NYC Tastes

I love the month of October for so many reasons.  There's a nice brisk chill in the air, Sundays are consumed with football and fantastic wine events start popping up all over the city.  Here are two great picks for the month ahead: James Suckling Great Wines of the Andes Experience the incredible wine regions of Chili and Argentina right here in New York City at Great Wines of the Andes.  Over 140 wines hand picked by James Suckling with a score of 90 points or higher (two which have the perfect score of 100 points) will be on hand with delicious grape varieties like Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Malbec.  This is the perfect opportunity to take Andes exploration to a whole new level.  Tickets Spain's Great Match Spain's Great Match returns to New York for it's 25th year to celebrate the food and wine of this fantastic country.  Explore their award winning interior design program while some of NYC's top Spanish restaurants pair deligh...

I love everything about the Hudson Valley region.  The gorgeous hills, the crisp clean air and all of the wonderful restaurants that source their food directly from farms in the area.  121 Restaurant is one of these fine places and with the return of their chef Beck Bolender from Jean Georges this place is really hitting its stride.  Normally I would avoid any kind of Americanized empanada but not here... ...these were so buttery and crisp I almost didn't want to delve into the ham and cheese goodness in the middle.  They came with hot sauce and salsa verde but these didn't need anything...they were perfection on their own.  Instead I used the hot sauce on my incredible Breakfast Tacos filled with nuggets of crisp chorizo and fresh avocado. And although this salad doesn't exactly look pretty it was awesome.  That long crust is actually filled with a creamy goat cheese fondue... ...mixed with bitter greens and a pear vinaigrette.   We were too ful...