Meringue snowball dessert at Bouley. (Photo: Roxana Marroquin)

This week’s issue of TONY tackles self-help. While other sections cover the topic with dignity—including high-minded territory like philosophy and hitting the books—we turn to the easy, sloppy path to short-term happiness: cheap liquor. Some wisdom you’ll glean from our story: Rye is a delicious budget alternative to other whiskeys; New Jersey makes a fine apple brandy. There are even recipes for each suggested spirit, so you can put your shaker where your mouth is.

If food is your idea of therapy, try one of these fine dishes that showcase curry, or one of three new pizza parlors—two Neapolitan and one kosher (!)—featured in this week’s restaurant openings. Reviews, meanwhile, run the gamut from high-end—the lavish Bouley—to low—a seafaring Butcher Bay. The in-between: a bourgie wine bar called Brook-vin in Park Slope.

In other notable news, there’s a fresh batch of food and drink events ready for your perusal, and an exciting beercentric opening—Brouwerij Lane, a spot in Greenpoint where you can fill your growler with choice tap brew. You know, in case enlightenment through philosophy doesn’t work out.