Hurricane Sandy – DailyFoodtoEat

New Jersey’s Flying Fish Brewery Releases ‘FU Sandy’ Beer

Drink beer AND raise money for Hurricane Sandy relief? It’s not too good to be true. New Jersey brewery Flying Fish will release an ‘FU Sandy’ beer (the FU standing for ‘Forever Unloved,’ clearly) to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, which devastated the East Coast in October 2012.

The pale-ale is made with a half and half blend of two row pale malt and American white wheat hops and promises notes of mango and guava. One hundred kegs of the beer were brewed and will be distributed to bars in New Jersey and Philadelphia in February. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to help Hurricane Sandy victims and Flying Fish anticipates they will raise $50,000 for charity. They are currently accepting suggestions for a charity by email at info@flyingfish.com.

In the spirit of giving, the beer was brewed entirely from donated ingredients. The hops from American Dwarf Hop Association are an experimental blend that has never been used before. Prost!

DailyFoodtoEat is the official blog of FoodtoEat, a sustainable online food ordering and concierge catering service featuring your favorite restaurants, food trucks and caterers. Check out the deliciousness here: www.foodtoeat.com

Thirty Thousand Jobs Lost Due to Hurricane Sandy

In addition to damaging infrastructure and devastating neighborhoods, Hurricane Sandy caused the loss of 30,000 jobs in and around New York City, according to the NY Times and the New York State Department of Labor. These jobs were mostly in the hospitality and food service industries.

Restaurant closings were widespread in affected areas such as Alphabet City, the Financial District, Red Hook, and The Rockaways, among other hard-hit neighborhoods.

FoodtoEat saw the devastation firsthand as we planned two Hurricane Sandy Restaurant Relief Food Crawls, the first of which occurred on November 17 and the second on December 8. We spoke to restaurant owners who felt so dejected by the storm and were grateful to be getting people back in their doors. Restaurant owners lost thousands in inventory and business during their forced closures. Upon reopening, many were cash only since (now 66 days later!) phone lines and internet had yet to be restored. These restaurants, such as Cafecito however, are some of the luckier ones. Many vendors on Avenue C (such as the C-Town supermarket) in the East Village were so damaged that they have remained closed since the storm.

In downtown neighborhoods such as the Financial District, many corporate offices were forced to relocate. Because of that, nearby restaurants, caterers and corporate cafeterias have been without business. With few customers and few open restaurants, the area has become a food desert.

Because FoodtoEat understands the hardships of restaurant owners, especially after a disaster like Hurricane Sandy, we’ve waived our usual 10 cent/order fee for affected restaurants for six months. We will remain active in Sandy relief efforts and continue to play a role in helping victims as much as possible. Despite many parts of NY recovering, it will be a long time before neighborhoods are rebuilt and storm victims, whether they be restaurant owners, displaced families, or displaced companies return to normalcy.

Join us this Saturday for a Lower Manhattan Food Crawl!

Although it’s been more than two weeks since Hurricane sandy hit the Northeast, many small businesses are still feeling the effects of the storm. Restaurants in particular rely on small margins to remain profitable in New York City. By closing their doors even for a few days many restaurants have lost their profits for an entire month or more. This Saturday, November 17th, Foodtoeat.com is holding a fundraising benefit for downtown Manhattan restaurants that lost business during the storm.

Starting at noon, 18 restaurants and bars in lower Manhattan will offer specials until 4 p.m. for all participants of the food crawl. Registration is just $10 and all proceeds from the event will go to participating restaurants. Join the FoodtoEat team beginning at Evelyn Drinkery to pick up a food crawl map, raffle tickets and purchase your registration if you haven’t already. Then follow the map and sample the discounted specials at each restaurant and bar until the final stop at Kafana restaurant. Stick around for the great raffle prizes, entertainment and interact with foodies all afternoon.

Purchase your tickets here and bring your appetite on Saturday! The full list of venues is listed below:

Cocktail Bodega
Continuum Coffee
Evelyn Drinkery
La Lucha
Mercadito
Mezetto
Prohibition Bakery
Proto Pizza
Sons of Essex
Common Ground
Idle Hands Bar
That Burger
Maharlika
Simone Martini Bar
Yaffa Cafe
Culture Fix
Cafecito
Royale Bar
Kafana