Pete's Dish - June 24

What's going on in and about town!

Back in April, I wrote about the LUCKYRICE feasting fest on Evenings With Peter. Having made a splashy debut in New York, the event is soon to stick a fork in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Miami, with dozens of mixologists and chefs on hand to make guests experiencing all sorts of Asian cuisine (from Pacific-rim dining to street food grub) feel very lucky indeed. Go to luckyrice.com for more info.

I featured chef Tadashi Ono here on my blog from a post several years ago, featuring a wonderful recipe that he personally selected for me from his cookbook with Harris Salat--a Halibut Hot Pot! Chef Ono is now collaborating with Salat (founder/owner of Japanese Ganso in Brooklyn) to form Ganso Group and expand the Ganso brand. Ono will act as Partner and Culinary Director of Ganso Group, assuming executive chef duties for all projects, including Ganso (25 Bond Street, Brooklyn, 718-403-0900, gansonyc.com), soon to be re-launched with Salat as Ganso Ramen. Up the road a piece and a few months later, look for Ganso Yaki (515 Atlantic Avenue), also in Brooklyn.

The first authentic Sindhi restaurant in New York, Kailash Parbat, recently introduced their new chaat bar, presenting guests an opportunity to create snacks suited to their tastes, be the flavors mild or wild. On offer are dishes such as fried corn cups topped with a saucy corn chaat mixture and stuffed pastries mashed and topped with curried chickpeas, chaat chutneys and yogurt. All ingredients are made in house daily, and may be found in the restaurant at 99 Lexington Avenue, between 27^th and 28^th Streets, 212-679-4232, kailashparbatny.com.

There's still time to celebrate these festivities going on throughout the rest of June at the following places! 

National Seafood Month: Seafaring fare is reeled right out of the sea and to the table at Bay Kitchen Bar (39 Gann Road, East Hampton, 631-329-3663, baykitchenbar.com) in the Hamptons, overlooking Three Mile Harbor. As perhaps evidenced from the photo above, chef Eric Miller works with local clammers, baymen and fishermen to personally select the best catches of the day.

National Dairy Month: Brazilia Cafe (684 Broadway, 646-852-6348, braziliacafe-nyc.com) offers moo-velous homemade small batch gelato created by the “Ice Cream Professor” Malcolm Stogo. Look for Italian-style Açai Camu Camu Berry, Brazilia Coffee, Sea Salt Caramel, Dulce de Leche, and Ricotta with Fig.

National Steakhouse Month: NYY Steak Manhattan (7 West 51st Street, 646-307-7910, nyysteak.com) brings on the beef with USDA Prime steaks aged and butchered on the premises. The signature 27 oz. Long Bone Ribeye should satisfactorily take care of your curious carnivorous cravings. 

Pete's Dish - April 30

What's going on in and about town!

Bidwell restaurant opened early this year in Washington, DC's Union Market, five years after its sister restaurant, Bell Book & Candle (BB&C), opened the first aeroponic rooftop tower garden system by Future Growing in Manhattan (picture shown above). Bidwell’s urban 'roof to table' rooftop garden features a full state-of-the-art rooftop greenhouse with more than 70 of the aeroponic towers and an energy efficient ventilation system. Take a bite out of that! Bidwell is located at Union Market, 1309 Fifth Street, NE, Washington, DC, 202-547-0172, BidwellDC.com; Bell Book & Candle is located at 141 W 10th St, New York, NY, 212-414-2355, BBAndCNYC.com. 

Need a food travel companion? Check out the iPhone App, I Know The Chef, which just expanded its service from New York to cover Miami and Chicago as well. Launched by New York native Joshua Stern, I Know The Chef offers hard-to-get reservations at restaurants, as well as on-the-house perks, preferred seating, etc. in these three fabulous cities. Free and available at IKnowTheChef.com.

LUCKYRICE recently announced their fifth annual LUCKYRICE New York Feast presented by Bombay Sapphire East Gin taking place on Friday, May 2. Included in the festivities will be street food from Night Market, Asian fine dining concepts from Grand Feast and cocktails from Cocktail Feast, all pulled together into a one-night blast at the Mandarin Oriental New York. The itinerant LUCKYRICE affair will also pop-up in Los Angeles (August), San Francisco (September), Las Vegas (October) and Miami (November) coordinated with Asian celebrations such as Thai Songkran (New Year) and A Mid-Autumn Lantern Cocktail Feast. “Our wish is to bring Asian culture to life through the lens of food and drink, and celebrating key dates in the Asian calendar allows us to do just that,” said LUCKYRICE founder Danielle Chang. Go to LuckyRice.com for more information and tickets.

 

The Hudson Bond in Manhattan is muy caliente with their Cinco de Mayo specials this year. Raise a cervesa with Tacos in 2's including marinated flank steak, buffalo chicken, beer battered grouper and Cajun grilled snapper. Order any of these with all the traditional accompaniments—you know, avocado, tomatoes, onions (and even a little of the unexpected, such as pineapple salsa!) and get a complimentary, fruity margarita on the rocks. Otherwise, if you wish to drink only, margaritas and curious concoctions called Mayan Mules are four bucks all night. The Hudson Bond is located at 215 W 40th St, TheHudsonBond.com.