Bar Seven Five: Wolf of Wall Street Cocktails

With Leonardo DiCaprio on the mind (he's always on the mind), there's no better way to toast to this actor's recent success in The Wolf of Wall Street than with these cinema-inspired cocktails at Wall Street's only hotel- Andaz.

This swanky hotel will be serving a limited edition cocktail menu at Bar Seven Five through March 4, 2014 to celebrate "Awards Season." These wittily named cocktails are priced at $14 each, and include:

Stock Broker

 Whisky with sweet vermouth, demerara syrup, a touch of absinthe, and bitters, garnished with a lemon pigtail and served in a rock glass

White Collar 

Gin with lemon juice and crème de cassis, garnished with a blackberry and served in a flute glass

4pm 

Cognac with crème de cacao and fresh cream, topped with grated nutmeg

So here's to you, Leo. Cheers!

Pumpkins in the City

Few things are more synonymous with fall than pumpkins. From picking to pies and smashing to craving, pumpkins are wonderful for all things autumn, especially Thanksgiving. Some New York City spots are taking advantage of the local bounty for delicious tastes this holiday.

Let's get to the most important "dish" first that we'll all need to survive the holidays- a cocktail. Todd's Mill on the Lower East Side has introduced Hot Pumpkin Buttered Rum to their beverage program just in time. Owner Matt Suchomski's grandmother made her own pumpkin pie filling (because grandmas are awesome) and this recipe is inspired by this childhood favorite. Made with pumpkins from Migliorelli Farm in Upstate New York, the pie filling is mixed with creamy butter and aged rum for this soul-warming cocktail. Cheers to that!

Chef Chad Minton of Andaz 5th Avenue cooks up pumpkin risotto with crispy kale and fig balsamic as a vegetarian and gluten-free dinner option this week. The slow-cooked Italian dish is made with ingredients purchased at the Union Square Greenmarket. 

Pie is no longer restricted to a tin. New York Central at the Grand Hyatt added pumpkin pie in a glass to their dessert menu. The creamy custard dish of pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg is topped with caramelized walnuts. The pumpkins come from a small farmer's stand alongside a road in Granite Springs, NY. Too good to turn down, the restaurant's Executive Chef brought back the fall goods to Executive Pastry Chef Gonzalo Jimenez to create this tasty, seasonal dessert.

Whether looking for a delicious and cozy cocktail or an autumn treat to satisfy your sweet tooth, New York has it all. From Manhattan to Montauk and the Catskills to the Finger Lakes, our great state offers many things we can be thankful for.

Be thankful this year for all you have been blessed with and enjoy every bite with your loved ones this year. Happy Thanksgiving!

Working To Live, Living To Eat

Welcome to the life of a workaholic and a food junkie. I don’t just work in the industry, I live in it. Monday through Friday I am a publicist for a firm whose specialty is hospitality, mainly restaurants. After 5 p.m. and on weekends I work as the ever-dedicated waitress. Excuse me, “server.” I really don’t care what you call it, but for those who do, I suppose we can go with server. Either way, I am involved in almost every aspect of the restaurant business. I love to eat (really, who doesn’t?) and I am a terrible cook so dining out is really the only option. When high school kids were going to keggers with the senior guys, my friends and I were going out to local restaurants. We were 15 and luckily, we never put on the weight. Seriously… how does that happen?

I have many passions but there are two that really take hold in my life: food and writing. I studied advertising and marketing communications in college and always loved the writing that came with it. When I was ten I received a Winnie the Pooh diary and after that it was all over. I have boxes of old journals that I look back at and laugh. I’ve been told I am a pretty decent writer and it is one of the reasons the PR firm I work for hired me. I have also been working in restaurants since I was a teenager. The two end up going hand in hand as customer service is key in both professions and being able to relate to your target audience is crucial. Whether selling that special steak on tonight’s menu for $100 or sending out a release on a chef change to a journalist, you have to be convincing enough to get your customer hooked, in an honest way. Pitching restaurants I love and serving great food is what I live for.

So there you have it. I love food. I love cocktails (did I actually leave that out?). And I love to write. With that in mind, I’d like to share my food affairs with anyone who is interested. And by the way, reading this blog pairs well with a bottle of Chenin Blanc. Just saying.