In the holiday season, our social calendar fills up with celebrations with family, friends and colleagues. It’s officially time to party, and New York, more them any other city in the world, provides fantastic food and entertainment options, and many ways to combine both together, such as jazzy brunches, pizza making lessons and a front seat in the chef’s kitchen. All paired with great Italian food.
Kesté
Nothing is better than a “pizzata” among friends, or what Italians call a get-together at a favorite pizza restaurant. Kesté in Fulton street, one of the best Neapolitan pizza places in the city, has a dedicated space for a school where to learn the art of making everybody’s favorite food. While the school was created to train professionals, any group can book pizza-making classes and prepare their own before enjoying dinner together. The classes are under the direction of Roberto Caporuscio, one of the most recognized pizza-making experts and President of the Pizza Academy Foundation, and his daughter Giorgia, an award- winning pizzaiola, one of the few women in the field. The evening starts with an introduction of the 300 year pizza history, while enjoying a glass of wine and appetizers such as fresh mozzarella, made daily at the restaurant. Each guest will roll their own pie and add a variety of toppings in a friendly competition that will include prizes and guaranteed fun. The pizzas will then be cooked and served for a well-earned communal dinner. Small groups and individuals can join the open classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
Osteria San Carlo
A favorite destination for authentic regional food from Piemonte, Osteria San Carlo offers a jazzy brunch every Sunday, with a calendar of Blue Note level live performances that range from solo piano acts to jazz trios. The Thompson street restaurant’s menu includes classic brunch staples such as eggs benedict with an Italian twist, replacing mortadella instead of ham, or a hamburger made with premium fassona piemontese beef, provolone cheese and a focaccia in place of the bun. It also features a wide choice of pasta, salads, seasonal frittata and piadine, traditional flat bread paninis. For real delicacies from Piemonte, for appetizer order the vitello tonnato, thin slice of veal with a tuna sauce, or the carne cruda, a traditional beef tartare, the taglierin fresh pasta with truffles and the homemade bonnet, a chocolate flan dessert with amaretto and caramel. All that is missing is a good cocktail. For a classic mimosa, a bellini or an Aperol spritz, no worries, the Osteria’s bar has you covered.
Faro
For real foodies there is no better show then to see a chef at work in their own element. Bushwick eatery Faro launched a new 12 course tasting menu at the six seats at the chef’s counter overlooking the open kitchen and making for an interactive dining experience. Chef Kevin Adey is known for his wood-fire cooking skills, his handmade pasta made with local grains, and his inventive Italian and New American cuisine. The tasting menu changes frequently, but current highlights include Scripelle, an ultra-thin crepe typical of Teramo in Abruzzo, with a filling of Parmigiano Reggiano and a sauce of chanterelle butter, mushroom stock and homemade porcini vinegar, and a pan seared venison rolled in hazelnut and breadcrumbs and served with a celery root puree and cranberry gel. The appetizers feature several seafood courses, such as tempura fried Moondance Oyster and served atop a chicken schmaltz bread pudding and potato cream foam, and Diver Scallop crudo with elderflower and black locust flower shoyu served on its shell with charred cabbage and carrot granita. Dessert by Cristian Ortiz include the almond rum cake, an almond-orange cake soaked in rum and coffee syrup paired with mascarpone amaretto cream. The tasting menu, with an optional natural wine pairing, is now served Tuesday-Saturday with seating at 6pm and 9pm.