City Harvest Summer Gala, A Phony Negroni Victory, and more NYC Italian Food News

City Harvest’s annual Summer in the City event returns next week with Summer in the City: Dive in, Wednesday, June 14 at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers. The annual fundraiser for New York’s largest food rescue organization typically attracts top culinary names and a stylish crowd. This year’s lineup of chefs and restaurants includes one of NYC’s best Italian restaurants in Rezdôra, along with COTE Korean Steakhouse, Japanese standout Nami Nori, Ron Ben-Israel Cakes, and others. Andy’s Italian Ices will be on hand to keep guests cooled down with gourmet Italian ices.

The “Dive In” theme features a retro beach vibe that should play well with the event’s waterfront location. City Harvest, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, rescues food from restaurant and service kitchens around the city and delivers it to New Yorkers in need. The organization says that 50% of working-age households in the five boroughs are experiencing food insecurity due to high inflation, the expiration of pandemic-related funding, increased food costs, and other challenges. City Harvest estimates that it will rescue and deliver 75 million pounds of food to those in need this year.

Tickets for City Harvest Summer in the City event are available at cityharvest.org.

St. Agrestis Wins Best Non-Alcoholic Cocktail (Again)

Brooklyn amaro maker St. Agrestis first developed a following with its boxed Negroni and a cleverly packaged bottle version. Then, in 2019, the company, founded and run by brothers Louie and Matt Catizone with Steven DeAngelo of Greenhook Ginsmiths, introduced the Phony Negroni.

The timing was uncanny. Since the Phony Negroni debuted, the market for non-alcoholic and low-ABV cocktails has exploded, first with Dry January and then as drinkers and non-drinkers alike sought out new options throughout the year. With its sleek packaging, the Phony Negroni quickly emerged as a favorite alternative to the boozy Italian cocktail; St. Agrestis smartly replaced alcohol and pumped up the notes of juniper, citrus, and bitterness, adding carbonation as well. 

The Phony Negroni is increasingly in-demand at bars and at retail, and it keeps winning awards. This week, the San Francisco World Spirits Competion named it a Double Gold winner for the second consecutive year. The ready-to-drink non-Negroni beat out more than 5,000 entrants to claim the honors, with the team announcing, “We're so proud the Phony Negroni has again been recognized as the highest quality non-alcoholic option globally!”

In case you missed it, Appetito Editor-in-Chief hyped one of St. Agrestis’s alcoholic options, the Inferno Bitter amaro, on Good Day New York with Rosanna Scotto earlier this week. Watch it below:

More Italian Food News in NYC

Dubbed "the most mysterious sandwich in Brooklyn," the artichoke parm from Mama Louisa's Hero Shoppe in Prospect Lefferts Gardens gets a loving tribute from Bon Appétit this week. Writer and parm sandwich aficionado Katie Honan details her discovery of the delicious hero, explaining, "The sandwich was unlike anything I’d ever tasted. It was creamy from melty mozz and a little tangy from jarred artichoke hearts and marinara sauce, hefty without spilling out of the sides. The bread was strong on the outside yet pillowy inside." Read the whole story at BonAppetit.com. >>> Upper East Side Italian restaurant Tiramisu is being forced to move after more than 30 years, according to UpperEastSite.com. Developers are planning on razing the site currently occupied by Tiramisu and other businesses, and the restaurant, known for brick-oven pizzas, pasta dishes, and its namesake house-made dessert, will move to a new Upper East Side location.