the weekend buzz

“Brunch at Bao Noodles, Chocolates at Rouge Tomate and Snow Days and Bubbly at David Burke”

Brunch at Bao Noodles

My friends and I always lament about the cheap and tasty Vietnamese food we can easily find in LA or Houston, where there are huge enclaves of Southeast Asians. In New York, it’s not so easy (at least on the cheap side). Who wants to pay $18 for a bowl of pho?

At Bao Noodles, owners Chris Andrews and Chris Johnson are offering a weekend brunch with a Vietnamese twist. For $9.99, you get a main entrée AND cocktail. You can skip greasy hash browns and runny eggs with Vietnamese-style congee, a steaming rice porridge filed with squid, crab, shrimp, chicken or duck. There’s also Vietnamese omelets with pork and wood-ear mushrooms or seasonal vegetables and an egg and Chinese bacon baguette with a chilled vermicelli salad. The special cocktails — they’ve got an extensive sake selection — include a Bloody Bao, Bao Bellini and Mimosa. If you want more traditional Vietnamese fare, the a la carte brunch menu features spring and summer rolls (with vegetables, tofu or meat-filled), papaya and grapefruit salads and crispy panko-crusted pork chops. And of course there’s pho at a reasonable price. Enjoy!

Bao Noodles is located at 391 Second Ave. (between 22nd and 23rd Streets), 212-725-7770, www.baonoodles.com.

—Bao Ong

Eco-Chocolates with Dinner at Rouge Tomate

Sweet Love Saturdays starts this week at the Michelin-starred Rouge Tomate. Beginning this Saturday, February 6th and continuing until Saturday, February 27th, when you have dinner at Rouge Tomate, you’ll receive a special box of Divine Chocolate and a handful of Passion Fruit Truffles as a gift from Executive Pastry Chef, James Distefano to take home.  Divine Chocolate is an eco-friendly cooperative of cocoa farmers in Ghana in which the local workers own shares in the company.  Divine Chocolate's fair trade practices ensure that profits from the company benefit cocoa farmers in West Africa in real and sustainable ways.  But of course, it’s not just the story that’s deliciously sweet, it’s the chocolate too!

Rouge Tomate is located at 10 East 60th St. between Madison and Fifth, 646.237.8977

Bubbly on Snow Days

Since the weekend forecast calls for snow, you might want to take a trek over to one of David Burke’s restaurants (David Burke Townhouse, Fishtail, and David Burke at Bloomingdales) for his special Veuve Clicquot Champagne promotion. This winter they’re serving up a special price on Veuve by the glass ($15) with dishes that pair particularly well with the sparkly stuff: coddled oysters with lemon butter and caviar, sea scallops benedict with lobster foam and chocizo oil, and crab truffles with grilled pineapple. Snow days will be announced by 10am on both David Burke and Veuve Clicquot Facebook and Twitter pages. After a few glasses it may be time for snow angels in the park. YAY!

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