CasaSugar

Super Bowl Swaps: Healthy Spins on Iconic NYC and Boston Foods

Michele Foley — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:47:18 PST

Super Bowl Sunday is days away, and for those of us less interested in the game, there's still one reason to participate: the food. For this Giants-Patriots showdown, we've taken the focus away from the field and onto iconic dishes from each team's hometown. Keep reading to see lightened-up recipes of traditional faves, from Boston cream pie to New York pizza.

Meatball Madness Favorite: Duck Meatballs

Susannah Chen — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:55:51 PDT

I just attended our first event of the New York City Wine & Food Festival, Giada De Laurentiis's Meatball Madness (check out that meatball selection!), and our favorite meatball of the night was - gasp! - not even made from red meat at all.

First, a disclaimer: a delayed flight meant that by the time I'd arrived, most of the meatballs were entirely picked over. But of those that were still being served, the one that stunned me the most came from midtown Manhattan's Fresco by Scotto. I'll admit that the restaurant - a Manhattan mini-chain that's recently branched out into, of all things, frozen dinner deliveries - was a bit of an unlikely contender. But I was blown away by the restaurant's impressively tender meatball of ground duck and porcini mushrooms, served in a sauce of sun-dried cherries and Barolo wine.

Despite a longtime love affair with ground meats, it had never, ever occurred to me that a meatball composed of duck meat could be so delectable. After tonight, I've decided that it's going to have to be my next kitchen experiment! Have you ever had a duck meatball?

The NYC Wine & Food Festival Is Back!

YumSugar — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:12:44 PDT

It's the best time of year to be in New York! No, I'm not speaking about the weather (although that's seriously nice, too); I'm referring to the New York City Wine and Food Festival, the long weekend in October each year when food fanatics convene in the big city to watch Food Network talent like Bobby Flay and Alton Brown dish on everything from celebrity cooking gossip to their favorite kitchen techniques.

Claire Robinson's Tacos	Surprising Giada Facts	Alton Brown Gets Funny
Behind the Burger Bash	Top Grand Tasting Picks	Tyler's Ultimate Dinner

For real-time updates, be sure to follow us on Twitter - it'll be just like you're right there. To get you pumped for the return of New York's favorite food event, check out some of our top moments from years past.

Cary Grant's Tiny House Is Back on the Market

Mandy Harris — Wed, 25 May 2011 12:50:00 PDT

Want to live in a house whose previous occupants include Cary Grant and Margaret Mead? If you've got $4.3 million to spend, you can! The famed 75 1/2 Bedford St., which at nine-and-a-half feet wide is the narrowest house in New York, is back on the market, for almost double the price it sold for last year.

The three-bedroom, two-bath home has been renovated since its sale in 2010, and boasts oak floors, marble countertops and backsplash, a clawfoot tub, and, somehow, four wood-burning fireplaces. It also features what I have to admit is a beautiful garden for being located in the middle of the city! But $4.3 million for 990 square feet of living place is pretty steep no matter how you look at it. Take a tour of the house and see the floorplan when you keep reading!

Source

7 Take-Home Gardening Ideas From The High Line

Elka Karl — Tue, 17 May 2011 03:05:00 PDT

The High Line, located on Manhattan's West Side, opened to the public nearly two years ago as an elevated public park. Championed by Friends of the High Line, this former lifted freight line now serves the public as a beautiful park and art space. With over 210 species of perennials, grasses, trees, and shrubs planted in the park, as well as many of the original features of the old freight line, this monument to the West Side's industrial history is truly a gem. There's also plenty of inspiration for home gardeners to be found at the High Line. Take a look at some ways you can transfer a bit of the High Line to your homefront.

Get the Look: Diego and Laura Garcia's Luxe Upper East Side Pad

Julia Walsh — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:30:00 PDT

About five years ago or so, I met Diego Garcia, the lead singer of the band Elefant, at some shows in New Orleans. In full rock star style, he was taking tequila shots in his tour bus with an array of pretty young things and walking barefoot in front of the Decatur Street House of Blues; I got the feeling that he couldn't put up this act for much longer. It turns out that the band called it quits it last year, and now Garcia devotes his musical talents to an eponymous solo act - his new album is due out April 5.

Further proof that the musician has settled down is a new Vogue.com tour of Garcia's luxurious Upper East Side Manhattan apartment, which he shares with his bombshell Brazilian fashion designer wife Laura, their adorable baby girl Georgiana, and their French bulldog Alaïa. Instead of collecting bar stamps, it seems the singer has picked up a passion for curating a personal art collection. His home's interiors are impeccably outfitted with Milo Baughman chairs, Karl Springer poufs, a Hope Atherton painting, a Donald Baechler piece, and miles of art books. It's restrained, eclectic, worldly, and absolutely envy inducing.

Since it's so grandly minimal, recreating the look of the cool couple's living room might require a second mortgage, but it can't hurt to try. Click to learn how to get the look!

Anthropologie Is Hosting a Bevy of New York Scent Events

Miriam Lacey — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:30:00 PDT

If you're a fragrance lover in Gotham, you'll want to be at the Anthropologie in Rockefeller Center every evening from March 31 to April 1. The store is hosting a series of fragrance workshops run by some of the industry's finest noses. On the 30th, Le Labo will be talking about "The Art of Perfume" from 6-7pm, followed by "Botanical Essences" with Strange Invisible Perfumes from 7-8pm. To find out what else is on offer, and how to sign up, just keep reading.

How Social Media Is Changing Casual Sex

Colleen Barrett — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 15:45:59 PDT

Last week the New York Observer published a trend piece that concluded young New Yorkers are having less sex. A sweeping statement based on a handful of people noticing no couples pairing off at the dead end of night. From there, he hastily drew a familiar conclusion: everyone's a narcissist now. People would rather groom their online persona by posting where they're at than actually interact, but - I can assure you - nobody loves sex more than a narcissist.

Nobody knows how much sex people have without straight-up asking (and even then, who knows?), so I did the next best thing. I talked to someone who knows a lot about "young New Yorkers," their parties, and - for better or worse - their sex lives, Brooklyn-based writer Diana Vilibert. See what she thinks below.

Frat Dudes in a Box: An Art Installation

Annie Scudder — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 11:50:01 PST

Natural Light beer made a natural sponsor of the C'mon Guy (Frat Boy Box Party) art installation at the 2011 SCOPE International Art Fair in NYC. This past weekend, four New Jersey frat boys were coaxed into a glass box that contained only beer, a magic marker, a pee bucket, and a beer bong. There was only one thing missing, according to the subjects: "Pizza, pizza, pizza!" I guess it's not OK to feed the bros!

Is It OK to Eat Live Lobster?

Susannah Chen — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 13:03:26 PST

What's it like to eat live lobster? In case you were wondering, Zagat has video that'll give you a pretty good idea. Here, three industry experts try the meal at New York's 15 East, where, according to Zagat, "At the beginning of the meal, you're introduced to your dinner, and during the first course of lobster sashimi, the crustaceans are still on the table, and still moving, while you munch away." Check out the video and share your thoughts on the meal. Would you try it if given the chance, or do you consider the concept to be inhumane?