WHAT: Bed|Stu Online Sample Sale @ HauteLook

WHY: Bed|Stu footwear at a discount!

WHEN: 8/15 11am - 8/17 11am

WHERE: HauteLook

*To sign up & access the sales, please click here.
HauteLook.com

New York is both the center of the media world and the country’s greatest food city, so it’s no surprise that the city is chock full of food blogs - so full that it’s hard to know where to begin. That’s why we’ve created this guide for you to the best of the best: just think of it as your Cliffs Notes for NYC Restaurants 101.

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR…News
Grub Street New York (http://newyork.grubstreet.com) offers more than a dozen posts each day on everything from openings and closings to cookbook reviews to the foodievents you just can’t miss (full disclosure: we used to write for Grub Street. We were, however, a reader before we were an employee). There’s also a cornucopia of regular features, including the addictive New York Diet, wherein celebrities talk about what they like to eat in the city.
Runner Up: Diner’s Journal (http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/): The writing might not be as punchy as Grub Street or Eater, but the news is always breaking.

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR…Gossip
Eater (http://ny.eater.com) will have you feeling like a restaurant insider after reading just a few posts. It’s snarky, it’s dishy, and it’s fun. If you urgently need to know Todd English’s latest dating drama, who Ryan Skeen is mad at right now, or exactly how soon Michael Bao’s next project will open, Eater is the blog for you.
Runner Up: Fork In The Road (http://blogs.villagevoice.com/forkintheroad/): One part industry gossip, one part service-oriented features add up to what might be New York’s most underrated food blog.

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR…Restaurant Recommendations Serious Eats New York (http://newyork.seriouseats.com/) is, without a doubt, the city’s most comprehensive service-oriented blog. Want to know where to find the city’s best chocolate chip cookie? They’ve done a scientific study. Looking for an early review of the hottest new restaurant? They’ll have one within a week of opening, complete with a drool-inducing slideshow.
Runner Up: Midtown Lunch (http://midtownlunch.com/): As Midtown workers doubtless know, the area can be a food wasteland. Midtown Lunch effortlessly cuts through all the overpriced steakhouses and salmonella delis to find the best cheap eats around.

-Leila Cohan-Miccio

It’s hard out there for a bride, especially one trying to buy a dress in New York City. Bridal salon owners sneer at women who “only” want to spend $2000 on a dress they’ll wear exactly once, and prices top $1000 even at David’s Bridal. The Bridal Garden’s sample sale feels like an oasis in this madness. Sure, it’s hectic: sale visitors are essentially deposited into a giant room filled with lace, organza, and tulle and told to pull their own dresses. For those who take the time to thoroughly comb the racks, however, there are some amazing bargains to be found.

A Winnie Couture beaded satin gown was all Old Hollywood glamor and a steal at $1195 from $1578. A dreamy lace and ruffles Bara Luxe Couture that would be killer for a garden wedding was $2795 from $3920. A simple, elegant stiff satin Marisa bore a $3200 price tag at Kleinfeld, but here, it cost a mere $1695. The steal of the day, however, was probably an effortlessly chic Lela Rose number with lace panels and a rosette at the neck - $2295 from $4495.

This isn’t the typical bridal salon experience - not only do visitors have to pull their own dresses, but there’s also no consultant helping you in and out of the gowns (though they do regularly pop in on the dressing rooms, often while their occupants are in flagrante delicto) - but those willing to brave the madness will be rewarded. Looks like it just got a little easier out there for a New York bride. - Leila Cohan-Miccio

PS NO PICS ALLOWED!!!!

I was hoping I wouldn’t have to re-report the success of Restaurant Week in light of our lovely recession (although retail sales have been up for the past two months), but here we are. Same shit, different day.

So it’s restaurant week, and I’m trying my best to impersonate someone who is actually enthused about this. In fact, I reached to the bowels of food reviewer hell to look up the website and pick a restaurant just trek to in the rain and fake feeling happy about eating…for less.  A daunting task, but some poor sap’s gotta do it. Here’s what I’ve come up with. Excuse the moaning and griping; I’ve been hanging out with a lot of French people.

My picks for the week are 10 Downing and Bond Street. I saw DBGB on the list, but A) Been there. Done that, although yet to report. and B) You can afford it without restaurant week. Yeah, newsflash to places like Club Room (puke), Restaurant Week’s original purpose, which has since been madly muddled, is to bring normal ‘ol folk exquisite cuisine that, under normal circumstances, would break the bank.

Why? 10 Downing because you can enjoy art while you eat, the pleasant atmosphere keeps for an even keeled, but never boring, crowd, and  the striped bass makes me want to float on a heavenly cloud to that dream diner in the sky. Maybe you can afford it without restaurant week, but their menu rocks. Do it.

And Bond Street because I’ve had their Restaurant Week menu several times as well as eaten there more times than I can count, and think it’s in the running for the best sushi in New York City. If it weren’t so cliche, I’d call it my favorite restaurant in New York. The carpaccio makes me teary and every piece of fish melts in my pretty pink mouth. Do it too.

Oh, riiiiiiiight… I seem to have overlooked you newbies. For those of you who haven’t eaten at all of the classic Restaurant Week spots yet, I’ve pulled them from the ghastly Restaurant Week list. You can thank me any time.

In no particular order: Megu, Tao, Le Cirque, The River Cafe, Morimoto, Nobu - if and only if you are absolutely broke and cannot go sans Restaurant Week, i Trulli, China Grill, and Delmonico’s.

These classics have graced the Restaurant Week list for years, so book in advance because the tourists are going to be swarming. Newbies take note, write these down and visit some this week - or month- and the rest the next time Restaurant Week comes around, which, in this economy, will be here before you can say “2009 was the most boring summer ever.” Then breathe easy knowing you can forget about Restaurant Week like the rest of New Yorkers.

NYC Restaurant Week  July 12-31  Average dinners $35 & lunch $25

Bon Appetite!