Maybe you love the Denver Broncos, in which case we say: good luck, friend.
Maybe you like driving downtown, in which case we say: it’ll be over soon enough.
Whatever your stance, the Super Bowl will be on its merry way come Monday morning.
And what’ll we be left with? The most delicious day on the calendar: Chinese New Year, which will shortly usher in the Year of the Monkey.
Some of our favorite restaurants have something special going on — including a handful of off-the-menu delicacies you’ve gotta know before you go.
These are they.
Hakkasan
Off-the-menu items — plus a special menu
You’ll need to ask for two limited-quantity special dishes: Alba white truffle-infused Nikka Coffey Grain Whiskey and an Alba white truffle-infused ice cream. Why’s it off the menu? Because Alba white truffles go fast.
Otherwise, the Year of the Monkey will be celebrated with a limited-edition menu that involves ginseng and chicken soup, a dim sum platter and wok-fried lobster with truffle sauce. If you have kids, or a date who prefers to live in a state of delight, book a table for the 8th, when a traditional lion dance will be performed. (Through Feb. 22.)
Fang
Special items + off-the-menu options
Fans of Food Network’s Chopped know that Kathy Fang competed on a recent, Chinese New Year-themed episode, and now through Monday, the hoi polloi can sample her Lucky Rice Pudding appetizer — made with coconut milk, winter melon mint salad, and pulverized lucky dragon candy — at her eponymous SoMa restaurant. (Through Feb. 8)If you’re looking for something special, consider these off-the-menu items that we’re told Fang serves to regulars: a spicy hot pot fish with seasonal veggies (served in a boiling pot), Grandma’s red braised pork belly with pumpkin and a wild mushroom claypot rice.
M.Y. China
Special menu + events
Martin Yan’s Westfield Chinese offers “Grandma Wu’s New Year Dinner,” representing the culinary legacy, no doubt, of Executive Chef Tony Wu’s titular relative. The lucky-8 courses include Good Luck Soup (with organic chicken and pork shoulder), Long Life (with barbecue pork, shrimp, peppers, mushrooms, and noodles), and a Fortune Platter with jellyfish and squid, among others. Show up on the 15th and Martin Yan will greet you. (Through Feb 22)
Crystal Jade
Prix-fixe menu + special items
The FiDi outpost of this global brand will mark the holiday with a prix-menu featuring Yusheng, a Teochew-style raw fish salad and pen cai, or “treasure pot,” a one-pot dish, traditionally shared among a family and meant to symbolize the parceling out of prosperity and good fortune. (Feb. 8-22)
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