New Jersey’s Anthony Bourdain Food Trail Launches Today

New Jersey will have an official state food tour to commemorate Anthony Bourdain

This year, state and local officials in New Jersey approved legislation to establish an official Anthony Bourdain food trail of the state, highlighting Jersey gems like Donkey’s Place in Camden, which the late Bourdain once declared makes the best cheesesteak. It kicks off today, featuring restaurants including Tony’s Baltimore Grill in Atlantic City, Hiram’s Roadstand in Fort Lee, and Frank’s Deli & Restaurant in Asbury Park, all highlighted on Parts Unknown. The food world celebrity died on June 8, 2018.

A chef showdown at MeMe’s Diner

On Monday June 17, Eater Young Gun Libby Willis will face-off with chef Carla Perez-Gallardo of Lil’ Deb’s Oasis at Willis’s MeMe’s Diner in Prospect Heights TouchBistro’s Kitchen Scrap series. Each chef will compete to serve the best breakfast-for-dinner dish, and each team will also create a tequila cocktail. Willis will be serving up sausage-stuffed chicken wings with hollandaise, and Perez-Gallardo will dish out a savory arepa pancake with crispy pork jowl, pickled peaches, and cotija-herb salsa verde. For drinks, MeMe’s will do a take on a tequila sunrise, and Lil’ Deb’s will pour a version of its “First Blush” cocktail, made with freso-infuseed tequila, strawberries, egg white, and tomato salt. Tickets are $40 and can be purchased here.

There’s a cocktail going for $5K in Midtown

Baccarat Hotel New York — the hotel is owned by a crystal company — is now pouring an excessive $5,000 cocktail if wasting money is your thing. The “L’Imperial cocktail” is a take on the classic “last word.” It’s made with expensive spirits: Nolet’s Reserve gin, cherry oak-aged maraschino liqueur, and a rare green chartreuse. It’s also garnished with Beluga cocktail caviar pearls, an Amarena cherry painted with gold leaf, and saffron. But the real reason the drink is so expensive is because it’s served in a crystal and diamond-laden glass worth $3,600 that the drinker gets to keep as a pricey souvenir.

A closing in East Village and an opening

Jin Kitchen closed at 58 Third Ave. in East Village. The Chinese restaurant only just opened in January, replacing Shu Han Ju II. But UWS frozen food purveyor Babeth’s Feast will stay open despite previous closing rumors.

A new ice cream sandwich in town

Hit ice cream parlor Morgenstern’s recently debuted the “NICK’S IT” ice cream sandwich, a riff on the “IT’S IT” ice cream sandwich, which has been around since 1928. The Morgenstern’s ice cream sandwich is available at both locations of the shop and comes in six flavors of ice cream: burnt honey vanilla, mint, chocolate, strawberry, banana, and vegan coconut espresso. The ice cream is sandwiched between two vanilla wafers and then coated in dark chocolate. They run for $7.25.