New York’s Top Fondue

Some people get depressed when the weather gets cold, and that’s particularly easy in a place like New York.  Yet I get excited about the winter, since some of my favorite food is hearty, warm, stick-to-your-ribs winter food.  And do you know what falls under that category and is obscenely delicious?  Fondue!  Here are some great fondue places around New York, according to Gothamist.  I can’t wait to try them all!

Le Fond: Come here on Tuesday nights for half-priced bottles of wine and a cheese fondue special that comes with seared steak and plenty of great dipping vessels.  In the middle of the dinner, a waiter will add a bit of hot water to ensure that the fondue stays liquid and dippable.  

Fondue Chalet: This seasonal pop-up works to replicate the “European” experience with checkered tablecloths and vintage ski posters.  The “House Fondue” combines white wine with various cheeses to make a delicious and dippable mix.  

Murray’s Cheese Bar: Due to their prominence in the New York cheese scene, I would hope that Murray’s did some good fondue!  And they certainly don’t disappoint!  They make a fondue with Alpine-style cheeses, Chablis and nutmeg.  

The Standard: In the winter, the Standard’s famous seasonal garden gets a makeover with heated huts, hot drinks and warm meals like fondue.  There are two options here: the vegetarian one and the traditional one, and they’re both delicious.

Pair Wine & Cheese: Pair, like Murray’s, lets you pick up cheese in addition to sitting down for a cheese-heavy meal.  If you want to experience their fondue, the latter option is the way to go, and the waiters will gladly help you pair your melted cheese with good wine.  

Kashkaval Garden: While Kashkaval is more known for its Mediterranean food, that’s not to discredit its fondue.  They have four different options, including a sharp cheddar variety with hard apple cider and caramelized onions.  They also make one with Bulgarian sheep cheese.  

Taureau: The Taureau bistro specializes in cheese, meat and chocolate fondues.  While more expensive than the other options on this list, you get what you pay for, with countless combinations of cheeses, meats, oils and dipping options.  

Eating Through Jackson Heights & Elmhurst

Even if I’m a Brooklyn girl at heart, Queens will always have a special place in my heart.  It’s easily one of the most fascinating and diverse neighborhoods in the city, even the country.  One of the most interesting neighborhoods is Jackson Heights, an immigrant-dominated neighborhood where Latin and Asian cultures collide.  That of course means that Jackson Heights and neighboring Elmhurst  is home to some of the most exciting food options in all of New York.  I recently came across an article that shared some of the best food spots in the neighborhood.  Here’s what they had to say:

Tibetan dumplings: The area off the Roosevelt Avenue subway hosts authentic Himalayan: try and get “momo” dumplings from places such as Phayul and Amdo Kitchen.  These are fat steamed dumplings, traditionally filled with beef wrapped in thicker skin than traditional Chinese dumplings.  Both Phayul and Amdo are extremely cheap spots, where you can get a big plate of dumplings for under $10.  

Arepas: Jackson Heights is home to one of the most legendary street food spots in the city: the Arepa Lady.  While the Arepa Lady was traditionally hard to find (which was part of the fun), she’s since built a brick-and-mortar restaurant to make the whole search easier.

Tortas: Mexican food is more known for its tacos, but Mexican sandwiches, or “tortas”, are arguably better, jam-packed with all sorts of ingredients that create an explosion of flavor.  Plenty of food trucks make great tortas, but my favorites are at Tortas Neza in nearby Corona, run by a rabid soccer fan who named every sandwich on the menu after soccer teams in his native Mexico.  

Thai: The Thai food in Elmhurst is a level of authentic that the pad thai in Greenwich Village will never reach.  As the center of the densest Thai community in New York, you’ll hear a lot more Thai than English in the restaurants of Elmhurst.  The best one is Khao Kang, where the food feels like true authentic home cooking.  

Dessert: If you’ve got a sweet tooth, then don’t worry, I got you covered.  The Sugar Club is a Thai grocery in Elmhurst that offers traditional Thai sweets such as sweet dried bananas.  There’s also “honey toast” made from thick slabs of white bread slathered with butter and condensed milk.  

Wunderbar! Best German Eats in NYC

With fall finally in the air and Oktoberfest in full swing, there is no better time to examine the best German restaurants in New York City. NYC has been home to German immigrants for centuries, all the way back to when New York was called New Amsterdam (Why they changed? I can’t say). In the late 20th century the East Village was known as Kleindeutschland (Little Germany) and boasted scores of German beers halls. You can still see this influence at Tompkins Square today, where a monument was erected to commemorate the 1904 General Slocum Disaster. About a century later, the densest population of German immigrants was in Yorkville on the Upper East Side, and in neighborhoods all through Queens and Brooklyn. Prohibition did considerable damage to the legacy of German beer halls, but there are still scores of wonderful German restaurants and bars around today. Let’s examine just a few!

Let’s start in Glendale, Queens, where Zum Stammtisch has been serving hearty German beers in their twin quaint dining halls since 1972 (though their decor would suggest a much older establishment). Zum Stammtisch is known for their goulash soup and traditional German favorites. With massive portions and authentic flavors, you really can’t go wrong. Try their jägerschnitzel, a pork cutlet pounded into the shape of Austria and covered in butter mushroom gravy!

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Heidelberg | 1648 2nd Ave

Next up is Heidelberg, in Yorkville. Named after a town in the southwest of Germany, Heidelberg is the last remaining vestige of a time when Yorkville had a thriving German community. Starting with the Teutonic stucco exterior accented with dark stained timbers, Heidelberg offers an authentic German dining experience. Highlights from the menu include the cucumber salad topped with sour cream, the kase-spätzle (Germany’s answer to mac and cheese) and the sausages. German folks are known for their sausages and the Heidelberg is no exception.

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Now we head downtown, where there as been somewhat of a German revival. Zum Schneider leads that charge, serving up German cuisine since 2000. With outdoor seating, the restaurant harkens back to the city’s iconic history of German immigrants. Zum Schneider’s menu leans more to the unusual which contributes to its quirkiness and fun atmosphere. Check out their schweinswürst’l, a skinny pork sausage from Nuremberg, and the pfannkuchensuppe, a Greman pancake soup.

Zum Schneider’s interior | 107 Ave C @ E 7th St

Zum Schneider also has wonderful Oktoberfest events. Come during the celebration and you can be treated to live polka band! Recently, they also opened a sister location on Montauk. Bavaria on the beach!

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New York City has scores more German restaurants to explore! Which are your favorites?

10 Things Only New Yorkers Understand

There’s truly no other place like New York City; everybody from Nebraska to Siberia has heard of it, and it gets untold millions of visitors every year.  Yet what about those who live in New York day in and day out?  You might watch “Friends” or “Seinfeld”, you might have a subscription to the New Yorker, but there are certain things that only real New Yorkers truly understand.  Here are a few of them:

1. Even though over 3 million people visit the Statue of Liberty every year, most New Yorkers have never gone there, and have no intention to.  And unless they’re costumed characters, no New Yorker ever goes to Times Square.

2. You might not think hot dogs and papaya juice going together, but New Yorkers know better. Whether they get it from Papaya King, Gray’s Papaya, Papaya Dog or Chelsea Papaya, it’s a late-night snack combination all New Yorkers know and love.  

3. New Yorkers will gladly pay over $100 a month for a gym membership that they only take advantage of twice a week, yet nonetheless complain about living in a fifth-floor walkup and climbing the stairs every day.  

4. You’ll cross the road wherever you want, even if there isn’t a crosswalk nearby.

5. It’s considered completely normal to discuss how much you pay a month in rent.  In a city where $1,500 a month won’t get you anything better than a shoebox apartment, we love to talk about how expensive (or freakishly cheap) our living arrangements are.  Even if we end up paying $20,000 every year for a living space that can’t even hold our couch, we can’t imagine living anywhere else.  

6. Even though it’s the largest city in the country, New York is small enough in size that celebrity sightings are fairly common.  While running into Ben Stiller or the girl from “Arrested Development” is always pretty cool, for the most part you just wonder what they’re doing at a place, then nonchalantly go on your way.  

7. Even though New York is one of the few cities with a 24/7 mass transit schedule, we love to complain about how bad it is.  The G train in particular.

8. Even if subways come every few minutes, we’re always rushing to catch the train.  Nothing feels worse than walking down onto the subway platform right as the train is pulling away.

9. You can find good pizza outside of the city, but nothing will ever beat the New York bagel.  Whether you get it from H&H or your local bodega, New York’s bagels are the best in the world.

10. Watching movies or TV shows set in New York will never be the same again.  You’ll either spend the whole time seeing if you can recognize any of the streets or landmarks, or you’ll be complaining that it isn’t New York enough.  

New York’s Best Authentic Chinese

Sometimes it feels like there’s a Chinese restaurant on every block in New York, and in some neighborhoods that number’s a lot higher.  Ranging from greasy spoon takeout to upscale establishments, there’s something for everybody.  But what about the real authentic Chinese food?  That might not be as prevalent, but if you can’t find something in New York, you can’t find it anywhere.  And sure enough, there are plenty of great authentic Chinese spots throughout the five boroughs; here are just a few, based off an article that I found online, with a few of my personal favorites added in as well:

Nan Xiang Dumpling House: While Flushing is quite a trek for the solid majority of New Yorkers, it’s a necessary visit for anybody looking for authentic Chinese food.  And one of the best places to start is Nan Xiang, where you can have a Shanghainese breakfast: long sticks of fried dough dipped in bowls of hot soy milk.  Don’t forget to order some soup dumplings as well.

Fu Run: Located out in Flushing, Fu Run specializes in Chinese food from Dongbei, a region in the northeast of China, where the food is less aggressively seasoned and more often stewed and fried than other varieties of Chinese food.  The crown jewel here is “Muslim Lamb Chops”, a rack of lamb ribs that are braised until fall-of-the-bone tender, then deep fried and covered in a rub made up of chili and cumin.  

Lucky Eight: In an era that Brooklyn faces rapid gentrification, Lucky Eight is one of the spots that’s stubbornly resisting that trend with no-frills, cheap Cantonese classics.  Some popular dishes here include the roast duck and pork, but if you’re looking for a more authentic experience try the chicken with bitter melon.  

Grand Sichuan: Many Chinese who visit New York stay away from Chinese restaurants, but this is one that they love.  Some standout dishes here include Chong Qing spicy chicken, dried sautéed green beans with minced pork and shredded duck with spring ginger.

Ah-Wah: This Chinatown spot, located off Catherine St, is an easy one to miss, but you don’t want to miss this one.  The chefs behind the counter at Ah-Wah offer your standard Chinese food, but when you come here, you really want to order bo-zai fan, listed under the menu as “rice casserole”.  Rice and all sorts of meat and vegetables are put into a clay pot, which is then heated up so that the rice on the edges is crispy.  The perfect meal for the colder months, don’t forget to top it off with

Lan Sheng: Are you up for some spicy Sichuan-style food?  Here’s where you have to go!  Don’t go for the typical Chinese-American fare, and look for the more authentic items on the menu, such as seafood and “hot and spicy frog”.  The lunch specials, which include pork bone soup, are popular here as well.

Golden Unicorn: The dim sum here, located in a corner of Manhattan’s Chinatown seldom visited, is some of the best in the neighborhood.  That might sound like a bold statement in a neighborhood like Chinatown, but they live up to it.

Xi’an Famous Foods: From its humble beginnings as a market stall in a Flushing mall, thanks to a surprise visit by Anthony Bourdain, business for Xi’an has been booming, and they now have locations across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.  The food here is western Chinese, so it has some Middle Eastern influence; one example, and easily one of the best things to get on the menu, is the “spicy cumin lamb burger”.  

The New Age of Theaters

In the age of Netflix, more and more people have been watching movies from their computer.  Yet there’s a magic to going to the movies that neither Netflix, Amazon Prime or Hulu Plus can replicate: sitting in a theater, getting your popcorn, watching the movie from the big screen.  In the movie theater, action movies become more thrilling, comedies are suddenly funnier, dramas are more heart-wrenching.  While New York is lucky to have those smaller theaters that stand the test of time, such as the IFC, Film Forum and the Angelika and Anthology Film Archives, the number of movie theaters has been declining significantly due to the rise of television, multiplexes and streaming services.

However, there’s another wave of indie theaters that’s getting us out of our couches on lazy Friday nights.  Inspired curation, the social component of midnight showings of cult classics and the chance to see works of art in their intended form have all led to a golden era of theaters, aimed at making the experience of watching movies completely immersive.  In New York City, theaters like Metrograph, Syndicated, Nitehawk and the soon-to-be-opening Alamo Drafthouse branch in downtown Brooklyn have all been spearheading this movement.  Matthew Viragh, owner of the Nitehawk in Williamsburg, believed so strongly in this movement that he lobbied the New York State legislature to pass a bill allowing alcohol in movie theaters, one of the major draws of his theater.

The fun novelty of ordering a drink and a burger while watching a cult film from the 80s has evolved into a wide variety of cinema experiences.  While the experience of eating overpriced popcorn and watching the newest Iron Man flick is the same at every multiplex from New York to Nebraska, at the smaller theaters each experience is unique.  The Sunshine in the Lower East Side offers midnight showings of cult classics, most notably “The Room”.  Syndicated in Bushwick only has 50 seats, but if you’re quick enough to snag a $3 ticket you get access to its cushy chairs and an extensive bar and menu.  Metrograph in the Lower East Side pays homage to the classic arthouse cinemas of old New York with an eclectic mix that will keep you off your ex-boyfriend’s Netflix account for weeks.  

If you’d like to learn more, you can click here!

Washington Square Park’s Hidden Vault of Bones

Two days ago, the remains of at least twelve people were discovered underground next to Washington Square Park by a crew of construction workers that unearthed a white-walled burial vault.  Situated near the intersection of Waverly Place right by the park’s eastern edge, the vault most likely dates back to the 19th century.  The construction workers, working for the Department of Design and Construction, were upgrading water mains from the same era.

Considering the history of Washington Square Park, this discovery isn’t terribly surprising; from 1797 to 1826, the eastern end served as a “potter’s field”, or a burial ground for the poor and criminals.  In the field’s 30-year history, historians have estimated that as many as 20,000 people may have been buried there.  Archaeologists first discovered four bodies in the park in January of 2008 while conducting soil tests for a planned park renovation.  Later that year, a tombstone, belonging to an Irish immigrant that died of Yellow Fever, was excavated from a 6-foot-deep construction site.  When the arch in the park was first installed in 1895, bones were discovered, and later on during a Con Ed project in the 1960s.  

Back in 2005, the Emergency Coalition to Save Washington Square Park tried to sue New York after claiming that any renovations to the park would be disrespectful to the untold number of bodies buried between 8 and 13 feet below the surface.  Without a doubt, it would be an interesting place to bring a ouija board next Halloween!
Since Tuesday, the DDC has blocked off the excavated area from pedestrians and car traffic, making way for a crew of archaeologists and anthropologists to study the 8-foot-deep, 15-foot-wide, 20-foot-long vault.  

10 NYC Craft Breweries You Need to Visit

The phenomenon of craft beer continues to sweep the nation, and New York city is no exception to this, as more and more local breweries start popping up to serve bolder and richer brews.  Beer has become much more than just bland lages, as drinkers show an increased interest in who makes their beers.  Many breweries in New York City have become just as widely-visited as the bars where their beers can be found.  I recently came across an article that features 10 of the craft breweries in New York City for you to visit, listed below:

1. Finback Brewery: If you’re looking for a brewery with exotic flavors and great names, then this Woodside spot may very well be the place for you: beers here taste like everything from jalapeños to plums.  Yet there are also plenty of easy drinking options.  Along with tours, Finback offers free popcorn.

2. Bronx Brewery: As the Bronx gradually becomes a more popular place to hang out, this Port Morris spot remains first on the list of reasons to venture there.  While their Bronx Pale Ale is becoming more popular every year, the brewers here offer a diverse list of seasonal and year-round brews.  They’ll soon be relocating to an 8,500 square foot space that will allow a tasting room and even a dog run!

3. Other Half: This Gowanus brewery is a well-loved spot, and for good reason: even as they’ve become mainstream, the operation has retained its approachable feel while keeping the building’s industrial, grungy feel.  The warehouse is unmarked, giving the added bonus of feeling like you’ve stumbled on a hidden gem.  

4. Alphabet City Brewing: Since its founding in 2012, Alphabet City Brewing has established itself as one of the finest DIY breweries out there.  In their East Village kitchen, the brewers have concocted recipes for such signature brews as the “Easy” Blonde Ale, the “Dizzy Brewnette” Brown Ale and the “Alpha Male” IPA.  

5. Bridge and Tunnel Brewery: As a one-man operation, Maspeth’s own Bridge and Tunnel really puts the “micro” in “microbrewery”.  When asked what the name of his brewery means, owner Rich Castagna says that the bridges and tunnels “unite this city-not divide it”.  

6. Brooklyn Brewery: There’s hardly a bar in the five boroughs that doesn’t feature Brooklyn Lager on tap, as countless beer drinkers have fallen in love with this brewery’s ability to create a renaissance of both micro brewing and industry in a former Williamsburg warehouse.  The queues for its tasting room’s free tours (every half-hour from 1-5PM on the weekends) stretch around the block as locals and tourists alike come in to sample what it is that’s made Brooklyn Brewery the undisputed king of New York City brewing.

7. Sixpoint Craft Ales: From its humble origins in a Red Hook garage, Sixpoint Brewery has grown into something truly great, due in part to their ability to collaborate with other organizations.  Keep an eye out for their “Wheatball” at the Meatball Shop and Three Beans, a blend of brewed coffee beans from Stumptown and cocoas from Mast Brothers.  The iconic six-point star is a major part of the brewery’s image, combining the brewer’s star of alchemy with the nautical star.

 

8. Flagship Brewery: While Staten Island is often overlooked, it’s got its own craft brewery making ales in the American, Belgian and British styles.  It’s run by three native Staten Islanders, proud of their borough but still self-aware, as evidenced through their motto: “Unforgettable Beer Brewed in the Forgotten Borough”.  

9. KelSo Brewery: From their laboratory off Waverly Avenue in Clinton Hill, this husband-and-wife-owned brewery will try anything and everything when it comes to beer.  Its surprises are what help make KelSo so well-loved, as evidenced by exciting lagers brewed with beets and licorice.

10. SingleCut Beersmiths: While relatively isolated in Astoria, SingleCut is able to put themselves on the map with their unique and distinctive style.  If you’re interested in making a trip out to the brewery then you’ll be rewarded with a free tour, offered every weekend day at 4PM with no prior reservation required.

Foster Care Bill Passed

Yesterday, the City Council passed a law that requires the city of New York to track what happens to children after leaving foster care.  According to officials, an average of 1,000 18 to 21 year-old children leave foster care in the city.  Unfortunately, a large number of this foster children tend to struggle after they’ve been sent out on their own.  With the passing of this law, New York will now have to issue public reports with data, including how many foster children end up in public housing or receive housing subsidies, how many go to college or get jobs and how many of them ultimately reunite with their families.

Separate bills passed yesterday will also require New York to track high school graduation rates for foster kids, in addition to monitoring how many of them get government-issued IDs.  The City Council voted unanimously in favor for all of these bills.  According to the sponsor of the bills, Public Advocate Letitia James, being a child in foster care shouldn’t mean that one’s adult life is characterized by homelessness, dependence on welfare or prison, but such trends are unfortunately all too common.  Foster care is failing, and the New York City needs to know why, and figure out what works and what doesn’t.

There are currently around 12,000 kids in foster care in New York City alone who have been taken away from their parents due to abuse or neglect.  Foster children can choose to leave home when they turn 18, and stop being eligible for foster care at the age of 21.  According to advocates such as James, an estimated one in five young adults who leave foster care end up in a homeless shelter within three years, and half of them are unemployed.  Less than a quarter of them are in college.  Jamel Robinson, who spent his entire childhood in foster homes and currently works to prevent homelessness among former foster youth, said that finding stability after leaving a temporary home with no family to fall back on is unsurprisingly difficult.