Latest news with #Hellbender
Time Out
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Eight Cinco de Mayo food and drink deals to check out in NYC this year
Yes, Cinco de Mayo falls on a Monday this year—but don't worry. Despite it being the start of the workweek, there are plenty of ways to celebrate the rich food, culture, and community that Mexican New Yorkers have cultivated across the city, including a number of special culinary deals that we've been eyeing for months. From free margs and tacos to the first-ever Cinco de Mayo gala, here are a few ways to celebrate the holiday in NYC his year. If you want to party with a salsa master… Earlier this month, James Beard Award-winning author, chef and recipe developer Rick Martinez released his second cookbook, Salsa Daddy: Dip Your Way into Mexican Cooking, as a love letter to the cornerstone of Mexican cuisine: salsa. As part of Martinez's cookbook tour, the chef will be stopping in New York to throw a Cinco de Mayo party to remember. On Monday, May 5, you can find him at Ridgewood's Hellbender for a special meet and greet. Recipes from his book will be passed around alongside plates made in tandem with Hellbender's chef Yara Herrera. Reserve your spot here. If fine dining is more your speed… Chef Javier Plascencia of Michelin-starred Animalón is credited with reinvigorating Tijuana's dining scene. In celebration of the coming holiday, the chef is heading to Enrique Olvera's ATLA in NoHo for a three-day takeover. On Friday, May 2 and Saturday, May 3, chef Plascencia and Animalón's executive chef Oscar Torres will prepare a special five-course meal featuring crudos and other sustainably sourced dishes. The restaurant's sommelier Lauren Plasencia (who received Michelin's 'Sommelier of the Year' recognition in 2024) will also be in attendance, pouring regional bottles from Mexico's wine country, Valle de Guadalupe. If you can't make either dinner date, pop over during the morning of May 3 to enjoy some a la carte brunch selections. Dinner is priced at $80 per person, with beverage pairings available for an additional fee. Reserve your spot here. If someone picked up your shift on Monday… First of all, congrats! You don't have to work one of the busiest, margarita-fueled nights of the year. Instead, you can celebrate with fellow industry members at Mission Ceviche. Oscar Valle of Mexico's Licorería Limantour will be tending bar at the Union Square location, shaking up bottomless margaritas al pastor and mezcalitas. In addition to the three-hour open bar, the restaurant will host a live mariachi performance and serve Mexican-inspired bites paired with its signature Peruvian and Nikkei flavors. The Upper East Side location is getting down as well, throwing its own open bar fete with live music and specials from the menu. Tickets are $100 per person, you can reserve them here. If chilling at home sounds like a party… The idea of eating tacos? Yes! The idea of going out on Cinco de Mayo to go get them? Hard pass. Alta Calidad hears you, so they are bringing the party to you with a special taco platter. Perfect for a four-person party, the $120 platter includes 12 tacos with four different options—carne asada, chicken tinga, pescado a la plancha and shrimp gobernador—plus a 16-ounce bottle of margarita cocktail. If that isn't enough to satisfy your crew, you can tack on guacamole, queso fundido and even decorations for an additional cost. Keep in mind, the platter is for pick-up only at the Prospect Heights eatery between May 2 and 5. So order it ahead of time here. If free tacos sound like the gospel… Free tacos? Need we say more? On Friday, May 2, various Rosa Mexicano locations across the U.S. are offering free tacos from noon to 2pm with the purchase of the 'Organic Margarita' made with Pantalones organic tequila. If you can't make it in on Friday, celebrations continue all weekend long with beer, jello shot and taco specials. The party on Monday goes all out with margarita specials, giveaways and swag. If spirit-free is more your speed… Just because you don't imbibe doesn't mean you can't celebrate. The first non-alcoholic spirit made from blue agave, Almave is offering refreshing, spirit-free margaritas at participating restaurants around NYC on the holiday, including Nomad Tea Parlour, Dead Rabbit, Arlo Hotel Williamsburg, The Roxy and Soho Grand Hotel. And, if you order two margaritas, you get $10 back, which we recommend putting toward an order of guac. All you have to do is submit your receipt here. If free margaritas sound like a better get… Cointreau implores you to drink better margaritas. According to the liqueur brand, better raelly means free. On Monday, May 5, head to 14th St Passage on The High Line to find the Cointreau MargaRight Vault. From 2 to 7pm, the pop-up bar will be shaking up free margaritas while doling out exclusive merch. Thirsty guests will also get the chance to win $500... which you will hopefully invest in more margaritas. Yes, the biggest and most exclusive night in fashion is falling on May 5 this year. Hornitos Tequila Hornitos Mex Gala. Held at The Supply House (1647 2nd Avenue), the Upper East Side gala invites all fashionistas to walk the red, yellow, green and blue carpet. Once inside, guests can groove to tunes by a live DJ, nosh on bites and, naturally, cheers with margaritas and tequila. So, how do you get in? All you have to do is RSVP.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Asheville Tourists to take the field as Asheville Snot Otters for one-day rebrand, fundraiser
The Asheville Tourists will have a new, snotty identity for one day only. On June 6, the Tourists will undergo a name change to play as the Asheville Snot Otters, a nod to the rare eastern hellbender salamander. The Tourists will don custom jerseys and caps with a unique logo featuring a snot-covered salamander. Advertisement The game-worn Snot Otters jerseys will be auctioned off prior to the game with proceeds going toward the Western North Carolina Nature Center. The Asheville Tourists will take the field as the Asheville Snot Otters on June 6 for one game only with custom jerseys, which will be auctioned off to benefit the Western North Carolina nature center. Alternate identities are common in Minor League Baseball, and the Tourists, the Single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros, are no stranger to donning a different uniform. Every season, the Tourists undergo name changes to play a game as the Beer City Tourists and a game as the Asheville Hippies, both inspired by Asheville's local culture. The WNC Nature Center reopened in March after being closed for nearly six months because of damage from Tropical Storm Helene. Flooding from the storm damaged roads and destroyed the main bridge to the Nature Center, leaving it inaccessible for months. Advertisement Despite 40 downed and leaning trees, as well as damage to fencing or boardwalks, all of the animals survived the storm and no enclosures were destroyed. What is a Snot Otter? The Tourists' new alternate identity gets its name from the rare eastern hellbender, a type of aquatic giant salamander native to Western North Carolina. Hellbenders have several nicknames, including snot otters, mud puppies and devil dogs. The hellbender is just one of three giant salamander species in the world. The salamander is known for living among the large, flat river rocks of Western North Carolina — and the broader southern Appalachian region — and can grow up to two feet, making it the largest North American amphibian. Advertisement Hellbender populations were devastated by Tropical Storm Helene, washing away habitats and worsening the species' condition, Lori Williams, a biologist and hellbender expert with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, previously told the Citizen Times. As a result of Helene, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed the Hellbender, already at risk with low populations, to be placed on the list of endangered species. Evan Gerike is the high school sports reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email him at egerike@ or follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @EvanGerike. This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville Tourists to play as Snot Otters, auction off jerseys
Time Out
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Martha Stewart is hosting a special one-night-only dinner in Queens this week
It's Martha Stewart's world—we're just lucky to be living in it. Just weeks after unveiling her new cooking competition show Yes, Chef!, which she co-hosts on NBC alongside culinary powerhouse José Andrés, Stewart has announced she's heading to Ridgewood, Queens, to host a one-night-only dinner party that we, naturally, have to attend. This Thursday, May 1, the 88-year-old icon will join forces with Yara Herrera of the acclaimed Mexican American restaurant Hellbender for a collaborative menu spotlighting ingredients harvested straight from Stewart's own garden in Bedford, New York. Per Eater, the dinner will feature standout dishes like fried oysters with jalapeño mignonette and a whole roasted chicken with vegetables and three-cheese macaroni. 'Working alongside Martha, whose passion for culinary excellence has long been a source of inspiration for me, has been truly fulfilling,' said Herrera in an official statement. 'Martha's attention to detail imprinted on me from a young age, and it shows up in both the décor and the menu at Hellbender.' The event is part of a new Resy dinner series pairing rising-star chefs with the icons who inspire them. In New York, Questlove is also teaming up with NY Kimchi and Golden Hof chef Sam Yoo for a similar affair on May 7.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Record Scratch: How Tariffs and Uncertainty Are Hurting Vinyl Manufacturing in America
The post Record Scratch: How Tariffs and Uncertainty Are Hurting Vinyl Manufacturing in America appeared first on Consequence. While politicians clamor for an American manufacturing revival, vinyl records have quietly delivered. In 2015 there were only 21 vinyl pressing plants in the United States — too few to keep up with booming demand. A decade later the US boasts at least 35 pressing plants, from tiny custom shops to massive legacy operations. Now, President Trump's erratic tariffs are challenging that progress, offering fresh obstacles and new headaches — especially for smaller presses. 'You don't think when you go into the music industry or manufacturing business that you're going to accidentally become a global forecaster,' says Mike Yanchuk of Hellbender Vinyl in Pittsburgh, PA. 'A little update comes through and something under your feet is changing. It's different than it was before. How can you deal with it tomorrow?' Hellbender employs about a dozen people, and like others that Consequence spoke to, the presser feels secure about most parts of their supply chain. The paper products that label and enclose new records are well-supported by American companies. It's the raw materials for vinyl — the treated plastic pellets — that have made Yanchuk's job 'feel like eighth grade geopolitics.' 'The vinyl industry mostly starts in a chemical bath in Asia,' he explains, but the path to market often includes vendors in the European Union. And as Trump's tariffs blinked on and off, vinyl has been ' subject to this entire disruption in the supply chain.' And the vendors aren't absorbing losses. 'People aren't apologizing for the cost of raw materials, they're demand pricing it like they're Ticketmaster.' Hellbender isn't planning to increase the price of their records. But shipping is another matter. 'The shipping prices in the United States right now are incredibly dynamic. We're having a hard time even on a 90-day turnaround. It's been hard to predict and project what our shipping costs are gonna be, even to the point of being able to bill through on the web.' The burden of these disruptions is falling disproportionately on smaller companies. Larger operations — at least, those that took Trump seriously on his tariff pledge — were ready. ' I think we've anticipated this,' says Cam Sarrett, director of sales and marketing at United Record Pressing. Homed in Nashville, TN, United is a 75-year-old part of music history, having pressed for The Beatles and Motown and Jack White. According to Sarrett, United have been preparing for the next trade disruption since COVID-19. 'Learning from the pandemic and the supply chain issues that went on there, we've taken a lot of steps to become more supply chain flexible and resilient,' he says. They greatly diversified their vendors and stocked up where they could. Today, 'we have a lot of warehouse space' filled with raw materials. United says they can weather the tariffs without passing along price hikes to customers, at least in the short term. Longer than that, 'It's pretty uncertain. But with the current administration, uh, it's hard to tell what's actually going to stick.' He's also not convinced by Trump's goals of bringing back a broader spectrum of manufacturing: 'Not everything that we use to make the records that we make is available in the US. Frankly, it would take a long time and a lot of money to make that all US based.' Sarrett worries about the effect tariffs might have on the 'diverse ecosystem right now of vinyl pressing plants.' As for manufacturers that couldn't or weren't able to 'take preparatory measures before this point, I can't imagine it's gonna get a lot easier for those plants. And that's a shame.' That's because the tariffs are only one stressor facing an industry coming off a decade-plus boom. Vinyl has added a lot of new plants, and supply has caught up with demand: 'For the first time since probably the eighties, the amount of vinyl that can be pressed in the US market has exceeded the amount of orders,' he says. Plants that five years ago were humming 24-hours-a-day have cut from three shifts to two; others two to one. Yanchuk knows what companies like Hellbender are up against: 'The farther down on the business pyramid you fall, and the smaller you are, the more subject you are to the tide.' Hellbender is working to cut costs in a number of ways, including offering musicians the chance to use cheaper recycled vinyl, like from previously-pressed records. The company hopes to sell artists on the environmental benefits and more competitive pricing, though Yanchuk acknowledges the difficulty in convincing audiophiles to give up their beloved 'virgin black' pressings. Still, he vows to fight on. 'I don't care if we have to learn how to grind up combs and press records. I don't care if we have to learn how to press records on baloney. We're gonna figure out how to make a great sounding record.' Popular Posts Wife of Weezer Bassist Scott Shriner Shot By Police, Charged with Attempted Murder Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne: Billy Corgan Was a "Raging A**hole" on Lollapalooza Green Day Open Coachella With "American Idiot" Performance: "Not a Part of MAGA Agenda" Billy McFarland's Fyre Fest 2 Permit Only Allows for a 12-Hour Listening Party with 250 People Perry Farrell Didn't Want "Boy Band" Green Day on 1994 Lollapalooza A Night of Mayhem: Lady Gaga's Coachella Performance Is One for the History Books Subscribe to Consequence's email digest and get the latest breaking news in music, film, and television, tour updates, access to exclusive giveaways, and more straight to your inbox.
CBS News
08-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Can the "AI Revolution" translate into a success story for the Pittsburgh economy?
Some are calling it "The AI Revolution" - the once-in-a-generation technology that is poised to change our lives, but can it transform Pittsburgh's economy in the process? Groundbreaking research in AI and robotics, primarily at Carnegie Mellon University, has made Pittsburgh a world leader, spawning dozens of startups here for everything from autonomous cars to language-teaching apps and AI-powered robots. Still, the region has fallen short, largely failing to turn technological advances into jobs and economic growth. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Pittsburgh has lost jobs and people, but can this AI revolution turn things around? "Absolutely," said Jay Katarincic, one of the heads of Pittsburgh's newly created AI Strike Team. "The good news is, it's not too late and people are starting to recognize our time is now." The resurgence may well be starting in East Liberty where dozens of startups have taken root on what is now being called "AI Avenue." From Duolingo world headquarters to Google at Bakery Square, there are about 25 AI-focused companies. Even though the Pittsburgh region is at the forefront of tech research, we've still lost out to neighboring states like Ohio, which has secured the development of a $20 billion microchip manufacturing plant outside of Columbus. Now, Katarincic and Joanna Doven, as part of the Pittsburgh AI Strike Team, are trying to land similar facilities here by forging a united front of business, academia, and government to grow AI development throughout our region. "We have a moment in time to catapult our region in terms of job growth and business investment by leveraging our assets in AI," Doven explained. Since AI computing requires a tremendous amount of energy, investors have just unveiled plans to turn the recently imploded Homer City coal-fired plant into a $10 billion natural gas plant to power a massive AI data center. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said he wants to leverage Pennsylvania's energy resources and AI research to spawn new industries. "I want to make sure we win the battle of AI here in America and we don't let China beat us on that front," Shapiro said. "Pennsylvania is going to have something to say about it because we have energy that can be used to power these data centers." The hope is that all of it will translate into jobs. The AI company Hellbender just announced it will be expanding its manufacturing space into an empty spot on AI Avenue. "The great thing about Hellbender is they hire a ton of veterans," said Greg Perelman of Walnut Capital. "There's going to be 75-100 people working in this space." Turning AI and robotic research is a challenge and an opportunity. To make it happen, leaders in these spaces said it's going to take a coordinated strategy and a monumental effort, but they have also said they're up to the task.
