Wine bars are popping up all over town these days, and diners are also gravitating toward food made with local ingredients, so it makes sense that the next wave in the vino trend will be local wineries. Though a Staten Island vineyard is in the works, and the centuries-old Queens County Farm plans to sell wine from its vineyard this fall, the new urban wineries have to make do with grapes from Long Island or......

The NY Times' Eric Asimov highlights the proliferation of wine bars throughout the city (131 at last count by newyorkwinebarguide.com), particularly those offering snacks and small plates far beyond the charcuterie and cheese one might typically expect. And they're not all Italian either. In fact, Asimov spans the globe in his wine bar visits: Spain at Pata Negra, France at Solex, and South Africa at Xai Xai. The lower cost of real estate involved in......

Has Bruce Willis left behind beer and barstools for wine and a more posh drinking atmosphere? The NY Post is saying yes. Willis has reportedly become a partner with the Bowery Wine Co., where he was spotted bartending at his private party last week. The watering hole (which is "upscale and loungy") is set to open its doors to the public this weekend, and is located at 13 East 1st Street (housed within Avalon Bowery......

Oenophiles envious of the big wine expos held in Boston and D.C. can stop whining; this weekend marks the first annual New York Wine Expo at the Javits Center. Friday night and Saturday are open to the public, where more than 600 wines from over 170 vintners will be available for tasting. Here’s the list of all the wineries and vineyards at the Expo. And after sampling hundreds of different wines, what better way to......

It seems like every other weekend, Brooklyn is home to some kind of homestyle cooking competition, with a constant rotation of cupcake-offs, chili massacres, a big jerk-off, and probably some vegan tofu spread-a-thons somewhere. Prizes at these things are typically anything from homely trophies to a few cans of PBR, but the just-announced, upcoming inaugural Risotto Challenge is something special indeed: The prizes are going to be very nice. More on that below. On April......

DRINK: The raucous and ribald cabaret duo Kiki & Herb may be on semi-hiatus, but they’re resurfacing tonight for a very special ‘Eclectic Salon’ event at Bottlerocket, the “dog and child friendly” wine shop in the Flatiron district. It's not exactly clear what kind of performance is planned tonight, but the boozy surroundings are sure to provide ample inspiration. Playfully dubbed “The Year of Magical Drinking,” the evening features free wine tastings to wash......

Today the Times’s Keith Dixon, a self-described “clumsy, overambitious cook,” offers tips for cooking dinner in a crowded city apartment made even more cramped by a newborn baby. Dixon has adapted his cooking technique to accommodate a light-sleeping baby who, awakened by a clattering spatula, derails dinner plans as he and his wife “labor to get her back to sleep.” So he’s evolved into a “Silent Chef” with “ninja stealth” and suggests, among other things,......

Everything's coming up rosé on Staten Island: on the heels of the new aquarium unveiling in the ferry terminal, plans for the island’s first vineyard are coming into focus. Borough President James Molinaro (pictured, right) has pledged $2 million for the project, which will establish a 2 acre vineyard and demonstration winery at the Staten Island Botanical Garden. The organic vineyard will yield its first wine about four years from now; it’s the brain-child of......

Photo by Phillyist's Matt Johnson, SkyscraperSunset.com, December 19, 2007. Phillyist explored an impending implosion and lived to tell the tale.Gothamist marveled at the city's new NYC-branded condom campaign - especially the use of a Toronto landmark in the advertising. (Also, fun fact: Gothamist turned five years old yesterday.)Tired of the worldwide Scientology protests? Torontoist totally isn't: they covered the big downtown protest the day it happened, and followed up with an examination of all......

Forget going out to a restaurant -- the way to woo your sweetheart (or potential sweetheart) is by cooking. Before the fear courses through your veins, don't think that "cooking a romantic meal" needs to be overwhelming or complicated. The simple act of cooking a meal for someone, no matter what the menu, is romantic and special in and of itself. Perhaps the most romantic meal possible is breakfast in bed, and it doesn't have......

Or so they say. Well, maybe, maybe not, but regardless, we wanted to give you some options for food and drink-related events on Valentine's Day. Targeted at those out there for whom Valentine's Day is not a welcome occasion, the Sunburnt Cow is having a "No Love at the Cow" party. $25 gets you all you can drink, beer, wine and “Anti-Love” juice, plus a "1980s style disco experience," complete with an ice slide for......

New Yorkers may be outraged about the city's attempted regulation of trans fats and mandated calorie posting, but at least our local government isn't going as far as their counterparts in Mississippi. Local legislators are trying to make it illegal for restaurants to serve food to obese patrons to combat the state's high obesity rate; approximately two-thirds of the state's residents are obese according to federal health statistics. Alan Richman, food critic at Bloomberg, has......

Mention the word Kuta to a surfer or a globetrotter and the first thing that comes to mind is the Balinese fishing village turned beach resort. The folks behind Kuta Satay House & Wine Bar are looking to get the same name recognition from diners with their new spot on the Lower East Side. With a menu that gives shoutouts to various Indonesian locales and a dining room decked out with Balinese masks, it's clear......

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Shorty’s.32 and Smith’s, awards each restaurant one star. Says that at both, “Skill, standards and a few well-chosen grace notes lift what might otherwise be favored neighborhood charmers into a slightly loftier league.” Loves the chicken and all side dishes at Shorty’s, though says the chef is “overly fond of wet fish and wet food.” Um, yuck. At Smith’s, says the lamb and lobster are the way......

In 1993 Matthew Kenney debuted his first restaurant, Matthew’s, to enviable acclaim; before he knew it Food and Wine Magazine had declared him one of the ten best new chefs in America. A flurry of activity followed, as Kenney involved himself with a series of popular restaurants throughout Manhattan that emphasized regional Mediterranean cooking. In 2004 he switched gears, opening Pure Food and Wine, an organic raw food restaurant on Irving Place that continues to......

Kuta Satay House & Wine Bar: Taking its name from the tourist beach town in Bali, Kuta Satay House (pictured) is bringing its modern Southeast Asia menu to the Lower East Side. The main attraction here are the skewers, such as short ribs with asian pears and sesame barbeque sauce. Entrees emphasize seafood and steak, but there’s also a spicy duck curry and side dishes like garlic fries. 65 Rivington St, (212) 777-5882. Le Royale:......

SHOP: Still looking for that perfect gift? The Brooklyn Historical Society is holding the 4th Annual NY Creates Craft Fair, and they may have just what you're looking for. Check it out today and tomorrow, and it will be back the 22nd and 23rd for the real last-minute shoppers. Friday and Saturday // Noon to 6pm // BHS [128 Pierrepont St, Brooklyn] ART: Too much is going on the First Friday of every month, so......

A good December night: four friends hosting twenty-five dinner guests in one capacious Williamsburg loft for a multi-course dinner with unlimited cocktails and wine pairings. This Friday -- if you act fast -- the Whisk and Ladle Supper Club invites Gothamist readers to a dinner party -- revamped, with a seasonal menu featuring Black Bear. The cost? $40 – 50 dollars a head, depending on the cost of ingredients. Friday’s Whisk & Ladle Menu:......

If you’re thinking about buying into the future Soho Mews condo but still unsure whether the “doorman, concierge and a curator” will be enough for you, the news in today’s Post might just be your tipping point. The under-construction condo, which is comprised of two buildings joined by a shared courtyard garden, has announced a partnership with Centovini, the Italian restaurant on West Houston, four blocks north from the condo on West Broadway, across from......

This week in the Times, Bruni two-stars Allen & Delancey. Loves the atmosphere; says “the food at Allen & Delancey is at once sophisticated and accessible, reliant on fail-safe luxuries deployed in a modestly creative and occasionally playful manner.” Says that in some ways it’s similar to what he did uptown (at Gordon Ramsay at the London) but it works much better in this context. In $25 and Under, "> Peter Meehan goes to Food......

In case you haven't noticed, 'tis the season for giving and all that jazz. You've got a friend/relative/other loved one who can't get enough of the epicurean lifestyle, and you're looking for the perfect gift. Never fear -- 'tis also the season of gift guides, which will steer you to gifts that will guarantee a smile. First, our own five gifts for the foodie under $50, all available online, including a beautiful olive wood mortar......

A novel twist on the bar-neighbor dispute: A Tribeca bar claims the upstairs resident has prevented them from doing business. A lawsuit filed by Smith and Mills, a bar that opened on N. Moore Street back in May, reveals that Victoria Hillstron apparently: - Called the police and Department of Buildings to report "false" building code violations. - "stood in front of plaintiff's establishment to prevent construction from taking place" - Told "patrons not to......

Writer/director Robert Tinnell has sifted through his fond childhood memories of big Italian Christmas gatherings and emerged with a unique fusion of comic book and cookbook called The Feast of the Seven Fishes. Originally a popular internet comic, the humorously fictional book is inspired by the Italian Christmas Eve tradition involving big seafood dinners and lots of red wine. (The book's boisterous familial storyline will also be adapted into a feature length film of the......

Jaded gourmands looking to spice up their New Year’s Eve dining experience might be interested in the Dark Dining event at the West Village French bistro Camaje. The four course dinner is designed to accommodate a small gathering of guests who, upon arrival, don featherweight blindfolds for the duration of the prix fixe meal, which features wine pairings and mysterious performances between courses. While you surrender to the dark side, a team of attentive servers......

Zagat's updated Best of Brooklyn 2008 guide was released yesterday, filled to the brim with all that the city's largest borough has to offer, including 216 restaurants, 141 nightspots, 355 shops, 25 tourist attractions and more. Like all Zagat guides, this one is a complilation of surveys from the public and each entry is rated on a scale of 1-30. The guide is broken up into five sections: Dining, Nightlife, Shopping, Gourmet Shopping & Entertaining,......

Since an army of sloppy amateurs are expected to mob New York’s bars tonight to toast the anniversary of Prohibition’s end, it might be a good night to pick up a bottle of something or other and bring the celebration home. Imbibers looking for something special in Brooklyn need look no further than the Williamsburg Bridge; the paisans behind the rustic Williamsburg restaurant PT and the romantic North 8th Street D.O.C. Wine Bar have......

Attention Pacific Northwest: New Yorkers don't care about your cuisine. None of Jeffrey Chodorow's blogging, full page ads in the Times or other theatrics could save Wild Salmon from its imminent closure. After Eater circulated news of its potential doom, Chodorow issued a statement, published on Grub Street, "Regrettably, we will be closing Wild Salmon after the new year. We were excited about bringing the food and wine of the Pacific Northwest to New York,......

This isn’t goodbye. Well, actually it kind of is. I’m moving to London for a year to work on depleting their wine and beer supplies. Over the past three and a half years I’ve been lucky to gain thousands of new drinking buddies, including you. We’ve shared countless bottles of wine, glasses of scotch and enough cocktails to inebriate the lower half of Manhattan and parts of Queens. And then, of course, there were the......

EVENT: Julian Schnabel will be screening clips from his latest flick, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly tonight. Lou Reed, who Schnabel recently documented in Lou Reed’s Berlin, will also be on hand. 7pm // Apple Store [103 Prince St] // Free READING: The Desk Set's "Drinks with an Author" series continues tonight at Greenpoint's WORD. This evening chat with Kara Jesella and Marisa Meltzer, authors of How Sassy Changed My Life: A Love Letter......

This week in the Times, Bruni three stars Fiamma and rates it a top pick. Says that the restaurant is not, by any means, classically Italian, but “when a restaurant turns out this many dishes that make you stop mid-chew, nudge a companion and nod your head vigorously—because you’re excited; because you need to start working off the calories any way you can—it needn’t worry about fitting into a tidy box.” Also in the Times,......