Hudson Valley

Empire State of Wine: 10 Great Bottles from the Finger Lakes and Niagara Escarpment

As spring continued dragging her feet last week, New Yorkers traipsed through snow flurries to drink wine. Nothing new there, except that the second annual NY Drinks NY was in town, offering imbibers a taste of local wines. I focused my efforts on the Finger Lakes and Niagara Escarpment, two regions ... More >>

Big Gay Ice Cream Launches New Soft-Serve This Friday

Doug Quint road tests the old chocolate mix (left) against the new (right). When Doug Quint of Big Gay Ice Cream started selling his enhanced soft-serve from a Mister Softee-type truck back in 2009, he was constrained to use a commercial ice cream mix provided by a local manufacturer, which came i ... More >>

What's Happening This Week: 50% Off Wine, Cider Week

Monday, October 8 Half Off Wine. Today is Columbus Day and Lulu & Me is celebrating with 50% off all bottles of Italian wine. Varietals include Pecorino from Cataldi Madonna in Abruzzo and San Michele Pinot Grigio from Alto Adige. Pork Feast. Starting Monday and continuing every Monday thereafter ... More >>

Francine

Nan Hayworth's Lady Problems: Did Her Campaign Manager Tell Women 'To Wear as Little As Possible' To Party?

Let's say -- completely hypothetically, simply for the sake of argument, of course -- that you are running a Congressional campaign. And let's also say -- again, completely hypothetically, simply for the sake of argument -- that your first campaign manager spokesman recently resigned after writing ... More >>

New Yorkers Escape The Nanny-State To Attend MMA Event. Sadly, They're Forced To Go To Jersey To Do It

Despite New York State's best efforts to regulate what consenting adults do in their spare time, New Yorkers are still flocking to mixed martial arts events. Unfortunately, they're forced to go to other states to do it -- MMA fighting has been banned in the Empire State since the mid-1990s. &nb ... More >>

Department of Environmental Protection Clarifies Fracking E-Mail (UPDATE)

Mayor Mike Bloomberg has had his share of public reservations about hydrofracking, urging government honchos to keep drilling far from NYC's water. The City's environmental agency is on board, too. But a strange little newsletter released this afternoon from the Department of Environmental Protect ... More >>

Eve Biddle, Co-Director of the Wassaic Project, On Its Past, Its Future, and Its Fundraiser Tonight

It's the holidays and time for nightly benefit parties. This month, we'll be circling back to non-profits and art groups we've talked to through out 2011 as they gear up for their annual shindigs. Today we're talking to Eve Biddle, the Co-Director of the Wassaic Project, which is having a silent au ... More >>

Fleisher's Meats Now Has Its Own Beefy Blog

Gary Grogan/Flickr via The Butcher's Case​Fleisher's Meats won't open its Park Slope store until Sept. 22, but it's already making its presence known by way of a new blog. Called The Butcher's Case, it came online on August 30th to "help our new neighbors in Brooklyn get familiar with what Fle ... More >>

First Blueberries of the Season Appear in Abingdon Square Farmers' Market

​Sweet, sweeet blueberries, at $5 per pint. The first farmers' market blueberries appeared today at the Kernan Farms stall in the Abingdon Square farmers' market. How did they do it, a full month before the fruit usually appears?

Acme Bar & Grill Will Be a "New, More Upscale Restaurant"

​Earlier this week, Acme Bar & Grill owner Bob Pollock confirmed to us that is partnering with the Indochine/Kittichai team in the restaurant replacing Acme, which had been a Great Jones Street fixture for 25 years. Today, Pollock contacted us with the following statement about "Acme's evoluti ... More >>

Brooklyn Flea to Go All Foodie with Smorgasburg

​ For some, it doesn't matter that the Brooklyn Flea is full of cool handmade jewelry, weird old apothecary jars and bottles, vintage clothes, eyeglass frames, records, furniture made from reclaimed wood, and countless other oddities. For some, it's all about the rows of stands dedicated to fo ... More >>

New Amsterdam Market is Having an Oysterpalooza!

flickr/Allerina & Glen MacLartyShuck 'em!​Get ready for some shucking and slurping: It's going to be an oysterpalooza on Saturday, April 9 at New Amsterdam Market!

Butter Queen of Brooklyn Churns Out the Good Stuff

The First Ladies of butter​ Yes, Brooklyn foodism is reaching an apogee of somewhat annoying proportions, but one new company stands out as a worthwhile addition to the larder: The Butter Queen of Brooklyn, which sells a variety of flavored butters.

Battle of the Christmas Fruitcakes: Myers of Keswick v. Dean & DeLuca

That's Dean & DeLuca's Robert Lambert cake on the left, Myers of Keswick's Bryson's of Keswick cake on the right.​ Ah, fruitcake. Not only is it the red-headed stepchild of the Christmas table, it is also its Cher, seemingly impervious to time and a model of eerie self-preservation. The two s ... More >>

Fat Pants Friday: Breezy Hill Orchard's Cranberry Walnut Square

​ The Union Square Greenmarket has no shortage of pumpkin- and apple-endowed treats right now, but while we went there earlier this week fully intending to eat at least one of them, we were instead swayed by the unassuming cranberry-walnut square pictured above.

La Bella Torte Opens Holiday Pop-Up Location in Williamsburg

Cannolis popping up.​You might know La Bella Torte as one of the vendors at the ever-so-short-lived Greenpoint Food Market. Chef-owner Joe Glaser will soon also be recognizable as a contestant on TLC's Cake Boss spin-off, The Next Great Baker. Tomorrow, November 9 through December 31, you'll b ... More >>

The Great Hot Dog Hoax: Daniel Angerer's 'Brats--Dogs & Wieners'

​The $8 hot dog at Brats--Dogs & Wieners Daniel Angerer - chef of the pretty-good restaurant Klee Brasserie - made a big splash a few months ago by offering customers a taste of cheese allegedly made from his wife's breast milk. At the time, I called it a hoax, asserting that it would take wa ... More >>

Brooklyn Farmacy Brings Eggs, Cream to the Brooklyn Flea This Saturday

Saucy Salad/FlickrBridge to the land of milk and U-Bet.​It's been more than a year since Sarah waged a battle of the egg creams between Russ & Daughters' and Katz's, but both Nikki Cascone's forthcoming Octavia's Porch and the folks at Brooklyn Farmacy are giving us all sorts of reason to want ... More >>

Dish No. 79: Vanilla Malted at Brooklyn Farmacy

Alex Van BurenThe classic, plus a little anarchy.​Welcome to 100 Dishes to Eat Now, Fork in the Road's handy list of some of our favorite dishes -- old standbys and new finds alike -- compiled daily. Today's pick: A vanilla malted milkshake ($5.10) at Brooklyn Farmacy (513 Henry Street, at S ... More >>

Scenes From A Mid-Summer Greenmarket

Tiny, sweet sugar plums from Tree-Licious Orchard out of Port Murray, NJ​Because of our unusually hot spring, most produce is arriving early this summer. That means that the last of the cherries are now overlapping with the very first tomatoes and corn--and it means that today is a very good d ... More >>

Your Summer Live-Jazz Cheat Sheet

Options abound for fans of all inclinations and bank accounts

The Fuss Over Foie Gras: Thomas Keller Accused of Animal Cruelty

daveness_98/flickrDe-liver me.​The question of whether or not foie gras is torture earned our own Sarah DiGregorio a James Beard Award nomination. But her writing chops would probably be lost on the folks from the Animal Protection & Rescue League. The organization and several other animal rig ... More >>

Locally Produced Bootlegger Vodka Coming Soon to a Liquor Store Near You

New York gets a new, old-timey vodka.​There's been a lot of talk about the backlash against the backlash against vodka lately. The supposedly odorless and colorless spirit may not be the antitheses to the current cocktail culture Renaissance, after all. So, go ahead and let yourself get excite ... More >>

Thomas DiNapoli, State Comptroller: Tax Take Down, Wall Street Bonuses Up, Pension Fund Healthier

​State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli reports that New York sales tax revenue went down last year by 5.9 percent versus 2008. And city sales tax collection declined even in the spender's paradise of New York City, by the same percentage. (It was worse elsewhere: in the Lower Hudson Valley collect ... More >>

Super Bowl XLIV Ads Mediocre; Michelle Obama Fights Child Obesity

​Wal-Mart is testing the idea of switching to private-label spices by replacing McCormick products with its own generic brand in some stores. The chain is currently responsible for 11 percent of McCormick's sales. [Wall Street Journal] Weight loss success stories marketed by such fast-food ch ... More >>

Introducing Edward III, New York's Second Homegrown Absinthe

Edward III: a not-so-green fairy.​Mark Maurice was one of those "crazy Limelight club kids," as he puts it. One night at the club, he met a man carrying these mysterious green vials. The man told him the vials contained absinthe, and proceeded to write down a formula for Maurice, as well as th ... More >>

Gunning for the Working Families Party

Landlords, lawyers fire at will

Battle of the Locavoric Wines: Two Finger Lakes Dry Rieslings

CyclosportThe view from the eastern shore of Seneca Lake, with vineyards in the foreground.​Two wineries on the eastern shore of sylvan and deep Seneca Lake make dry Rieslings. Are they really dry, and which one is better? We set out to make a determination.

I, Locavore: A First Look at Lucy's Whey in the Chelsea Market

​In line with locavoric principles, the cheese-eating public has shown a greater interest in cheeses produced in our part of the country, which means New York and New England. Of course, this is partly due to the efforts of Anne Saxelby at Saxelby Cheese, but ideas like this are infectious and ... More >>

New Amsterdam's Robert La Valva Talks Cake and Vendors

thoughtsonthetable.wordpress.com​Among the many matters that Robert LaValva must attend to before his New Amsterdam Market returns to the South Street Seaport next month is that of cake. Specifically, the kind of cake that may or may not be sold at the stand run by Saltie's, the new bakery fro ... More >>

Mad Men Has the Right Stuff (to Drink); A Good Year for Peaches

​Late-night revelers are still "discovering" the halal food cart at 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue, which was started in 1992 by Mohamed Abouelenein, who wanted to serve taxi and limousine drivers sick of hot dogs. [NY Times] Cocktails are a vital element of the AMC series Mad Men. Drinks histo ... More >>

What Is the New York Foodshed, Anyway?

galleyslave/flickrNot the New York foodshed. In an article he wrote for the Huffington Post last week, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer outlined his plans for making food policy a priority for city government. Among the initiatives he mentioned was a city "foodshed...consisting of far ... More >>

The Next Frontier of the Stem Cell Debate

"Snowflake" babies, embryo "adoption," and being pre-born again

David Chang on Foie Gras

Eater has a very thoughtful piece by David Chang about serving foie gras in his restaurants. Apparently, an activist stopped by Ko to tell Chang that his group would start to picket the restaurant if he didn't stop serving the liver. Chang has been to Hudson Valley Foie Gras farm, (so have I) and fe ... More >>

Letters

Notes on the Biz (What's Left of It)

On metal, genre-based critical bias, layoffs, industry hysteria, and the Loudness Wars

White Christmas Tourist Crap, Say Critics

Art Imitates Life Imitating Art in Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York

The world is a stage

What's For Dinner?

Drama at New York's Only Wholesale Farmers' Market

Local drama: the farmers, the merchants, the politicians, and the hooker

Ed Lachman, Chameleon, at BAM

Plus: Peter Hutton at MOMA

Letters

Letters

Past Action Heroes; Insane Clone Posses

Shock Corridor

How a Long-Dormant Law Could Spark a Hudson Valley Power Plant Boom

Millennial Matchup

Zany and Historical Factors That Will Make Rudy or Hill a Winner 

So Shad

A Great Hudson River Fishery Faces Its End

Imitation of Life

Boyle Wonder