Best German restaurants in New York City

With all the German restaurants that New York City has to offer, it can be hard to decide where to eat. Here are three of the best German restaurants in New York City.

Heidelberg Restaurant

The Heidelberg restaurant has been in business since 1936. They offer excellent German food and great beer. Enjoy Octoberfest specials such as Filet Stroganoff with rice and red cabbage or Sauerkraut Goulash, all year long.

Brunch is served between 12 and 4pm with Potato pancake and smoked Salmon-sour cream and capers as one of the choices. Lunch specials, soup and sandwiches and entrees are available Monday thru Saturday 11:30am to 3:30 pm. For dinner enjoy an appetizer of baked Camembert cheese, the soup of the day, followed by a delicious entre of Bratwurst, Potato pancakes or Schweineshaxe (roasted pork shank with sauerkraut and boiled potato), to name a few.

Finish off with a desert and your favorite non alcoholic beverage or German beer. Expect to spend between $10 to $20 dollars per entre. Take out is also available.

Heidelberg Restaurant is located at 1648 2nd Ave., New York, NY. 10028. (212) 628-2332.

Silver Swan

The Silver Swan is open daily between 12pm and 11pm. Appetizers include Ochsenmaul salad, Mushroom toast and duck plate with truffles, each for a price of $8.95. Enjoy a warm soup bowl of lentil, Pea or Barley soup, Goulash or Chicken Consomme with dumplings. Each priced between $4 and $7 dollars a bowl.

Cucumber, German potato and pickled red beets, are a few of the available salads. Sausages include Jagerwurst and Weisswurst, among others. Have Muscoy duck or roast chicken or turkey.

There are many entre’s to choose from including Roast pork, German meatloaf, Sauerbraten and much more. Entre’s range between $14 and $25 dollars each. Enjoy a Schnitzel plate of Paprika Schnitzel or Rahmschnitzel to name a few. Apple Strudel, cheesecake and Rote Grutze with vanilla sauce are a few desserts to pick from. Don’t forget about the old world bar and very large beer selection.

The Silver Swan is located at 41 E. 20th Street, New York, NY. 10003. (212) 254-3611

Hallo Berlin

Hallo Berlin has a full at of imported German draft and bottled beers and special imported beer such as Schneider Weiss beer and October Fest beer. Along with beer, all kinds of soda and beverages are available.

Enjoy appetizers such as Roll mops (stuffed marinated herring), cucumber and string bean salad and a jumbo German pretzel. Have fresh soup of Split Pea, Lentil, Deal potato, White bean, Cauliflower and chicken vegetable. All soups are made daily.

There are many choices of sausages, sandwiches, lunch specials, German fish dishes and lunch and dinner plates, as well as dessert. Try a plate of Two Roll Mops (vegetable stuffed marinated herring), Koenigsberge Klopse (white meatballs with mashed potatoes, caper sauce, red cabbage and wine sauerkraut or Jaeger schnitzel (huntersteak with spaetzle). For desert have a slice of German cheesecake, Black Forest cake or Apfelstrudel with a scoop of ice cream. Expect to spend around $20 dollars per entre.

Hallo Berlin is located at 626 Tenth Ave., New York, NY. 10036. (212) 977-1944

Alcohol Detox Isn’t “Trendy” But it’s A Problem Drinker’s Best Shot

While the world reeled at the news of the death of actor Heath Ledger from a lethal combination of prescription drugs – the trendy new mass killer on the celebrity drug scene – another celebrity with a decidedly untrendy alcohol addiction checked into an alcohol detox facility this week to confront her demons.

We were surprised to read that 25-year-old Kirsten Dunst of “Spiderman” fame entered an alcohol detox and rehab center this week, exactly a year after Anna Nicole Smith died from the same kind of scenario that killed Heath Ledger – a lethal prescription drug combination. Dunst had been battling her alcohol addiction for some time, friends said, and finally realized it was time for detox and rehab.

Prescription drugs seem to be the “trendy” way to go because almost every day we read how some celebrity somewhere – or someone in our own town – is heading for drug rehab or the morgue because of exotic cocktails of prescription opioids, benzodiazepines and psych drugs of some kind. Alcohol is often reported as part of the prescription drug mix, but it always sounds a little quaint. Alcohol? How old fashioned! Dying surrounded by prescription drug containers sounds way cooler than dying surrounded by empty beer cans and wine bottles.

We tend to discount alcohol addiction because it just isn’t trendy, it isn’t “now”, it isn’t young and beautiful and glamorous. Sure, we all heard about Lindsay Lohan’s alcohol abuse, but it was glamorized by her simultaneous cocaine and prescription drug abuse. Same for a ton of other hot young Hollywood celebs. Straight ahead drinkers are supposed to be older, like Mel Gibson who was sent for alcohol detox treatment by a California judge, or 48-year-old Sean Young, best known for her roles in “Blade Runner” and “No Way Out”, who entered alcohol detox this week. Even Kiefer Sutherland, who not only needed alcohol detox but spent 48 days in a California jail as a result of multiple DUIs, at 41 years old is an “acceptable” alcohol abuser, okay to take note of and then just forget about.

But Kirsten Dunst? At 25 years old? C’mon! Kirsten is America’s sweetheart. She’s Spiderman’s girl friend! She can’t be a “juicer.” What about Amy Winehouse, you ask, who’s only 24? We’re okay with Amy because she’s, well, British – and we all know Brits are massive drinkers – and anyway she’s a hard-rockin’ blues singer and booze is part of that package. Remember Janis Joplin and Southern Comfort? ‘Nuff said. Except to say that a modern medical alcohol detox program probably would have saved Janis’ life.

But Kirsten Dunst entering alcohol detox and rehab?

So take a moment, and reflect on the facts: Dozens, if not hundreds of celebrities battle alcohol addiction every year, both young and old, according to news stories. Many enter alcohol detox centers to recover the life they’ve lost. Also, alcohol addiction is this nation’s – and probably the world’s – number one addiction, and has been for as long as anyone has paid attention to such things. Something like 18 million alcohol abusers in America need alcohol detox and treatment right now, but according to federal surveys only a fraction are receiving the treatment they need. And don’t forget that America’s colleges and universities are so saturated with alcohol addiction and abuse that alcohol detox centers are being constructed right on some campuses.

The need for alcohol detox in America literally dwarfs the need for any other type of addiction treatment. Alcohol abuse isn’t pretty, it isn’t neat and it isn’t trendy. And it strikes at families in every city, town and village, ruining lives and killing just as many people, if not more, than all other addictive drugs combined – it just takes a lot longer, unless it’s a drunken car crash, an excessive binge, or a despondent alcoholic suicide.

Fortunately, a modern medical alcohol detox program followed by alcohol rehab offers the best chance, by far, for anyone with a drinking problem to permanently handle alcohol addiction and get one’s life back.

Thoughts on food and beverages – Part 53

Eating is something you can’t ever control.Especially when your overweight. We all try to eat smart.Counting the calories on snacks and especially brownies is hard.What you need to do is go on a BALANCED DIET.A diet that is not to lose weight,but to stay healthy.Studies show the United States is number one in producing unhealthy snacks. All teens need to know that obesity is very bad.So everyday Execise is good. Doctors say no diet is good for any child or teen,but when it comes to obesity…The only good diet that I think everyone should do is a Balanced Diet.Those machines that show that you need to lose weight and diet pills are the most bad things you can do. So anyone thinking that there overweight or “fat”,have to eat right and stay fit. Protein shakes

and energy bars are good, But there not used to lose weight. I think losing weight is not good to do. South Beach diets and diets that you can’t eat for the rest of the day are bad.Just a message saying: don’t ever do that. Eat right,stay Fit.Execise and play outside for 60 minutes.

Wine Tasting – Part 2

Wine Tasting Component I: Look

The first step you have to undertake in wine tasting is visual.

1. Fill up the glass up to 1/3 of its volume; never fill it more than half;

2. Hold the glass by the stem. Initially you may find this too pretentious but there are good reasons for it:

а) by doing it this way you can actually observe the wine in it;

b) this will keep your fingerprints off the bowl;

c) the heat from your palm will not change the temperature of the wine.

There’s a good saying by one of the greatest French wine lovers, Emil Painot: Offer someone a glass of wine and you can immediately tell whether he/she is a connoisseur by the way they hold the glass.” Even though you may not think of yourself as a connoisseur, you could still learn how to hold the wine glass.

3. Focus on the color intensity and the transparency of the liquid.

a) the color of the wine, and more specifically its nuances, are best observed on a white background.

b) the wine’s intensity is best judged by holding the glass without slanting it and looking at the liquid from above;

4. Next comes the swirling of the glass. This can also seem too pretentious or even dangerous if you have a full glass or a white top. But this movement is important since it prepares you for the next step in wine tasting – the Taste. The easiest way to swirl the glass is to place it on a table or other even surface, and to swirl your hand while holding the glass by the stem. Swirl hard and have the wine almost touch the rim of the glass. Then stop. The wine leaves tiny traces with irregular shapes on the inside of the glass. Some “experts” then read them with as much zeal as coffee-tellers. The truth is however, that they are just an indicator for the quality of the wine – the more alcohol a wine has, the more wine traces it forms.

What does the color of the wine tell us? The wine’s color tells us many things about its character. First, the color shows the grape variety. Let’s take two popular varieties as examples – cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir. Cabernet’s grapes are smaller, with a thicker and darker skin than those of pinot noir. As a result, the color of wines made from cabernet sauvignon is usually described as violet to dark while the color of wines made from pinot noir is associated with ruby.

Second, the color is influenced by the climatic conditions. A hot summer and dry fall result in ripe grapes, with a dark, intense color. A cold summer and rainy fall will produce undeveloped grapes with a lighter color.

Third, wine-making practices also have an influence on the color of wine. For red wine, the grapes are fermented with the skin. Since the coloring agents are in the grape skin, and not in the juice, the longer the process of maceration, i.e. the longer the skin stays with the juice, the darker the wine color will be.

Fourth, the process of wine aging also has an influence on the color of wine. The young red wines are rich in coloring agents and that makes their color denser and fuller. In the course of time chemical reactions take place in the bottle and a sediment is formed at the bottom. The wine’s color gets lighter and is often described as brick or amber.

Let’s go through an example: you pour yourself a glass of red wine and after carefully observing it, you notice a full granite color, good density, and not so good transparency. What conclusions can you draw?

Well, you can safely say that the wine is:

- from cabernet sauvignon grapes;

- from a Southern region;

- relatively young;

- from a good yield;

- that the wine-maker has gone for a good long maceration.

If you know the wine, compare what you know with what you see: maybe the wine has a very full color and the yield has been bad – this speaks of a good wine-making technique; or maybe the wine is too pale for its age – this speaks for undeveloped grape or poor wine-making technique.

Wine Tasting Component II: Smell

The second wine tasting component is smelling and inhaling the wine’s aroma. Concentrate as much as you can and smell the wine, swirl the glass, and smell once again. The stronger the aromas, the stronger the impression. Most of the wines, especially the more delicate and the older ones develop their aromas only after “being walked around” the glass. There is no consensus as to the exact technique of whiffing. Some say do two or three quick whiffs, others prefer one single deep whiff.

The goal of whiffing is to inhale the aroma as deeply as possible so that it gets into contact with our sensory nerve and hence, with the part of the brain that is responsible for registering, storing, and deciphering sensations. The spot where that takes place is extremely sensitive: a cold or an allergy might completely block even the most intense aromas. With enough practice and concentration, you’ll learn how to extract the maximum from different aromas and how to interpret them.

The vivid connoisseurs love to concoct different aromas. “Dark chocolate!” says one. “No, that’s more like pepper,” claims another. “Tea leaves, tobacco, and mushrooms,” adds third. Are they joking??

Probably we don’t quite realize it but nowadays we are exposed to so many different smells that we find it difficult to find words to describe all the complex aromas that a glass of wine can offer.

Like color, a wine’s aroma can tell us a lot about its character, origin, and its history. Since our sense of taste is limited to only 4 categories (sweet, sour, bitter, and salt), the wine’s aroma is the most informative part of our sensory experience. So take your time, sit back and contemplate the aroma! Like the perfume of a loved one or the smell of freshly baked bread, a wine’s aroma can evoke memories of times and places that we cherish.

Wine Tasting Component III: Taste

This is the best part of wine-tasting. You might be enchanted by wine’s sparkling color or mesmerized by its aroma but it’s actually drinking the wine that the whole thing is about. Maybe you are thinking that drinking is the easiest part – after all we start drinking from a glass from a very young age and we keep practicing for a lifetime. However, there’s a real difference between just swallowing liquid and conscious tasting. Here, just like in all good things in life, the difference is in the right technique. The appropriate technique can make sure we get the best out of the whole experience.

1. Still under the influence of the aromas you’ve inhaled in step II, take a sip of the wine. Don’t make it too big or too small. You need just enough to walk the wine in your mouth and not have to swallow it just yet. Let wine uncover its secrets. For reference, you may keep good wine in your mouth for 10 – 15 seconds, sometimes even more.

2. Walk the wine very well in your mouth, ensuring it touches each part of it. This is important because our tongue, palate, the inside of the mouth and our throat each detect different aspects of the wine.

For many years, it was believed that the tongue has different areas each of which is sensitive to a particular taste – sweet for the tip of the tongue, sour for the sides, bitter for the back and salty for the whole tongue. Today we know that all the tastes can be felt with the whole tongue, only there’s a “blind” spot in the middle of it which is not sensitive to any taste. Another important step in wine tasting is being able to tell one’s impressions of the wine. “Astringent”, “elegant”, “fruity”, “flat”, “young” are only a few words of the wine vocabulary you’ll need to amass.

Alcohol drinking: The pros and cons

Hey I think you’re really cute,

You think I’m really cute too.

OK, so now what do we do?

Let’s go get drunk and screw…

Alcohol is my truth serum.

Alcohol is my alibi.

Alcohol is my bullhorn.

Alcohol is my Spanish Fly.

Alcohol leaves me paranoid.

Alcohol leaves me drowsed.

Alcohol leaves the way it came in.

But most of all,

Alcohol leaves me aroused.

Come on, you’re getting cuter by the shot.

Come on, there’s no ass like the one I got.

Come on, lock the door so we don’t get caught.

Come on, rock me, rock me, rock me, rock my spot!

Alcohol can pound my head in.

Alcohol can make Kevin crap his pants.

Alcohol can lead to bad decisions.

But most of all,

Alcohol can kiss my ass!

Come on, you’re not as cute as I thought.

Come on, still no ass like the one I got.

Come on, (spoken:) did we really just do that in the parking lot?

Come on, (spoken:) OK, locking my door kept it from no one who was within ear shot…

Come on, guess you weren’t that good cuz I forgot.

Come on, wrong hole! stay the hell away from that spot!

Apparently

Sobriety’s

The way to be.

Because It’s always more fun to remember what you’ve done…

You Must Try German Wines

It’s true that for some, Germany may be better known for its beer than its wines.  And in some ways those people may be right – German beer is well-known among those who love beer and those consider it to be the BMW of brew, no pun intended.  However, the beautiful weather along the Rhine River and breathtaking regions of Germany make it prime for wine production, and the truth is that German wines are some of the finest in the world.  Germany is the ninth largest wine producer in the world, and makes some 1.2 billion bottles annually.  This is despite the fact that German vineyards take up less then one-tenth the area of the vineyards of France, Spain, or Italy.

German beer is known for being thick and hearty, and German wines are not very different.  They are typically a bit drier and less fruity than most other wines produced; they also have a higher acid content.  Reisling is the most popular wine produced, although the cheaper table wine of Liebfraumilch is also a favorite of those who want a hearty wine while watching their budget.  This is one of the few wines of Germany that is mass-produced; the rest are typically produced very painstakingly.

Because of the climate of the country, red wines are difficult to produce, so most of the darkest of the German wines are typically blush or rose.  There are however some very high quality pinot noir wines, and other varieties of red wine, that are produced in the country, and they are often considered some of the best in the world.

While Germany is somewhat limited in the types of grapes that can be made for German wines, the biggest problem that seems to be presented from the land is the steep elevations that make it almost impossible to harvest those grapes mechanically.  Most German vineyards still are harvested manually.  Most winemakers do not hesitate to continue this tradition, as they are used to the hard work and labor that is needed to produce the best of wines.

The Germans have never been ones to shy away from the hard work also needed to consistently improve their product.  German wines are no different.  The plantings of grapes for red wines has seen an upsurge in some years, and then a downturn in others, all in response to customer demands for better and more exotic tasting wines.  Germans are not to be put off by how difficult it is to grow the wide variety of grapes that are needed for the varieties of wines that the world loves.

So it seems that while Germany may also be known for its beer and polka, there’s no doubt that its wines deserve just as many accolades as its fermented cousin.  While you may not want to try to order some at Oktoberfest, a celebration typically reserved to celebrate beer brewing, you may very well want to try some German wines the next time you have the chance.

Video game reviews: Virtua Tennis 3 (PS3)

VIRTUAL TENNIS 3 PS3

Virtual Tennis is one of those games that you pick up and you just can’t put down. The enhancemnets are great, gameplay is smooth and the graphics are fantastic. This third installment is very similar to the first two versions with the additions of some fun new minigames and the career mode has been improved.

CREATE YOUR CHARACTER, male or female, using the game editor.

SELECT YOUR HOME from a spot on the globe and begin your 20-year quest to move up through the rankings from #300 to the #1 spot.

TRAIN YOUR PLAYER by going to tennis school and learning the basics. In school, you are given a task. Do it 3 times in the given limit and the skills that you used in the test are increased.

PLAY MINIGAMES that focus on the basics: serve, ground stroke, volley, and footwork. Most of the minigames are new or revamped from previous versions and they are a blast! In AVALANCHE – collect fruit while dodging tennis balls that fall from a dump truck. In DRUM TOPPLE, use your ground strokes to knock over oil drums. With PRIZE DEFENDER, you volley shots from a ball machine to protect the table of prizes. In PIN CRUSHER, knock down bowling pins with your serve. These games start pretty easy, but as your skill level increases, so does the game difficulty. But don’t worry, if you need to go back to a lower skill level, it’s easy to do. You don’t get as many points with the lower difficulty levels. Some of these minigames can be played with up to four players.

AFTER THE BASICS train your eye on the prize! Enter singles and doubles tournaments in places all over the world. Play against real life players at any time of day and on different kinds of courts (grass, clay or hard courts). Win the matches by winning two games, but the matches get longer as you go.

HAVE AN ENERGY DRINK to boost your stamina, which decreases as you train and participate in tournaments but be aware that this will make your chances of sustaining an injury greater. If you do have an injury, (which usually occurs when you have low stamina) the game tells you that you’re hurt and for how long and then skips ahead in time. To avoid injuries, take a vacation!

GET EMAIL with tips from your coach and read your fan mail and purchase items (although there are not many items to choose from).

COURT ACTION is excellent and easy to play with simple controls (3 buttons) allowing for a wide variety of shots (depending on your location on the court). Get into position early to hit the ball, press the shot button and your shot will be harder. Hit a top-spin shot, a drop shot, a slice, a volley, a slam or a lob with ease. Press the analog stick or D pad as you hit the ball to aim your serve and your shots.

SOME DRAWBACKS of the game: Volleying is inconsistent, lobs are worthless against CPU-controlled players, it can be difficult to position your player properly before a shot, there is no online play and there is still no user-controlled instant replay.

OVERALL, Virtual Tennis 3 is a blast to play with crystal-clear visuals, detailed and true-to-life player models who move realistically and have unique strokes. Details like the mark left on clay courts by the ball and the fans move their heads to follow the ball enhance the gameplaying experience and make it exceptional game play!

Thoughts on food and beverages – Part 14

I have to say I used to eat WAYYY too much. But I have come to the realization that we are really eating ourselves to death when we buy a dozen donuts and consume them right here and now, or eat an enormous plate of food and then go back for seconds and thirds. Is food really worth the bloating, the weight, the physical ailments that beset overweight people? I think not.

Now I eat pretty normally. I use a few tricks like a smaller plate to make it seem like there is more than there is and visualization, seeing myself growing fatter and fatter if I eat too much food and seeing myself growing thinner and thinner when I eat correctly.

I am not a doctor or a nutritionist but I think people need to think about what they eat and how much they eat. When they do this type of conscious thinking they WILL eat less and more healthy foods.

Try it the next time you are tempted by that candy bar or ice cream or steak and potatoes, or whatever your passion is.

General rules for the game of darts

The dartboard is hung 5′ 8″ from the floor to the centre of the bullseye. And on the floor is a line which is 7′ 8″ distance from the wall.Stand here to throw the darts.

The most common game is called the 501 and the object of the game is for one of the players to reach a zero score first.

The game can be played in teams but then the high score of 501 is often increased to 1001.

Each player has three darts and throws them at the board, adding the resulting score and then taking away from 501 or their last resulting score.

If the dart hits the thin section on the outside rim of the board usually coloured red and green then they get a double score.

If they hit the inner portion, again coloured green or red then they get triple score.

The centre or bull as it’s known gets 50 points, the small green outer bit of the centre circle is worth 25 points.

The highest score using the three darts allowed is 180 3 darts each scoring triple 20.

General Rules:

Only three darts are thrown at each turn, please try to throw them one at a time.

Darts stuck in surrounding walls, opponents or the bar do not count.

Catching a dart that has touched a scoring part of the board and fallen,counts.

Use a steady stance, too much drink causes imbalance.

Sharp objects cause injuries please try to hit the board not your winning opponent.

The game must finish on a double score,if you are left with 36 you need double 18.

If using your cell phone throw darts with the other hand.

Players should face the board,standing with feet behind the line when at all possible.

Slapping your opponent on the back just before they throw their dart is not allowed.

Saving your opponents dart before it hits the floor is not allowed.

Players must take turns and abide by the rules of the game, even if they are losing.

Distraction of your opponent is not allowed, unless offering to buy them a drink.

Scores above 180 are not allowed.

If you can not subtract, use a calculator.

Letting your opponent win because they will buy the next round is not allowed.

The best breweries based in and around Denver, Colorado

If you are a real true beer lover, coming to the Mile High City must be like going to beer heaven. Colorado is the micro-brewery capital of he world. There are way more good beers and breweries than you can visit and taste all their different brews. It is almost as good as going to Octoberfest in Munich, One of the breweries actually sponsors a “Beerdrinker of the Year” Competition every year. According to the Beer Institute, Colorado ranks number one in terms of gross beer production. In 2006, Colorado produced 23,370,848 barrels of beer. It also ranked third in the country in the volume of brew pubs. Colorado is home to 4 of the top 50 breweries in the nation. There are 92 breweries in Colorado so no matter what your little heart desires, it is hear somewhere.

Coors Brewing Company in Golden is a regional division of the worlds fifth largest brewing comapany and of the third largest brewer in the United States. The Coors Brewery in Golden is the largest on a single site. Coors was established in 1873 by Adolph Coors and others. One thing, you won’t find any Clydesdales around Coors. They use Pure Rocky Mountain Spring Water in their beers. LOL They produce 8 different beers currently. My favorite is Killians Irish Red. Coors is sold nationally now but for years you could only get it in Colorado. When I was a kid growing up in Nebraska, a six pack of Coors was like liquid gold. Bootleg Coors was a profitable business.

Anheuser-Busch or Budweiser has a big brewery just north of Ft Collins right along I-25. Like Coors, they offer very interesting tours of the plant and if you are 21 you can go to a tasting room and have a couple of samples of their various different brews. They are now making some pretty good small batch microbrews.

New Belgium Brewery in Ft. Collins makes some good beers. Among them is Fat Tire which is sort of the in beers around Denver. New Belgium is unique in that it is the first wind powered brewery in the U.S. and currently the largest in the world. They started in 1991 and have grown steadily. I get a kick out of their delivery trucks that all have a sign on the back that says, “Contents Under PLEASURE”.

Another unique brewery is up I-70 to the west a ways at Dillon. It is the Dillon Dam Brewery and they say they have the “Best DAM Beer in the State” It is a pub and restaurant and is one of the largest brew pubs in the nation. They serve handcraftedl agers and ales and root beer. They brew about 2000 barrels a year. They say that

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