Bronx Academy of Letters Benefit 2013 | Events


A whiskey-based cocktail made by Please Don’t Tell at the Bronx Letters 10th Anniversary Benefit.

If you can attend only one charity event throughout the entire year (and are also prepared to eat a lot of meat), you should make it the Bronx Academy of Letters Benefit. Tickets aren’t inexpensive, but the range of good food from so many good restaurants is staggering.

The benefit got me eating things I don’t even like, and taking chances on others. I ate roe, and I haven’t touched it since I left Japan in 2008. I gobbled down most of a piece of pizza from Roberta’s… and I’m lactose intolerant. Interestingly I was fine, meaning their mozzarella is made seriously right. Wasn’t about to try my luck with any of the dishes made with ricotta, though.  

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Flûte Midtown


Saturday night at Flûte Midtown is dark, intimate, and low-key.

We were more intrigued by the signature cocktails than the tasting flights and bottles. Several Champagne Mojitos were ordered on the glowing recommendation from our server. The verdict was split– two of the party loved the Champagne Mojito, two felt it tasted oddly of tonic water. I was puzzled by the $15 half-full sherry glass of Antoinette, a champagne cocktail made with grapefruit-strawberry puree. The presentation threw me, but it tasted as expected, like a drier version of a Bellini. The gin-based, mint, cucumber and champagne Gabriel (also $15) was deemed solid. However, Flûte’s version of the Dark and Stormy ($16) was the clear favorite of the night. The right combination of sweet and savory, lighter than an classic Dark and Stormy but just as enjoyable.

Seating-wise, the couches with plush pillows are comfortable and avoid getting stuck on an ottoman. The choice of music for the night was unexpected, but not bad. I almost felt like I was listening to my Ellie Goulding Pandora station. I did note a surprising lack of Moët & Chandon Impérial on the menu, so the die-hard Moët fan readers (you know who you are) should seek their lifeblood elsewhere.

Flûte Midtown is located at 205 W 54th St between 7th & Broadway. Reserve a table at flutebar.com.