NYC Life: Half Day, Jazz, Chinatown, Cocktails, Chocolate & Plants
Photo: Nicole Freezer Rubens
We know life gets busy, and while we’d love to have you with us all day at the Renewal Summit, we understand that isn’t always possible. That’s why we’re offering Half-Day Tickets—so you can still experience the magic, inspiration, and knowledge that make this event unforgettable! And there’s more May fun. Put your dancing shoes on and head to the Gotham Jazz Festival. Chinatown’s Restaurant Week is coming up. Quick: How many NYC cocktails can you name? Check out the NYC cocktail guide. Our Long Island reporter has the scoop on the top garden centers. And our roving photographer is roving in chocolate!
Full Day Tickets Available and Now Half-Day too!
Join us for an afternoon of insight and discovery! Check-in at 1:15 PM. Get access to afternoon sessions featuring six leading doctors and healthcare experts discussing Your Body from Head to Toe. A panel on living abroad, exploring exciting global opportunities. A behind-the-scenes look at Broadway’s best-kept secrets in a fascinating closing segment. Plus—exhibitors, networking, and an end-of-day wine reception to toast to new connections and ideas! GET THE DETAILS.
May 18. The Gotham Jazz Festival
If you love jazz, the roarin’ twenties and getting up to dance, our dancing Tomato pal Judy Stewart says the THE GOTHAM JAZZ FEST is fabulous all day blast of great music with over 100 star musicians performing in an elegant multi level space with beautiful dance floors. You can dance, lounge or listen to the amazing lineup you see below. It will culminate with a jive and jumping “JAZZ JAM”. This event sells out ever year. Get your early bird tickets now.
May 19-24. Chinatown Restaurant Week
Chinatown is hosting Chinatown Restaurant Week®. The event features 18 participating restaurants, offering prix-fixe menus and off-menu specials. Some well-known spots like Hop Kee, Jing Fong, and Phoenix Palace are part of the lineup. If you’re planning to go, some places require dine-in reservations, so it’s good to check ahead. GET THE DETAILS.
Roving in Chocolate
Nicole Freezer Rubens writes:
If you want to satisfy all of your chocolate cravings at once, head to Oneg Heimishe Bakery in the heart of the Hasidic neighborhood in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn. This classic kosher Jewish bakery has been making one of New York’s number one babkas for generations. Opened by grandmothers who survived the Holocaust in Hungary and immigrated to Brooklyn with their original recipes for challah, rugelach and hamantaschen, Oneg now serves their special treats nationwide, shipping on Goldbelly.
New York Magazine described the famous babka confection as “sticky as tar, dense with rivulets of wet, fudgy chocolate; heavy as a cinder block and sold by weight.”
An added bonus to visiting the bakery in person is stepping into Lee Avenue and the intimate society of Hasidic Jews in New York City. The old world shop is located at 188 Lee Avenue and closes two hours before sundown on Friday and all day Saturday. Oneg is truly worth the trip to peek into other communities thriving and to taste the cake voted number one in a city of so many competing chocolate babkas!
Long Island Spotlight: Garden Centers
Whether you’re dreaming of a backyard bursting with color or simply looking to add a touch of greenery to your space, finding the right nursery is the first step. Fortunately, Long Island is home to some exceptional garden centers, each offering a variety of plants, expert advice, and everything you need to make your garden grow. Andrea Peponakis shares four of the best—two in Nassau and two in Suffolk—to help you get started this season. GET THE DETAILS.
Iconic New York City Cocktails
You can probably name the Cosmo (thanks, Sex and the City) and the Manhattan, but there are actually several cocktails that originated in New York. But there are others like Bronx, and Brooklyn. NYC Tourism has a great article explaining their history, signature ingredients, and the best bars to enjoy them.
For example, the Bronx cocktail was first poured in the early 1900s at the Waldorf Astoria and is made with gin, vermouth, and orange juice. The Brooklyn cocktail, featuring rye whiskey and maraschino liqueur, gained popularity during the cocktail renaissance. The Cosmopolitan, famously associated with Sex and the City, was refined in NYC in the 1980s. If you’re looking for a true NYC cocktail experience, this article is a great guide!
The tomato behind The Three Tomatoes.
Cheryl Benton, aka the “head tomato” is founder and publisher of The Three Tomatoes, a digital lifestyle magazine for “women who aren’t kids”. Having lived and worked for many years in New York City, the land of size zero twenty-somethings, she was truly starting to feel like an invisible woman. She created The Three Tomatoes just for the fun of it as the antidote for invisibility and sent it to 60 friends. Today she has thousands of friends and is chief cheerleader for smart, savvy women who want to live their lives fully at every age and every stage. She is the author of the novel, "Can You See Us Now?" and co-author of a humorous books of quips, "Martini Wisdom." Because she's lived a long time, her full bio won't fit here. If you want the "blah, blah, blah", read more. www.thethreetomatoes.com/about-the-head-tomato
