Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Posted in Mario Batali's Edible Garden, Programs and Events on August 3 2015, by Lansing Moore
This Sunday, August 9, join us for the next event of our special Family Dinners with Mario Batali’s Chefs! Bring the kids to enjoy a warm summer evening with outdoor dining in the green oasis of the Garden, all prepared by leading chefs from the Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group‘s acclaimed restaurants.
NYBG provides a family-friendly fine dining experience in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, the future center of the Edible Academy and the perfect setting for a freshly prepared, garden-to-table meal in the open-air dining pavilion. Kids ages 4 to 12 can enjoy fun and educational outdoor activities in the hub of our organic vegetable gardening program as visiting chefs from the Batali & Bastianich restaurant group come to lead a live preparation of an exclusive tasting menu featuring healthy and delicious options. Continue reading for details, including the exclusive menu that will be prepared for guests on August 9.
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Posted in Programs and Events on July 8 2015, by Matt Newman
With summer’s warmth and the verdant greenery that fills the landscape around this time of year, it’s almost a given that most of us will spend at least one night enjoying an al fresco meal in view of the setting sun, soaking up the benefits of shorts-and-sandals weather while there’s still time to spare. Of course, dining outdoors with the benefit of a top-tier chef at the helm is that much better, right?
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Posted in Mario Batali's Edible Garden on August 5 2014, by Lansing Moore
This Sunday, August 10, the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden borrows the gastronomic talents of the Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group for the second of our four special Family Dinners with Mario Batali’s Chefs. Alex Pilas and Fitz Tallon will bring a bit of culinary magic to NYBG from their role as chefs at New York’s hottest Italian marketplace, Eataly. You can hear Fitz Tallon’s pointers on potatoes in his own words in our Kitchen Tales series, alongside bite-sized wisdom from the rest of our visiting chefs.
There is no better place for guests to enjoy this special three-course, family-style menu than in the green seclusion of the Garden grounds on a cool summer evening. However, these Family Dinners are about more than just good food—though there will be plenty of that. Kids begin the evening with hands-on craft and gardening activities, followed by a cooking demonstration so families can see the custom menu come to life before tucking in to a delicious meal together. This MasterCard® Priceless event goes to support the Edible Academy initiative, so treat the family to a wonderful evening while contributing towards the Garden’s educational programming for children.
Tickets are sure to sell out, so book now. Read on for the full details about this Sunday’s special menu, and to get more information about the Edible Academy.
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Posted in Mario Batali's Edible Garden on July 8 2014, by Lansing Moore
Celebrity chef Mario Batali is a longtime friend of the Garden, and an Honorary Chairman of the Edible Academy Committee. Thanks to him, Mario Batali’s Kitchen Gardens at the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden produce fresh vegetables and herbs, such as Italian heirloom tomatoes, to teach children about healthy eating.
Well, harvest time is just about here, and the whole family is invited to enjoy a nutritious and delicious meal, al fresco, at Family Dinners with Mario Batali’s Chefs! Visiting culinary talents from the Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group’s stellar restaurants—including Otto, Del Posto, and Eataly—will host a series of evenings featuring hands-on gardening and craft activities followed by a a three-course, family-style menu. Each evening will take place under the cool evening sky in the Whole Foods Market® Family Garden Kitchen.
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Posted in Programs and Events on July 24 2013, by Matt Newman
Four days and counting! We’re ticking off the calendar squares ahead of summer’s first Family Dinner with Mario Batali’s Chefs, and with good reason: we’ve had the menu for weeks and it’s making us unbelievably hungry. Simple, right? Of course, the seasonal flavors and aromas are anything but. This Sunday, July 28, Chef Cruz Goler of Lupa Osteria Romana teams with Chef Frank Langello of Babbo, creating a kitchen super group in the NYBG‘s own Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden.
If Mozzarella di Bufala, marinated strip steak, pistachio olive oil cake, and the fresh, kaleidoscopic flavors created by two of New York’s best restaurants pique your appetite, this MasterCard® Priceless event isn’t something you’ll settle for missing.
The three-course, family-style meal doesn’t skimp, providing expertly-paired wines, sparkling Italian water, and all the fixings necessary for a picture perfect night around the table. But it wouldn’t be a proper Garden event without some extra variety, so we’ve gone ahead and flushed out the evening with a romp in the Family Garden. Expect plenty of hands-on gardening crafts and activities to keep the little ones occupied, while we encourage adults to get their hands dirty, too. We’re also bookending the dinner service with cooking demonstrations by Mario’s Chefs, giving you a glimpse into the expertise that creates each gourmet recipe. Even better, you’ll be able to ask them questions as they go!
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Posted in Mario Batali's Edible Garden, Programs and Events on September 14 2012, by Matt Newman
With autumn so near at hand, you’d think the excitement would be winding down in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden. Most vegetable gardens in New York are offering up the last of their produce right about now, while green thumbs stow their trowels for the next spring planting. But at the NYBG, the best of the season is still ahead of us! In fact, the atmosphere is nearly humming with anticipation for the peak event of the summer: Mario Batali’s Edible Garden Festival. And while the legendary chef’s top culinary minds have inspired plenty of palates during Family Dinners throughout the season, it’s Mario himself that will treat your tastebuds for September’s pièce de résistance.
Now that the Family Dinners have come and gone, I got to wondering what might end up on Mario’s menu. And when you think of Italian cooking, you don’t have to be shy about it: your mind leaps straight to the tomatoes. Plump and delicious, blushing red (or yellow, or purple), they take center stage in so many of the dishes we’ve come to love. Still, while picking my way through the Family Garden in recent weeks, I thought to myself, “Why let the tomatoes hog the spotlight?” They’re delectable–don’t get me wrong–but Italy’s culinary history encompasses so much more! Mario knows this better than anyone. And when his acclaimed chefs first planted their vegetable plots, they dotted the Family Garden with leafy greens, pungent onions, and herbs enough to make your spice rack green with envy. And the peppers! So many peppers, in myriad shapes and colors.
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Posted in Mario Batali's Edible Garden on August 28 2012, by Matt Newman
Gardening and instant gratification rarely go hand in hand, much as we wish they would. But while we could only dream of fresh produce while planting Mario Batali’s Kitchen Gardens this past May, we’ve made the leap from sprout to salad in almost no time at all. Once-tiny tomato plants are now heavy with full, ripe fruit, and the peppers are piling up in all shapes and sizes. Between them, heaps of fresh greens get ready to make their way into a classic Italian recipe. And just in time for September’s Edible Garden Festival!
But it’s better to show than tell, right? Below are a few of the before and after snapshots taken in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, where Mario Batali’s top chefs have planted vegetables that best represent not only the flavors of their renowned New York City restaurants, but the nostalgic tastes that inspired them to cook in the first place.
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Posted in Around the Garden on August 20 2012, by Ann Rafalko
The Edible Garden Festival and Garden-to-Table Dinner and Cooking Demonstration with Mario Batali on September 23 is fast approaching! “Mario Batali’s Kitchen Gardens” in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden are bursting with produce. Check it out!
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Posted in Around the Garden on August 13 2012, by Ann Rafalko
Mark you calendars: The Edible Garden Festival is just over a month away; on September 23, The New York Botanical Garden will be home to one big, family-friendly edible festival featuring Garden friend Mario Batali!
Families can spend the day in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden exploring “Mario Batali’s Kitchen Gardens,” watch cooking demonstrations with NYBG staff, participate in a plethora of hands-on gardening activities, and enjoy food sampling. A special ticket is required for the Festival and includes All-Garden Pass access to the Garden. This ticket does not include the Mario Batali cooking demonstration or the Garden-to-Table Dinner with Mario Batali.
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Posted in Around the Garden, Mario Batali's Edible Garden on August 6 2012, by Matt Newman
It’s not often I get the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden to myself, but last week, before the school groups arrived, I snuck a peek at what was happening in Mario Batali’s Kitchen Gardens ahead of the coming Edible Garden Festival. The sun was high and bright, yet the sight of ripening vegetables, familiar varieties tucked in among the somewhat more exotic heirlooms, made it easy to deal with the summer heat.
I picked my way around the garden plots, noting leafy greens and sweet potatoes, kohlrabi, flowering artichokes, and a few ready globes of garlic. And dangling in friendly groups above them all: new tomatoes, plump and prolific in the sunshine. Some are already settling into that quirky adolescent phase, not yet ripe, blushing with spots of bright reds and oranges on one side while still a shy green on the other. Certain varieties are lumpy and rustic-looking, others smooth and plum-shaped, and all of them have been hand-selected by Mario Batali’s top chefs–some of the finest culinary minds in New York.
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