Coffee and Tea Festival NYC

You have a long weekend and the weather is unseasonably warm for the NorthEast. A private rooftop cabin in NYC is just a subway ride away. The Greens is where you’re headed. A 65,000 sqft, high rise slice of upstate New York promises the coziest and safest of revelry inside your very own glass cabin. Upfront warning, your weekend visit is going to cost you a touch more than normal. $50 gets you a reservation. Everything you order is an addition but that’s ok because remember, you are paying for the ambiance on this boondoggle. The menu has all the greatest hits for compliance across all the standard eater types. A $28 fondue and a salumi plate top the list of apps for us. Moving into mains, it’s a hard choice between the truffle grilled cheese, fried chicken or a $30 meatball and polenta plate. Don’t sleep on dessert though. Three words. Chocolate. Pretzel. Popbar. Of course, none of this matters if your glass isn’t full. Choices have all the cozies. A solid whiskey collection, a bubbles list, a section they call martini hour, and even a 5 option deep negroni list make decisions tough. As far as we can tell the Autumnal Drinking list is where you start before venturing into all that other magic. Plus, that focus streamlines choices and gets you sipping while you sort the rest of your order. Think hot buttered rum or mulled cider fancied up in YETI drinkware with a $32 price tag, albeit serves 2.5 so we suppose that math is solid. All of this is great but you’re here for the cabin. It doesn’t disappoint. Heated floors, contactless ordering, a Molekule air purifier with a virtual fireplace, and floor-to-ceiling views of NYC for 2-10 guests makes us want to gather up our crew for a round of rapid COVID tests and head to the tip of Manhattan before the chill gets too deep for this to be pleasurable.

This Oyster Festival is near and dear to my childhood heart. I learned how to swim with oysters under my feet. Since I was 10 his festival, named after the bi-valve and the town I grew up in, has taken over the small North Shore Long Island village. Back then, a few buses of people would amount to 10,000 people over the three-day extravaganza. Now in its 32nd year, 200, 000 attendees flock to what was my sleepy hamlet on the bay. It’s fair to call it BIG TIME. The food vendors now require a food court. There’s a seafood themed shopping pavilion. Music is no longer sourced from the high school band talent. Of course, there are plenty of competitive eating bouts. Most oysters, fastest oysters, biggest oysters, they all get prizes and make for some crowd roars. Being an insider, I tend to hang back. Belly up at one spot and let the action unfold around me. Give it a try. October 15 – 16 Weekend in Oyster Bay, NY.

There is nothing better than a city party when the city people have left the city limits. If that party is thrown by some of our favorite food authorities things get even better. Mix in a few chalices’ of Stella sponsored brews and hard to open, easy to eat bi-valves and the shindig is lit. To push this rundown into Epicville, it’s on an island. Internet sticker it with a fancy hashtag and you’ve got The Infatuation #MemorialStay Party. Share with your friends fast because they rented out all of Oyster Island and are bringing in some BBQ to go with the seafood. These spots will go fast, if they are not gone already. Pack up your Hershel and grab a Babe for the ferry ride, unless you are planning on showing up with legendary swagger on your private yacht charter. Ohh you baller you. Sunday, May 26th from 2-6pm on Governor’s Island.

Brooklyn Brewery is seemingly involved in everything. There’s not a weekend where we don’t see them at some awesome event, concert or happening. Their main home being 8 blocks from FTHQ gives us incredible access to their next moves like the launch of Brooklyn Brewery Mash. Taking themselves on the road, pop-up collab style, the guys and girls over at BB decided to mini-tour some of our countries best eating cities and smash it together with their brews. The micro-event format includes events like a free concert at the Philly landmark Union Transfer or rare beer and Chinese food mashup between Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson and the team from Bing Bing Dim Sum. This gives us an HUGE excuse to head to Philly. August 25th – 28th in Philadelphia.