Rooftop Beer garden: Tavern29 (3/4)

It’s almost May and it’s still cold in NYC. And it sucks. Otherwise this will be perfect time to be going to rooftop bars and even better, beer gardens! However, it’ still not too bad of a time, to grab your beer under the sky. Although surrounded by buildings, and no real view, except the sky. After all it’s NYC, and this place will not really burn a hole in your pocket, so you have to expect that. I'm talking about Tavern29 at 47 East 29th street b/t Madison Ave & S Park Ave.

It’s quite rustic looking with exposed bricks, wooden touches, dark-ish lighting, but it’s cool. There are 3 floors including rooftop/terrace, so there’s enough space. I was there over weekday evening, and it was pretty full. Not over crowded, but cool. They have a decent collection of many different well priced beers. They had some good NITRO stout. The place has a full menu for lunch, dinner and snacks. Pizza was nice and really good dips. So you can enjoy eating with drinking, under the sky!

They also do Bottomless Boozy Brunch, which you may want to try.

For more info, checkout their site:

http://tavern29.com/beer-menu/

It’s Gelato Time! Try myNewYorkeye’s Top Choices

Gelato is the Italian treat that delights all palates and NYC has some excellent spots to taste it...

Spring leading into summer can only mean one thing: It’s time for ice-cream! New York has a variety of places where you can enjoy the sweet delight, but few are the spots that evoke  the true scrumptiousness of Italian gelati. Before giving you my top 6 locations, bare in mind that to evaluate the quality of a good gelato you should take a look at the chocolate shade: if it’s beige the ice-cream is sure to be an epic fail, but if it’s dark brown, almost black (especially if the flavor is dark chocolate), it’s a thumbs-up.

Here is myNewYorkeye’s Gelato Hit Parade:

Popbar

6 POPBAR (5 Carmine Street)

This place doesn’t exactly align with Italian gelato compositions, but it is truly worthy of mention for the exquisite creative innovations to traditional ice-cream: all kinds of gelato come on a stick with additional nuts, chocolate, or other coatings. 

Grom

5 GROM (2165 Broadway)

Though I feel this gelato chain founded in 2003 in Turin is often overrated, it actually abides by its motto: “Il gelato come una volta”, i.e. “Ice-cream made the good old fashioned way.” The Torroncino is the real treat, very popular among Upper West Siders. 

Eataly

4 GELATERIA AT EATALY (200 Fifth Avenue)

Eataly is the place in the City where you can find the exact same flavors of the boot-shaped land! This obviously includes gelato flavors that are extraordinarily creamy, since they are made with local organic milk. 

Laboratorio del gelato

3 LABORATORIO DEL GELATO (188 Ludlow Street)

If you step in here, you will truly feel like entering a lab: a bunker-like design with a heavenly allure. The fruit flavors are incredibly smooth and, if you want your taste buds to run wild, you can try some more extravagant flavors such as green tea, white sesame, toasted coconut or even beet.

L'arte del gelato

2 L’ARTE DEL GELATO (75 Ninth Avenue)

“The art of ice-cream making” (the literal translation) has branches on Bleecker, the High Line, Chelsea Market, and Lincoln Center. All these locations attest how the gelato craftsmanship has won the hearts of locals and tourists alike, especially thanks to certain flavors such as pistacchio, olive oil and zabaione.

Amorino

1 AMORINO (60 University Place)

Love is in the name and it truly is the best place for a date. Women love to be homaged with flowers and sweet things so what could be better than an ice-cream cone that reproduces a flower, where every petal is an ice-cream flavor? Oh and trust me, this place passes the chocolate shade test more than any other gelateria in New York!

Buon Appetito!

Raise Your Frosty Mug New York—it’s time to have a Beer!

This week think beer — it’s New York’s Annual Beer Week and it’s bottoms up all over the city but take a good, hard and sober look at the Brooklyn Brewery and Eataly Birreria and work your way through the city.

7 years strong, this annual celebration of all things beer.

Raise a glass, kick off the Opening Day Bash and taste unlimited samples from 40 of New York’s most celebrated breweries, including Bronx Brewery, Brooklyn Brewery and Sixpoint Brewery.

On Feb 24, hit the Brewer’s Choice event, where Beer Sessions Radio, the Good Beer Seal and the NYC Brewers Guild will bring together more than three dozen brewers pouring their favorite beers and local restaurants cooking up dishes to complement the beverages.

On Feb 28, celebrate Gun Hill’s one-year anniversary. It’ll be releasing a limited-edition beer, along with beer cocktails made with Port Morris Distillery moonshine. Pints will be discounted all night and different specials will be announced at the bar every hour.

Make sure to end the week with a bang at the Closing Party Brunch on March 1. The week’s best breweries will be announced, and the week will end with music, food and — you guessed it — more beer.

For more on 2015 BEER WEEK: http://newyorkcitybrewersguild.com