Asian-inspired night market comes to Brooklyn, New York

by Jessica Festa on

On Sunday, October 9, 2011, from 5PM to midnight, the Brooklyn Night Bazaar will be held at Dekalb Market in Brooklyn, New York. The event, which is inspired by the night markets across Asia, will feature more than 65 independent vendors, food, music, art, and a beer and wine garden, all outdoors. While the event is free, there will be a ticket charge of $12-$15 to enter the performance area. Tickets can be purchased here.

Some things to expect:

Dekalb Market is located at 138 Willoughby St., at the intersection of Flatbush Avenue Extension and Willoughby in Brooklyn, New York.

Inside Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s annual Chile Pepper Fiesta

by Jessica Festa on

Last Saturday, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden held their annual Chile Pepper Fiesta, a mix of music, dancing, beer, chocolate, and, best of all, chile peppers. Being a hot sauce junky myself, I was really excited for my quest around the numerous kimchee and spicy pickle stalls to try to find something that would really make my throat burn.

While the event hosted various educational lectures on green living, gardening, and cooking, the real fun here was the samples. Various spicy dips, vegetables, condiments, salsa’s and more were dispersed around the gardens, allowing for a picturesque setting while you (willingly) set your mouth on fire. Although I can honestly say that there was nothing I didn’t enjoy trying, my top pick for tasty and spicy sauces was Grace Foods. They sell a line of Caribbean-style products, and their Grace Jerk Hot Seasoning, which has hot peppers from Jamaica as well as Scotch Bonnet peppers, was flavorful while creating that intense but enjoyable spice that creeps up on you at the end. Karma Sauce also had an array of sauce flavors to sample, including Good, Bad, Curry, Smokey, and Catsup. The Bad was actually really Good, tasting like a sweet red pepper and then slowly bringing on the heat. I was definitely thankful for the live bands at the event and the beer tent to be able to relax and reset my palate.

While sampling the savory sauces, drinking pumpkin beer, and watching Caribbean dancers made for a great day, the real highlight was in Osbourne Garden, which had been transformed into a Chile Chocolate Wonderland. While I always put hot sauce and peppers on my meals, the concept of mixing chiles with desert was new to me. However, after sampling the various spicy cookies, chile-infused chocolate bars, and pepper-flavored truffles, I was instantly addicted. I also learned there is a demand for spicy chocolate in Brooklyn, New York, as there were tons of chile-chocolate connoisseurs at the event. My absolute favorite treat in this area was, without a doubt, Tumbador Chocolate’s Hot Hot Chocolate. For $1 you could buy a small Dixie cup of the stuff, which was thick and creamy and, of course, spicy.

If you’re in Brooklyn, New York, and want to sample some spicy chocolate of your own, here is a list of excellent places to try:

Tumbador Chocolate
34 34th St., Brooklyn
(718) 788 0200

nunu chocolates
529 Atlantic Ave., between 3rd and 4th Ave., Brooklyn
(917) 776 7102

The Chocolate Room
86 Fifth Ave., Park Slope, Brooklyn
(718) 783 2900

269 Court St.,Cobble Hill, Brooklyn
(718) 246 2600

Liddabit Sweets
Check out the Brooklyn Flea Market on Saturdays for their stall at 45 Main St., Brooklyn
info@liddabitsweets.com

Mast Brother’s Chocolate
105A North 3rd St., Brooklyn
(718) 388 2625

Egyptian Book of the Dead on display at Brooklyn Museum

by Sean McLachlan on


After three years of careful study and restoration, an important version of the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead has gone on display in the Brooklyn Museum.

The Book of the Dead was a collection of prayers, spells, and rituals to help the dead in the afterlife. The book has its roots in prehistoric times. As the civilization in Egypt developed, the prayers and spells became more elaborate. Eventually they were gathered together in chapters to create what we call the Book of the Dead. Individual chapters or sets of chapters were written on tombs, mummy cases, and rolls of papyrus. Many burials have portions of the book, one of the largest being the Papyrus of Ani, which you can view online.

The Brooklyn Museum example was for the tomb of Sobekmose, a gold worker. It’s an early and long version, probably dating to the reign of Thutmose III or Amunhotep II (c. 1479–1400 BC). It’s 25 feet long, written on both sides, and contains nearly half of the known Book of the Dead chapters.

Portions of this book have long been on display at the museum. This is the first time the entire book is on display.

[Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons]

Top 5 festivals in New York this weekend

by Jessica Festa on

New York is known for its many cultural, artistic, and just downright fun festivals. If you are looking to experience some of the unique events that the city has to offer make sure you’re in town this weekend, October 1-2, 2011, for five must-attend festivals of the Fall.

Chile Pepper Fiesta
When: Oct 1, 11AM-6PM
Where: Brooklyn Botanic Garden

For those who love anything spicy (including your music!) the Chile Pepper Fiesta is a must. The event will include 8 bands from sizzling regions, hot salsa, tingling kimchee, zesty pickles, and other fiery foods. There will also be a Chile-Chocolate Takedown contest where you will be able to sample and vote. Along with musical entertainment there will also be circus-style performances such as chile pepper juggling and fire eating.

New York Burlesque Festival
When: Sept 29-Oct 2
Where: Varies by performance

If you want to see the sexier side of New York, come check out the New York Burlesque Festival. Friday night is the premier party with some of the top names in the business in attendance. Hosted by Scotty the Blue Bunny at Brooklyn Bowl. Saturday night, Murray Hill hosts a bed-supper-club style party with a stage of beauty queens at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill. Sunday is the last day of festival as Miss Astrid hosts an Oscar-like award ceremony for Burlesque at the Highline Ballroom.

New York Wine and Food Festival
When: Sept 29-Oct 2
Where: Varies, but mainly in the Meatpacking District

Not only can you enjoy delicious cuisine and sample local and international wines at the New York Wine and Food Festival, you can also give back to charity, as 100% of the net proceeds to to the Food Bank for New York City. Television chefs such as Emeril Lagasse and Bobby Flay, culinary experts, wine makers, and cocktail connoisseurs come together to give demonstrations, tastings, panels, classes, book signings, and more.

Art in Odd Places
When: Oct 1-10
Where: Along 14th Street, from Ave C to the Hudson River

While visiting art galleries in New York is always an enlightening experience, being indoors all day, especially with the beautiful Fall weather, can feel a bit cramped. Art in Odd Places allows people to experience an open-air art event, including visual and performance art with a ritualistic theme.

New York Film Festival
When: Sept 30-Oct 16
Where: The Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center at Lincoln Center

The New York Film Festival is a must for any film lover, especially if you want to find unique films from around the world with interesting perspectives that you usually would not find at your local movie theater. The festival aims to create and enhance an understanding of the art form of film. Some titles to lookout for include The Artist, Sleeping Sickness, Footnote, 4:44 Last Day on Earth, and My Week With Marilyn. Ticket prices and show times vary.

Blogger Ori Epstein

by Ori Epstein on

Where was your photo taken: The side of the road in some unknown (to me) village in Rajasthan.

Where do you live now: The beautiful brownstone neighborhood of Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, New York, at least until I get priced out.

Scariest airline flown: I think I have the complete opposite of a fear of flying – I get so excited by travel that just getting to the airport or boarding a plane can leave me downright giddy. And even severe turbulence or drunk-acting pilots won’t shake that giddiness. Of course, it also helps that I typically fly airlines like Delta or JetBlue, rather than something like Khyber Afghan Airlines or Trans Air Congo. But if I really had to pick the scariest, I guess it would be the first time I flew with my then 3-month old daughter, a 12-hour, 2-layover Southwest cross-country slog. I don’t know exactly what the feeling was of changing a cranky infant’s toxic diaper in a cramped 737 lavatory 20,000 feet above Sacramento, but it might as well have been fear.

Favorite city/country/place: Barcelona? Jerusalem? Peru? Australia? How can anyone possibly answer this, there are so many incredible places. But fine, I’ll answer it – Mexico. It pretty much has everything: vibrant cities, quaint colonial towns, ancient ruins, beaches, jungle, desert, and an incredible cuisine. And best of all, for us Americans, it’s all right there in our backyard!

Most remote corner of the globe visited: It might not feel like it when you’re there, but Hawaii. Out in the middle of the Pacific, over 2,000 miles away from the nearest human settlement, it’s extraordinary that this tropical, volcanic, Asian melting pot is part of the United States.

Favorite guidebook series: I think that all the major travel guide publishers can be pretty hit or miss, and the authors are usually a better gauge of quality than the brand. But for this I’ll go with Bradt Travel Guides. I’ve never actually used Bradt, this is more of an aspirational choice. Their books, which cover places like the Congo, Somaliland, and Iraq, appeal to the adventurous traveller in me that I have not quite become.

Dream travel destination: Crossing the salt flats of Bolivia; exploring the Okavango Delta of Botswana; hiking to the Rila Monastery in Bulgaria. Basically, any country that starts with the letter B.

How did you get started travelling? My parents, inveterate passport stamp collectors, refused to let parenthood get in the way of their wanderlust. By the time I was 6, they had already dragged me along to places like Tanzania, the Seychelles, Israel, and Greece. Like it or not, they created a budding travel addict, and I can only hope to do the same for my daughter.

When I’m not writing for Gadling, I’m…either trying to corral a tireless 11-month old or pay off my law school debts.

Languages Spoken: Some Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Danish, and, thanks to my day job, legalese.