American Madness

Unless you have been living under a rock, are underage or are a practicing Muslim, you have probably heard of Newcastle Brown Ale. Definitely a quality beer which I got a chance to have a cup of at Eat. Drink. Cook. Live. I am not going to bore you with a review of Newcastle.

At the same booth as Newcastle was another beer: Grimbergen. It wasn’t a beer I was familiar with at all, so of course I was eager to try it. As it was the end of the day and I had been sipping booze and stuffing my face with tasty foods all day long, I recalled it was a good beer, but couldn’t really pinpoint why I thought that. I just remembered that I liked it. Thus began my mission.

(more…)

Yes, I know this has been slowly making its way around the net this week and when I first saw ti I wasn’t too excited about it. But then I took a little while and actually checked it out- it is kind of useful and definitely worth peeking at, especially if you are in New York, and get this, it even has some information on the boroughs.

Basically it is yet another Google map mash-up, but this one has implications beyond locating your favorite site in the Ghost Busters movies. This map mashes up New York with prices for Milk, Lettuce and a six-pack of Beer.

The project was conducted by the Brian Lehrer listeners of his WNYC radio show and the results are up on the WNYC website where you can find the cheapest places in your neighborhood to pick up any of those items. Some surprises, others, not so much.

The biggest disappointment I have to say is that the map is not more complete and the listeners don’t go to some of the supermarkets I go to, though now, having a better sense of the prices around me I might need to start going to different supermarkets

If you ever go to Tokyo, make sure you go to the Sapporo Museum (and yeah, there were only 2 of us).

Carlsburg is a beer that has recently been doing some popular advertising in London.

Taking £5,000 of £10 and £20 notes they slapped stickers on each of them saying: “Carlsberg don’t do litter. But if they did it would probably be the best litter in the world.”

They then proceeded to place (or drop) the notes randomly around the city. Anyone lucky enough to find one was £10 to £20 richer and, as Carlburg hopes, then headed to the local market to pick up a six pack.

Although it is a nice advertising stunt, which probably will get them plenty of news as well, what is the return on investment here? Even if each of the folks who find the notes runs out and buys a pint, or even a six pack, in the end aren’t they going to lose money?

Of course the argument could be made that that the recognition and “cool points” they get for such a campaign (or stunt) ut weights what they will make off their £5,000 investment (plus what ever it cost to thinkup and execute this idea)

Major thanks to Peter Shankman at PR Differently for passing this along.

Apparently a group of interns operating at one of New York’s finest summer employers (an investment bank, a law firm, advertising, marketing…who can say?) were charged with putting together a detailed list of happy hours.

This list is by no means comprehensive and our crack team of pattern recognition experts is hard at work trying to figure out what the listed bars have in common.

As always, send in your suggestions for additions.

If the authors want to come forward and embarras their firms (who is paying these billable hours anyway?), please feel free to contact us via comment, carrier pigeon or subpeona.

The American Madness Happy Hour Spreadsheet

(From the same people who brought you NYC Rooftop Bars: The List.

UPDATE
I hadn’t thought to check the spreadsheet’s properties, but it does appear that an employee of Disney was at some point responsible for creating (or perhaps just forwarding) this wonderful list. Thanks to Eater for the enlightenment and the plug.

And for the love of food…
As long as all you Eater fans are trundling through the briar patch, you might check out some of our stories in Food & Drink:

• Perry Street Fans and their Salty Ways
• Get Your Drink On
• Tasty Treats On The Move
• Recipe Quicky: Pineapple Hot Sauce

etc. etc.

Following up on Josh’s Thursday post on New York Roof Top Bars. I have a few more resources for those looking to score a drink after work one day.

First up we have New York On Tap, claiming to be “Your map to every bar in New York City.” A mighty big claim there, especially with the ever changing bar-scape of the city. It feels like a new bar is opening or closing every 15 minutes around these parts. Anyway, the site has listings of events taking place at bars, a map, a search guide and much more. If you are looking for a new spot for drinks, this might be a good place to check out.

Unthirsty is for those looking for instant gratification. Do a search for Happy Hours going on now in your neighborhood. You can specify if you want an out door area, food specials, drink specials or WiFi access (for the blogging community who just needs a drink to write a post). Unfortunately, Unthirsty is a bit light on the bars, but they are working to update that, listing more and more bars on a regular basis.

(more…)

The definitive American Madness list of New York City rooftop bars. Obviously, if we’re missing any, please let us know!

(Last update: April 16, 2008.)

A spreadsheet of the bars listed below is available at American Madness NYC Rooftop Bars: The Spreadsheet.

230 Fifth
230 5th Ave (26/27)

A60
60 Thompson (Spring/Broome)
www.60thompson.com

Ava Lounge at the Dream Hotel
210 West 55th Street (7th/Broadway)
http://www.avaloungenyc.com

Bar 13
13 East 13th Street (at University Place)
http://www.bar13.com/bar13/html/index.htm

Rooftop Lounge at the Empire Hotel (opening 4.30.08)
44 West 63rd Street (btw Columbus and Broadway)
http://www.empirehotelnyc.com/pooldeck.html

Hotel Metro Rooftop Bar
45 West 35th (5/6)
www.hotelmetronyc.com
Great view of Empire State Bldg.

Hudson Sky Terrace
356 W. 58th. (8th/9th)
www.ianschragerhotels.com

Jade Terrace
268 W. 47th (Broadway/8th)
www.chinaclubnyc.com

Patroon Rooftop
160 East 46th Street (Lex/3rd)
http://www.patroonrestaurant.com/rooftop.html

Pen-Top Bar & Terrace at the Peninsula Hotel
700 5th Ave (at 55th)
newyork.peninsula.com

Plunge at the Hotel Gansevoort
18 9th Ave (at 13th)
www.hotelgansvoort.com

Rare View Rooftop Garden at the Shelburne Murray Hill
303 Lexington Avenue (at Lexington)
(pictured)

Red Sky Lounge
47 East 29th Street (Park/Madison)
www.redskynyc.com

Ritz Carlton Battery Park
Two West Street (Battery Place/1st Place)
http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/BatteryPark/Default.htm

Roof Garden Café at the MET
Ffith Ave at 82nd Street
www.metmuseum.org

Rooftop at The Bently Hotel
500 E 62nd St. (at York)
http://nychotels.com
Amazing view of the queensboro bridge

Sun Roof at La Quinta Inn
17 W. 32nd (Broadway/5th)
www.laquinta.com
Cheap beer. If the Empire State Building falls, it will crush you.

The Delancey
168 Delancey Street (Clinton/Attorney)
http://www.thedelancey.com

The Heights Bar & Grill
2867 Broadway (111th/112th)

The Park
118 10th Avenue (17th/18th)
www.theparknyc.com

The Terrace at Sutton Place Bar and Restaurant
1015 2nd Avenue (53/54)
www.suttonplacenyc.com

Tonic East
411 Third Ave. (at 29th Street)
www.toniceast.com

Each year (okay, well, this year and last year, at least) Crumpler has run a promotion where instead of going into their store with money or a credit card in hand to buy one of their bags, you bring in some beer.

No, they don’t want your Bud Tall Boy, they have some specific requests for some specific bags. You can check out the trade conversion on their table here. They also have a pretty neat website so it is worth checking out on that front to. Their bags are nice as well if you like a nicely designed messenger bag (or, if you are short of seating at your house for 2 cases of Negro Modelo, 1 bag of Limes and a bottle of Hot Sauce you can get an 8-Ball bean bag chair). The fun starts June 9th.

Here is an article CNNMoney did on this promotion last year.