5 Best Eating and Drinking Events This Weekend
Ah, summer, when things to do around the city are as abundant as fresh peaches at the farmers' market. It was hard to choose just five to recommend, but we did. So here they are, our top five picks for the best in eating, drinking, and merrymaking this weekend. By Jessica Allen.
Restaurant Week began on July 21 and extends through August 5. During this time, you can get lots of great three-course lunches and dinners for $25 or $38, respectively. The list of participating restaurants is vast, and includes such gems as A Voce, Cafe Boulud, Cipriani Wall Street, Empellón Cocina, and Gotham Bar & Grill. For details and reservations, check out the full list. Monday, July 21, through Tuesday, August 5, $25 or $38, reservations encouraged.
The Poetry Society of New York has three main goals: "(1) to unite New York poetry communities, (2) to bring the works of New York poets to the world, and (3) to never bore you." Evaluate its ability to meet those goals at the fourth annual New York City Poetry Festival on Governors Island. Two hundred and fifty poets are scheduled to read their work. Plus, the Children's Festival lets kids aged 2 to 13 learn to versify. Saturday, July 26, and Sunday, July 27, 11 am to 6 pm, free.
The Bacon and Beer Classic comes to NYC this weekend. This event, held at Major League Baseball parks around the country, combines food and drink, specifically bacon-inspired and -inflected bites from local restaurants, such as Roni-Sue's Chocolates, Delicatessen, and Macbar, and locally crafted beer, from Smuttynose, Original Sin, and others. Live music and talks too. Saturday, July 26, 12 to 3 pm and 7 to 10 pm, $59, tickets required.
Sponsored by the Queens Historical Society, A Taste of Italy is an afternoon of fun, friends, music, and food, designed to mimic a World's Fair pavilion. The event helps celebrate the society's latest exhibition, Remembering Yesterday: Queens and Its World's Fairs, which commemorates the World's Fairs of 1939 and 1964, both held in Queens, through personal and collective memorabilia. Sunday, July 27, 2:30 to 4:30 pm, $15, advance tickets required.
Celebrate 37 years (!) of the talented breakdancing shenanigans of the original Rock Steady Crew at SummerStage, the city's largest free performing arts festival, designed to "enrich the lives of New Yorkers" by exposing them to emerging, contemporary, and traditional artists in an array of genres, from dance to music to drama to literature. In addition to special surprise guests, Slick Rick, Large Professor, M.O.P., Cormega, and Das EFX are slated to perform. Sunday, July 27, 3 to 7 pm, free.
