Explore the sweet and savory sides of the Dutch Baby Pancake with two newbies on the brunch menu at Left Bank in the West Village. Chef Laurence Edelman has created both a sweet and a savory addition to the menu, starting with the apples and pears, lemon, butter, and maple syrup option ($16) and continuing with a different one made with rosemary ham, béchamel, and gruyère cheese ($17). Both are served out of the cast iron skillets in which they are cooked.
Cafe Altro Paradiso in SoHo has debuted their brunch program for weekend dining between the hours of 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. The large brunch menu includes sweet options like the sticky bun with hazelnut and chocolate ($8) pictured above or a waffle with apple compote, walnuts, maple syrup and crème fraîche ($14). On the savory side, Eggs alla'Amatriciana with tomato with pancetta and focaccia ($18) and even pastas like the malfatti cacio e pepe with preserved black truffles ($24). Their version of the bloody mary is the Amatriciana Mary, made with vodka, tomato, Calabrian chili, black pepper and fish sauce ($16).
Enter soup season by sampling a selection from restaurants on Smith Street at the Smith Street Soup Festival unfolding Saturday from 1 - 4 p.m. Thrown by the South Brooklyn Local Development Corporation, the event is both a fundraiser for the High School of International Studies Culinary Arts Program and also an awareness campaign to "[buck] the hype that Smith street's Restaurant Row is waning." Bar Tabac, Stinky Bklyn, Kittery, Fawkner, and other local spots will be participating; buy five tasting for $7 or 12 tastings for $15, with tickets sold at the corners of Bergen, Butler and Union.
Reward yourself for running a 5K with unlimited beers at the The Brew Hop 5k + Craft Beer Festival this Saturday on Randall’s Island Park. Check-in starts at 10 a.m. and the race kicks off at noon, after which runners congregate for a beer festival with local breweries opening their taps for as many beers as you care to drink. Tickets for the race plus beer are around $80, with entry only into the beer festival around $65; get them here.
(Scott Lynch/Gothamist)
With temps creeping back into the upper 70s this weekend, why not harken back to summer by sampling the new chocolate-themed ice cream menu at Lower East Side ice cream shop Ice & Vice? The ice creams, all crafted using one of Belgian chocolatier Callebaut's creations, come in flavors like the PSL (pecan, sorghum and latte toffee with arriba single origin 30%), WWW (white chocolate, white-miso and whit beer with velvet white 33.1%) and TBT (earl grey, dark chocolate and speculoos chip with Brazil single origin 66.8%). But Quick Bites columnist Scott Lynch says the "surprise winner" is the SML, a salted licorice and skyr-chocolate chip creation using ice chocolate 40.7%.
On Saturday, the Seaport neighborhood throws its annual Taste of the Seaport event, which, like other "Taste" events, means wandering between tents to grab snacks from local restaurants and bars. The event is free to attend, however one must procure tickets for "tastes," which can be redeemed at any of the stands set up around the cobblestoned pedestrian streets. Trading Post, Felice, Da Claudio, Big Gay Ice Cream, Blue Ribbon Federal Grill, Keste Pizza, and Westville and others are slated for the event; purchase taste tickets ($35 - $125) here.
Meet Mario Batali and support Topos México and Unidos Por Puerto Rico on Sunday at the Family Meal Benefit for Mexico & Puerto Rico at Batali's La Sirena in Chelsea. The chef's Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca, Becco, Casa Mono, Del Posto Ristorante, Esca, Lupa Osteria Romana, La Sirena, OTTO Enoteca e Pizzeria and Tapas Bar at La Sirena restaurants will be supplying tastings to attendees from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. following a meet-and-greet with the chef (for VIP ticket holders) from noon until 1 p.m. Tickets are $50 for general admission and $250 for VIP; alcohol is included in the VIP ticket but sold separately for GA.
