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Food & Travel Spotlight

Nov. 15: Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor Hosts 1st Annual Varli Culinary Awards with Co-hosts Manu Narayan and Pooja Kumar in New York

Posted by Lia Chang - on Monday, 01 October 2012

Nov. 15: Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor Hosts 1st Annual Varli Culinary Awards with Co-hosts Manu Narayan and Pooja Kumar in New York
Manu Narayan Photo by Lia Chang After much-acclaimed success with Varli Magazine, the Varli Food Festival, and the Varli Cook-Off, the Varli brand continues to expand its reach with the first annual Varli Culinary Awards on November 15, 2012, at The Altman Building, 135 W. 18th St. in New York. The evening will be hosted by internationally acclaimed Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, along with Bombay Dream star Manu Narayan (The Love Guru), fresh from his electrifying turn...

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Its Cherry Blossom Festival time! Celebrate from SF to Brooklyn Hanami and Sakura Matsuri

Posted by Lia Chang on Thursday, 29 April 2010.

Cherry Blossom Festivals! If you didn't get a chance to celebrate the cherry blossoms at a Cherry Blossom festival this year, enjoy the beautiful photos here!

May 5, 2010

If you didn't get a chance to view the cherry blossoms this year, enjoy beautiful botanical photos by Lia Chang, and a photo gallery featuring images from her most recent exhibition this month.

If you missed the 2010 Cherry Blossom festivals this year, click on this time-lapse created from more than 3,000 digital photos, one taken very three minutes during the 2008 Cherry Blossom festival. Or check out the Brooklyn Botanic Garden CherryWatch website at http://www.bbg.org/cherrywatch

2008 Cherry Blossom Time-lapse at Brooklyn Botanic Garden from Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Vimeo.

April 1, 2010

Its time for the Cherry Blossom Festivals!

In San Francisco, the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival will be held Saturday April 10 and Sunday April 11, 2010 and on the following weekend Saturday April 17 and Sunday April 18. The Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival is the second largest festival outside of Washington D. C. to celebrate the blooming of cherry blossoms. For more information go to the festival website at http://nccbf.org/index.php

In the New York area, I love the serenity of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's annual rite of Spring, Hanami, the Japanese cultural tradition of viewing and cherishing each moment of the cherry's flowering season from the first buds, to the luminous blossoms, to the waterfall of petals cascading from the trees.

Check the Brooklyn Botanic Garden online CherryWatch to see which cherry trees and other flowers are in bloom. Hanami at BBG culminates with the 29th annual Sakura Matsuri (Saturday, May 1 to Sunday, May 2, 2010), a two-day festival celebrating nature and renewal with the striking beauty of the Garden's cherry trees and their magnificent blossoms, and features a weekend of more than sixty events celebrating Japanese culture, music, dance, taiko drumming, ikebana flower arranging and much more at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden contains more than 200 flowering cherry trees of more than 30 species and cultivars that bloom in succession during April. The BBG is one of the best sites outside of Japan for viewing cherry blossoms and celebrating the tradition of hanami.

HANAMI EVENTS:

Cherry Watch 2010 bbg.org/cherrywatch
Early April to mid-May
The web-based exhibit maps the more than 220 cherry trees at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, tracks their blossoming, and provides a detailed guide to the cherry tree collection, including history, cultivation, and care of the trees.

BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN

General Hours: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday, Closed Mondays but Open Memorial Day 10am - 6pm. Check website for any changes to this schedule.

Admission is $8 for adults and $4 for senior citizens (65 and older) and students with ID. Children under 12, all school groups, and Garden members are admitted free. By subway, take the 2 or 3 train to Eastern Parkway or the B (weekdays) or Q train to Prospect Park. By bus, use the B16, B41, B43, B45, B48, or B71. For more information call 718-623-7200.

SAKURA MATSURI: May 1-2, 2010

Festival hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. All activities take place rain or shine, with indoor locations provided for all activities in the event of rain. Check the schedule for any update of the festival at bbg.org/sakuramatsuri, and information is available by calling the public events hotline at 718-623-7333.