...and plenty of other cocktail tricks! Probably because everyone needs a drink of some kind (even Akon, who apparently favors Shirley Temples at the 40/40 club), the New York bartending scene has weirdly and suddenly graduated from flaming orange zests to intense, Jacob the Jeweler-style beveling: Having collected a gaggle of recipes from the current shortlist of beer cocktails around town, industry-centered StarChefs comes through with two instructional videos. One is a full-on, almost pornlike 10 minutes and 27 seconds of cocktail shaking from Tailor's Eben Freeman and Albert Trummer of Apothéke; you can select each bartender's clip separately from a menu underneath the video. It's weirdly fascinating (in a Discovery Channel way) to see how cocktail shaking styles vary depending on who's behind the bar. The crown jewel of bartending tricks, however, can be found in another video entirely: In a matter of minutes, Takaaki Hashimoto of B Flat transforms a solid block of ice into some kind of immense ice cube, cocktail-cooling dodecahedron using nothing more than a sharp sushi knife. This one's bound to take some practice; we wonder if cocktail enthusiast Rachel Maddow will be giving it a shot. more ›

In the middle of the 19th century, more than 12 Brooklyn breweries were busy producing suds within the same 12-block square Williamsburg neighborhood—the so-called Brewer's Row—on the daily. A history focused group named Urban Oyster now leads walking tours of the area every weekend, retracing long gone hops with steps. Tour features include a peek at the two remaining Brewers' Row 19th century buildings, a pit stop at the Brooklyn Brewery, some snacks, tastings, and a lot of breweriana. Tours take three hours; more information is here. In other news, a massive home brew and beer themed cook-off is happening this Sunday at the Bell House. It's beer revival time! more ›

With the nation’s dining scene facing an uncertain future because of the recession, Eater has broken the news that the high-profile Fiamma on Spring Street has closed its doors, making it the first shuttering of a New York Times 3-star rated restaurant this year. B.R. Guest Restaurants, the group that owns Fiamma, has also closed the uptown Ruby Foo’s and another property in Chicago. more ›

Corton, the anticipated collaboration between Drew Nieporent and English chef Paul Liebrandt, may not be opening this weekend, but shown above is a possible preview of the restaurant’s food: Lamb with cooking juices, salad, and pommes fondant. more ›

On day three of the StarChefs ICC, Daniel Boulud spoke about his two American chef de cuisines: "Sometimes Damian (Sansonetti) and Jim (Leiken) cook better French food than me!" This got some laughs, especially from the French cooks in the audience, but evidence suggests that Boulud was being sincere. more ›

“The Role of a Chef” panel which closed out day one of the StarChefs International Chefs Congress at the Park Avenue Armory featured iconoclasts Marco Pierre White and Anthony Bourdain (with writer Michael Ruhlman moderating) dishing about chefs they liked, and some they didn’t. As usual, Anthony Bourdain reserved most of his venom for food television personalities. When the conversation veered toward restaurants, both panel members essentially offered their thoughts on absentee chefs, who ostensibly oversee more restaurants than they can possibly physically cook in every day. more ›