Lunar New Year starts on February 10, and the neighborhood is offering a few fun ways to commemorate the holiday season. See below for our list of special food, drinks, and parties honoring the Year of the Dragon.
MáLà Project
MáLà Project (603 Manhattan Ave.), the Sichuan dry pot restaurant in Greenpoint which opened last July, is serving up several ways to celebrate the Year of the Dragon, starting with limited edition special menu items like dragon prawns, peppercorn fish and tofu soup, and shredded pork and chives.
MáLà Project is throwing a Year of the Dragon party on Thursday, February 8 in Greenpoint, which will have a two-hour open bar and a buffet of dry pot, dragon prawns, dumplings, and more, plus dragon dancers and DJ Darling Chuck. Tickets are $60.
MáLà Project also created a limited edition tee featuring the wood dragon, a symbol of good luck, strength, and health. It was designed by Brooklyn-based Leanne Gan, a queer Chinese-Filipino designer and illustrator based in Brooklyn who creates art to support small businesses and nonprofits. The 100% cotton short sleeve tee is available for $40 with nationwide shipping. 10% of all sales will be donated to Heart of Dinner to support Asian seniors living in Chinatown.
Land to Sea
Land to Sea (402 Graham Ave.), a coffee shop and creative venue that opened in October 2021, has set up a couple of ways to mark the Lunar New Year.
The first is a decor workshop with Pandan Studios on February 8, 6 – 9 p.m. Guests will learn to make their own Lunar New Year decorations including a red envelope lantern and a 12-inch hoop wreath with lucky fu pendants and tassels with plenty of red and gold accents. Tickets, which are $55 per person, include the workshop instruction and all required materials and tools, plus lights bites like shrimp chips with sambal dip, wood ear mushroom salad, pâté chaud (or Vietnamese meat pies), and Chinese almond cookies.
On February 17 and 18, Land to Sea will host a Lunar New Year small business market in collaboration with the design studio Overice from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. The market will feature several small and local businesses, with prints, ceramics, jewelry, and more.
Following Saturday’s market, Land to Sea will host an after-party with food and drinks from Tastebuds, from 7 p.m. – 11 p.m. There will be dumplings, wine, and cocktails, plus live jazz and mahjong. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the door.
Win Son
Williamsburg’s Win Son (159 Graham Ave.), a popular Taiwanese-American restaurant, is kicking off Lunar New Year with a very lucky February special. In collaboration with Mimi Cheng’s, a Taiwanese restaurant with locations in Cobble Hill and Manhattan, Win Son is offering garlic-cured lamb wontons with budding chives in a chili crisp vinegar sauce and topped with labne.
Larry’s Cà Phê
Larry’s Cà Phê (135 Woodpoint Rd.), a Williamsburg Vietnamese coffeeshop that replaced Tar Pit, is hosting a Lunar New Year Pop-Up on Saturday, February 10 from noon to 3 p.m.
Larry’s Cà Phê has partnered with Azn Americana, a creative collective for Asian women, to offer a special drink that will be 20% off during the pop-up. The beverage is called Azn Americano and is an americano with condensed milk that is available hot or iced. Other specials include sửa đá, which is Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk, cafe muối, which is salted coffee, and coconut matcha.
During the event, guests can try these new drinks while playing a Vietnamese dice game called bầu cua cá cọp for the chance to win a free coffee. There will also be local Việt goodies and zines for sale, plus raffle prizes.