Lavinia at Home

This year the SummerStage is celebrating its 25th anniversary and will have 33 free concerts and 8 benefit shows. Admission to all free performances (not benefit concerts) is on a first come, first-served basis, no tickets required. Every year SummerStage brings together a wide range of performers.

Central Park SummerStage is located at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park. Enter the park at 69th Street and 5th Avenue on the east side or at 72nd Street and Central Park West on the west side, tel.: 212-360-2777.

Become a member of SummerStage and have exclusive access to the best music, film, dance events all summer long and guarantee that you won’t have to wait at the gate to see show in Central Park.

Mmm…! A fully-loaded burger can be a guilty pleasure when prepared well and boy-oh-boy, my dining experience at brgr was well worth the break in my diet. With a motto of “we go against the grain to create a better burger”, it’s not surprising to hear that they make their burgers with fresh ground beef from 100% grass-feed cows—free of artificial hormones and antibiotics. This bit of news made me feel better about my flavorful indiscretion. On both visits, I ordered the Blue Sky BRGR—a delectable combo of beef, Roquefort cheese, bacon, sweet onion marmalade, lettuce, tomato and pickles. For a side, you have to try “The Trio”, a melody of russet fries, sweet potato fries and onion hay. These may be my downfall as they are downright awesome. The well-lit, brightly decorated restaurant is creative in its presentation, and food preparations are visible to the eye. They clearly are not trying to hide anything in terms of their ingredients, adopting a fully-transparent approach to food prep. Burgers range from the beef, turkey to vegetarian varieties, paired with simple to complex fixings. In addition to standard bottled beverages, they serve milkshakes, beer and wine. Desserts options are limited to “home made” chocolate chip oatmeal cookies made with Grape Nuts cereal and mini 5 ounce shots of their milkshakes—a great idea in my opinion. Did I mention that the milkshakes are made from milk products free of hormones, antibiotics or additives? As a mom, I was happy to discover this fact. Indeed, the menu and atmosphere make it a family-friendly burger joint, earning it high honors in recent years within the burger and/or milkshake categories by New York Magazine, the New York Post and Next Magazine.

With their recent addition on the East side of Manhattan, you now have twice as many opportunities to sample their fare. Visit their website (www.brgr.com) to check out their menu and run to their nearest site in NYC (Westside location – 287 Seventh Avenue between 26th and 27th streets; Eastside location – 1026 Third Avenue between 60th and 61st streets) for a delicious juicy burger and fries.

On a recent visit to Public Square located in the heart of Cleveland’s downtown, I discovered a feel-good restaurant and microbrewery—the Cleveland Chophouse & Brewery. My pick of the day was a pulled pork sandwich with BBQ sauce with wasabi coleslaw on a Kaiser roll. It was scrumptious. Although a heavy combo, I recommend pairing it with their white cheddar mash potatoes. I was disappointed in the French fries, but was lucky enough to try my husband’s side dish. To accompany this finger-licking comfort food, I partook in their award winning Bohemian Pilsner—a gold medal winner from the 2001 and 2002 Great American Beer Festival—which is brewed on site by Irish brewmaster Gerry OConnell. The Pilsner was refreshing and crisp. If you still have any space for dessert, I would recommend the sticky cake with vanilla ice cream. The overall experience was even better knowing we were there during happy hour as all menu items are $3 off and 22 ounce beers are $3.00. A delightful and cost-effective meal is hard to pass up. We even enjoyed recaps of the day’s World Cup matches, having selected a table near the bar. Located at 824 West St. Clair, Cleveland OH 44113 (tel. 216-623-0909), this casual establishment is known for classic steaks, chops and seafood and is family friendly. You can also enjoy their sister sites in Boulder, Denver and Washington DC.

I saw this guy dressed in a lobster suit who was handing out flayers for Urban Lobster Shack new location in Midtown, East Side. It’s located at 805 Third Avenue (between 49th and 50th streets) in lower level food court. This place is the “hole in the wall” – first time going there, I could not find it and just by asking building security, he was smiling and told me how to get to the Urban Lobster Shack.

I was surprised how fast food was ready. I tried the Manhattan and New England clam chowders with the lobster roll and crab roll and green salad on side with a creamy dressing. And it was really good meal. The lobster roll and crab roll had good amount of meat, not too much mayonnaise and they were delicious. They offer also appetizers and I wanted to try ‘Scallops wrapped in bacon’, but they were sold on scallops.

I’m looking forward to my next trip there!

One of the great New York summer traditions – the HBO Bryan Park Summer Film Festival classic movies on Mondays evening from June to August – spread out a picnic at park and watch classic films on a huge screen for free (20 feet high by 40 feet wide).

The lawn opens at 5:00pm for picnic. The films begin at dusk, around 8pm and 9pm. It’s usually very crowded so get there early and get a spot if you want a good view of the screen.