THE LIFE VICARIOUS

L'asso replacing Chipotle all week at this week's CMJ Marathon.

Last year was the first Music Marathon to have a press and artist's lounge full of free sneakers and jars of pomade but it failed to feed with an on-site Chipotle to serving starving musicians and bloggers for only one afternoon. This year's lounge is an improvement, with L'asso serving pies from 12 - 6 all week long then ending the week with two nights of semi-private pizza parties featuring the restaurant's favorite bands and comedians on hand to celebrate their five year anniversary. You can RSVP here for the festivities.

Diane Birch is also performing Saturday night, sinking her AM radio hooks into the only CMJ show this year being held at City Winery. Tickets are still available.

ChilltownLunch update, taco truck news, Taste of the Giants.

ChilltownLunch will be launching next week in beta with a full recap of next Monday's 3rd annual Taste of the Giants at Giants Stadium. Tickets are still available for the charity event featuring dishes from restaurants like Blue Smoke, Little Owl, Market Table and STK. It's an expensive occasion, $250 - $400, but VIPs are served by the players, and anyone attending has photograph and autograph opportunities with the team. Plus it's a last chance to run around on the field before the stadium's torn down. As always we'll bring you a full report of the players favorite NJ eateries.

In other news, The New York Times Sunday magazine this past Sunday was focused on food and featured a great article on the cult following of Mexican Coca Cola. If you're looking to try it in Jersey City, it's available from The Taco Truck.

If your loyalty lies with the Lucinda Truck, they've introduced a new $2 vegetarian taco and they're taking phone orders as well as they up the ante in lunchtime competition.

American Masala fried chicken and grand opening details.

Next month we'll be launching our first legitimate food blog devoted to the Jersey City / PATH commuter dining scene - written by more than just us - but until then you're just going to keep reading about how much we love the local dining scene on The Life Vicarious. Today it's another American Masala post because the fried chicken at lunch is just that good.

Their lunch offering is no longer a special but a menu staple and a bargain at $8. Two chicken breasts and one leg, each coated in a batter so burnt brown, in its cracks betraying a black skin that would convince any customer he's opening a box of Popeye's purchased while the chairs were being turned over on the tables. And they couldn't be more wrong. The leg was so tender meat fell from the bone. A little pressure lifting the breasts and juices erupted to the surface. And every item on the plate was seasoned to complement their accompaniments. The ribbon fries are now tossed with moist nuggests of garlic replacing the peppers apparent in the chicken (only downside is the garlic clinging to your fingers as it's impossible to eat the crisp strips with a fork as it will only crack them.) The accompanying salad is large enough to serve as appetizer or palate cleanser.

Also worth noting, the restaurant is having its grand opening on October 8th - yes the same night at the opening of the NYC Wine & Food Festival - from 6pm - 8pm. There will be a St. Germain and champagne toast, 25 cent wings, $1 lamb sliders and $2 beers, live music and a raffle for dinner for two.

Feeding your craving for Fashion's Night Out.

Here's an updated look at the dining options for Thursday's Fashion's Night Out. And it's not the only fashionable food option this week, the Van Leeuwen ice cream truck will be the home of designer Michelle Williams' S/S 2010 fashion presentation. Models will be serving ice cream from the truck outside Bryant Park and Milk Studios. It will be keeping with the spirit of the day on 9/10 instead, where the truck will be donating proceeds of its cups and cones to the 9/11 Memorial Museum.

Momofuku at Band of Outsiders. Christina Tosi will be representing Momofuku at Opening Ceremony, serving up Thai-inspired desserts at a Thai food street cart selling ties. With every purchase of a Band of Outsiders bow-tie or neck tie you'll also receive a Thai cookie.

Top Chef at Bergdorf Goodman. Padma Lakshmi will judge a cook-off between Peter Som, Cynthia Rowley and others. Later in the night, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen will tend bar.

The Dessert Truck at Alexis Bittar. Not sure how this will work with the Dessert Truck out of commission but Alexis Bittar is promising a coupon for a free dessert from the truck, which will be parked outside all night, to the first 200 customers.

La Esquina at Tory Burch. La Esquina will be all over NoLiTa on Fashion's Night Out, actually doing the cooking outside Tory Burch on Elizabeth Street and catering a block party at Centre Market Place.

Magnolia Cupcakes on Bleecker Street. Magnolia will be selling a signature Fashion's Night Out cupcake in their Bleecker Street bakery or if you don't feel like being charitable, Magnolia cupcakes will also be available across the street at the Ralph Lauren children's boutique.

American Masala celebrating at Beard House this October.

Good news for struggling Jersey City burger joint American Masala. On October 24th the James Beard House will be celebrating Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights with a dinner prepared by the American Masala crew, Suvir Saran, Hemant Mathur and Joshua Thomas. This is the first time a Jersey City restaurant will be responsible for a meal there. (Although Jersey City chefs have cooked there before.) Tickets are $125, but if you want a real feast before then, $100 buys the entire menu at the restaurant, 33 items in all.

If you're not going to see Last Days of Disco at MoMA tonight...

Fear not. (Although, why not?) Film Comments Selects will be screening it on August 27th. Tickets are $11, Whit Stillman will once again be in the house, and a late disco dance party will follow where classic disco era cocktails like Stella Artois will be served. (Beer, really? And they're drinking Heineken in the movie.) Of course there's still time to get tickets to tonight's screening which will be serving real drinks.

Rock star chefs performing all over New Jersey this weekend.

The Feedbag announced the line-up of celebrity chefs at All Points West. Tailor's Sam Mason, Discovery en Espanol TV chef Marcela Valladolid, (who's been Twittering about her appearance) and former Top Chef contestant Nikki Cascone, chef of 24 Prince. However no one's mentioned the cost; if food is the highlight of the line-up for you, it comes at a price. VIP lunch and dinner is only available to Platinum VIPs paying $439 a day. $189 a day buys you the basic VIP ticket which includes refreshments courtesy of Bacardi and hors d'oeuvre.

If a rock star chef is that important to you, the Bruce Springsteen of food, New Jersey native son Tom Collichio will be rocking out beginning tonight at the Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival where he'll be a gourmet pizza bash, food and wine spectacular, and like any real rock star oblivious to logic, he'll be following a healthy eating workshop with an afterparty at the House of Blues.

Alas the afterparties for All Points West will be out of town, back in Manhattan at the Red Bull Space. Details after the jump.

Newport Beach Party tonight and Hudson Restaurant Week recs.

The 7th annual Newport Beach Party (just call it Taste of Newport) is tonight from 5pm - 8pm. Participating restaurants include Komegashi Too, Babo and South City Grill. Fire & Oak inside the Newport Westin debuted here last year as South City Prime so it's safe to guess they'll appear as well.

We're not sure if it's a coincidence but it's also Hudson Restaurant Week, now through August 7th. Lunches are $12 - $18, dinners $20 - $35. Bayonne's Ten East is among the eight new restaurants participating this year, a first for the town. But if you're only looking to see a public official accept a bribe opt for Casa Dante.

The Last Days of Disco with cocktails at MoMA beforehand...

...is of course a riff on The Last Days of Disco With Cocktails at Petrossian Afterwards, the novel sequel to Whit Stillman's last film. It's also our way of telling you it's being screened as part of the next MoMA Poprally on August 5th. The film will be preceded by a cocktail party and proceeded by a Q&A with Stillman and his underused leading man, Chris Eigeman. And tickets are only $8.

Bon Appetit Supper Club & Cafe opening early and going local.

The Bon Appetit Supper Club & Cafe is opening earlier this year, attempting in September to stand out from the glut that follows (NYCWFF, Gourmet Institute, New York Culinary Experience, TastingsNYC.) While there's still no word yet on where this week of midtown lunches is taking place - the cafe's home for the past two years, above, is currently under construction - the marquis names have been announced, among them Minibar's Jose Andres and Top Chef Masters frontrunner Rick Bayless. As for keeping with this year's theme, Grown in Manhattan, there's nothing but hometown pastry chefs representing, Nancy Olson, Gina DePalma, Alex Stupak and the guys from Baked are all on board.