City Bakery. Hot Chocolate. Peanut Butter Cookie. ASAP. Got it?

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 SAVINGS: $10 off Tickets to the NY Wine Expo

Vino, vino everywhere! That's what you can expect to find at this year's upcoming New York Wine Expo. To be held this month at the Jakob K. Javits Convention Center from Friday the 25th through Sunday the 27th, the expo offers consumers the chance to taste more than 600 wines produced by about 170 winemakers from around the world. In addition to the grand tasting, the expo will offer seminars like "Taste Wine Like A Pro: Learn the Secrets Behind How to Taste Wine Through a Blind Tasting" from 6-7 p.m. on Friday and "Wine Spectator Presents The ABCs of Argentina" from 3-4 p.m. on Saturday.

The consumer show will run from 6-10 p.m. on Friday and from 2-6 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are available online. Using promo code "AWESOME,"Awesome in New York readers can save $10 on Friday Grand Tasting tickets until 2/18. If you're a wine lover or have always wanted the perfect venue to explore a worldly palate, you definitely don't want to miss this event!

Sushi Omakase Style

If I was stranded on a desert island and had to pick one food to eat forever, it would probably be sushi. It's just so good. And New York City offers unlimited options for planning a raw-fish dinner. In my neighborhood, I usually head over to Chinatown East for their fresh, $1 a piece sushi option or for a nicer meal, my boyfriend and I will make a reservation at the Gramercy gem, Azuki Sushi for an affordable meal with free hot sake. 

I love trying new places as well. So when the lifestyle site Daily Candy offered a Tasting Menu for four at Haru Gramercy for $60, I gathered three girlfriends and we had a Wednesday night outing. Ever since taking a sake class at New York Vintners, I can't get enough of the rice-based brew and I love sharing my knowledge with friends. I started with a flight which included four sakes -- Reiko, Nigori, Karatumba and Suishin. If you've never tried Nigori, it's basically unfiltered sake so it has a cloudy appearance but is full of flavor. I'd highly recommend. One of my friends ordered a sake cocktail called the Momotini. With sake and peach puree, this drink is a little awkward to order, but luscious and relaxing to enjoy.

Sake Flight

The Momotini

The meal was served omakase style, basically Japanese for chef's choice. We started with sushi fish tacos. Served with lime, these tacos were a nice fusion dish that brought back wonderful memories of family vacations to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico while fulfilling my desire for excellent texture and succulent flavors.

Sushi Fish Tacos

Next, our server brought out a platter of different appetizers -- Crispy Calamari with spicy peanut sauce, Grilled Spicy Garlic Shrimp marinated in hot chili sauce, Tuna Tataki seared with avocado salad and spicy soy vinaigrette, and Shrimp Spring Rolls. With four of everything, we didn't have to fight over any of the food and still were able to try a bunch of different things. The shrimp were delicious, served with soba noodles. The avocado served with the tuna was perfectly ripe, just the way I like it and the tuna was so fresh, it could have been swimming yesterday. The calamari was light, unlike typical fried and breaded calamari. I think the pieces could have been coated in panko instead of batter. The spring rolls were full of flavor and I was happy to have some veggies with this meal.

Appetizer Platter

After clearing our appetizer plate, our server brought out this beautiful and colorful platter of sushi. With a mix of traditional tuna and salmon sushi pieces, we also got two unique rolls. The first was the Kiss of Fire Roll -- with super white tuna, salmon, jalapeño peppers and wasabi tobiko wrapped around crunchy spicy tuna and more jalapeños. This was definitely spicy, but super innovative, again bringing in the element of fusion. The second roll, although I don't remember what it was called, was filled with crab and topped with two different kinds of roe. This was a nice compliment to the other roll as it calmed the spice.

Sushi Platter

Not to end the night without a New York moment, we spotted Bizarre Foods host Andrew Zimmern sitting alone at the sushi bar clad in a neon orange winter hat and surely eating something exotic.

Celebrity Spotting: Andrew Zimmern at the sushi bar

For $15 a person, this meal was a spectacular deal. The quality of the food was top notch and the service was attentive and personable. With several locations throughout the city and in Boston and Philadelphia, it's nice to know that an excellent sushi meal is just around the corner. Have you been to Haru? What do you think?

AWESOME GIVEAWAY: Coffee and Tea Festival Admission

Some say you can't be a New Yorker without some sort of caffeine addiction. Well, I have managed two and half years without one, but I do like my coffee and my tea. So I'm planning on indulging in a little caffeine goodness over President's Day weekend at the annual Coffee and Tea Festival.

Featuring purveyors and fellow hot drink fiends from all over, this festival is sure to be a blast. Last year, I sampled all sorts of goodies, which was perfect for a blustery winter weekend. It was at this festival that I became obsessed with Harney & Sons teas and scooped up a bunch of samples to take home. The schedule also includes lectures, demos and classes that are included with your admission. I remember attending a tea-infused desserts session complete with good-portioned samples for all. Lastly, the first 1,000 to attend each day will receive a goodie bag!

The event runs Saturday-Sunday February 19-20 from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. at the 7West Event space located at 7 West 34th Street. You can buy your tickets here. 

Good news! I have three pairs of admission passes to giveaway to my lucky readers! You have four easy ways to enter and each comment counts as an entry. Make sure to include your email in your comments so that I can get a hold of you if you win:

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 go to the Coffee and Tea Festival, who you will bring and how you heard about this contest.

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 comment below with a link to your tweet or blog.

A winner will be chosen using Random.org on Friday 2/4. You have until Friday 2/4 at 12 p.m. EST to enter the contest. The winner must be able to attend the event on 12/19 or 12/20. Good luck!

The winners have been chosen! Congratulations Kika, Caroline and Colette! They were the 13th, 17th and 19th commenters and win two passes each to the NYC Coffee and Tea Festival. Hope you enjoy! Thanks to everyone else who entered!