NYC is the epicenter of the food world, where trends are born and spread like wildfire. When our founder Steve hopped on the Lunch with Biggie podcast last week and was asked if he saw any food trends arising in NYC, he answered, “The trend I don’t think is ingredient-based. It’s innovation and collaboration.” 

That’s the bread and butter of this weekly article (that never features just bread and butter): when Chefs put their creative brains together to drop dishes we’ve never seen before, that’s when the magic happens. It's like a hip-hop cypher, but with food. The energy is electric, and the creativity is off the charts. You never know what you're gonna get when you hit up one of these collabs, but you can bet it's gonna be fire.

This week, we’ll be highlighting so many exciting culinary superheroes, their coming together feels like an Avengers Movie. 

As always, this article is just a small taste of the pop-ups and drops in the 8it app. Hit the green button below each dish to access 8it and get all the deets.

Down & Derby High/Low Pop-Up
Carroll Gardens // 5.6

It’s high-end, low-end, Down and Derby - and the only event of its kind. Gotham Burger Social Club and Pearl Street Caviar are joining forces once again for a burgers and caviar pop-up ahead of The Kentucky Derby this Saturday starting at 2PM. With a menu of burgers, caviar, truffle deviled eggs, Louisville hot browns, county ham with biscuits, cajun shrimp with remoulade, Knob Creek whiskeys and mint juleps, a bloody mary bar, Velvet Llama cocktails, champagne, and rosé… everyone has a horse in this race. A few VIP tickets are left to get you the full five-hour open bar experience as well as ‘Last Stretch’ tickets for 4PM entry. Tickets are available under the 8it Exclusives category in the 8it app.

Garlic Bread Baconeggncheese
Bed-Stuy // 5.6

Allow Chef Christian Petroni’s famous garlic bread to channel its inner Jay-Z and reintroduce itself as a breakfast sandwich. Greenberg’s Bagels is teaming up with Petroni to double down on its garlic bagel by splicing in garlic butter and topping it with eggs fried in olive oil, bacon, pecorino romano, Sicilian oregano and New School Quality American Cheese this Saturday. Who said Italian’s don’t eat breakfast??! This is Italian maximalism at its finest, pushing garlic to its limit to create a flavor so immense, you’d think this breakfast sandwich was directed by Michael White. Find it in the 🧨 Drops category on the 8it app then press the ‘DIG IN’ button to pre-order this sandwich and secure the bag.

Bonnie's x Edith's Pastrami Egg +Cheese
Williamsburg // First Two Weeks of May

Breakfast sandwiches are a superb canvas for collabs, there’s no other way to cut it- well, except in half. To celebrate AAPI and Jewish heritage month, Williamsburg’s modern Chinese staple Bonnie’s and go-to sandwich counter Edith’s are coming together for a pastrami, egg, and cheese sandwich available at Edith’s. It’s as multicultural as the borough where it’s being made, featuring smoked pastrami, a taro latke, Chinese hot mustard, and Bonnie’s signature sesame milk bun. Find it in the 🧨 Drops category on the 8it app for all the info.

Lucali Calzone Dumplings
UWS, EV, Boerum Hill // Available all May

Mimi Cheng’s is proving lightning can indeed strike twice, following up last month’s Hometown BBQ dumpling with another banger. Someone call Shia Labeouf because the city’s most sacred calzone from Lucali is transforming into a dumpling for this collab. Filled with buffalo mozzarella, ricotta, parmigiano reggiano, and ham, this dumpling makes getting a taste of Lucali, which is notoriously hard to secure a table at, much easier. It’s available at all three Mimi Cheng’s locations all May. Find it in the 🧨 Drops category on the 8it app for all the info.

Sally’s Apizza x Hoodoo Brown BBQ
Stamford, CT

The collab craze runs so deep that it’s rockin’ the suburbs as well. This weekend, the iconic New Haven-style pizzeria Sally’s Apizza is teaming up with the Sausage King of Connecticut Tyler Hodge and Hoodoo Brown BBQ for a Kentucky Derby party at their Stamford location. Word on the Post Road is that Nutmeggers are pinching each other in anticipation of this collab. It will feature sausage links masterfully infused with Sally’s famous Tomato Pie, and two barbecue-topped pizzas including a brisket pie with mozzarella, oven-charred onions, cheese curds, and scallions, plus a pulled pork pie with mozzarella, Sally’s tomato sauce, pickled eggplant, charred fennel, and cheese curds. This collab will have you riding Metro North every weekend if you’re still sleeping on Connecticut’s food. Find it in the 🧨 Drops category on the 8it app for all the info.

Not to rub it in, but here’s a pop-up you may have missed out on. To stay in the know on all the hottest drops in real-time, check out the pop-ups and drops categories in the 8it app.

Let me take you back to Pig Beach's 3rd annual Jeff Michner Foundation BBQ event last Saturday. It was a feast for the senses, with some of the best BBQ pitmasters from all around the country coming together to showcase their skills. I'm talking about melt-in-your-mouth brisket, fall-off-the-bone ribs, and juicy pulled pork that would make you weak in the knees.

But there was one bite that stood out amongst the rest - imagine a perfect, crispy pork belly that melts in your mouth like butter, on top of a crunchy tostone, and then…BAM, you get hit with these tangy, zesty pickled onions that perfectly balance out the richness of the pork. This masterpiece of a bite was created by none other than the BBQ genius, Chef Mario Chape, also known as Big Papa Smoke'm. I'm still salivating just thinking about it.

My 8 word review? “Like the Puerto-Rican Day parade in your mouth.”

Psst…If you’ve made it this far, you probably give a damn about what we’re doing at 8it. Our founder Steve would love to get to know you. Hit this link to lock in 15 minutes to say what’s up.