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Big Apple BBQ's Bubba Fast Pass only for AmExers
 The sixth annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party is set for June 7 and 8 at Madison Square Park and the Bubba Fast Passes are already on sale.
And here comes what will sound like a commercial: There are only 2,000 passes and you can only get them with American Express.
That doesn't mean AmEx cardholders merely get first dibs, like they often do with some theater and concert tickets -- they're the only ones getting dibs for fast-access to the ribs - and other 'cue.
That's the word NewYorkology received this morning via e-mail from BBQ organizers.
The $100 FastPass -- redeemable for food, beverage & merchandise at the festival -- "guarantees exclusive access to express lines for each FastPass holder and one guest to all food and beverage purveyors throughout the entire weekend." Everyone else will be stuck in the lines, which in past years have been as long as it takes an ornery, two-legged pig to walk a country mile.
Barbecue will be priced at $8 per plate. Sides and desserts will be $4 each.
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May 8, 2008 12:02 PM Comments (0)
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Momofuku Ko is NYC's 'it' restaurant of the moment
 Everybody wants to go to Momofuku Ko.
To amp up the oft-unrequited love offering, there are only 12 seats in the restaurant and only two seatings a night. Reservations are taken online only, and to thwart scalpers, you must first provide your credit card number and e-mail address to create an account to merely enter the long-shot derby to secure a seat. Six days a week, the reservation form at 10 a.m. opens up all the slots for dinner six days hence. Seconds later, they're gone. (Ko is closed Tuesdays.)
Expect the competition to get even worse now that the New York Times has granted Ko three-stars.
Ko was opened March 12 in the East Village by 30-year-old David Chang, who last year was named best chef in NYC in the James Beard Awards for his Momofuku Ssäm Bar. (He also runs the nearby Momofuku Noodle Bar.)
The style of food is what Ko calls "delicious american food" and Frank Bruni of the NY Times describes as Asian-French. "You’ll love it, provided you ever get access to it," he writes. The paper isn't the first to fall for Ko.
From the Wall Street Journal review:
Mr. Chang has crafted an inventive menu filled with delightful dishes such as a plump hen's egg split open into a flood of caviar, and escargot and asparagus "lasagna" touched off with both crumbled and whipped ricotta. A simple amuse bouche featuring a miniature English muffin slathered with pork fat and topped with chives gave off a mouthwatering Sunday-brunch smell as it sizzled on the stove. Strips of soft fluke in a buttermilk sauce tinged with Sriracha, an Asian hot sauce, and filled with poppy seeds provided an incredible juxtaposition of varying tastes and textures -- crunchy, soft, milky and just slightly spicy all at once. From Bloomberg News:Over three visits, I watched as the chefs cursed, drank coffee, shouted, devoured pie, talked about cars and cursed some more. Some will find it juvenile and unpleasant, but those chefs also happen to cook. And that they do quite well.
This is food you haven't tried before. And New York magazine:“We charge cook’s prices” is how Chang puts it to one of the patrons at the bar. He is standing with the rest of his cooks, who look the way top-line restaurant cooks usually do, which is to say pallid and harried, with assorted random baseball caps on their heads and their sleeves rolled up to give their burn marks full display. The first impression you get at Momofuku Ko, in fact, is that this is a kind of kitchen slave’s revolt, an operation run by hypergifted line cooks for the benefit of their downtrodden, misunderstood, back-of-the-house brethren. And if you don't like choices, you'll do just fine at Ko. The eight-course menu changes daily and it's all chef's choice. The price is $85, plus an optional wine pairing for $50, $80 or $150. The restaurant's website also mentions a $15 corkage fee.
Ko is located at 163 1st Ave. between 10th and 11th streets. map.
Related coverage: Ko reservation tips (Wall Street Journal)
The Ko reviewers' spreadsheet (Savory Tidbits)
When Good People Do Bad Things to Get Into Ko (Eater)
The maligned reservation-seller speaks (Grub Street)
Image source: Ko.
May 7, 2008 10:30 AM Comments (0)
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Circle Line launching a $50,000 NYC Waterfalls tour
While several ferry companies have already announced plans for summer cruises that will get spectators close to artist Olafur Eliasson's NYC Waterfalls, Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises is hoping to top them all when it comes to pure excess.
 For $50,000 you can get a private Circle Line boat (with crew) to cruise aroound the waterfalls while sipping Dom Perignon, dining on a six-course meal from Chef Daniel Boulud's Feast & Fêtes catering and sharing chocolate Knipschildt's La Madeline au Truffes.
And as for the ice: Tiffany Jazz Drop Earrings.
Since you probably won't be sleeping on the boat, Circle Line will also throw in a night in a presidential suite in a hotel on par with the Waldorf, Mandarin Oriental or Four Seasons, a spokesman told NewYorkology.
Eliasson's four waterfalls are currently under construction under the Brooklyn Bridge, at Governors Island, at Manhattan's Pier 35 and below the Brooklyn Promenade. They'll be in operation from late June to mid-October.
Image source: Circle Line and Tiffany's
Earlier: NYC Waterfalls taking shape under Brooklyn Bridge
NYC Waterfalls could start flowing as early as June
Hotel packages start trickling in for NYC Waterfalls
'NYC Waterfalls' cruises priced at $10 and $20
May 6, 2008 03:46 PM Comments (0)
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Rockaways, Frying Pan to get Water Taxi on weekends
While the mayor made his big announcement today about new ferry commmuter service between the Rockaways and Manhattan, the more interesting news may lie in the New York Water Taxi's other plans for this summer, including weekend service to Rockaway Beach as well as the Frying Pan on the Hudson.
Service will also start to Red Hook's new Brooklyn Ikea starting June 18, but the Water Taxi has ditched all plans for Governors Island and the Mets Express this summer, a spokeswoman for the company told NewYorkology. (Governors Island will still be served by a free ferry from Lower Manhattan for the season, which starts May 31.)
Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City will officially reopen for the season on the Thursday before Memorial Day weekend, with Friday/Saturday/Sunday ferry service from E. 34th Street in Manhattan.
The NY Water Taxi is also ditching its weekday hop-on hop-off service which has been aimed at the tourist crowd. That service will remain on weekends (when ridership was higher and the boats won't be needed for the commuter routes.)
However, it will still run its evening sunset happy-hour cruises on most nights. And new this week, it's adding a TV and Movie cruise every Thursday. And once Olafur Eliasson's NYC Waterfalls art project starts flowing, the Water Taxi (along with Circle Line and NY Waterway) will start special waterfall cruises.
NY Water Taxi weekend service to the Rockaways -- at Riis Landing on National Park Service land -- is aiming to start weekend service in early summer. No pricing details are yet available (although the city-subsidised weekday commuter service on the same route will be $6 each way.)
Service to the Lightship "Frying Pan" would also start mid-summer, as a stop on the hop-on hop-off service. The "Frying Pan," which recently moved to Pier 66 from its longtime Pier 63 home on the Hudson River, hopes to reopen soon as a restaurant and bar -- the same facilities it offered in the old location, a spokeswoman told NewYorkology today.
Farther out on the horizon, the city is sinking $500,000 into a study on more routes, including LaGuardia Airport, Roosevelt Island, Coney Island, Riverdale, Camp St. Edward on Staten Island, W. 125th Street, Orchard Beach, Hunts Point, Sheepshead Bay, Bay Ridge, Astoria, and Manhattan's E. 20th , E. 75th, and E. 90th streets.
Earlier: Hotel packages start trickling in for NYC Waterfalls
'NYC Waterfalls' cruises priced at $10 and $20
Water Taxi starts Brooklyn-to-Governors Island route
Frying Pan moves to Pier 66; reopening date uncertain
Circle Line adds cruises, but LaGuardia ferry on hold
May 5, 2008 05:32 PM Comments (0)
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Statue of Liberty's insides twisted, but no beating heart
In Grand Theft Auto IV's Liberty City, which is apparently New York City in a parallel universe, a number of things in the video game are cleverly inspired by the real.
Serious Eats has charted the places to eat in Liberty City (including the "Steinway Beer Garden,") while Gawker points out that the "Statue of Happiness" in the harbor "contains at its heart... a beating heart, chained to the exterior walls."
But since NewYorkology dwells in the travel blog realm, it would be proper to proffer some pictures of what the inside of the Statue of Liberty actually looks like.
Also, keep in mind that if you're planning a trip out to the Statue of Liberty, it's key to buy your time-specific ferry tickets in advance and tick the box for the free monument pass (otherwise you can't see up inside the statue or gain access to the museum.)
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April 30, 2008 02:49 PM Comments (1)
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Pope arrives in NYC to visit U.N., Yankee Stadium, WTC
Pope Benedict XVI today starts a three-day trip to New York City with plans to address the United Nations, visit the World Trade Center site and a Jewish synagogue and celebrate mass at several locations including Yankee Stadium and Saint Patrick's Cathedral.
Extra security is in place and the traffic disruptions have begun.
Resources: St. Patricks gift shop with official pope in NY merchandise
Buses rerouted for the pope's visit (MTA)
Papal Visit Street Closures and Construction Embargo (NYC DOT)
Other coverage: Fiery Cab Outside St. Patrick's (Gothamist)
Tickets scarce for historic visit of Pope Benedict XVI (TicketNews.com)
First Papal Visit to an American Synagogue Is Set (Sun)
Security will halt John Paul-style stroll (Daily News)
Papal visit puts spotlight on Catholic sites in New York, D.C.
(USA Today)
The pope's schedule highlights in New York City:
Friday
9:45 a.m. - The pope arrives at JFK Airport and is welcomed by Cardinal Edward M. Egan, archbishop of New York and Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio, bishop of Brooklyn and others.
10 a.m. - The pope will address the United Nations and meet with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
5:22 p.m - The pope visits the Park East Synagogue, located at 163 East 67th St.
6 p.m. - Ecumenical prayer service at Saint Joseph Parish, located at 404 E. 87th St., before the pope returns to the papal residence on in NY on East 72nd Street (normally the home of Bishop Celestino Migliore) where Lidia Bastianich, of Felidia and Del Posto restaurants, will prepare the meal
Saturday
9 a.m. - The pope celebrates mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral with 3,000 deacons, priests and religious men and women from throughout the United States.
1:15 p.m. The pope departs Saint Patrick's and will travel by popemobile up 5th Avenue to 72nd Street. (This is your best chance to see the pope as its one of the only unticketed events.)
4:30 p.m. - The pope travels to Saint Joseph Seminary in Yonkers to bless youth with disabilities and rally with seminarians and young people.
Sunday
9:30 a.m. - The pope visits Ground Zero, blesses the ground with holy water and greets representatives of the Port Authority, fire and police workers, survivors and family members of those killed in the the Sept. 11 attacks.
2:30 p.m. - The pope celebrates mass at Yankee Stadium
8:30 p.m. - The pope departs JFK's Hangar 19 on Alitalia's "Shepherd One"
Resources:
St. Patricks gift shop's official pope in NY items
Buses rerouted for the pope's visit (MTA)
Papal Visit Street Closures and Construction Embargo (DOT)
Other coverage: Fiery Cab Outside St. Patrick's (Gothamist)
Tickets scarce for Pope Benedict XVI (TicketNews.com)
First Papal Visit to an American Synagogue Is Set (Sun)
Security will halt John Paul-style stroll (Daily News)
Papal visit puts spotlight on Catholic sites in New York, D.C.
(USA Today)
April 18, 2008 06:30 AM Comments (0)
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Canadians open Rock Center roof garden for two nights
The Canadian Tourism Commission is one-upping Open House New York by opening up access to one of the Rockefeller Center roof gardens for free and providing a wine garden, food, music -- and Canadian sophistication.
The two-night event, called The Ultimate Canadian Room-With-A-View, will be held May 14 and 15 (a Wednesday and Thursday) in the 620 Fifth Ave. loft and garden on the 7th floor, which is normally closed to the public.
The roof garden was been open for a quick walk-through during the past two Open House New York weekends, offering eye-level views with the spires of Saint Patrick's Cathedral just across the avenue.
(This year's OHNY is scheduled for the weekend of October 4 though participating locations haven't been announced.)
Image credit: Rockefeller Center roof garden during OHNY 2006. Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
Earlier: Rockefeller Center roof garden & more OpenHouse
A glimpse of the Rockefeller Center roof gardens
April 16, 2008 01:07 PM Comments (2)
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Allen & Delancey snags a best new NYC restaurant title
 Time Out magazine has revealed the winners of its 2008 EatOut readers' choice awards -- and the Lower East Side's Allen & Delancey and Huckleberry Bar in Williamsburg finish at the top as New York's best new restaurant and bar.
The full list:
Best new restaurant - Allen & Delancey
Best new bar - Huckleberry Bar
Best new Brooklyn restaurant - Alchemy
Best new Queens restaurant - Bistro 33
Best new Upper West Side restaurant - The Mermaid Inn
Best new Spanish restaurant - Mercat
Best new fast food - Five Guys Burgers and Fries
Best neighborhood bistro - Bar Tabac
Best vegetarian restaurant - Blossom
Best Manhattan diner - Skylight Diner
Best barbecue - Hill Country
Best return of a New York institution - 2nd Ave Deli
Best pastry-chef-run restaurant - Graffiti Food & Wine Bar
Best mobile food - DessertTruck
Best wine bar - Blue Ribbon Downing Street Bar
Best beer bar - Blind Tiger Ale House
Best new teahouse - Amai Tea & Bake House
Best new coffeehouse - Irving Farm Coffee Company
Best new frozen yogurt - Pinkberry
Best candy shop - Economy Candy
Best place to be seen - The Waverly Inn
Best celeb chef who actually cooks - Marc Meyer (Cookshop, Provence, Five Points)
Best reality-TV spin-off - Perilla (Harold Dieterle, Top Chef)
Best new out-of-town import - Alain Ducasse (Adour Alain Ducasse at the St. Regis)
Best new farm-forward endeavor - Market Table
April 15, 2008 09:42 AM Comments (0)
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Early-spring get-out-of-town linkathon-a-palooza
 MadMaps has published a series of daytripper and weekend getaway maps, including two focusing on the area around New York. They're maybe best suited for the times when you're too fed up to do the research ahead of time, and just want to hit the road and drive. However, the itineraries are maybe too generic from some travelers and could be frustrating when they list a town's high points, but offer no directions or addresses.
For cheap out-of-town travel, keep tabs on BoltBus and MegaBus, which are rapidly adding service to NYC with fares from $1 (if you book in advance.)
And in the cheap-airfare department, Skybus is now flying to three destinations (Portsmouth, Columbus, and Greensboro) from the rapidly expanding Stewart Airport in the Hudson Valley. (Update: Skybus just went out of business.)
Metro-North's new partnership with Enterprise lets you take the train out of Manhattan and then pick up your rental car at 23 stations, including Beacon, Middletown, Port Chester and Goldens Bridge.
For organized trips out of the city, the Adventure Society has a serious calendar of offerings ranging from hiking and horseback riding to Indy race car driving and Adirondack white-water rafting.
NYC Audubon spring field trips include a wildflower hike at Pyramid Mountain and to the Raptor Trust bird rehabilitation center.
Metro-North's one-day getaways include packages to Cold Springs, the Mohegan Sun Casino, and the Bruce Museum of Arts and Science in Greenwich.
Not only is there a Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center in Jamestown NY, but the town is hosting Luci-Desi Days from May 23 through May 25.
Singer Castle on Dark Island opens for the season on May 17.
Stone Barns Farm Market opens for the season on May 2.
The Long Island Lighthouse Challenge -- scheduled for May 17 and 18 -- opens the doors to the lighthouses on Fire Island, Eatons Neck, Huntingdon Harbor, Cedar Island, Horton Point, Montauk Point, Orient Point, and the Long Beach Bar.
New York state finally has launched its Empire State Brewery Trails.
Get free Hudson Valley wine trail maps (in PDF format)
Wino TV is the new online video series from Applewood Winery.
Grand Cru has a full list of spring wine classes in Long Island wine country.
Olana, (pictured,) the Hudson hilltop home of Frederic Church, on May 10 opens the wagon house.
April 16 is Pirates Day at the Mystic Seaport in Connecticut.
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April 3, 2008 11:13 AM Comments (0)
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Making whoopie cookies with Brooklyn's One Girl
Nichelle Stephens, a co-founder of the Cupcakes Take the Cake blog, is the desserts correspondent for NewYorkology (and she was on "The Martha Stewart Show" on Monday.) She hits up desserts sweet and savory in all the boroughs. By day, she does bookkeeping.
 Growing up in the South, moon pies were a treat that I enjoyed. Then I moved to New York City, where I first heard about whoopies. Before then, I always thought "whoopie" was an euphemism for sex used only by contestants on the old television show "The Newlywed Game." However, I soon found out that a whoopie or whoopie pie is usually a soft chocolate sandwich cookie or cake with a creamy filling.
One Girl Cookies in Brooklyn offers a delicious variation on the popular whoopie by using pumpkin cake and a cream cheese filling. I stopped by the Boerum Hill bakery last week to try one, and I loved it! The pumpkin whoopie has great flavor and the cream cheese filling is airy and sweet. I enjoyed one with a tall glass of milk. At $1.25 per whoopie, I could have had a few more. In fact, the only complaint is that I am one girl who can't just have one cookie.
One Girl Cookie
68 Dean Street, Brooklyn, map
(212) 675-4996
Picture credits: Nichelle Stephens
Earlier: Cookies (& milk) report: snickerdoodle and chocolates
April 1, 2008 10:13 AM Comments (0)
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