Coming off the heels of Cinco de Mayo, many might be thinking twice about inviting tequila to the party. If your head hurts, your mouth is dry, and your liver is crying: you probably overdid it. Next time, celebrate in style with a luxury sipping tequila like Casa Dragones, your body will thank you.
Whiskey and scotch have some stiff competition these days. Luxury brands are crafting sipping spirits from rum to tequila that will easily compete with their caramel-colored counterparts. One of our favorites to hit the market is the high-end sipping tequila Casa Dragones.
This upcoming weekend kicks off the summer partying scene with Cinco de Mayo parties all over the country but there’s also another event worth celebrating this weekend that honors all things southern. The “greatest two minutes in sports” gives you an excuse to wear a ridiculous bonnet with feathers, tulle, and more while sipping on a traditional drink, the mint julep. Bad bets and thoroughbred racehorses aside, the 139th Annual Kentucky Derby is reason to celebrate with these events, drink specials, and snacks.
Upon entering the dining area of Oya, the first thing you'll notice is its strikingly luxurious interior design. Ornamented with chandeliers, feather covered columns, and a few of those cool fire pits with the glass in the bottom, you can’t help but anticipate an equally opulent meal. Oya delivers.
The menu features an array of carefully engineered sushi, small and large plates, and a prix fixe menu for lunch ($22) and dinner ($36). I was very hungry so I decided against sushi and instead ordered two of Oya's Land Small Plates: BBQ Sticky Ribs and the Beef Short Rib Wellington. The sticky ribs had a delicious caramel sweetness that was like eating those Werther’s Originals my grandmother would give me, except the ribs weren’t old and melted together. Cooked to the perfect tenderness, slathered with a soy-lemongrass glaze, and complimented with citrusy coleslaw, the BBQ Sticky Ribs were an interesting and delightful spin on a southern comfort staple.
For Cinco de Mayo don’t rely on the tired cocktails and beers designated for the holiday. There's so much more than icy lime margaritas, Corona bottles, and shots of Jose. Expand your cocktail repertoire! Tequila is a versatile spirit and can make an array of drinks using herbs, fruit, flowers, and more. Mezcal, tequila’s smoky cousin can be used in traditional-style margaritas or used to create a unique smoky punch. Don’t think that Corona and Dos Equis are your only options if you’re more of a beer drinker. The Mexican brand, Bohemia, is a delicious Pilsner-style beer that can be kicked up a notch with a simple rim of chipotle. For fans of the traditional chilled rice drink, Horchata, you’ll love it even more when it’s spiked with rum! Below you’ll find cocktails that everyone at your fiesta will love. Cheers!
You’ve got the tequila, Coronas, and the frozen margarita machine packed with ice to kick off the first weekend of May. Chances are you bought maracas and the biggest sombrero you could find from the party store. The only thing missing is great eats to round out your Cinco de Mayo celebration. Here are five recipes to make your Cinco de Mayo unforgettable and probably help keep you off the floor after doing one too many tequila shots!
Americans have been pairing fried chicken with breakfast breads for some time now, but Astro attempts to deliciously inch over the boundary. They’ve paired their chicken with an eclectic array of thirty doughnuts. These definitely aren’t the kind of doughnuts you’d find on the desks of DC’s Police Department, although I admit police know their breakfast pastries. These doughnuts have more of a boutique filling and are similar to the flavors that ignited Georgetown’s cupcake craze. Some doughnuts, like Vanilla Glazed and Maple Bacon (it really has bacon on it!), are available every weekday. If you’d like to try the more novel flavors like Grapefruit and Creamsicle, you’ll have to visit the website to check their baked goods schedule. But be sure to come early because Astro closes when they run out, and they run out quickly! Doughnut prices range from $2.50 to $2.85.
With a little over two weeks until Cinco de Mayo, Chef Antelmo Ambrosio from bustling Battery Park staple SouthWest NY shares three cocktails inspired by his hometown of Oaxaca, Mexico, to get you in the celebratory spirit!
All three hand-crafted concoctions will be served at the restaurant on the actual day of Cinco de Mayo along with a ‘Buffet del Mercado’ boozy feast featuring mojito-marinated skirt steak, margarita chicken breast, Guajillo-garlic shrimp, and much more for $22 per person.
With each new year an abundance of publications and newspaper canons provide their predictions for the year ahead in food and gastronomy. Now, a quarter of the way through 2013, Joonbug lists 5 key trends that have emerged as more than just a flash in a pan.
Sunchokes: Also known as the Jerusalem artichoke, these root vegetables are not, as the name would imply, an artichoke, neither are they from Jerusalem. In actual fact they are the root of sunflowers and possess a complex nutty, potato/artichoke flavor. Find them at seafood haven BLT Fish where Chef Amy Eubanks serves them as an accompaniment to a Crispy Skin Mediterranean Branzino with fennel and saffron ($33).
DC's Chinatown has a new resident, and with the quality food they are serving, they look to be here for a long time. Katsuya Fukushima’s Daikaya has been wowing its patrons since they opened their doors in February and already word is spreading that Daikaya has the best ramen in the city. Not to be confused with the kind of meal you may find steaming throughout college dorm rooms, this Sapporo-style ramen has a rich and versatile depth. Whereas other ramen can be salty and overpowering.
Chef Fukushima emphasizes balance in his bowls and leaves space for different flavors with which you’ll happily immerse your tongue. A key difference you’ll notice between Sapporo ramen and Hakata-style ramen is the stir frying of the bean sprouts, ground pork, nori, and scallions. This adds a char reminiscent to the flavors you’d find at a barbecue pit. One thing you can be sure of about this ramen is that no ingredient or technique is wasted, from the construction of its broth using pork bone marrow to the imported noodles swirling around the bowl; this is a complete and amusing eating experience.
When most people think about Haiti they unfortunately think of the devastating earthquake that rocked the island nation and the political and social unrest that seems to have plagued the island throughout its history. Many don’t know that at one time, Haiti was at the forefront of coffee production, before the title was taken by Brazilian coffee producers. Haitain coffee, revered around the globe as some of the best coffee in the world, is currently not represented by any of the consumer brands that coffee drinkers would find at their local market or coffee shop—until now.
With Summer right around the corner, it's time to get fit and healthy to get bikini body ready. The time for procrastinating is over! But don't worry, no need to diet and eat foods that have no flavor...there are somedelicious and healthy options out there for you to get on track. Check out some of our favorites below!
Get the RSS FeedElizabeth Friedman,
Carolyn Jummati,
Paige Levin,
Christina Norris,
Lynn O'shaughnessy &
Christian Taylor
