(From What Comes Around Goes Around)

To celebrate the launch of their new website, What Comes Around Goes Around is offering 10 percent off any online purchase. Just enter fall0710 by October 31. This might not put a large dent in the final price, but it might make justifying a purchase a little easier.

 

 

Some prefer Christmas. Others 4th of July. For a whole other category of people, Chocolate Week is the best time of year. It started last year when the Chocoate Show came to town - a slew of restaurants around town increased their chocolate offerings for a week. It's back. Like it was even a question?

On board is Country. From November 7th through November 10th, their Bon Bon Shop will offer assorted chocolates like Turkish Coffee Ganache with Milk Chocolate, Red Wine Ganache with Dark Chocolate and Salted Caramel Truffles a la cart and in a tasting.  $30 will get you a selection of chocolates  with a glass of champagne or a drink of your choice: Gold and White Chocolate Martini, Fiery Dark Hot Chocolate, Hot Butterscotch White Chocolate, or Peanut Butter Milk Hot Chocolate with Marshmallow Cream. 

This weekend Fred Flare’s letting you shop and get your cake, too. Until Sunday, every online purchase will receive a free toy “cake pouch” (usually $14) To get your just desserts just enter code “BFF.”

For one week only, the Bon Appetit Supper Club and Cafe  will be operating out of the Hard Rock Cafe at 221 W. 57th Street. The cafe is open from 11am-3pm weekdays serving lunch menus of  salads, sandwiches, desserts created by Cat Cora, Giada De Laurentiis, Govind Armstrong, Michael Mina and more. Or sign up for a supper club dinner with Michel Richard. Also expected are a Pichet Ong Cooking Demo, wine tastings, a Giada De Laurentiis book signing. there is shopping too, and some proceeds go to Chefs for Humanity. see details at http://www.basupperclubandcafe.com/

Fall is the award season of the NYC restaurant world. Parties celebrating openings, menus and books are all happening and there are always a few that are not to be missed. Last night, two were not to be missed. Jean-Georges Vongerichten was celebrating the release of Asian Flavors of Jean-Georges at Spice Market and Hall Co was opening the doors to Bun for the first time. Bun is owned by Chef Michael "Bao" Huynh and former guitarist of Duran Duran Warren Cuccurillo. Combine the names with the fact that it is a Hall Co party and you  know it is going to be good.

The Jean-Georges festivities kicked off at 6pm, right around the time Sam F. was having a disco nap no doubt. Drinks flowed freely and h'ors deurves of pepper coated shrimp with sundried pineapple, skewered beef and pork, mushroom spring rolls and soy cured salmon. Jean-Georges busied himself by personally escorting guests to VIP lounges and by making the rounds to greet almost everyone there. If you were running out, he brought you a drink, if you were hungry, he beckoned the servers. He even listened gracefully to someone ramble on about the absurdness of Gwenyth Paltrow's daughter's name (apparently he was working on her new food show with Mario in Spain). Jean-Georges sees to it that everything is perfect in every aspect of his business. That is why he is who he is, isn't it?

Over in SoHo, the packed house at Bun snacked on a buffet of foie gras, noodles, shrimp and various cheeks and tongue. It was standing room only as music blasted and the crowd spilled out onto Grand Street. Friends abandoned friends for fear of losing their place in the buffet line but when it comes to food from Michael Huynh, sometimes things like friendship have to take a backseat.  Around 9, just an hour before the Spice Market event was to end, attendees there shed their jackets and made their appearance at Bun where the drinking continued until 2am.

 

 

Cantina, the newest member of the I Love Cuba fan club sweeping the NY restaurant scene, is currently in previews. Unlike other recently opened spots, this preview will sadly come to an end some day (right now, they say on November 1st) at which point it may be difficult to get a table and the current BYOB option will be replaced with a long list of Spanish beer and wine. No doubt, the list will probably be stellar, but anyone who can't appreciate a  gift like BYOB is just crazy. Last night, consulting chef Jason Neroni was on hand and checking on tables. On his brief  preview menu were creamy sheep's milk cheese balls served with strands of piquillo peppers and  an unbelievably tender braised lamb's tongue sandwich. He did his thing with pork shoulder -  served with a perfectly prepared dulce de leche sauce that provided just the right amount of sweetness to the soft meat and a soft strands of meat fell off an oxtail bone perfectly. A chorizo and cheese empanada was an option as were desserts of coconut flan that could have used a tad more coconut and perfect berry and cream cheese turnovers.  Dinner is not rushed here, which is a treat. Dishes arrived nicely spaced and the cozy flea market chic decor makes you wish you could make used furniture look so good. Cantina is just plain cool. And owner Jason Swami does a prefect job of making you feel welcome. Noticing Latin blood at the table, he steered us in the right ordering direction, but even without his help, I am sure we would have enjoyed the ride. 

Oh and among the crowd trickling in which seemed to be 70/30 women, was a stuffy reporter type who tried poorly to hide the fact that she was taking notes on the place. She  seemed put off by something before she even ordered and seemed more into her friend's iPod then anything else. Now, that is annoying. Put your notebook away honey and have a drink. Hey it's BYO so have a bottle!

Celebs descended on the food scene last night in Union Square. The opening of Irving Mill, from owners Sergio, Maria and Suzanne Riva who previously had Candela in the space, was a bit of a showcase of the seasonal menu, that takes advantage of the nearby greenmarket, to come from Chef John Schaefer (he took over Gramercy Tavern after Tom Colicchio departed).

The Top Chef judge was in the house to show love, but his cable TV star was over shadowed by that of pregnant Crossing Jordan lovely Jill Hennessy. To her credit, Jill’s hot hubby Paolo Mastropietro owns Hennessy Tavern in Northvale, NJ, so her connection to the food world is not all that six degrees. Whose is, though, is fellow Law & Order alum Benjamin Bratt who walked the room like he owned it, pointing a disapproving finger in the faces of fans with their fingers on their camera phone button. He was kind of mean about it, refusing an OK! Magazine interview in the process.  Back to the food…. the Autumn 5 dish tasting menu includes monkfish schnitzel, roasted sea scallops and caramel crème brulee, while other menu options will be spaghetti squash with Parmesan cheese, baby beets and waxbeans, rabbit ragout and beef short ribs braised in stout.

Judith Jones, editor of the late, great Julia Child, will be on hand at Bottlerocket Wine & Spirit (5 W. 19th St. 212.929.2323) on Wednesday, October 24th from 6-8 pm to celebrate the publicatino of The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food, her very own love letter to food and the culinary arts. This is a legend in the food writing game people, so it is a chance to meet one of the greats. She is responsible for bringing Julia Child's words to the masses. Wo if you've ever gotten chills reading an exerpt of Mastering The Art of French Cooking like so many of us have, you best be there with camera phone and wooden spoon in hand.

 

Flatiorn workers rejoice! Craft officially opens for lunch today. Craft classic dishes are available as well as a selection of sandwiches and composed salads of beets & tarragon & seasonal specialties like pumpkin ravioli.   Hours are 12pm-2pm.

Cure the Monday blues with Built by Wendy's online-only sale. Until Wednesday, BBW's taking 15 percent off your online purchase total. Just enter promo code 7467 and that boiled red wool poncho's yours.

Just a quick note: As the world gushes, analyzes and contemplates the new Radiohead record, it would be nice to give credit to the first (sort of) major label artist to pull off the "pay what you want" model on a major scale.

Jonah Matranga isn't a name that's going to ring many bells outside of a few (older) emo circles. However, the singer, based in California but quite a frequent guest in NYC, has fronted a number of cult-level bands with major label deals, including Far (1992-9) and Gratitude (2004-5). His side project, onelinedrawing, started releasing records on a "pay what you can afford" basis starting way back in 1996. To this day, Matranga continues to offer this deal, even when he's releasing records in a more standard way (most recently, the gentle, acoustic "And" on Equal Vision).

Without Matranga, a lot of modern emo wouldn't be the same. His solo, acoustic-punk records certainly influenced Dashboard Confessional, and his harder-edged band material definitely struck a chord with the Deftones (who he's recorded with), Linkin Park (toured with) and even a few hip-hop groups (Matranga did back-up vocals on Fort Minor's Top 10 hit "Where'd You Go" as well as a track on the first Lupe Fiasco record).

So, please, enjoy the new Radiohead. And realize, while the sliding scale idea might be great, it's just not that new....

At the Karlsson Vodka launch hosted by restaurant Aquavit, guests were greeted with  ice cold shots of the stuff which is distilled from 100% new potato grown at Cape Bjare, Sweden.

On the way in, we spied one PBS food show host leaving in a blazer bright enough for a Wiggles cast member while another was inside discussing her vast knowledge of  all things food. While sipping her martini dry she reflected on the food at Time Warner Centerâ��s Masa restaurant. Her thoughts? â��Itâ��s like sex on a plate.â��Â

DeMarco's on W. Houston St made headlines for two major reasons.