Here is some great food news to keep foodies having a very cool summer.

M&M’S Ice Cream will announce the “Sammy Pack,” a temperature-controlled fanny pack, to offer fans a practical and fun way to carry their favorite frozen treat in style.

Fans can snag the limited-edition M&M’S Ice Cream Sammy Pack, along with M&M’S Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches. To enter, consumers can visit a microsite of mms.com, which will be shared closer to the announcement. Entries close on August 16 with the winners selected and notified shortly after.   The fashionable, versatile pack features summer-inspired imagery influenced by classic and bright M&M’S lentils. The insulated pack also features a custom M&M’S Ice Cream cooling device that will keep the product chilled, allowing consumers to enjoy their favorite summer treat on-the-go during the hottest months of the year.

For the backyard bbq party be sure to try are new obsession – Chipotle Kebabs.

Basted in a smoky-sweet blend of Cholula® Hot Sauce and agave nectar, these chipotle flavored pork kebabs are an easy dish your whole crew will love. They only take 15 min to prep and 20 minutes to cook. For distinctive smokiness with a touch of heat, uncap Cholula Chipotle Hot Sauce. We’ve blended sweet, smoky chipotles with arbol & piquin peppers along with our signature spices for an authentic Mexican hot sauce that offers rich barbecue flavor notes and color. Pair this sauce with salsa, corn on the cob, burgers and more.

And, finally even your little one can enjoy summer days with Happy Family Organics offers organic formula, meals and snacks with curated ingredients for your baby and toddler.

Cover Art – Etienne Girardet on Unsplash

With the summer in full swing we took some time to test brands that stood the test of time from sun up to sun down.

Milk Makeup Sunshine Skin Tint SPF 30: Calling all city girls and gals! This roll-on application that protects you skin just makes you giggle with joy when you put it on. I mean how smart and it’s the thing we didn’t know we needed until we had.

A sheer, clean skin tint with SPF 30 sunscreen and hydrating skincare ingredients that quickly evens out your skin tone for weightless coverage and a radiant glow. The formula is vegan, cruelty-free, paraben-free, silicone-free, and gluten-free. Available in 14 shades on MilkMakeup.com for $42. Find a shade that matches your skin with ease. We love this!

Biossance Squalane + Zinc Sheer Mineral Sunscreen:

Brand ambassador Reese Witherspoon has been proudly promoting this line that we have also taken a small place in our heart for. If you are prone to breakouts – and who isn’t over the summer – this is a must. Protect your skin without issue!

This lightweight, deeply hydrating, and Squalane-rich clean sunscreen is a daily healthy-skin favorite of the stars from coast to coast. Its powerfully invisible formula blends in for all skin tones fast and without leaving a trace, giving you a soft, dewy finish. Available on Biossance.com for $30 (50ml/1.7oz).

JLo Beauty That Big Screen Broad Spectrum SPF 30 Moisturizer:

Another big star who shines as bright as the sun itself is having us sing loud and proud this summer with her skincare line.

Jennifer Lopez’s luxurious, luminizing moisturizer that blocks UVA/UVB rays, street pollutants, free radicals, and blue light damage does it all  while delivering a smoother, dewier, glowier complexion. Instantly, you’ll achieve that Jennifer Lopez glow. Available on JLoBeauty.com for $54 (1.7oz). Get your girl power on and get this!

Pipette Mineral Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 50:

And for you and the whole family try this brand that always proves to be a refreshing product on the market. It protects young to old all while being ever so gentle to your precious skin. You don’t have to be a kid to have fresh skin to look like one!

A baby-friendly, family loved SPF 50 sunscreen that uses 100% mineral, non-nano zinc oxide for broad-spectrum UVA/UVB protection. It’s lightweight, fast-absorbing, and formulated with Squalane for extra hydration. Available on PipetteBaby.com for $15 (4 fl oz).

Cover art by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

The Big Apple is back in business this summer. The streets are full of people shopping and especially eating out. Here are some of our favorite places to get you excited in July.

A top selection is the patio deck at Katsuya 

Everything about this exquisite establishment pleases the senses and creates magic that sparkles this summer. Just adjacent to Hudson Yards at Manhattan West you will find seats on this outdoor deck that offers up amazing views and even more amazing food and drinks. Enjoy such popular menu items as Pop Rock Shrimp with Spicy Ponzu Mayo, Crispy Batter or the legendary Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice with Grilled Sushi Rice, Spicy Tuna Tartare, Serrano. Of course no visit is complete without Chef Katsyta’s Signature Baked Crab Handrolls with buttery Baked Snow Crab wrapped in Soy Paper.

Katsuya at Citizens also boasts a wonderful indoor sushi bar along with the 100-seat rooftop terrace.

Down in the West Village try some eats for a great cause. The Stoli x Sveta Cocktails for Ukraine pop-up is a Ukrainian-themed immersive pop-up that will support World Central Kitchen, providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate and community crises.

Stoli Vodka selected Ukrainian family-run restaurant Sveta, owned by Ukrainian immigrant Sveta Savchitz and her son Alan, for the Stoli Vodka x Sveta Cocktails for Ukraine pop-up to further support their pledge of raising $1,000,000 for World Central Kitchen to send meals to Ukrainian refugees.

If you are looking for a perfect day outdoors, the classic lemonade stand you know and love has grown up: two New York icons have come together for a limited-time collaboration. Fishers Island Lemonade has popped up a lemonade shack at Taco Vista on Governors Island.

Located in the grassy area outside of Taco Vista – just to the left of the ferry when you arrive on Governors Island – anyone stopping by can sip in the shade, hang on the lawn, nosh on tacos + oysters, and stop by the shack for refreshing Fishers Island Lemonade. Now through the end of July, visitors will be able to enjoy the delicious, full range of Fishers Island Lemonade as well as a signature frozen slushy, available only at Taco Vista. If you’re stuck in the city over the Fourth of July or looking for something fun to do in the sun, check out the Fishers Island Lemonade Shack on Governors Island.

Then head north in town. A Tavola in La Devozione at Chelsea Market, by Giuseppe Di Martino, owner of Pastificio Di Martino, the world’s leading pasta maker, is partnering with Italy’s internationally renowned chef Massimo Bottura, owner of three-Michelin-starred Osteria Francescana. The restaurant will be serving Gemelli and Massimo’s Pesto, gemelli pasta by Pastificio, a double twisted pasta shape and Chef Bottura’s pesto made from mint, basil, Parmigiano, and breadcrumbs; a nut free tradition remade for sustainability and the chef’s no-waste approach.

Partial proceeds of each dish sold from this summer until the fall of 2022 is being donated to Bottura’s NPO Food for Soul, and the New York-based NPO Refettorio Harlem, in support of its ongoing community meal initiative.

Masseria dei Vini is an authentic Italian dining experience located in Hell’s Kitchen. The restaurant features daily crudos, a large selection of house made pasta, traditional dishes from Puglia, where Chef-Partner Pino Coladonato was born, and a large selection of wines mainly from Italy. Many proteins are created in a Ferrara wood-burning pizza oven that has lava rocks from Mount Vesuvius giving the dishes a distinct taste. The extensive wine program was designed by partner Enzo Ruggiero, whose passion for wine began as a child going to local vineyards with his grandfather where they would stomp grapes to make the family wine. The program contains more than 400 different labels, with approximately 90-percent of the catalogue coming from Italy, and the other 10-percent from around the world.

PJ Bernstein offers delivery and takeout options for all their traditional Jewish deli specialties and will be open from 10 am – 8 pm on Independence Day. The restaurant has remained a staple in the New York Jewish deli dining scene for over five decades.

The Catering and Party Menu is perfect those looking to nosh on some hearty sandwiches with options for anywhere from 10 – 20 people. Starters include classic salad options such as Potato, Macaroni, or Cucumber Salad, among others, and customers can also lean with healthier options like PJ’s Vegetable Platter, served with carrots, peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, celery sticks, and house made onion dip; and the Whitefish Platter served with an assortment of bagels, cream cheese, olives, Bermuda onions, tomatoes, and fresh lemon. Cold Cut Platters are prepared with three and a half to five pounds of select meats as well as Eli’s Bread. house dressing, and pickles. Then for the main event and those looking to dive into some of NYC’s best pastrami, brisket, and corned beef, PJ’s Famous Sandwich Platters come with either 12 jumbo sandwiches and five pounds of a choice of side salad, and 20 Jumbo sandwiches and seven pounds of a choice of side salad.

Bear Donut will be crafting a red, white, and blue commemorative donut for the holiday, and with a purchase of a small box (composed of four donuts), an additional free donut will be added. This offer and specialty donut are available from July 2^nd – 3^rd only as Bear Donut is closed on the Fourth of July.

Bear Donut bakes fresh donuts twice daily, the first batch arriving at the counter at 10 am and the next at 2 pm, in three varieties of signature donuts developed by Jang: Bear Donuts, chewy and crispy donuts made with sweet rice flour in a bubble-ring shape dressed with powdered or glazed toppings like Powdered Sugar or Cheddar and Lavender or Pink Chocolate Glaze; Glazed Donuts, classic ring-shaped donuts also made with sweet rice flour in flavors ranging from Classic glaze to a sour Grapefruit Poppy; and specialty light and airy brioche Cream Puff Donuts, perfectly round and double the height of the other donut varieties filled with such options as Double Milk Tea and Matcha Custard, each topped with powdered sugar and Dirty Choco, filled with Nutella and glazed with semi-sweet chocolate.

El Cartel Tapas Bar and Restaurant, a family-owned and operated restaurant rooted in Colombian cuisine and culture which has just opened in Hell’s Kitchen, will be offering an array of specials for the Fourth of July Weekend for Friday (7/1), Saturday (7/2), and Sunday (7/3), priced from $30 – $55, but closed on Monday (7/4).

Entrée specials include a choice of: Seafood Rice and Bass Filet, a coastal flavored seafood rice with fried striped bass ($30); Filete Cartagena, fried, stripped filet topped with a homemade red sauce and shrimp served with rice and fried cassava ($35); and Parrillada for Two, a well-packed meal for two consisting of pork chops, chicken breast, skirt steak, shrimp, and Colombian chorizo served with fried yuca, French fries, yellow rice, and black beans ($55). Beverage is not included in the price.

If you happen to be in the Hamptons for the weekend check out an exquisite culinary experience with the opening of the restaurant El Turco.  Truly divine and fully authentic Turkish inspired food will captivate guests out East this summer with authentic Turkish menu selections served with renowned Turkish hospitality. Located close to the heart of East Hampton at 44 Three Mile Harbor Road, the newest El Turco will come alive in the stunningly well-designed space during the July 4^th holiday weekend and officially opening July 8^th. El Turco has created a chef’s tasting experience that will take guests on a culinary journey with the best use of Turkish food reflective of the grand tastes and traditional expressions of the rich cultural heritage mixed with a modern presentation of bold flavors.

And lastly, reservations will go live next week – Wednesday, July 6 –  for NYC & Company’s 30th Anniversary of NYC Restaurant Week. The link for reservations is – nycgo.com/restaurantweek

Happy restaurant hopping!

Cover art by Photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash