Eating Brooklyn is looking for contributors for the ever-expanding culinary guide into Brooklyn. Check out the post and contact the editor, Sam, if you are interested. We'd love to see more views and critiques, so get those fingers working!
Our sister-site EatingLongIsland.com has just posted a review on Bonsai Japanese Restaurant in Port Washington. You can find that review by clicking here. 516-883-0103
Our local partner LENNDEVOURS is in the running for being one of the wine-bloggers of the year. This post originally appeared on LENNDEVOURS.
"It's that time of year again in the wine blogosphere. Yes, the American Wine Blog Awards are back and this year I'm honored to learn that LENNDEVOURS has been named a finalist in 2 of the 7 categories, "Best Single-Subject Wine Blog" and "Best Overall Wine Blog."
Some of my favorite blogs have also made the final round, so congratulations to those bloggers as well.
As I said, it's an honor just to be nominated (not that I'd mind winning mind you) not only because it is great to be recognized by peers and wine blog readers, but also because it truly shows the power that wine blogs can have. To have a wine blog that focuses on New York wines be named a double finalist really shows how blogs can help level the playing field for lesser-known regions.
Personally, I'm proud that a blogger like me -- someone not from California (the enter of the U.S. wine world) and someone with a day job outside of the wine world -- has apparently earned a place alongside people who write about for a living. That's the power of blogs afterall, isn't it? Citizen journalism and all that.
I would also be remiss if I didn't give much of the credit for this blog's success to Nena, who has supported me and pushed me to post more and better throughout the years. And, in the last year or so, I've been able to bring several great writers on board to help bring new voices and perspectives to the blog.
So, if you enjoy what read here on LENNDEVOURS, I'd encourage you to vote for us. Voting ends at the end of the day on March 4.
Vote today."
Our newest contributor in the East of NYC and "Eating..." networks is Jacquelyn Moore. She's written a fantastic review of Tazza in Brooklyn Heights for our new site, Eating Brooklyn. You can find that here! Go check it out! Now!
Our sister site, Eating Long Island has just posted a review of Shang Hai Pavilion II in Bellmore and the reason for their visit, the hard to find Soup Dumplings. To read the review please click here.
This post was originally posted on our sister-site, Eating Long Island.
This post has been reproduced from our friends over at LENNDEVOURS
I love when I taste a Long Island red with complexity and substance... especially when I find out later that it's only $16 at the winery (and no-doubt available for under $15 at shops).
One such wine is Jamesport Vineyards' East End Series Cinq. It's a kitchen sink blend of merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, syrah and pinot noir that surprisingly doesn't taste like a bunch of leftovers thrown together.
Medium crimson red in the glass, there are nice, fairly effusive aromas of black cherry preserves, blackberries, black pepper spice and even a subtle smoked meat component that is interesting.
Medium bodied with soft tannins and just a little acidity the flavors are very similar to the nose with maybe a bit more smoke and oak apparent.
It's not a mind-blowing wine. It's not going to set the world ablaze or knock you over the head... but that's a good thing. This is a good every day local red.
Producer: Jamesport Vineyards
AVA: North Fork of Long Island
Price: $16
Rating: 
About Lenn Thompson:
Lenn a proud Pittsburgh, PA native, moved to Long Island
nearly a decade ago and promptly fell in love with the region's dynamic and
emerging wine industry. An Internet marketing guru by profession, he founded LENNDEVOURS.com, his wine
blog, in early 2004 to share his passion for the wines of New York with his
readers. It has since grown into the premier source for New York wine commentary, tasting notes and news.
Formerly the editor of the Long Island Wine Gazette and contributor to Edible Brooklyn, he serves as the wine columnist for Edible East End, Hamptons.com and Dan's Papers in the Hamptons. He is also a regional editor for Appellation America covering the Long Island and Hudson River Valley regions. He lives in Sound Beach, NY with his wife Nena, son Jackson and trusty beagle, Ben Roethlisbeagle.
This post has been reproduced from LENNDEVOURS:
Before the North Fork became the epicenter of the Long Island wine industry, it was covered in potato fields. Long Island potatoes were famous long before the Hargraves planted grape vines in the early 1970s.
Of course, many of those potato fields have been replaced by grape vines, but there are still hundreds (thousands?) of acres of potatoes grown on Long Island.
You might think about French fries or mashers when you think potatoes, but Rich Stabile, owner of and head distiller at Long Island Spirits, sees the ultimate raw material for making vodka.
"Long Island has a long history and tradition for producing world-class potatoes. Potatoes also produce the world's finest vodkas," he told me in an email last week.
The distillery, on Sound Avenue in Baiting Hollow, occupies a restored barn on an 80-acre potato farm. It's there that Stabile uses 9,000 pounds of locally grown potatoes to make a single batch of vodka in two German-made 650-liter copper stills. Eventually, the barn will serve as a tasting room too, Stabile just isn't sure when. "We are waiting on the State for the tasting room, so I have no firm date on when we will be able to open."
