Top 5 Sites for Top Cities

With all of the social media sites, friends’ blogs and daily emails directing you to the latest and greatest items and ideas, we are on information overload. It seems everyone is a self-professed foodie, fashionista, techie, or (fill in the blank) guru and want to share their expertise with you.  So how do you decide which sites are the best resources? 

Each of us have a few “go to” sites that help us filter through the options and provide us with some quick ideas. When I am planning an event, it is important for me to learn about the city and culture where the event will take place. I look for information on the local venues, vendors and of course… food.  I particularly enjoy websites and emails that are city specific so I can pick up some helpful tips and discounts when visiting the area.  

Here are my Top 5 Sites for Top Cities:

 1)    Tasting Table – This site covers New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington D.C.  Since TT also has a national edition, they often cover other cities as well.

Tasting Table is a free daily email that delivers the best of food and drink culture to adventurous eaters everywhere. Each weekday, we send our subscribers one delicious idea about dining, wine, cocktails, cooking or restaurant personalities. We feed you only first-hand recommendations that we have tested thoroughly ourselves—one bite at a time.

In our local editions in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington D.C., we’ll alert you to a must-try dish at a forgotten restaurant, a hot new bar that deserves its buzz, under-appreciated cook shops and neighborhood food purveyors who may otherwise go unnoticed.

 

2)    Blackboard Eats – Currently, this site offers restaurant discounts for New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.  I have a feeling this will expand to more cities because the discounts offered are great and easy to use.  When there is a discount available, you receive an email with the details. If you are interested in the deal, simply click on the email that day and receive the code. Bring the code to the restaurant and enjoy the deal!

BlackboardEats is a free e-mail and website delivering exclusive deals on restaurants handpicked by seasoned food editors. We also highlight the best food-related specials LA, NY and SF have to offer, including prix fixe discounts, tasting events, weekly dinner bargains and more.

Unlike other sites that focus on the newest openings, BlackboardEats features both hot spots and hidden gems—some of which are new, some of which have been around for years. And we cover everything from the fancy to the no-frills…just as long as the place rocks.

 

 

3)    The Daily Sip – This website is focuses on the wine industry… and what’s an event without wine?!  The emails are quick reads and I like that they feature different wine regions.

Think “Daily Candy” meets “US Weekly” of the wine industry. Start your day with insider tips on truly delicious wines, behind-the-scenes stories from winemakers, Celebrity Sips, insider special offers, and much more. Each short email features a winemaker, region, wine, chef or celebrity, or gadget. No one stops after just one sip.

 

 

4)    Great Places – Check out this website and blog for some venue ideas and trends. While venues open and close often this is a good starting place to look through venue ideas in different cities, including New York, Las Vegas, Boston, Chicago and more.

 

5)   Groupon – While I have never actually purchased a coupon through the site, I think it has some great offers in most major cities. Just make sure to read the fine print. For example, if you buy a coupon for a hair salon and you are already a customer there, they may not let you use the deal.  (Also, check out Lifebooker for NYC beauty deals!) 

Groupon features a daily deal on the best stuff to do, see, eat, and buy in a variety of cities across the U.S., Canada, Europe and soon beyond.

 

 

 Happy Exploring!

Target Pops Up for the Holidays

I stumbled upon LA event planner David Stark’s Sketchbook blog last week.  He has a great post about his company’s work with Target on pop up stores in major metro markets over the holidays.  The concept behind these stores is quite cool – check it out below:

From the post:
We ADORE creating pop-up stores, and a week or so ago, we pulled off an ambitious retail feat that I am proud to share!  We opened three different stores,  in three different cities, New York, Washington D.C. and San Francisco, all on the same day!  Target is well known for innovative thinking and for essentially inventing the pop-up store model, but these were not typical shops where you go inside, walk aisles, and try on clothes.  Rather, our TARGET TO GO shops were one part roadside ice-cream stand, one part, drive through, and all parts fun. 

Target pop up store under NYC's Highline

The concept was simple:  A menu board showcased 50 numbered gift items for the entire family.  You marched up to the window, ordered by item number, and then quickly, a satchel of pre-wrapped gifts was handed right to you!  FAST.  EASY.  FABULOUS.