Almodovar’s Night Pop-Up Dinner

It was more than a decade ago when we had our first Locanda vini e olii meal. An old drugstore, with walls lined with nostalgic pharmacy bottles, converted into a neighborhood restaurant has always instantly made us feel like we just showed up at our uncle’s house on Sunday. To combat the pandemic and winter in a dining ban they have converted the restaurant in a direction back towards the drugstore providing meals and provisions. This new alimentari offering highlights their fantastic ingredient list including their famed (at least in our house) olive oil. My mom can’t get enough of it. The menu is all available for order out so you can indulge in their best in-house dishes like their pappardelle with wild boar OR alici e burro (Sicilian anchovies). For us the Italian Marketplace is where it’s at. Stocking up on delectables like house made pasta, limoncello or their Italian breakfast in a box. If you are looking for a first move because you’re overwhelmed with choice as we were when we hit the site, start with the Meal-Kit. Each week a new offering includes a selection across three courses of tasty. By example, this week choose between Fettunta or Tuscan Lentil Soup to start. Follow that with Broccolini Pesto Gnocchi or Polenta (or Pappardelle) ai Funghi, a tough choice. Round that out by picking a winner in the Pork Shank vs Baby Octopus “Inzimino” bout. We’d go octopus. It’s a game-changer. Next week the options change so you can enjoy it all again. As my grandfather used to say, “a scarpetta” which signifies soping up sauce with a piece of bread to savor every last bit on your plate. We recommend the same theory applied to both the Loncada menu and marketplace.

Dinner, food science, your favorite chefs and helping kids. We should end this post right there. There won’t be a better sentence than that in the rest of this post. Despite that not even being a full sentence, we’ll fill you in a bit more. Jeff Salaway was one of the founders of Hayground school and he passed in 2001. His friends and family carried on his mission which is best summed up in the following quote. Jeff believed, “The growing, preparation and sharing of food is a primal human experience and the foundation of family and community.” Sounds a lot like what we’re always talking up. No wonder we were enamored by this event and the work the Hayground School is doing with kids. Although a seat at Hayground Chef’s Dinner is a steep one, it couldn’t benefit a more important cause. Teach a kid to fish Jesus once said. Or, was that Tom Colicchio? Either way, invaluable skills. Sunday, July 31st at 6pm in Southhold, New York.

You read that right. An entire week dedicated to the all-american favorite food indulgence. To be honest, we had no idea this existed. We completely missed the memo for 2015. Not the case for NYC Burger Week 2016. The line up screams for a clogged artery by hump day. If we make it through the whole week you can find us forging Lipitor prescriptions at Duane Reade. Don’t blame us. With nights like Black Iron Burger’s Burger and Beer Civil War AND The Beer Culture Boozy Burger Brunch how are you not going to be sitting at the next table with a half glass of booze and ketchup smeared in the corners of your mouth? May 1-7 @ various location in NYC.