offManhattan

We all love good eats, but at what cost to the environment are you enjoying that greasy hamburger and fries? On the other hand, given the glut of ambiguous green advertising around New York City, how can you be sure you are satisfying your food craving in the most eco-friendly fashion?

But green gourmands, despair not! Partnership for the Environment, a member-based organization of environmentally committed businesses, awards restaurants emblems that represent various aspects of sustainability, and each verification is explained in detail on their website. For example, if an eatery is “verified” in the food and water categories, the food is USDA organic, and the produce is certified to have been locally harvested from small farms. Among other things, water certification guarantees that drinking water is only reserved upon request, and that a broom, rather than a hose, is used to clean the sidewalk in front of the building.

Partnership for the Environment is offering one hungry (and eco-conscious) oM reader a $50 gift certificate to the member restaurant of their choice—be it in Philadelphia, Greenwich, or New York City. May we recommend GustOrganics, an organic restaurant with an Argentinean flavor that carries its commitment to sustainability from its solar lighting to its reclaimed wood tables.

For a complete list of certified sustainable restaurants, visit Partnership online: partnershipfortheenvironment.com.

1) Follow us on Twitter and tweet this message (if you already follow us, just tweet!):

“Win a $50 certificate to a sustainable restaurant of your choice. Just follow @offManhattan and RT! http://bit.ly/FreeMeal”

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2) Sign up for our email list. (If you’re already a subscriber, you are automatically entered for a chance to win the giveaway.)

You can do both to be entered twice, and tweet once a day to be entered multiple times and increase your chance of winning. Deadline is Friday, March 5th at 11:59pm EST – a winner will be chosen at random and announced the next day. Good luck!

Photo: Courtesy of h-bomb

Poutine—a greasy bechamel of fries slathered in gravy and cheese curds—is about as easy for an American to dismiss as curling or ice hockey. It’s just the type of handiwork we’d expect of the country that took our ham and called it their bacon.

What: The Brooklyn Taco Experiment

Where: The Bell House, Gowanus, Brooklyn

When: Sunday, January 31, 1- 5 p.m., free after party

Why: The Atlantic recently tweeted a timeline on food history that dated the tortilla shell back to 5000 BC. Since its discovery, the utensil-less taco universal appeal comes from the limitless sweet and savory combinations found in the middle of its shell.

This Sunday, Nick Suarez and Theo Peck of the Food Experiments are bringing their latest cook-off to jack-of-all-venues, The Bell House. Sunday afternoon will feel like an endless indoor taco truck as 300 people consume the 11,000 four-inch mini corn tortilla shells donated by Tortilleria Chinantla in Williamsburg.

“This time we asked ourselves, ‘What constitutes a democratic food that jumps racial, economic, and regional barriers? And what is a food that everyone likes?’” said Suarez. “The taco was the first thing that came to mind.” The pair will host 30 chefs as they test their taco techniques with fillings like pork, beer, chicken, chorizo, and oh yes, chocolate.

When you put fresh, seasonal, and local together, voilà! You have iCi.

If you’re in the market for an intimate venue for a special date night, faite attention. Okay, so this new American bistro isn’t really French, but it is romantic, tasty, and eco-friendly. And you could be this week’s giveaway winner of a dinner for two up to $75.

Should you venture across the Brooklyn Bridge on February 14, the prix-fixe will include mini ginger cream and topika crepes, a rosemary rack of lamb, and a chocolate torte with bourbon sauce and Chantilly. Otherwise, you might try crispy sweet and sour pork belly, vegetarian lasagna, and pumpkin mousse with a spiced graham cracker tart.

1) Follow us on Twitter and tweet this message (if you already follow us, just tweet!):

“Win a dinner for two at iCi in Brooklyn. Just follow @offManhattan and RT! http://bit.ly/FreeDinner”

OR

2) Sign up for our email list. (If you’re already a subscriber, you are automatically entered for a chance to win the giveaway.)

You can do both to be entered twice, and tweet once a day to be entered multiple times and increase your chance of winning. Deadline is January 31st at 11:59pm EST – a winner will be chosen at random and announced the next day. Good luck!

How to get there: Take the G train to Smith-Washington subway stop. (iCi, 246 DeKalb Ave., 718.789.2778, icirestaurant.com)

Palo Santo, a Latin bistro in Brooklyn’s Park Slope, is doing its part to aid the Haiti outreach effort by organizing a one-night prix-fixe dinner special on Sunday, January 31. Half of the meal’s proceeds will be donated to the Rural Haiti Project, a U.S.-based youth service organization. The three-course menu, which will consist of traditional Haitian dishes such as pan roasted blue fish and platano slaw, costs $50 per person including food, beverages, tax, and tip.

This month, offManhattan’s editorial intern (yours truly) took time during her winter break from NYU to compile a list of off the beaten path places—think campy bars, vintage boutiques, outdoor art exhibits—she wants her fellow college students to know about. Manhattan has good stuff, but how often do you venture out of your comfort zone and into the surrounding boroughs or across the Hudson River to Hoboken? Consider these tips and take at least one day to check ‘em out before classes resume, eh?

Here is the college guide.

Bar None is a collegiate gem, as is The Heights, but Manhattan is not the only drinker’s market in New York City for you (of age) university students. From campy bars in Brooklyn to live electric blues in Hoboken, our third college guide will point the way to crazy drink specials and cozy new nightlife spots—with some foodie places thrown in for good measure—to help you experience the best of NYC. (Don’t fret, your favorite local hangouts will still be there when you get back.)

What: 3rd Ward’s New Lost City/New Years Eve Party

Where: Two former factories in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn

When: Dec 31st, 9:00 p.m.—7:00 a.m.

Why: Across two buildings and five themed spaces, not too far from the frigid Times Square ball drop celebration, an end-of-the-decade party awaits like you’ve never experienced. Brooklyn locals and outer-borough bashers will pop champagne and shake away the last hours of 2009 with the help of 13 DJ’s and more than a dozen artists. 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. . .

All five boroughs of New York are densely scattered with a variety of cultural pockets holding strong ties to the old country of its generations of immigrants. Queens leads the pack as the most culturally diverse county in the country. When we think of Astoria, we are quick to think Greek (or of a certain Czech Beer Garden), but the stretch of Steinway Street between 28th Avenue and Astoria Boulevard is rich with North African, and more specifically, Egyptian and Moroccan culture.