“I went with the Creekstone 28-Day Dry Age Burger, which had shoestring potatoes, spinach, Guinness-braised onion aioli and was served with fried Brussels sprouts. More on those later.”

That said, you should go to Tavern on Jane.

I was meeting a friend for dinner in the West Village and I was tasked with picking our restaurant (my favorite job), and I settled on American food as our cuisine.

Yelp offered me a few locations in the neighborhood that would give me a hamburger but most of them were too frilly or expensive, and we just wanted a good, hearty meal.

So we went to Tavern on Jane.

When I walked in on a Wednesday night, the bar was packed. The lights were dim, there was music playing, and it smelled like caramelizing onions and frying potatoes, plus there were crayons on the table. Perfection.

A two-top was immediately available and of course, I looked at the drink list first. Hello, options! There were about 25 beers between the drafts, imports, and bottles, and the cocktail, wine and whiskey lists were all fairly extensive as well.

My friend arrived and although he had just resolved to be a pescatarian, we quickly decided we would get two burgers and split them since we wanted to taste them all but figured that would be a little excessive.

He chose the Santa Fe Burger which came with grilled green chiles, pepperjack cheese, and french fries on the side.

I went with the Creekstone 28-Day Dry Age Burger, which had shoestring potatoes, spinach, Guinness-braised onion aioli and was served with fried Brussels sprouts. (I’ll get back to those.)

All of the meat in this restaurant is from Pat La Freida so I knew it would be high-quality, and it definitely stood up to the reputation. Flavorful and a little smoky, each burger was delicious, although I will say one was a little closer to medium than the other was.

In my personal opinion, the fastest way to kill a good burger is with a sad bun, but Tavern on Jane didn’t disappoint. The sesame buns were toasty and warm, and made good homes for the cheese and aioli, respectively, although I could have used a little more aioli on mine (I just can’t say no to Guinness onions.) I was personally a huge fan of the heaping piled of shoestring potatoes on the Creekstone burger, as they added an amazing crunchy texture compared to the soft, supple patty.

Now, those fried Brussels sprouts. First of all, I’m a big fan of the sprouts. The only way I won’t eat them is steamed but other than that, bring ‘em on. So you can imagine my excitement when they showed up fried, with apples, red onions, and…wait for it….bacon. Like peanut butter and jelly, bacon and Brussels sprouts are a perfect marriage. This little bowl of magic went pretty quickly between the two of us- we couldn’t get enough!

My only (slight) complaint would be the lack of salt. The fries were perfectly done, crispy on the outside but soft in the middle, except there was not a drop of salt on them which made me a little bit sad. I don’t think there was any salt in the burger, on any of the toppings, or in the sprouts either, but there was a bottle on the table so I wasn’t completely out of luck.

That being said, it’s obvious that their ingredients are fresh and they do a fantastic job of highlighting each to create a well-rounded, super-satisfying burger. Two thumbs up to Tavern on Jane!

The post NYC Restaurant Review: Tavern on Jane appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

“Chelsea Market an indoor mecca of food joy sparkling with the culinary energy of a street fair, and Rana is a magic heaven of fresh pasta.”

And that’s when Chelsea Market is there for you. Inside this indoor mecca of food joy are abundance of restaurants and tiny shops which offer tastes and dishes that could satisfy literally any craving you might have.

They have everything from taco stands, to shops stocked with myriad olive oils, to bakeries, to wine bars. It’s like an indoor mecca of food joy, and it’s all beautifully decorated like a street fair.

Inside Chelsea Market is a place called Rana, and it’s a magic heaven of fresh pasta divided into two distinct sections. The takeout section has rows and rows of homemade pasta, noodles, and ravioli of every shape, color, and size.

As you’d expect, they have a large menu where you can pick your pasta, sauce, and proteins. And there’s also a full-service dine-in restaurant with an incredibly extensive menu of unique pasta, salad and soups. It’s more elaborate so it’s a little more expensive. My friends and I went back and forth trying to decide if we wanted to dine in our take out- we actually sat down at a table for like two minutes before we figured out we wanted the take-out menu.

To be honest, the restaurant menu overwhelmed me because of the fantastic combinations of flavors that they offered, so we went with the simpler menu in the front of the place.

It wasn’t like it was much easier of a choice for me as they have at least 20 kinds of pasta to choose from. I asked the girl working what she thought, and she recommended doing a combination of the alfredo and marinara sauces together, and I went with the Brasato ravioli (filled with beef.)

It was AMAZING. Every ingredient was fresh, and I could taste it. The sprinkle of parmesan on top really brought all of it together for a fantastic bowl of pasta that I will never forget.

My friends went with a penne topped with their basil pesto and some fresh grilled chicken, and it was just as delicious!

There’s something about homemade pasta that will trump basically all other foods for me, and Rana did not disappoint. I did see some chocolate ravioli that were apparently filled with chocolate, but I was afraid if I got them, they wouldn’t make it home. If you’re in New York and love fresh pasta, you owe it to yourself to check out Rana!

The post Restaurant Review: Rana Pasta is a NYC Gem appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

If you don’t know what CMJ is you aren’t alone. I lived in NYC for two years before I first learned of the 34-year-old marathon last year. Two main factors contribute to CMJ’s lack of notoriety: venue and artists. While other large music gatherings have one central location CMJ occurs at over 80 venues across Manhattan and Brooklyn and the artists, over 1,300, are all emerging artists. While those numbers are intimidating the five-day event is actually surprisingly easy to navigate.

When the schedule was first released about a week or two in advance CMJ also released an app that turned out to be a lifesaver. Every artist had a bio page with relevant info and links to their social media including SoundCloud that would launch within the app to allow you to get a feel for the act. However, with thousands of artists it was still a bit daunting, but the map within the app became the flagship feature. Allowing it to use your current location it would show all the venues hosting shows near you and clicking a venue would then provide the schedule and same links to the artist’s bio page.

CMJ kicked off on Tuesday October 21, but needing one more night of rest before taking on the marathon my experiences didn’t begin until the next evening. I found myself in some bars near NYU (thanks to the app) enjoying numerous nondescript bands before heading Lower East Side of Manhattan to meet up with a friend who works at a music agency to catch Ryn Weaver, who he was interested in seeing. I didn’t know her name before entering Bowery Ballroom, but she’s now certainly not one I’ll forget anytime soon.

The next evening was all about supporting my Texas roots and checking out a Texas music showcase. Not country, though country is certainly a part of the Texas music scene, Texas music is very diverse from Houston rap to all things Austin (“the live music capital of the U.S.) And it was Austin based East Cameron Folkcore that really stole the show. An eight person band that, once I could get passed the logistics of forming an eight person band, blew me away with their use of guitars, trombones, drums, sax, harmonica and even cello to create a bolstering sound reminiscent of early Kings of Leon. Following their set at The Delancey a move was made to nearby Pianos to catch an Australian electronic music duo. Not knowing much about electronic music or even the equipment they were using they impressed with an interesting live show and chilling vocals.

Friday night was a break from the marathon; a man’s got to see his kids. Kidding, I had other drinking to tend to. Saturday was an all day event of catching varying acts around the Lower East Side before shutting down the festival late that evening at Fat Baby awkwardly jamming out with two friends an on empty dance floor to an all female rock band.

Fittingly, when I left that show I realized I had lost my badge. I took this to mean one of two things: I should, in fact, never dance or that the festival was over. Either way it was time to go home for some much needed rest. Until next year, CMJ.

The post 2014 CMJ Music Marathon appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

The Planning:

This is a crucial step because we all have our listservs and text chains, but you can’t use those. You must start a new chain for Man Dinner. It will be hard enough coordinating everyone’s schedules without the usual emails. With a date set you’ll now need to pick a place which is not as difficult as one would think; you’re going to a steakhouse (this needs no discussion). Now call around and find the place that can accommodate you on your chosen night. I’d recommend Wolfgang’s Steakhouse in TriBeCa.

The Execution:

Since everyone finishes work at a different time you don’t want to have a set plan for the pre-dinner drinks, but rather let the person out drinking first pick the spot. This spot will ideally be a dive bar. Why a dive bar you ask? Dive bars are great: bar games, cheap drinks and music. The only downside and the main reason you or your pals ever don’t wanna go to one is because there are never a lot of girls. Well, guess what? It’s Man Dinner so you get to that dive bar and start crushing beers and taking shots. Raccoon Lodge is great for this given its downtown location and proximity to Wolfgang’s and other steakhouses.

You’re at your steakhouse and it’s time to shed your dive bar persona. Head to the bar and grab a Macallan 12 and buy a couple for your friends nearest you. Let the liquor show your love.

Ordering should be simple with one guy acting as the go between. “Wine for the table.” “Seafood towers for the table to start.” “Steak for the table.” Feel free to improvise the sides.

The Aftermath:

This is when all Man Dinners begin to take a turn because you’re drunk and can no longer resist the urge to want to meet those of the fairer sex. Head to a beer hall. Houston Hall works perfect for this since you can continue to be manly drinking liters of beer while interacting with girls if that strikes you. This will be your last stop as you’ll soon realize you’re bombed and losing people quickly.

The post The Perfect Man Dinner appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

You’ve got the family, the Frommer’s and suggestions from your uncle’s cousin about what to do with your time in the Big Apple. Undoubtedly one, or more, of these things is on your list and you should cross them off.

Strawberry Fields– Fine, go if you need a new cover photo for Facebook, but otherwise it’s a tourist trap packed with people and filled with panhandlers and homeless.

Katz’s Delicatessen– Home to the infamous orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally Katz’s skyrocketed in notoriety. Unfortunately, that has turned it into the Hard Rock Cafe of delis complete with its own gift shop next door. The food isn’t bad, but overpriced and the location is out of the way from anything family oriented. Alternative: Carnegie Deli, though still touristy chances are you’re staying in the Times Square area anyway so save the time and hassle and pop in there for your pastrami fix. 

9/11 Memorial– If you lost someone in 9/11 by all means go, grieve, do whatever you need to do. The rest of us that were impacted on a national level rather than personal, feel free to save the memorial for a later trip. The memorial is beautiful: it’s clean and filled with trees yet is surrounded by skyscrapers. Yet as a result I feel a lot of the emotion has been scrubbed away. And from a purely logistical standpoint it requires somehow waiting when times are reserved followed by more nonsensical security measures than a TSA checkpoint. Alternative: St. Paul’s Chapel. Adjacent to the WTC site the oldest church in Manhattan stood strong amongst  the debris and served as a place of refuge for responders and workers.

Any location related to your favorite film or TV show– This will be brief. Most interiors are shot at a soundstage so don’t drag yourself or the family out of the way to see an exterior only that you recognize. Alternative: Checkout On Location Vacations and try and catch a shoot while it’s happening.

Broadway play– Broadway and New York go together like peas and carrots. Only problem is, like peas and carrots, you can find Broadway plays nationwide year round. Alternative:  Look off Broadway to a small theater like Cherry Lane; the talent is still there and you’ll get to see a play unique to New York for a fraction of the price.

The post New York City: Five Hotspots To Pass On appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.