Restaurant of the Week: David Burke Kitchen

Photo via http://www.davidburkekitchennyc.com

Every time there is someone visiting me from out of town, the one place I will take them is David Burke Kitchen. From beginning to end your meal will be spectacular. The menu is different but not different enough that you’re wondering why they are serving you Nutella with your salmon. Atmosphere is simple farm chic and during the summer they have an outdoor garden and bar. You can even make reservations specifically for an outdoor table (those who live in New York know this is a small miracle). To top it all off they have a drink menu that will have you leaving there…happy, yes, let’s say happy. Check out some of the great dishes they are serving up!

How did I never think of this? Peanut Butter and Maple Bacon Dates

First time I tried this dish, actually saw it on the menu I was convinced that the night was surely going to go downhill if this is the first item on their menu. Instead, just the opposite happen. It is the first thing listed on the menu for a reason! The peanut butter is a nice play off of the dates with a bit of sweetness from the maple and then the crispy bacon. Order this first and you will realize what a culinary experience you are in for.

Always a solid. David Burke’s Pretzel Crusted Crab Cake

Those who aren’t ready to dive into the deep sea of strange concoctions like peanut butter and dates, this one is for you. This simple yet smart dish has thin stick pretzels lining a crab cake. A great starter that will leave you content but with plenty of room for your main.

This dish that keeps you coming back. Pork Chop

My hands down favorite is the Pork Chop. The plate is layered, yes layered with goodness. Your dish is covered in a mango chutney, which makes you forget you ever ate apple sauce with your pork chop. On top of the warm chutney sits your juicy pork chop, which is cooked to perfection so it doesn’t need anything super fancy to be drizzled on it. On top of your pork chop you’ll find two large cilantro turmeric onion rings which actually pair up very nicely with a little bit of the mango chutney. Finally coming out of the onion rings you’ll find thick maple bacon. Now, I love bacon, I have tried it far and wide, from steak house to hole in the wall, this is something special. I for one would propose they just include it on every dish.

You better have saved room for dessert. Toffee Monkey Bread

I am not going to be able to put this dessert into words. I will never nearly do it justice and for that I apologize. The Toffee Monkey Bread (which they say is for two but your waitress will be honest with you and tell you it could feed four) is the grand finale on an ideal meal. Baked in an old school metal tin, it is prepared table side as your waitress take the monkey bread loaded with bananas, pecans and caramel and mixes it with maple pecan ice cream and some extra banana caramel and whip cream. Hail the Toffee Monkey Bread.

David Burke Kitchen can be found in Soho at 23 Grand Street, New York, NY 10013.

 

Blast Off With the ‘Intrepid Space & Science Festival’ This Weekend!

 

The Intrepid Space & Science Festival is under way and it’s time to plan your weekend so it’s ‘out of this world’! This festival is on its third year and the celebration just keeps on growing. It is the 45^th anniversary of the moon landing so you can expect some extra special events throughout the festival.

Friday, July 18, 2014

Who wanted to be an astronaut when they were growing up? The truth of the matter is we aren’t all that lucky so how about meeting one instead? At 11:00 am and throughout the day you could meet Mario Runco, Jr., Ellen Baker, Joe Edwards (Commander, USN, Retired) and Karol Bobko (Colonel, USAF, Retired). After you get yourself some super-cool autographs, head over to the Space Shuttle Pavilion where you can watch a demonstration of what happens to the human body when exposed to the vacuum of space.

Friday night brings a special event on the Intrepid at 7:30 pm. Astronomy Night will feature local astronomers helping you guide high-powered telescopes then a special screening of CNN’s The Sixties. Space is limited for these night time events so make sure you RSVP.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Saturday has events throughout the day but one of the highlights is a 12:30 pm Tour Guide Talk about the 45^th Anniversary of Apollo 11. Learn about how NASA got through the tragedy of Apollo 1 to reaching their goal of landing a man on the moon. If you’re not signed up for the space-themed Operation Slumber you need to give them a call immediately (1-646-381-5010)! This is a once in a lifetime experience as you enjoy a night of activities and a sleepover under the Enterprise.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Sunday closes out the final day of the Space & Science Festival with a great inside look at Sally Ride. This Tour Guide Talk will celebrate her legacy she left for young people interested in science and technology. Finish your afternoon off and build a scale model of the Solar System with one of their Tour Guides.

 For all events and information head blast off to the official festival page.

8 Wonderful NYC Travel Quotes

Quotes about New York City by famous (and not so famous) people:

“When I’m in New York, I just want to walk down the street and feel this thing like I’m in a movie.” – Ryan Adams

“The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see.” – G.K. Chesterton

“There is something in the New York air that makes sleep useless” – Simone Beauvoir

“New York is the biggest collection of villages in the world.” – Alistair Cooke

“More than anything else, New York is a city of superlatives, a place where the best, the brightest, the biggest is the norm.” Marilyn J. Appleberg

“New York walking isn’t exercise; it’s a continually showing make-your-own movie.” – Roy Blount Jr.

“I get out of the taxi and it’s probably the only city which in reality looks better than on the postcards, New York.” – Milos Forman

“The Glamour of it all! New York! America!” – Charlie Chaplin

All Hail the Cabs: NYC Taxis 101

After you get to know the city on your City Sights double decker tour, you might feel comfortable enough to take a good ol’ New York City taxi cab! Here are some tips as you try and hail your taxi:

The taxis aren’t stopping for me and my arm is starting to cramp!

You’re on 6^th Avenue and there are tons of taxi cabs driving by but no one is stopping. Well, not every taxi is on duty or may have passengers already. There is an easy way to distinguish when your arm should be up and when it shouldn’t to prevent further cramping. On top of each cab is a mix of numbers and letters, if these numbers are lit up, then throw your hands up like you just don’t care, and if they are not, well put your hands in your pockets and play it cool until the next cab rolls along.

 

My taxi driver doesn’t know where 230-41 West 24^th Street is!

Know the cross streets you need to be dropped off at because an exact address isn’t always going to do. This will save you cab fare as well as a long tour across 24^th street until you get to your destination. Your cab driver will appreciate the 10 second you took to plug the address into your iPhone and give him an address he can more easily maneuver to. To 24^th Street and 9^th Avenue we go!

 

Most offices let our around 5pm during the work week – get off the streets, off the road, just hide.

Most impossible time to get a cab? Around 5:00 pm on a weekday, not only because those big buildings are full of people being let out of work but this is also around the time that cab shifts change. Not only will it take you about 20 minutes to get a cab (if you’re lucky) but be prepared to empty your wallet on cab fare because of gridlock traffic. Leave an hour before or after this time to make sure you can get where you are going. Same goes for when it’s raining, good luck to you and may the force be on your side.

 

When a black car pulls next to you and tells you to get in.

This is not a secret spy mission that you have been selected to be a recruit, this is a car-for-hire, also known as “gypsy cabs”. The thing about “gypsy cabs” is half of them are legitimate, the other half aren’t and it’s not always the easiest to tell which it is. There are no credit cards accepted and the fare can basically be whatever they want it to be. It’s easier to just stay away from these but if you do find yourself in a situation where there is no other choice but to risk your life and get into one, make sure you agree on the fare before you get in.

Happy hailing!

Spa Week 2014

It all starts with a peaceful mind and a relaxed body, turns out this is just the week to make sure you have both of those checked off your list! Now until April 27th it’s not just Spa Week in New York City, but all over the United States. New York City spas are offering treatments starting at just $50 at some of NYC’s top spas. You can find out all the details here: http://www.spaweek.com

Fun fact: The term “spa” comes from the name of a town! There is a town in Belgium called Spa where Romans revived the ideas of medicinal bathing. Latter that year Dr. Timothy Bright started using the term as a generic reference to the practice and it just stuck!

Un italiano all’estero: An Italian Abroad, Part III

Lorenzo will be joining our team for the next few months, this is the first time he is in New York City and will be periodically checking in with us on his experience here in the States.

When you look what happens along the main avenues of Manhattan, certainly there are three things that remain imprinted in your mind: the neon billboards, huge buildings, and the buses that constantly populate the main areas of New York. So – after visiting Midtown – I decided it was time to discover Downtown. I bought a ticket for the City Sightseeing New York double decker bus, and headed down! The tour lasted around two and a half hours, but you can see a lot of beautiful things and different districts, allowing you to better plan your future activities centered around what attracted you the most! The tour starts with the sight of Times Square and continue to Madison Square Garden, the Empire State Building, Chelsea district and West Village. After that began the discovery of the most well-known districts of Downtown, Soho and the Financial District (for people like me that love economics), continuing into China Town and Little Italy, ending at the United Nations’ building. Amazing!

Always keep the camera in your hands because once you make it home and see the pictures again, you’ll want to start planning immediately the next days!

So it has been for me, waiting for see again those places lit by the moon.

 

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Quando osservi cosa ti gira intorno mentre cammini per le vie principali di Manhattan, sicuramente sono tre le cose che rimangono più impresse: i numerosi cartelloni pubblicitari, gli enormi edifici e i bus turistici che popolano costantemente tutte le zone principali di New York.

Così – dopo aver visitato Midtown – ho deciso che era il momento di farsi un tour per Downtown! Ho acquistato un biglietto per il bus City Sightseeing New York e sono partito! Il tour é durato circa 2 ore e mezzo, ma si riescono a vedere un sacco di cose belle, un sacco di quartieri diversi, così da poter pianificare al meglio i futuri spostamenti nei posti che più ci hanno colpito!

Si inizia con Times Square per continuare con Madison Square Garden, Empire State Building, Chelsea e il West Village. Comincia adesso la vera scoperta dei quartieri più noti e caratteristici di Downtown passando per Soho, fino al Financial District (per chi come me é appassionato di economia) per poi continuare visitando China Town e Little Italy, fino alla sede generale delle Nazioni Unite.

Tenete sempre in mano la macchina fotografica perché quando tornerete a casa e riguarderete tutti i posti che avete visitato, comincerete sicuramente a pianificare le prossime uscite.

Così é stato per me, in attesa di vederli nuovamente illuminati dalla luna.

The Big Egg Hunt in New York City

Photo: http://www.thebigegghunt.org

 

Right now there are 275 eggs placed in different locations around New York City. These aren’t your ordinary eggs, these are 2.5 foot eggs that colors span way past their ordinary white base. Each egg has been designed by a well-known artist, designer, architect or even a brand. That’s right, the egg you’re standing in front of may have been designed by Ralph Lauren or Nathan Sawaya.

This giant hunt isn’t just for fun, it’s for charity! Sponsored by the luxury jewelry company Fabergé, each egg will be auctioned off to benefit two organizations, Elephant Family (a conservation organization) and Studio in School (a program that brings visual arts to NYC public schools).

So how can you join in the fun you ask? You can download the app, Big Egg Hunt, and you can check in at each egg that you find. Each week a Fabergé precious gem stone pendent is going to be won. If you don’t have the time to trek around the city and still want to see the eggs, that’s no problem. Just in time for Easter, on April 18^th to 25^th the eggs will be displayed at an exhibition in Rockefeller Center.

Keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter as we go on an adventure with you and find some of the eggs around New York City. If you’re interested in finding out more information, or want to bid on one of the eggs visit www.thebigegghunt.org for more information! Happy hunting!