We’re starting to worry just a little bit about Joe Dobias, the “aggressive American” chef who lashed out at “shithead bloggers” after a couple of them gave him less than favorable reviews. Back then, he explained to us why he banned Eater from his eponymous restaurant: “Instead of helping the people they should be helping (like you guys do at New York Magazine), Eater just likes to take people down.” But now we, too, are in Joe Doe’s crosshairs, as evidenced by multiple tweets mentioning Adam Platt and your humble narrator, Grub Street editor Daniel Maurer. Here’s the most troubling of them, posted on Friday and now deleted: “I was riding my bike and was hoping to see danny, just so I could run his ass down! No such luck.”

Okay, we knew Joe Doe didn’t like us anymore when he badmouthed us to a friend of ours at his restaurant (ah, the charm of the open kitchen!), and when he started replacing his usual tweets of “F Eater” with “F D.M.” and “F Danny.” We had to wonder what we did to become a bogeyman — after all, we like what Joe Doe does: We’ve shared news of his preopening menu, opening menu, cocktail menu, prix fixe menu, delivery menu, brunch menu, happy-hour menu, and Sunday-supper menu. Heck, we even praised its bacon-and-liver sandwich and his biscuits and gravy!

Sure, we’ve had some fun with the man’s media persona: The headline “Joe Doe Hits Television, Somehow Isn’t Famous Yet” may have been a little cheeky, but keep in mind it refers to someone who once wrote, “I assure you you will make me famous and for that I love you little bloggers sticking together.” So what’s up with tweets like “The rise continues thru the winter! F Danny!” And “Phil from Daddy-O in tonite! Great tuesday with another great biz owner for the gravy! F danny!” And “I hate when people say chief, guy, or hey u!? F danny.” And “JoeDoe is killing it! Sorry to those who wanted something different? Barnacles suck! Danny sucks!”

Look, mantras are deeply personal things — far be it from us to deprive a hardworking chef of saying “F Danny” instead of “ohm” if that’s what helps him get through a long day. But do we really deserve to be run down by a bicycle? (At least we hope Joe Doe rides a bicycle — getting hit by a Harley would definitely put our blogging arm in a sling.) Obviously Joe Doe is feeling a little stressed, so to ensure he makes it through the Valentine’s Day crush sane (Joe Doe has little patience for, say, the types who come to his restaurant just because they saw him on Chopped), we’d like to offer him a massage. That’s right — there are a few spots where we like to pamper ourselves after a hard day at our own thankless job (what, you thought being a barnacle was easy?). Sure, they're in Chinatown basements, but the zither music is relaxing enough. First twenty minutes are on us!

Chef Joe Doe [Twitter]

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Filed Under: beef, aggro, joe dobias, joedoe, massages

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Cobble Hill: Café on Clinton hasn't opened its doors for about a month, even though tables are set inside. [Brownstoner]

East Village: Tully's Gluten-Free Bakery opened for business today on East 11th Street. [Fork in the Road/VV]

Greenpoint: Kumquat Cupcakery and Liddabit Sweets are opening a Valentine's Day–themed pop-up shop at Kill Devil Hill, called Sweet Shop. [Feed/TONY]

Harlem: Best Yet Market opened this weekend. Shoppers are saying the space is true to its name, and that it is the best supermarket in the neighborhood. [Uptown Flavor]

Lower East Side: South African spot Bunny Chow — and its liquor license — are for sale. [Bowery Boogie]

Midtown East: Get two hamburgers for 88 cents today at Pop Burger. [Midtown Lunch]

Read more posts by Alexandra Martell

Filed Under: neighborhood watch, best yet market, bunny chow, cafe on clinton, kill devil hill, kumquat cupcakery, liddabit sweets, pop burger, sweet shop, tully's gluten-free bakery

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Malcolm Gladwell has written a New Yorker piece about the culture of drinking that we are just way too hammered to read right now. You tell us. [NYer]

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Filed Under: thought pieces, alcoholism, drinking, malcolm gladwell

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The Bocuse D’Or USA finals yesterday in Hyde Park resembled Iron Chef. The twelve-chef tournament is a kitchen-versus-kitchen competition in front of a live audience, judged by culinary luminaries, with a limited set of central ingredients (salmon, lamb) and a stressfully restrictive time limit (3.5 hours). But the converted gymnasium at the Culinary Institute of America was no Kitchen Stadium: Instead of engaging with the audience and performing for the cameras, competitors worked in stoic isolation, separated from the audience and one another in Plexiglas kitchen cubicles, while in-house video crews caught every move for the large projection screens hanging overhead.

The four chefs cooking in the first heat of the finals began their day at the ungodly hour of 6 a.m., so when we strolled on to the CIA campus just past 10, competition was already well underway. The real action came later, during the tastings at the end of each heat, when the fifteen chef-judges took their seats (arranged alphabetically, Achatz to Ziebold), whipping the crowd into a cheering, live-tweeting, camera-brandishing frenzy. White-gloved porters marched platters of proteins down the line and Café Boulud executive chef and former Bocuse competitor (2007) Gavin Kaysen provided a Miss America–style voice-over on each dish’s composition and the competitor’s professional background. Only eleven chefs served their food — Philadelphia's Jim Burke, of James, was disqualified after he didn't finish his platters in time. James Kent, the sous-chef at New York's Eleven Madison Park, won the opportunity to represent his country in France next year.

Watch our slideshow to see the real draw of the day for starstruck CIA students: the staggering amount of culinary wattage.

Read more posts by Helen Rosner

Filed Under: bocuse d'or, cia, daniel boloud, slideshows, thomas keller

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It's 4 p.m., and that means it's time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don't guarantee the results.) Today: Certified Geniuses.

Adour Alain Ducasse (Menu)
212-710-2277
Two for eight? No
Best available: Closed for a private event

Anthos (Menu)
212-582-6900
Two for eight? Yes

Benoit (Menu)
646-943-7373
Two for eight? Yes

Bouley (Menu)
212-964-2525
Two for eight? Yes

DBGB Kitchen & Bar (Menu)
212-933-5300
Two for eight? No
Best available: 10 p.m.

Eleven Madison Park (Menu)
212-889-0905
Two for eight? No
Best available: 8:30 p.m.

Esca (Menu)
212-564-7272, ext. 2
Two for eight? Yes

Falai (Menu)
212-253-1960
Two for eight? Yes

Jean Georges (Menu)
212-299-3900
Two for eight? Yes

Nobu (Menu)
212-219-0500
Two for eight? Yes

Filed Under: two for eight, adour alain ducasse, anthos, benoit, bouley, dbgb kitchen & bar, esca, falai, jean georges, nobu

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Chef groupies who track such things might have noticed a recent eastward migration we’ll call the A16 diaspora. Within the span of five months, three new restaurants will have opened in downtown Manhattan, each with a chef who was at one time connected to San Francisco’s popular Southern Italian restaurant and pizzeria, A16. First, founding chef-partner Christophe Hille opened Northern Spy Food Co. in November (as partner, not chef). Next month — March 9, to be precise — Hille’s onetime sous-chef and eventual successor, Nate Appleman, opens Pulino’s Bar and Pizzeria. And this week, as reported in the magazine, Daniel Holzman, who briefly joined Appleman as co-executive chef at SPQR, A16’s Roman spinoff, unveils the Meatball Shop on the Lower East Side.

And here’s where things really get interesting: At his specialized new spot, Holzman is making his beef meatballs with prosciutto and ricotta, then roasting them in the oven and braising them in sauce — a recipe and technique reminiscent of the one practiced at A16, where Meatball Mondays became a local phenomenon. That renowned meatball recipe is published in the A16: Food + Wine cookbook, co-written by Appleman and his then-partner, Shelley Lindgren, and was developed, according to Appleman, as a way to use meat scraps from in-house butchering. Everything was passed through the grinder — including prosciutto rinds, says Hille, for their “wonderful rich, buttery flavor.” More recently, as private chef for Annie Leibovitz and her family, Hille expanded upon his meatball mastery, devising a kid-friendly recipe using ground turkey and leftover hot-dog buns.

It remains to be seen whether Appleman will serve the dish at Pulino’s — “I doubt it,” he tells us — but Northern Spy Food Co. has been running its version as a special. Chef Nathan Foot uses pork leg from Fleisher’s, and seasons it with spices like star anise, cloves, allspice, fennel seed, and coriander, for an oven-roasted, sauce-braised ball that Hille deems “maybe better than the A16 meatball.” Foot doesn’t mind the comparison. “People know us partly through Christophe,” he says. “How could I not tap into what he learned or did at A16?” For his part, Hille relishes the competition. “It’s battle meatball on the Lower East Side,” he says. “I don’t want it to seem like we’re entering the fray. At the same time, I’m not going to cede any ground.”

Read more posts by Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

Filed Under: what to eat, meatball shop, meatballs, northern spy food co., pulino's bar and pizzeria

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Hammers and drills were working overtime this weekend at 62 West 9th Street where Waverly Inn chef and author of The Hunger John DeLucie and his partner, Delicatessen owner Mark Amadei, are readying a 140-seat restaurant. The Lion, opening at the end of next month, will be two stories and serve classic American fare from steaks and chops to burgers. The space, which previously housed the restaurant Village, will take on more of an old-world feel, but with updated art, and the team is currently meeting with collectors and dealers in a search for works by Andy Warhol and David La Chapelle.

Read more posts by Beth Landman

Filed Under: openings, delicatessen, john delucie, mark amadei, the lion, village

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When we stepped in to the restaurant, the beautiful decor and the elegant atmosphere really caught my attention. The...

Thalassa
179 Franklin St, New York
(212) 941-7661

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Manny the Marshmallow

The eighteenth annual City Bakery hot-chocolate festival is in full swing, punctuating bleak winter with a different flavor daily. But every year, chef-owner Maury Rubin devotes one night to a special, usually eccentrically themed celebration, and this year’s might be the most eccentric yet. The Night of Knitting on February 18 combines food, all-you-can-drink hot chocolate, and hot chocolate–themed knitting workshops. Why, exactly? In Rubin’s own words: “I was minding my own business in the store one morning, watching this woman knit. And I thought, knitting feels like hot chocolate.”

For this special event, the bakery has partnered with six knitting businesses, including Gotta Knit, Knitty City, and Wool and the Gang, who will offer a yarn-spinning demo plus workshops on how to make a mug cozy and a marshmallow hat. The $30 admission (buy tickets here) includes ten flavors of hot chocolate, beer on tap, and solid food like shrimp and grits, macaroni and cheese, and sandwiches. For inspiration, here’s a shot of unofficial mascot Manny the Marshmallow photographed, according to Rubin, “in the manner of an Irving Penn portrait.”

Read more posts by Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

Filed Under: foodievent, city bakery, hot chocolate, knitting

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While the opening date of Má Pêche is closely guarded, David Chang and chef Tien Ho debuted new dishes at a kickoff party with Alice Waters for Edible Schoolyard New York last night. Supporters of P.S. 216 in Brooklyn paid $350 to fund the $1.6 million greenhouse and garden project. In exchange, guests tried hors d’oeuvres like oxtail rillette with chanterelles and pine nuts, beef cheek and onion tartlets, beef tartar with charred scallions scooped onto tiny shrimp chips, short ribs with hoisin, and fried cauliflower with fresh mint and fish sauce. The beverage of choice was a Pear Collins: pear cider, apple brandy, and maple syrup.

Chang is a longtime supporter of the Edible Schoolyard project, which took over a decade to come to New York. “There are a lot of lots that are vacant, and I thought, why can’t we grow herbs or build a temporary greenhouse?” Chang told us. “I did so poorly in school, but I remember everything we did as a kid that involved cooking — we made butter in elementary school. Maybe it’s my way of giving back.” If you don’t have the pocket change to schmooze, P.S. 216 principal Celia Kaplinsky said supporters can e-mail info@esyny.org to volunteer after the ground breaking this summer.

Read more posts by Alexandra Vallis

Filed Under: foodievents, alice waters, chambers hotel, david chang, edible schoolyard, ma peche

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from Grub Street San Francisco

Alice takes idyllic Sunday strolls into the Berkeley hills.

"I sometimes come by the restaurant and talk to the cooks. I sometimes walk to a bookstore... Mostly I just stay home. It’s the one time I feel like I can exhale, and just get ready to begin again." — Slow-food evangelist and Chez Panisse proprietor Alice Waters in the Times' Sunday Routine column. [NYT]

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Filed Under: quote of the day, alice waters, chez panisse, new york times

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Luzzo’s Michele Iuliano, whose business card reads, “Owner-Founder Executive Pizzaiolo,” has been awfully busy these past months. Last week, we told you about the excellent square pizza and other doughy delights he’s recently added to the First Avenue flagship. Now the executive pie-man has opened a new restaurant called Ovest Pizzoteca by Luzzo right in the middle of West 27th Street’s Club Row, as if he were a budding Amy Sacco. The so-called pizzoteca (pizzeria, paninoteca, and enoteca all in one) actually opened on New Year’s Eve, but the wood-and-gas burning pizza oven (which sits opposite a cozy copper-topped dining counter) won’t be up and running until this week (maybe today), which will make it official.

513 W. 27th St., nr. Tenth Ave.; 212-967-4392

Read more posts by Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

Filed Under: openings, luzzo, ovest, pizza

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