Elizabeth Taylor's jewels, clothes, and art are crisscrossing the globe leading up to their auction at Christie's in December
One of our on the ground London contacts returned from The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor exhibition with the following report: "That woman owned some serious bling."]]>
Dear fellow foodies: we have good news and we have awesome news. The good news is that NYC Restaurant Week Summer 2011 has been extended until September 5. The awesome news is that the prices—$24.07 for lunch and $35 for dinner—remain the same, the restaurants are still game all the way through Labor Day, and visitors to the city for the next couple weeks can enjoy the extension on the prix fixe meal deals.
Granted, Restaurant Week has become something more like Restaurant Month the last few times it's been offered, but you're not hearing any complaints from us. In fact, we kind of prefer these extra few weeks because the hype has died down, many diners have exceeded their Restaurant Week budgets already, and thus it's easier grabbing those primo reservations (especially when we're talking top lunches).
To take advantage of Restaurant Month, go here to see what restaurants are taking part in which meals, and even have a glance at the menus. Click through to book on OpenTable.com and check out our previous meal reviews here. We'll see you at the bar...
[Photo: Jaunted]]]>
If you're looking for further verification of our "wow, the Brits are kind of whiny about air travel aren't they" thesis from last week, you need search no further than the Twitter feed of the Economist's New York bureau chief Matthew Bishop. The largest city in the United States was functionally shut down to air travel for a day and what's the biggest new media travel story about JFK? How much Bishop complained when he got stuck on the tarmac for seven hours.
And while that would drive us insane too, you'd think that there would have been at least one prominent New Yorker who complained more than a random British guy, or someone from that Cathay Pacific flight that was stuck on the tarmac for ten hours. Apparently not.
More evidence: in order to placate the (barely) metaphorical mobs of pitchfork wielding Londoners, the British government is coming down hard on Heathrow and other airports. UK Transport Secretary Philip Hammond is threatening massive fines for—and we're going to quote the Daily Mail directly, the better to give you a sense of the British mood—"inflicting misery on passengers." ]]>
We thought Midwest (not to mention UK) air traffic two weeks ago was a total mess, and that things couldn't get much worse. Turns out we called that putt a little too early. If you're reading this right now, you're not suffering power outages like the 60,000 people in Massachusetts or the 16,000 people in New York or the 2,300 people in Rhode Island or the 40,000 people in Canada. So congratulations on that we suppose.
You're also not reading this from a New York airport, since those have been shut since last night. JFK, EWR, and LGA aren't projected to reopen until 4pm EST today, at which point they will have been offline for about about 24 hours each. That shouldn't be a problem, since it's not like a lot of people live in that region or like this was a weekend where lots of people were vacationing.
Ditto for the wave of airport cancellations that hit all three DC airports, plus Boston, Charlotte, Philadelphia, etc etc. Amtrak between New York and Boston is also shut down, so if you were desperately hoping to get to Logan and take the train into New York—which you probably couldn't do anyway—that won't work either.]]>
The cute cast, catchy tunes and biting one-liners of Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) are making Glee a runaway hit. The show is about Will (Matthew Morrison), a Spanish teacher hoping to bring back the glory of the school's glee club as we follow the drama of the kids in his club and, of course, of his arch nemesis, Sue.
Fanatics of the new Fox comedy, or "Gleeks" as they are known, are finally going to get the chance to not only buy the first volume of music from the show, but also see the cast live at mall appearances in New York, New Jersey and California.
Where to get your Glee on, after the jump.]]>
Another Labor Day, another annual National Buffalo Wing Festival. The Buffalo, NY event stretches back to 1992, when Wing King Drew Cerza was inspired to start it by Bill Murray's junk food addicted character in "Osmosis Jones." Over the years, it's grown from a small competitive eating spectacle to a full-blown convention--hosting over 400,000 total people, generating over $125,000 for New York charities, and even serving as the site of a wedding.
This year's gala promises to build on last year's gigantic festival, where more than 78,000 people consumed over 27 tons of wings.
Buffalo Wing Festival organizers are fond of describing the spectrum of sauces as stretching from the mild to the suicidal, with dozens upon dozens of stands serving their specialties. The "Official Wing Sauce of the National Buffalo Wing Festival," Frank's RedHot, will be given away from a booth at the festival. There are also a variety of eating contests, including one that involves bobbing for chicken wings in a vat of blue cheese. ]]>
Today in what's filming in the Hamptons, we find the new USA Series Royal Pains shooting on Snake Hollow Rd in Bridgehampton, NY. The show, about a recently laid off physician (Dr. Hank played by Mark Feuerstein) who, after spending a weekend in the Hamptons with his brother, becomes a concierge doctor to the wealthy,should provide a nice adult alternative to the teen drama of the Hamptons seen on Gossip Girl.
The Hamptons will play a large role in the series, which isn’t afraid to incorporate the community’s sometimes over-the-top, decadent way of life into its story lines. The show also touts Hamptons life on its website, which features a Travel Guide & Map of the Hamptons, a glossary of Hamptonese, and a Hamptons Insider Guide. ]]>