Can you smell that? It's the sweet and warm aroma of a three-course meal being brought out to you for the cost of just one course. That's right; it's Restaurant Week season again, and we've rounded up the best five in the coming March weeks. Most are already open to booking, so text your friends to see when they're free and then get on it:

· Boston, MA: March 6-11 & 13-18. Yo, Bostoneers! No need to hop a Chinatown bus for the two-hour trip to NYC for Restaurant Week anymore, as it's finally your turn for discounted menus. One season, we traveled to and hung out in Boston with friends for several days for the express purpose of chowing down during Boston Restaurant Week, and let us tell you it was worth it.

The extensive list of participating restaurants is already open for booking, and meal pricing is thus: 2-course lunches for $15.11; 3-course lunches for $20.11; and 3-course dinners for $33.11. Weird prices, but maybe it's special for 2011? Anyways, find out more information and book your tables at the official OpenTable site.]]> JetSetCD 2011-03-02T13:36:34-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/1/19/142655/047

A few days ago, The Brooklyn Paper published a most intriguing article that enlightened us to the fact that Brooklyn is attempting to get its Gowanus Canal and the surrounding neighborhood listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Sure, it's been around forever, and mills began operating on the Canal as early as 1645, but that doesn't change the fact that anyone who know a little bit about Brooklyn knows that, these days, it's one of the most polluted bodies of water in the country.

Still, local preservationists are all about getting the Gowanus neighborhood designated as a city historic district, which could possibly attract tourists to the area for its rusting, industrial, native Brooklyn grit. Because that's what the tourists to NYC want, right? Gritty, but pretty. ]]> JetSetCD 2011-01-19T15:21:11-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/12/16/112940/66

Although it's never nice to talk about past air incidents when they have the possibility of freaking you out before flying, but it's important to note that today marks the 50th Anniversary of one of the most tragic airplane accidents in history. At the time, in 1960, it was the deadliest, killing 128 people in the sky and 6 on the ground. Here's what happened:

In the morning of December 16, 1960, a TWA Constellation carrying 44 was heading to land at LaGuardia Airport while a United DC-8 Jet with 84 on board was on its way to land at Idlewild Airport (now JFK). Because of lower-tech air traffic control systems of the time, and because the United jet wasn't in the spot it thought it was, the two planes collided over Staten Island. The TWA prop plane was sliced into three pieces and fell straight down onto a military field in SI, while the United Jet managed to continue as far as Brooklyn, where it eventually fell into a church and intersection in the Park Slope neighborhood, killing 6 on the ground and setting buildings on fire. ]]> JetSetCD 2010-12-16T13:35:53-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/3/24/0526/80017
Cherry blossoms in Japan.

Spring is here, and a lovely sign of its arrival is the blooming of cherry blossoms all over the world. The most well-known stateside spot to see the pretty pale pink and white flowers is Washington, D.C., which will have its annual Cherry Blossom Festival soon—from March 27 to April 11. But you don't have to battle crowds at the capital to see clusters of pink-flowered trees.

Check out the The Top 5 Cities (Other Than D.C.) Where You See Cherry Blossoms, after the jump! ]]> Jennifer Kester 2010-03-24T10:43:32-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/3/24/8026/62669

It's finally spring in New York City, and do you know what that means (aside from the return of the tourists)? It means that everyone is shedding their coats and trading in their winter boots for bicycles and new running shoes. New York is an active city, and nowhere will you find more to do with better views than down in the Brooklyn neighborhood of DUMBO.

"Dumbo" means "Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass," because the small area—dominated by the buildings that print a certain religious organization's magazine—sits mainly underneath the roadways of the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. Being down in a warehouse-y district underneath bridges may sound sketchy, but Dumbo is populated by the rich and powerful who actually care about their area. We resided in Dumbo for a period ourselves, and found it to be one of the most pleasant urban communities we've ever set foot into. All of the chocolate and bookstores probably helped our opinion too.

You can easily reach the area by taking the F train to the York Street stop and walking downhill from there, or the A/C trains to High Street-Brooklyn Bridge. Or just walk across the Brooklyn Bridge from downtown Manhattan—your call.

Join us in DUMBO, after the jump. ]]> JetSetCD 2010-03-24T09:47:48-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/3/22/153823/436

Can we talk about chocolate for a second, please? It seems like every time we walk into a drug store or market, we're confronted with rows of vibrant foil-wrapped chocolate rabbits and Cadbury eggs. But there's so much more to be discovered in the world of Easter chocolates, and so while down in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn this weekend, we stopped by a few of the area's specialty stores and uncovered these mini miracles: chocolate-covered Peeps.

At $5 for a pack of four, they aren't cheap, but their name—the "Chirp-N-Dales," is too cute to resist. We got a pack of the dark chocolate-dipped bunnies, but the chicks in chocolate tuxedos were tempting too. They can be found at the flagship chocolaterie of chef Jacques Torres, who calls himself "Mr. Chocolate" and is often found guesting on talk shows or the Food Channel, discussing the ways of chocolate. He is someone who truly has fun with the rich stuff, because we usually swing by his chocolate-dipped Cheerios and espresso beans. But these Peeps had us at "hello."

More Peepin', after the jump! ]]> JetSetCD 2010-03-22T16:44:10-05:00 40.7032370 -73.991375 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/3/19/111630/170

It's 70 degrees in New York City today, and before the flurries come again this weekend and next week, we hopped out with our WiFi card to work under the sun in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Sitting nearby the water taxi dock and the River Cafe, noshing on some chocolate-covered Peeps from the Jacques Torres chocolaterie down the street, we watched as busloads of international tourists emerged from their winter hibernation and explored Brooklyn—well, the yuppie neighborhood known as "DUMBO," or "Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass."

It's like the birds returning from their migrations in the spring, when the tourists show up in their sunglasses. It's even more telling when said busloads are Italian, and they're looking up into the sun and sighing happily.

Next time you're in New York, you should make your own pilgrimage down to the Fulton Ferry Landing in Brooklyn's DUMBO neighborhood (if you haven't already), and savor the city in the spring and summer, especially now that they're readying to open a new section of the park. Perhaps you'll even catch one of the free outdoor films they show in the park, and then you'll really thank us.

Related Stories:
· Dining in Downtown Brooklyn: It's Always 1977 at Junior's [Jaunted]
· Travel Snapshots [Jaunted]

[Photo: Jaunted] ]]> JetSetCD 2010-03-19T14:36:39-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/