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Flushing Town Hall has a slew of Lunar New Year events in January and February:
NYC Shadow Puppet Slam (Jan. 5): Chinese Theater Works’ Kuang-Yu Fong and Stephen Kaplin curate an evening of short works of shadow theater, animation, video and film, from the traditional to the cutting edge. ($14, 7:30 p.m.)
The Red Envelope Show (Jan. 5-27): The exhibit features paintings done on traditional red celebration envelopes, which will be on sale. Many of them include a special gift. ($5 suggested donation, noon to 5 p.m. on weekends) There is also a free drop-in workshop to create your own red envelope artwork on Jan. 13, from 1 to 3 p.m.
"Four Seasons" (Jan. 12): Chinese Theatre Works performs classical and traditional Chinese poetry, music, dance, opera and puppetry with a contemporary twist. ($14, Free for teens, 2 p.m.)
Chinese New Year Temple Bazaar (Feb. 17): See live performances, make art and lanterns and enjoy delicious food at this celebration of the Year of the Pig. There are two timed sessions you can attend after the Dragon parade at the Flushing Library at 9:30 a.m. ($5, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.)
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Photo Credit: Flushing Town Hall -
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Lalito (Chinatown): This Caribbean/Latin-inspired eatery is hosting its own Chinese New Year dim sum party on Feb. 10 featuring fried chorizo wontons, red curry snapper, pineapple veggie fried rice, good fortune flan and more. Drinks include tiki-inspired cocktails and there will be a late-night DJ set.
Ichiran (Brooklyn & midtown): For every two ramen kits purchased, Ichiran is giving away a tumbler glass, a lantern magnet, a sticker and a 5-yen coin.
TAO Downtown (Chelsea): Chef Ralph Scamardella is presenting a pig-centric four-course meal on Feb. 5 with dishes like black truffle and spicy pork soup dumplings, sesame scallion bread topped with glazed pork belly, caramelized pork chops with blood orange chow fun and a Mandarin cheesecake with Pop Rocks dessert – available à la carte or as an $85 per person prix fixe.
Momosan (Murray Hill): Guests can choose from a variety of pork items — tonkotsu, crispy mimiga, kakuni bao, tetsunabe Pork Gyoza, tetsunabe kakuni and more on Feb. 5.
Philippe Chow (Upper East Side & Meatpacking): From 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Upper East Side location, and from 8:30 to 10 p.m. at its Meatpacking location, lion dancers will perform around the restaurant, encouraging guests to put pieces of lettuce or money into the dragon’s mouth for good luck. Both locations will be serving a special “Tipsy Pig” cocktail (a blackberry martini with pineapple) and a ginger beer float with fever tree (a coconut sorbet, citrus whipped cream and Chinese black sesame cookies).
Loosie’s Kitchen (Williamsburg): Chef Henry Lu is taking guests on a culinary trip through his childhood in the Bronx, where his family owned restaurants. His “We Are All Pigs” Chinese New Year Party on Feb. 5 will include a buffet-style menu with $5 Tsingtao and more. The menu will include dishes like fried spring rolls, build-your-own steamed buns, steamed fish, pork belly stuffed suckling pig and sweet sticky rice — all for $30 per person, from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. RSVP to sayhi@loosieskitchen.com or on eventbrite.com.
Little Tong Noodle Shop (East Village): Little Tong will be serving its take on ShengJian Bao (crispy pan-seared pork soup dumplings) and special Chinese barbecue baby back ribs and wonton mixian for the duration of the new year festival.
Hakkasan (midtown): Hakkasan’s fortune macarons will feature “Sex and the City” author Candace Bushnell’s witty fortunes about love and life in the big city starting Jan. 28 and through the next month.
Buddakan (Chelsea): As Luen Hing Lion Dancers and DJ Timka perform on Sunday, Feb. 10, enjoy a traditional tea service, tray-passed dim sum and red envelopes for good luck (noon to 2:30 p.m.). Reservations recommended.
Chinese Tuxedo (Chinatown, Manhattan): The Lion Dance Troupe will perform throughout the evening here on Feb. 5 and for $88 per person, there will be a special eight-course banquet dinner that includes dishes like pomme fondant, duck “long life” noodles, “the lucky pig” sui yuk and more.
Brooklyn Chop House (Financial District): Head to this FiDi favorite for a festive dumpling trio ($18) on Feb. 5: pastrami, bacon cheeseburger and French onion soup all topped with edible golden flakes.
DaDong (Bryant Park, midtown): This upscale Chinese eatery will serve three special family-style menus for four to eight guests on Feb. 4 and 5. Choose from delicacies like squid ink soup, Songshu crispy fish, crab and pork meatballs and a SuBuNi roast duck among other dishes. A red envelope is given to each table with a prize inside, which could be a free champagne bottle or dessert. Prices range from $598 to $1,188 depending on the family-style menu you choose.
MáLà Project (East Village, midtown): For 15 days, Feb. 5-19, this Michelin Bib Gourmand-recommended Chinese restaurant will celebrate by offering something new each day at the East Village location (New Year pork dumplings, blooming manto, squid, red bean rice ball and more) and a special drink, the Chinese New Year cocktail made with half-and-half, vodka, simple syrup, yuzu and cherry liquor, at the midtown location.
Little Alley (Murray Hill): It’s all about festive Shanghainese dishes at Little Alley between Jan. 31 and Feb. 10. Try the cheese-baked lobster, the Dungeness crab with salted duck egg, the Little Alley braised pig trotter or the sweet and sour pork with pineapple.
Tang Hotpot (Bowery): This authentic Sichuan hotpot hotspot is offering a New Year prix-fixe (pictured) on Feb. 4-5 for $65 per person. The deal includes an appetizer like garlic pork wrapped okra, all the fixings for your hotpot, including prime ribeye, lamb shoulder, pork collar and more, seafood like sea bass and tiger prawn, veggies, an entree (Zhangcha tea-smoked duck), dessert and a beer or glass of wine.
Atlas Kitchen (Upper West Side): New to the neighborhood, Atlas Kitchen is going all out for New Year’s with artist Qiu Anxiong, whose artwork is the inspiration for the entire restaurant. The menu Feb. 5-21 will include creative dishes like coral lobster with salted duck egg, two peppers with braised goose intestine, foie gras udon and grilled quail with cumin.
Hunan Slurp (East Village): This rice- and noodlecentric eatery is putting together a festive menu of dishes like lamb and turnip in a clay pot, blue crab with ginger, and scallion and wok-fried lamb slices with chili pepper among others.
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Photo Credit: Tang Hotpot
It’s a swine of the times. Feb. 5 officially kicks off the Chinese Lunar New Year, and a ton of fun events are celebrating it.
It’s said that those born in the year of the pig (1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019) are realistic, energetic, enthusiastic and a little materialistic.
They may think it’s their lucky year, but it’s quite the opposite. It’s actually a concern that inspires some to protect themselves from bad fortune, according to chinesenewyear2019.com.
Aside from that, it’s the beginning of a new year, heralding fresh relationships, opportunities and chapters in our lives. And since the city has the largest Chinese population of any city outside of Asia, there’s no shortage of parties, events and restaurant specials.
So head to these cultural centers, restaurants and festivals to ring in the New Year.
