Offbeat Valentine's Day Picks and Other News
Offbeat Valentine's Day Picks and Other News
A new brewery location, a new chef, an upcoming food exhibit, and more
Valentine’s Day is upon us and Broken Palate is thinking outside the box for the “official” day of love. This year, you can declare your love for a bestie, celebrate at home, or go the traditional route with your sweetheart. Here’s a roundup of a handful of interesting ways to celebrate love this year.
Be My Bloody Valentine
Carole Baskins of the world, unite! If your “cool cat” played with your heart like a kitten with a catnip toy, here’s the perfect way to get revenge this Valentine’s Day. Wildcat Ridge Sanctuary, a wildlife refuge for more than 80 animals (including 50 big cats), is offering the chance to feed your ex’s heart to a tiger — legally. For $35, the sanctuary will feed a heart-shaped blood-flavored jello mold with your ex’s name on it to the tigers in their care. For $75, they’ll film it so you can have the satisfaction of watching it forever. Revenge is a dish best served to tigers — and you’ll have satisfaction in knowing the money goes to this nonprofit that gives these creatures a safe, forever home. Visit wildliferidgesanctuary.com to order your heart.
Better Than Flowers
If daisies won’t cut it for your spicy Valentine, why not gift them with a bouquet of jerky flowers? The Manly Man Co. offers a bouquet of one dozen flowers made from beef jerky, presented in a pint glass ($89). The arrangement comes pre-assembled and ready for snacking. Order at manlymanco.com.
A Sweet Cocktail
If you’re celebrating at home, why not make a specialty cocktail to get you in the mood? Duke & Dame, a delicious whiskey lightly flavored with salted caramel, has created the Make me Blush, a tart/sweet sipper that’s a just-right start to a romantic evening. Find which local retailer sells Duke & Dame here.
Make Me Blush
2 ounces Duke & Dame
1 ounce fresh grapefruit juice
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounce red wine
1/2 ounce agave
Shake ingredients in a cocktail shake with ice and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with fresh flowers.
Museum of Ice Cream BOGO For Valentine’s Day
If you’re in New York City or Austin, Texas, you can treat your Valentine or Galentine to a day at the Museum of Ice Cream. The museum offers Instagrammable experiences like a sprinkle pool, an indoor slide, and bounce houses, along with interesting facts on the history of ice cream. All the while, you can treat yourself to unlimited ice cream. Visit museumoficecream.com to book your BOGO (good for visits February 11 to 14, 2022, regularly priced at $49.50 per person).
And Other News
Bronx Brewery has opened in the East Village (at 64 Second Ave., between 3rd and 4th St.), with food by the first U.S. location of Sweden-based burger outfit, Bastard Burgers. The brewery, which opened in the Bronx in 2011, features seven hop-forward, year-round brews; seasonals; and the Y-series — a collaboration with local artists, activists, and entrepreneurs. Bastard Burgers, with 50 locations around Sweden and Norway, features smashburger-style patties named for international destinations, like the Stockholm, with caramelized onions, jalapenos, bacon, tomato, lettuce, pepper jack, and dressing for $15.
After 26 years — despite the Batali-Bastianich breakup — Lupa Osteria Romana (170 Thompson St., Manhattan), owned by Joe and Tanya Bastianich, is still going strong, with the kitchen now run by Roman chef Diego Negri. In addition to offering Roman classics, he introduces a few bites from Rome less familiar to New Yorkers: pizza scrocchiarella, a thinner and crunchier version of traditional pizza Romana, for example; plin ravioli, a Piedmontese fresh pasta but here stuffed with prosciutto and rabbit; and pajata finta, milk-fed veal intestines braised in a tomato sauce served with rigatoni.
The Africa Center (1280 Fifth Ave., Manhattan) kicks off its food exhibition in partnership with the Museum of Food and Drink, "African/American: Making the Nation's Table,” starting Feb. 23 running through June 19, highlighting “the stories of innovators, cooks, mixologists, and entrepreneurs as it emphasizes that African American food is American food.” It’s curated by Dr. Jessica B. Harris, a prominent expert on foods of the African diaspora, author of High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey From Africa to America, her book adapted into the Netflix series hosted by Stephen Satterfield. Tickets can be purchased online.
Broken Palate founder, John McDonald, partner in Mercer Street Hospitality, is on Graydon Carter’s Air Mail this week, talking about the intersection of music and dining. It starts: “From the day I opened my first bar, MercBar, back in 1993, one of the most important aspects of its 20-year-long run — and this has also been true of all my subsequent restaurants — was the music.”
Check out the playlist here.
