Really Cool Affordable Food Tasting Event

Sponsored by the Village Voice and ';curated%26#39; by one of the ultimate foodies in NYC, VV food writer Robert Sietsema - at the Puck Building, March 11th - 30 restaurants you probably have either never been to or never heard of ;-)

http://www.choice-eats.com/

In recognition of the tantalizing and eclectic cuisine featured by resident food critic, Robert Sietsema, The Village Voice is proud to present our first-ever Choice Eats tasting event. We have scaled New York鈥檚 eclectic culinary landscape to bring together Robert鈥檚 tastiest picks from years of unearthing the five borough鈥檚 best-kept secrets. Set amid the backdrop of the historic Puck Building, guests will be invited to sample delicious treats that would otherwise require days of travel.

Featuring over 30 restaurants, and representing foods from many nations, this is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to treat your taste buds to a trip around the world. In addition, a portion of ticket sales will go to benefit The Academy of Hospitality %26amp; Tourism at Erasmus, a public high school group with a student club dedicated to studying the evolution of world cultures through the history of regional cuisines.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

6:30pm - 10:30pm

The Puck Building

295 Lafayette Street, NYC

Tickets $25 in advance, $35 at the door

Only guests 21 and over admitted

Really Cool Affordable Food Tasting Event

Wow! Great catch, LTT!

Really Cool Affordable Food Tasting Event

Isn%26#39;t Erasmus High School the alma mater of Barbra Streisand, among other luminaries?

And didn%26#39;t it once have a ';mini farm'; in it%26#39;s inner courtyard?

You are a font of info QB and absolutely correct! Many luminaries went to Erasmus including my MOTHER and Bubbles Silverman (aka Beverly Sills ;)

鈥ikipedia.org/wiki/Erasmus_Hall_High_School

bump - don%26#39;t miss this!

My work email blocked this, I think the web site name could be similar to other sites that don%26#39;t discuss food. Finding it another way, it seems like advanced tickets are sold out.

Unfortunately true! See below...

Please note advance tickets are SOLD OUT

A limited amount of tickets will be available for $35 beginning at the door at 5:30pm.

Located at The Puck Building,

295 Lafayette Street, NYC

la boheme

i wanted to carmen to be my first opera since i%26#39;m more familiar with their songs but unfortunately it%26#39;s not playing in the month of april.

the ff: are the showings for april in MET, w/c one would you recommend for a 1st timer.

la boheme,ernani, the gambler, satyagraha,un ballo in machera, le fille du regiment.

La boheme shows sold out in april, where can i get tickets and are there discounts?

la boheme

%26gt;La boheme shows sold out in april, where can i get tickets and are there discounts?%26lt;

Let%26#39;s see - if it sold out - probably means tickets are not available and sdiscounts would not apply, no?

WHEN do you want tickets for? Another time besides April?

la boheme

Of the operas being produced in April, if Boheme is sold out (and sold out means there are no tickets available!), ';La Fille de Regiment'; is probably the most ';approachable'; for a first-time. I would follow that with ';Die Entfuehrung aus dem Serail'; (Mozart%26#39;s ';The Abduction from the Serglio';), Verdi%26#39;s ';Un Ballo in Maschera';, and Verdi%26#39;s ';Ernani';, in that order. Anyone who had not been to the opera before would probably be better off skipping Prokofiev and Philip Glass as an introduction to opera

There are La Boheme tickets being sold on stubhub.com

You may be able to get standing room only tickets for the Met. I frequently did that as a student (some performances also have student rate tickets) %26amp; often was given a ticket stub for a good seat as many regulars leave after the first act. New York City Opera/Lincoln center is another option -- Candide is playing in April.

If you really want to see La Boheme, you should continue to check the Met opera website occasionally. Many of the Met tickets are sold to subscribers who have the option to turn their tickets back in to the box office if they can%26#39;t make a certain show. The box office then puts these tickets back on sale to the general public so you might see tickets become available between now and April. If not, I second the recommendation for the standing room spots. I%26#39;ve had a better view from the SR section than I%26#39;ve had with some Orchestra seats. You can even purchase these tickets online so you%26#39;d don%26#39;t even have to wait in line. They go on sale at 10:00 the morning of the show.

i checked out the price and stubhub and didn%26#39;t realize opera tickets were so expensive.

The standing room tickets suddenly sounds very appealing to me now.

and i guess that means i would be standing until someone goes home early? is the standing room in middle aisle of the orchestra?

where are the seats for the student discount?

also, does anyone know how much to rent the binoculars?

FWIW there is also City Opera in April, and IMO their Tosca and M. Butterfly are comparable to the MET productions. Butterfly may be better since there is not the MET%26#39;s empahsis on staging. You won%26#39;t get the big names, but it may be worth a shot...

http://www.nycopera.com/browse/season.aspx

Pjk

There are two types of standing room at the Met. Orchestra standing room is behind the last row of orchestra seats. You are assigned a specific spot to stand at a sort of waist-high red-velvet-covered bar that also has its own MetTitle screen to provide the translation. The other standing room is up in the Family Circle, but if you are going to stand, the only place to do it in my opinion is the orchestra. No one , of course, is ever allowed to stand in the asile. Officially, one is not supposed to take an empty seat if one has a standing room ticket, but if you spot an empty seat during the first act and slip into it at the end of intermission, I won%26#39;t tell.

There are no binocular rentals.

I don%26#39;t really understand the issue with the cost of tickets. It%26#39;s opera: You don%26#39;t need to be up close and personal. Family Circle and Balcony are very reasonable - cheaper than Broadway. Only the most prime seats are very expensive.

And I second the suggestion to check out the New York City Opera. It is not inferior to the Met and City Opera tickets are less expensive than the Met.

i was already seriously considering taking my unexcited husband to watch la boheme, his 1st opera. but now i%26#39;ve been reading that the story is like the broadway show ';rent';. He didn%26#39;t enjoy rent. does this mean he will probably not enjoy la boheme?

cartridge

flirt with someone

4 nights, 2 hotels?

Hi, this will be our first time in New York and I have a strange question for you experts. We have narrowed down our hotel search to 4 and they are so expensive that we are wondering if it is wise to pick 2 of them, so as not to ';put all our eggs in one basket';, just in case we made the wrong choice.

Here are our 4 choices: Waldorf Astoria, New York Palace, The Plaza and Four Seasons. If we stay 2 nights at the Waldorf(it is cheaper than the others)which hotel is the closest to it, so we could check out and walk to another one, if possible...

We usually like the older, character type of hotels like the Waldorf, but it isn%26#39;t rated very high on trip advisor.

Thanks so much!

4 nights, 2 hotels?

Are you saying you%26#39;d make a backup reservation and if you%26#39;re happy at your first choice, cancel #2 and stay? Or are you intending on staying in 2 places regardless?

I hate packing and unpacking so I%26#39;d think it would be crazy to move. What I don%26#39;t get is WHY don%26#39;t you believe the reviews on this website? The Waldorf is a lovely old hotel with grand public space (lobby, restaurants etc.) but the rooms are very dated and nothing special. That%26#39;s why it%26#39;s so much less expensive. It%26#39;s also not a terribly convenient location imo for much of anything.

It%26#39;s pretty easy to plot the 4 hotels on a map. The Palce is nearest the Waldorf. The Plaza and the Four Seasons are not far from each other but all 4 are basically in midtown east.

The Plaza rooms will START at $1000/night. Are you prepared to pay that?

4 nights, 2 hotels?

Thanks for the information! I did not say, however, that I did not believe the reviews, I simply ackowleged that the reviews were not that great and so we were prepared to stay at another hotel for the other 2 nights.

I do know the price of the Plaza and the other hotels on our list and are prepared to pay that if we decide against the Waldorf.

You are right though, the thought of packing and unpacking might make our decision for us!

By the way, we have stayed in some hotels that were not that highly rated on trip advisor, like Fairmont San Fransisco and just loved it, so I do tend to read the reviews with a grain of salt, and if the majority of people have a complaint about the same thing, I usually know it to be true!

Thanks again!

I know the press, here in NYC said that the Plaza starts at $1000. Last night I went to their website.

http://www.fairmont.com/theplaza/Index.htm

I feed in random dates. --In April, May and July. Except for the few days right before Memorial Day, I was able to get rooms for less than that.

I suggest your try.

I also agree that to change hotels in the middle is time-consuming and to double book is wrong.

You might check on luxurylink.com and skyauction.com Sometimes they have good 3 or 4 night packages at some of the top hotels. You just have to make sure the hotel will accept the pkg. on the dates you want BEFORE you buy or bid for it.

Since you seem to like older classic hotels, I%26#39;m surprised you haven%26#39;t mentioned the St. Regis, the Peninsula, the Pierre, the Carlyle or the St. Moritz. These are all much more classic than say the 4 Seasons (which is a wonderful hotel, but very very modern). The Palace has magificent historic public rooms but the bedrooms are actually in a modern tower built above this landmarked property.

I was considering St. Regis but seemed even more expensive than The Plaza and The Pierre will be closed due to renovations the time of our visit. Basically I was so overwhelmed by all the choices that I wanted a shorter list to work with! We have stayed at the same chains before like Four Seasons and Plaza(Fairmont property)so I guess I was going with something familiar.

We will be going September 2-6 so I suppose that is still high season.

With all the great places to visit in the world, this will probably be our only time to New York and didn%26#39;t want to make any bad decisions with hotels so I am starting my research early!

I think I have decided though, only to stay at one hotel!

Thanks for the help!

Matlock

I never have enough time in Manhattan, although I visit for 2 weeks every year. That said, I would pick a hotel and stay there for a visit. Time wasted packing and unpacking is precious time. As for which hotel, I%26#39;ve stayed at none that you mention. But all seem nice if the price is right for you.

Stay at 1 hotel. You listed some of the most expensive hotels in the city, there are others that may be cheaper and really just as nice. NY Whiz and some other experts can give you better advice on hotels than I could.

Sept 2-6 is not ';high season'; but not low season either. We all like different things in a hotel. In NYC, I would consider having a Central Park view a wonderful luxury. The Ritz Carlton Central Park, Trump, Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, the London, St. Moritz, Sherry Netherland and some others would have that. The Waldorf is really nothing much imo unless you stay in a suite in the Waldorf Towers.

If you really don%26#39;t think you%26#39;ll ever be in NYC again, perhaps the Plaza is a good idea. What would concern me is where the hotel rooms are located in the building. I%26#39;d assume the best views will be in the private apts. not the hotel rooms.

Then there%26#39;s the question of staying in the nicest room of a lesser hotel vs. the lesser room at a nicer hotel....

thanks NYwhiz for the suggestions. The view is important to me, but not as much to my husband...

This might seem odd, but we are more concerned with the overall ';feeling'; of the hotel when we walk in. A beautiful lobby area, lounges, other public areas, are probably more important to us than the room itself! Although we do not want to be stuck in the basement with NO views outside! A really grand entrance area really wows us!

I will look at the Ritz like you suggested and might put that on our short list. I might take off Four Seasons because, like you said, it is so modern and you can stay at those anywhere...

Although you do not care for the Waldorf, I guess we were thinking it was very ';New Yorkish'; and would have so much history, etc...

Think it is down to Plaza, Waldorf, New York Palace and perhaps Ritz Carlton Central Park.

Thanks again everyone for your help!

Best & Most Affordable Food - Roosevelt Ave, Queens

Courtesy of GOOD Magazine...

Roosevelt Avenue, Queens

On Roosevelt Avenue between 62nd and 82nd Streets, rice is the common language, and its preparation varies as widely as the languages spoken on the 7 train, which rumbles above the adjacent neighborhoods of Jackson Heights and Woodside. From stores, supermarkets, carts, stands, and trucks, the cuisines and cultures of Latin America and Asia intersect. Treat Roosevelt Avenue as a 20-block destination; it requires several return visits to truly appreciate.

Hopping off the 7 train at 61st Street, your first treat is about 35 paces away. Grab a toothsome pollo verde tamale from the friendly Mexican man under the station stairs, and then hoof it seven blocks to El Sitio, the venerable Cuban lunch counter, for ropa vieja, delicious fork-tender skirt steak stewed in tomato sauce. Next, try Asian chicken three ways: Experience the global evolution of fried chicken and Korean fast food at Unidentified Flying Chicken, hit the Little Manila fave Krystals for chicken adobo, and then, last but not least, is the authentic pad kra prow鈥攁 traditional dish of saut茅ed ground meat with basil sauce (get it with chicken, naturally)鈥攁t the Northern Thai standout Zabb Queens.

It%26#39;s worth returning for a nighttime pilgrimage to Little Colombia, which begins around 75th Street, to visit the Arepa Lady%26#39;s small cart on Roosevelt Avenue. Her crispy, cheese-oozing Colombian corn cakes鈥攐nly available after 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays鈥攈ave inspired devotees to erect a MySpace page in her honor.

Don%26#39;t Miss!

AREPA LADY Roosevelt Avenue between 78th and 79th

Try the: Cheese arepas

EL SITIO 68鈥?8 Roosevelt Avenue

Try the: Ropa vieja

UNIDENTIFIED FLYING CHICKEN 71鈥?2 Roosevelt Avenue

Try the: Chicken wings with soy garlic sauce

ZABB QUEENS 7128 Roosevelt Avenue

Try the: Pad kra prow

Best %26amp; Most Affordable Food - Roosevelt Ave, Queens

Big ups to Unidentified Flying Chicken. Man, that stuff is good... anyone know if they have their liquor license yet?

Best %26amp; Most Affordable Food - Roosevelt Ave, Queens

Ugh...';Little Colombia'; would actually be Northern Blvd from 82nd - 90th....with much better restaurants. That area on Roosevelt is a South American mixed bag. Would it kill these food critics to actually venture more than a block away from the train to earn their supposed ';street cred';...?

Thanks a lot, LTT!! Now I%26#39;ll have to weave and dodge map-weilding tourists there, too! ;o) I%26#39;m sure cbcito is thrilled.

Anyway, great info, if I do say so myself.

Thanks LTT! Here%26#39;s a vote for a TA meetup at one of the Queens Thai places.

Oops, spoke too soon!

Zabb is a bit disappointing. Where are all the Thai people and why aint they eating there ? Explanation ..... small portions and a bit pricy for this area of Queens. Zabb is Isan cuisine similar to Laos

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isan

..... their best dish is actually %26#39;larb%26#39; ..... gorund pork bolied and then mixed with roasted rice, chili and mint

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larb

Kra Pow is actually very easy to make yourself at home.

Ate in Zabb several times ..... it%26#39;s definitely a miss in my opinion ..... but it does stay open till late at night.

Don%26#39;t get me wrong...I love Roosevelt. However; the better food is not located there. (But for nightlife...and loud latino culture it cannot be beat.)

The Arepa lady also strikes a chord; and I%26#39;m somewhat of a regular there. She%26#39;s set up right outside one of the gay clubs, and I think the presence of said gays have made it chic. It%26#39;s quite a scene to behold obviously, and makes for great conversation. But the reality is that they are just arepas, comparable to most in Jackson Hts.

I also don%26#39;t understand the love of Zabb. If you want world-class Thai, go to Sripraphai, it%26#39;s a few blocks away. If you want nice neighborhood Thai, go to Rice Ave. If you want weird southeast Asian, go to Burmese Cafe.

I also generally hate the foodie obsession with carts. Especially the ones on Roosevelt. Where TF are you supposed to eat your taco? Carry it home and wait for it to get cold? Eat it under the stinky, noisy 7 train deafening you every three minutes? Drop your taco fixings on the street as you try to juggle it with whatever else you%26#39;re holding?

No thanks. I%26#39;ll get my Mexican food at Coatzingo (76th and Roosevelt) and fire up the Norteno jukebox, or get my Colombian food at that bakery place on 37th and 80th or so. Or get my Peruvian food at Pio Pio. Or Papa%26#39;s Empanadas. No overhead trains involved! And they have heating!

I%26#39;ll second the vote for UFC though.

I got a greeter!

Yippppeeee. I got a greeter for my Easter trip to NY. Cant believe Ive been lucky enough to get a second go.

I selected Greeters Choice, and can%26#39;t wait to see what my greeters part of NY is. My last experience still stands out as one of my best NY mornings.

Thanks so much to all who volunteer for this service.

I got a greeter!

Maybe this is dumb, but what is a greeter?

I got a greeter!

Good for you!!!!

Big Apple Greeter:

www.bigapplegreeter.org

Good for you. I wish I was still a Greeter - it was a fun job to do!

Congrats! I%26#39;m keeping my fingers crossed that we%26#39;ll get one when we%26#39;re there over Memorial Day weekend. It truly is a great service!

That%26#39;s great!

I am also planning on applying for my next trip - it was such a great experience the first time around. :)

Mez

That%26#39;s Great,

I have asked for one for our October holiday-will keep my fingers crossed!!!

Please remember that although this wonderful service is completely free to you it is always polite to make a donation (direct to BAG)to preserve the service.

Enjoy

M

Fab!

Looking forward to hearing how you get on. I always think it would be great to end up with one of the BAGs that post on here as a coincidence.

Question: With you having been to NYC so many times, do you feel guilty at potentially having taken away a BAG from a first timer? I did a little bit with our second Greeter.

Ange

I%26#39;ve used the NYC and Chicago Service before and like you I do for a split second think that it is perhaps unfair to ask again.

BUT! We all fill out our on-line forms,comb our hair and put on our best wide-eyed pleading look when we press that send button, then it%26#39;s all in the lap of the Gods (and the BAG guys of course!).

They do a fantastic job but they do have THE Worlds Best City to work with!.........

M

Congratulations - we were lucky enough to get a greeter on our first trip last year. He was the nicest guy and meeting him was one of the highlights of our trip.

can someone explain what a greeter is to me please sorry if this is a stupid question? many thanks toni

Itinerary Help please :)

We are leaving late Thursday night, driving from VA to NYC for a weekend stay - my husband, myself, and my 9-year-old daughter.

We%26#39;re staying at the Lombardy Hotel Friday and Saturday night and we%26#39;ll be parking our car with them so that%26#39;s covered - I think $31/day.

Is the traffic really bad in the morning? We%26#39;re trying to plan accordingly, I think it%26#39;s about a 7-hour drive for us and I%26#39;m trying to figure out what time we should plan to arrive so as not to get caught up in a lot of traffic.

Friday - AMNH - exhibits, planetarium, etc.

FAO Schwartz, Build-A-Bear, World of Disney

American Girl Place - shopping and dinner at 7:30

Saturday - WTC Memorial, Radio City backstage Tour, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, possibly NBC Tour

Sunday - Central Park

We aren%26#39;t going to a show this time since I will already be using my free pass with my husband at the American Girl Place. ;)

Does this sound ';doable'; or should I switch anything? The only thing I can%26#39;t change is our dinner at American Girl Friday night - I%26#39;ve already paid.

Thanks for your help!!

Itinerary Help please :)

You don%26#39;t want to arrive at rush hour. Could take you 2 hours to go 5 miles. Either leave earlier to get in really early Friday or later and get in past 10 Friday.

I think your plan is doable, busy but doable.

Itinerary Help please :)

Not many folks on this forum stay at the Lombardy so I hope you%26#39;ll write a trip report after your visit. ;) A friend of the family used to have an apt. there so I have fond memories of the place.

I don%26#39;t know where in Va. you%26#39;re starting, but 7 hrs. sounds a bit long. Have you tried looking on maps.google.com ? If you%26#39;re leaving on Thurs. night, will you stop on the road to sleep? Rush hour here starts around 7:30am so if you can arrive before then or after 9:30 it would be better.

You may not get everything on the list done on Fri. but whatever you don%26#39;t get to can either wait til another day or another trip. WTC Memorial is all the way downtown and your other stops on Sat. are midtown within walking distance of the hotel. Why not consider doing WTC Sun. morning (when the city is quiet), have some breakfast or brunch downtown and then head to the park?

Thanks BobbyC and nywhiz -

We%26#39;re coming from the Virginia Beach area and mapquest quotes 6 hrs and 45 minutes. I think we%26#39;ll plan on getting in after 9:30.

I using a company apartment at the Lombardy (I%26#39;ve never stayed in it before). It looks really nice on the website.

We%26#39;re going for my daughter%26#39;s 9th birthday - she turns 9 on Friday so we%26#39;re having a birthday dinner at her favorite place in the world - American Girl Place in NYC. :)

You%26#39;ve given me advice before nywhiz - when I planned my first trip with my daughter and mother-in-law. I%26#39;ve gotten great advice from these forums. Our last trip was magical.

I will change our stop at WTC to Sunday. This is my husband%26#39;s first trip and that%26#39;s a top priority on his list.

Thanks again for your help! Here%26#39;s to hoping this trip will be just as magical!

Something different

Am going to new york soon for the 5th time,cant wait, taking my teenage daughter with me, have done all of the usual touristy things and will spend a day or two shopping, any suggestions on some new things to do would be helpfull, we will be there for a week so have plenty of time.....thanks in advance

new york lover!

Something different

I%26#39;m in exactly the same boat right down to the number of times I%26#39;ve been.

I walked round Brooklyn last time and went to Coney Island as well. So, like the original poster, I%26#39;d be keen for any suggestions.

Something different

I know exactly what you mean, it was really nice to take a day off and go to Woodbury this time (even uf it did bucket it down, but I did buy a great tUMI umbrealla though)

If you have the cash Greyline do day trips to Philedelphia, Washington and Niagra (first 2 by train and last one by air)

They%26#39;re not pennies but we%26#39;re looking at them when we come back at xmas

Have a look on their website

Thanks all, will give brooklyn a try and maybe niagara falls too!

We had a blast at formerly the Musuem of Television %26amp; Radio and now the Paley Center for Media www.mtr.org

A few things on the list for my next visit are the Tenement Museum, the Cloisters and seeing the NYC panorama up at the Queens Museum.

If you do a search on any of these on the TA forums you%26#39;ll get more info.

Also, on my last visit I did the NY Accomplice experience - a great and unusual way to spend an afternoon in NYC.

Mez

From the FAQ

YAWN, I%26#39;VE DONE ALL THE TOURIST SITES, NOW WHAT? A collection of posts for repeat visitors and those in search of interesting places OFF THE BEATEN PATH.

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k976302-鈥?/a>

YO, WHAT ABOUT BROOKLYN? Fuhggedabouddit! Here%26#39;s a collection of posts about our ';Fourth Largest City in America';, where 1 out of 7 Americans can trace their ancestral roots.

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k884862-鈥?/a>

a trip to Brooklyn,walking around Park Slope,Pratt,Prospect Park,and Brooklyn Museum;the Cloisters;backstage tour of the Met/Lincoln Center..some of recent things we%26#39;d done (me,50+ mom,with 19 yr.old daughter ..after many,many NYC visits)

Spend some time in the ';neighborhoods.'; Here is a walking tour of the Upper West Side.

www.nytimes.com/ref/travel/TOUR-WS.html

same here...(50+mom and daughter,19) our fourth trip will be in May. We will be there six days,thinking about Brooklyn for one day and lots and lots of wandering on other days!! Wanted to find a day trip someplace ...Hudson Valley maybe....I don%26#39;t know!!Any ideas along those lines??

Different day trips by train.

http://mta.info/mta/destinations.htm

Different neighborhoods in the city, off the beaten path.

forgotten-ny.com/NEIGHBORHOODS/neighborhoodh鈥?/a>

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