New York Survival Guide

Riding the green wave are restaurants screaming from their bamboo surfboards, “Eat local, Dude! Buy local, man! Cowabunga.” Tasting Table toots that it’s been suggesting local since it’s launch. Dude, wasn’t that like last year? Okay true, shoring the gap between what we eat and where it is grown lends to sustainable restaurant practices, supports local businesses and reduces heavy carbon emissions created from distant transports. In fact, eating locally has been a goal of many area restaurants way before green was the new black. Furthermore, choosing local produce is a better, more earth-conscious approach than choosing organically. (For more information on how eating locally as opposed to organically helps our planet and your health, click here.)

Restaurants like Mas Farmhouse, Five Points, and Blue Hill have been serving local ingredients for nearly a decade. These pioneers use seasonal ingredients, and talent, to achieve culinary artistry that tickles our tastebuds and touches our hearts. New Yorkers – and surrounding area farmers – realize that out of everything bad, comes something good, and are happy that the alarming state of our planet has at least awoken minds to the joy of eating locally.

How can you celebrate? Several area chefs are celebrating September by highlighting where their food came from. You can find a detailed PDF of how area chefs are celebrating this month at Tasting Table. Or, cook something yourself. You’re long overdue to host a dinner party, right? Hit up Union Square Market, New Amsterdam or the 77th Street Sunday Flea & Green Market and pick up some local ingredients to cook up some splendor of your own…dude.

Emma Dinzebach

You name it, they’re participating. Never before has the fashion community united as strongly as they will Thursday, September 10th for much anticipated “Fashion’s Night Out.” Anna Wintour’s brainchild, this evening aims truly aims to promote retail, restore consumer confidence, celebrate fashion and unite industry aspects. There are no tickets, no invitations, no exclusive lists. From 6p.m. to 11p.m. stores will welcome customers with giveaways, sweepstakes, cocktails and mini manicures and more.

The Vogue City normally encourages bargain shopping, widely discouraging full price purchasing, but Fashion’s Night Out is more than just shopping.  All proceeds from Fashion’s Night Out official t-shirt sales will benefit the National September 11th Memorial and Museum. Over 700 retail stores in the 5 boroughs are on board to participate and in addition to celebrating, many retailers are taking a charity angle. A city-wide clothing drive where people can donate new or gently used clothing will kick off to benefit the New York City AIDS Fund. The collected clothing will be distributed to 17 area AIDS charities. For a list of retailers accepting the clothing donations, click here.
With Zac Posen painting one of a kind dresses at Bergdorf and a Patrick McMullen photo exhibit at Lord & Taylor, participation is running the gamut. It wouldn’t be New York and it wouldn’t be Vogue without some star alignment. WWD reports Sienna Miller at Intermix, Hugh Jackman at Jeffery, the Olsen twins at Barney’s, Charlize Theron at Dior, Justin Timberlake at Saks and the list goes on.

Rich, poor or somewhere in between, this is an unprecedented global event orchestrated by the American fashion industry. No where else in the world could such an ambitious, charitable and energetic idea, accessible to every citizen regardless of class, color, or cash flow, ignite a global phenomenon pulling together every teeny aspect of monstrous industry. Despite the state of our economy, shaky decision-making and heart-wrenching loss in some of our most creative industries, we are New Yorkers. Like Bergdorf’s president and CEO, Jim Gold, said a few weeks back, “You can lay down and do nothing, or beat the drum and create excitement.” In New York, we’re drum beaters.
Fashion’s Night out is an initiative supported by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, The City of New York, New York & Co., and Vogue. For a list of retailers, timelines or other information, visit www.fashionsnightout.com. 

Emma Dinzebach

What do Jay Z & Beyonce, Anna Wintour, Twitter creator Jack Dorsey and designer Chris Benz and myself have in common? Hint: Not recession-proof bank accounts. We’ve all patroned the Standard Grill since it opened it’s doors to the public almost a month ago. Well, us and thousands of others. Highline Park and the emergence of sunshine mobilized New Yorkers and tourists alike to the Meat Packing just in time to try the new Standard’s Standard Grill. Of course, I didn’t see any of them when I was there, but hey, they didn’t see me either.

Before writing this review, I browsed through some Yelp reviews to measure my opinion with those of other diners. I found the usual mixture of disses and praises, but thought the reviewers missed a key element of dining at…well, of dining in general. Like writers have to know their audiences, food critics have to know their atmosphere. Gotham is chock full of restaurants with medium food but a great setting. While you may not love Tao, you know the ambiance is your best bet for say, a bachelorette party. While I sought to review the food at Standard Grill, I also, almost equally, sought to measure the environment.

And the floor is tiled with pennies! The Standard Grill found a useful, um, use for America’s most confusing currency. Okay, so they weren’t the first. (The Paul Smith store in Paris has currency tiled walls and apparently some courthouse in Tuscon cashed in on the penny idea several years ago.) But it looks cool. In combo with the vaulted beamed ceilings and cushy red banquets, the Grill’s dining room is nice. As are the patrons – understated trendy and lively, the dining room and adjacent white bar room are packed from 7 to 9 or later, so if you aim dine in peace go early or eat late.
Chef Dan Silverman cooks a mean roast chicken as well as lamb chops and Steak Frites. I’m from the Midwest, and you know I’m choosy about my steak, but the steak at Standard Grill is actually delicious, cook beautifully and only slightly flavored. All Standard Grill’s meat is locally grown (plus) and prices hover around the low 20’s (plus, plus). The duck fat smashed potatoes are also amazing, if slightly bad for your figure. And the charred octopus is DELICIOUS. It may be one of the best octopus dishes I’ve had. Some friends had the trout, which was flaky and tender and came with pine nuts and currants, which sounds weird, but really worked. For dessert I had the humble pie (rhubarb and chocolate) with vanilla ice cream.

I’m not saying the Standard Grill deserves four stars for amazing cuisine – except the octopus – but it is reasonably priced, fun and has a great outdoor seating area.  I think it’s a worth a visit as the ambiance makes for a fun night any day of the week and the patron’s maintain The Standard Hotel’s measure for cool…meaning it’s cool. We may need that if this summer ever heats up.

The Standard Grill  open for breakfast 7a.m. to 11a.m and dinner from 5:30 seven days a week, located on the corner of Washington and West 13th Street; 212-645-4100

Emma Dinzebach

The unusually cool weather made June feel like May and now suddenly, it’s the 4th of July. Woot! Woot! What to eat? Lucky for us this city is full of inexpensive American eats that both epitomize and obscure traditional American food. This means burgers, beers, dawgs, brats and BBQ all reinvented and retained for your palate’s pleasure. But this weekend you need to go all out and have a few (or many) friends to feed. Unsure where to do each? That’s what menupages is for people, but we’ll tell you which neighborhood joint is worth the trip out of your hood.

Daisy May’s BBQ – Sure the commercials are queer, but hailing from St. Louis, I can say this is the best BBQ in the city. No offense to Danny Meyer, but Daisy May’s realizes that there is some smothering involved in BBQ, and since they aren’t competing for presentation, they can smother away. If you only go once a year get a pulled pork sandwich or the Kansas City sweet and sticky pork ribs – a messy mixture of ketchupy barbecue sauce and sweet tang.

For those planning on serving a large party (6 or more), there is a catering menu and the staff are more than helpful. Here you can order whole hogs and pork butts. The whole hogs are straight up terrifying, and no, it isn’t necessary for them to leave the squeal-stoned heads on, but they do. So get a brave friend to slice her up, and keep away from small children. I’d get the pork butt. I realize it says butt and therefore sounds sickening, but it’s delicious and much easier to manage than the whole hog.  And yes, I’ve had both. I told you, I’m from the Midwest!

But the real winners at Daisy May’s are the sides. I don’t like the cole slaw because it’s too mayonnaisey for me, but the creamed corn, creamed spinach, baked beans with burnt ends and brown sugar sweet potatoes are delicious. Actually, delicious understates how good the brown sugar sweet potatoes are. They are to die for.  Lastly, this is NOT health food people, so plan on spending the next couple days working it off.

From The Vogue City to you, have a happy and safe Independence Day New York.

623 East 11th at 46th Street  212.977.1500

Can’t get to Hell’s Kitchen? Visit them on the web at www.daisymays.com for city-wide push cart locations.