Best of the Buzz : Deals/News/Events

NYC Restaurant Week Returns in January

BuzzEditor — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:18:00 GMT

Fans of affordable dining, mark your calendars. New York City Restaurant Week returns for its winter engagement January 25–February 7, 2010. For those days, once again hundreds of local restaurants will be offering $24.07 three-course lunches and $35 three-course dinners. If you don't have your calendar handy though, don't worry. We'll remind you!

Zagat's First Cruise Lines Survey Sets Sail

BuzzEditor — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:17:00 GMT

If you’re thinking of taking to the seas in the near future, you’ll want to check out the just-released results of Zagat's first-ever Cruise Lines survey. Drawing on the insights of 2,379 cruisegoers, the survey names favorites in three different ship sizes – large (Royal Caribbean), mid-size (Crystal Cruises) and small (Windstar Cruises) – and also offers rankings in everything from cabins and service to dining and activities. Looking for a deal in these lean times? The "Best for Budget Cruises" winners are Carnival, Costa and Norwegian. For the full results, click here.

Turkey Time: Thanksgiving '09

BuzzEditor — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:54:00 GMT

Photo: Ion Sokhos

A Thanksgiving dinner where you don't have to clean up afterward is truly something to be thankful about. Find out which restaurants are offering meals for gobbling on November 26 in the following cities:

Zagat To Go, Now On Android

BuzzEditor — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:21:00 GMT

Finally, something that both the iPhone and the Droid does: Zagat To Go, our popular smartphone application for finding ratings and reviews of over 40,000 restaurants, hotels, nightlife and shopping worldwide, has come to Google's Android phone OS. And not only can you search for your favorite spots, the home-screen widget will offer you a randomly selected nearby restaurant for you to try. To get the app, which costs just $9.99, point your finger to the Android Marketplace.

Life in the Slow Lane

BuzzEditor — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:35:00 GMT

Slow: Life in a Tuscan Town

Photo: courtesy of Welcome Books

The Slow Food Movement shows no signs of, well, slowing down, as evidenced by the release of Welcome Books’ Slow: Life in a Tuscan Town. Written by Douglas Gayeton, the book combines gorgeous photo illustrations and essays to tell the story of slow food through the lives of farmers, mushroom hunters, bakers and butchers in the small town of Pistoia in Tuscany, Italy. Legendary chef Alice Waters provides the intro, while the movement’s founder, Carlo Petrini, pens the preface. To celebrate the release of the book, restaurants across the country are hosting special dinners on November 18, with Gayeton appearing at Waters’ Chez Panisse Cafe in Berkeley, CA. Other participants include Yountville’s Bardessono, Washington DC’s Dino, Brooklyn’s the Good Fork, LA’s Grace and many more. For more information about the events, visit www.welcomebooks.com/slow/11-18.

Walking (and Tasting) the Town

BuzzEditor — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:30:00 GMT

In cities as foodie-friendly as New York and Philadelphia, sometimes even locals need a guide for eating adventures. Enter City Food Tours, run by Joyce and Robert Weinberg (who owned Beyond Measure in Philly), which leads walking tasting tours seven days a week in both cities. The tours themselves vary dramatically, with everything from a Top Chef tour to an ethnic-food trip around NoLita to a craft beer and artisanal cheese tasting in Philly. All include access to good food, good company and a touch of exercise. Interested? Book now and mention Zagat to get 20% off two or more tickets (prices vary; call 215-360-1996 for Philadelphia tickets; 212-535-8687 for New York tickets; for more information click here).

Keep on Truckin' ... With Lists!

BuzzEditor — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:14:00 GMT

Green Truck on the Go

Photo: courtesy of the truck

With so many food trucks using Twitter these days, keeping track of all those tweets can make your head spin. But by utilizing Twitter's new lists feature, we've made the truckin' life a little easier. With a combined 63 food trucks and counting, our Food Truck lists for NYC, LA and Austin are your one-stop shops for street-meat tweets.

Cooking With Coco

BuzzEditor — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:03:00 GMT

David Chang's pork neck with succotash

Photo and recipe: courtesy of Phaidon Press

For its latest cookbook, Coco, Phaidon Press turned to 10 world-leading chefs – Ferran Adrià, Mario Batali, Shannon Bennett, Alain Ducasse, Fergus Henderson, Yoshihiro Murata, Gordon Ramsay, René Redzepi, Alice Waters and Jacky Yu – to each pick 10 contemporary chefs from around the world. In turn, each of those chefs then wrote a menu and recipes for the book. The final product is more than 400 pages of gorgeous photographs, mouthwatering recipes and interesting tidbits from kitchens around the world. Want a taste? After the jump, get the recipe for pork neck with succotash from New York chef David Chang (of the Momofuku empire).

Pork Neck with Succotash
Serves 4
Recipe by David Chang

For the pork neck
300 g kosher salt
270 g sugar
6 liters hot water
2 bay leaves
25 g black peppercorns
6 liters cold water
10 g pink salt
1 pork neck

Mix the salt, sugar, hot water, bay leaves, and black peppercorns.
Mix the cold water with the pink salt.
Add the pork neck and confit 5 hours at 300°F (150°C) covered.
When tender, press between 2 sheet trays. Portion into serving size pieces.
Crisp on a griddle or pan to heat through.

For the succotash
100 g ground (minced) smoked, think-cut pork belly
12 g chanterelle mushrooms
250 g lima (butter) beans
175 g corn (sweetcorn) kernels
Butter for sautéing
1 tbsp tarragon, chopped
4 ml buttermilk
120 g butter
130 g arugula (rocket)

Sauté the pork belly, chanterelles, lima beans, and corn in a pan.
Finish with a pinch of salt and pepper, chopped tarragon, buttermilk, butter, and arugula.

ZAGAT.mobi, Now With Your Tweets

BuzzEditor — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:30:00 GMT

Read the latest Twitter entries on ZAGAT.mobi

ZAGAT.mobi just got Twitter-fied. Now when you look up restaurants on our award-winning mobile website, not only can you access our trusted ratings and reviews, you can also read up-to-the-minute comments about the restaurant on Twitter. You don't have to download or install anything to get in on the fun – simply visit ZAGAT.mobi on any web-enabled phone, be it an iPhone, a BlackBerry or a Pre, and see what people are saying about your favorite spot. Now that's something to tweet about.

All Hallows' Eats

BuzzEditor — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:40:00 GMT

Photo: Hanna Horwarth

No need to OD on candy this Halloween – we've picked out some spots in the following cities offering treats of a more grown-up flavor:

Chefs Fight Hunger

BuzzEditor — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:24:00 GMT

Scenes from Bid Against Hunger

Photos: Hernan F. Rodriguez

Last night’s Bid Against Hunger event to benefit City Harvest was not only sold out weeks in advance, there were huddles of people outside the Metropolitan Pavilion looking to buy scalped tickets in order to attend. Great news for fighting hunger; perhaps good news for the economy, too. Event co-chair Marc Murphy of Landmarc wasn’t surprised at the turnout. “People give, no matter how hard economic times are. If people can feed the hungry, they do it,” he said.

The 800 chefs and attendees were in great spirits, nibbling on dishes such as Craig Hopson’s venison with pistachios from Le Cirque and Paul Liebrandt’s squash velouté from Corton. The Buzz took the opportunity between bites to ask leading chefs about fighting hunger.

Terrance Brennan said that not only donating, but volunteering, for organizations like City Harvest and Share Our Strength has a major impact, while Per Se’s Jonathan Benno urges all cooks to “be responsible with food, be precise with it and make use of everything, even the by-products.” Anita Lo of Rickshaw Dumpling Bar shared Benno’s sentiment, adding that “eating responsibly by opening your palate to prevent waste,” is important for everyone. Co-chair Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin added that he had a responsibility as “a lucky man with a beautiful restaurant” to help fight hunger, mentioning that seeing the hungry and homeless in New York’s streets initially caused him to become involved with City Harvest. “I cannot see myself being successful without helping to fight hunger.”

The event raised over $700,000 for the charity, with the auction alone bringing $220,000. Big-ticket prizes included a wine tasting, cooking class and dinner for eight at Le Bernardin for $55,000; a home dinner cooked by John Stage (Dinosaur Bar-B-Que) and Tom Valenti (Ouest, 'Cesca) for $22,000; and dinner for 20 in the private room of Landmarc, hosted by Marc Murphy and Ted Allen, for $20,000.

– Kathleen Squires

Giving Thanks to Gourmet

BuzzEditor — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:08:00 GMT

Still in mourning for the late, great Gourmet? Help is here at www.thankyougourmet.com, a site where you can share your fondest remembrances of the food magazine. Anyone can contribute on this open blog started by food writer Renee Schettler (Real Simple, Martha Stewart Living). “I wanted to create a site that would help people focus less about what they stood to lose," she says, "and more about everything they’d already gained during the past many years.” Contributors are posting everything from favorite recipes and food writing to wine recs, tribute haikus or just a simple “thank you.”

– Kathleen Squires

Finding America's Top Restaurants

BuzzEditor — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:02:00 GMT

The results are in, and after tabulating votes from more than 145,000 diners, Zagat’s 2010 America’s Top Restaurants survey was released today. Covering over 1,500 eateries in 45 major U.S. markets, the survey not only highlights the top restaurants across the country, it also provides insight into the nation’s dining habits and trends – and how they’ve been affected by the past year’s economic turmoil. Many surveyors reported cutting back: 43% say they’re eating out less and 36% are eating in less pricey places. But on the plus side, 54% report finding better deals, as restaurateurs took to extending Restaurant Weeks and offering more prix fixes (still, the average cost of a meal nationwide rose 1.2%, to $34.62). The economy also prompted a number of restaurateurs to open more affordable concepts, including Atlanta’s Abattoir, San Antonio’s Il Sogno and San Francisco’s soon-to-open Barbacco. You can get your copy of the survey here.

Game Time!

BuzzEditor — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:35:00 GMT

Not that we support office distractions like online games but...if you're looking for ways to keep busy on the boss' dime, how can you go wrong with a Zagat-themed game this good? Here's the gist: Some clever soul has made a simple game that tests how many of the cuisines featured in Zagat's NYC survey you can name in 15 minutes. Embarrassingly enough, we finished in the 80s (out of a possible 154). How many can you name? We'll give you one hint: Don't forget about Ligurian food!

NYC Survey Says

BuzzEditor — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:44:00 GMT

The cat's out of the bag: Zagat’s 2010 New York City Restaurants survey results are live, and we've got your first peek right here. But first, the answers to yesterday's blind items:

What tiny sushi specialist edged out longtime champ Sushi Yasuda for the title of Top Japanese? Sasabune.
What Noodle Shop neophyte zoomed to No. 1 in its first year out? Ippudo.
What perennial hamburger haven regained its place at the top of the heap this year? burger joint.
What well-regarded Chelsea comer grabbed top honors in the Spanish/Tapas category for the first time? Tia Pol.
What Med–New American was voted the No. 1 West Village eatery after only three years in business? Little Owl.

Elsewhere in the survey, Eric Ripert’s Le Bernardin has unseated Per Se for the Top Food title. Asiate continues to take honors for Top Decor while Per Se holds onto No. 1 for its service. Meanwhile, Danny Meyer’s Gramercy Tavern (recently graced by Michelle Obama) has switched places with Meyer's Union Square Cafe for the Most Popular title.

Buy your copy of the 2010 New York City Restaurants guide here.