Coney Island: Schmaltz Brewing Co. will begin serving Luna Lager this summer. [Grub Street]
Jackson Heights: Coming soon: Ambala Sweet & Bakery Chat House on 37th Avenue and 72nd Street. [Fork in the Road/VV]
Lower East Side: Fête the Chinese New Year at the Taiwanese restaurant Baohaus with a $38 eight-course meal. [Feed/TONY]
Park Slope: Fifth Avenue has lots of Fat Tuesday dinner specials tonight. [All About Fifth]
Times Square: If you manage to eat during Fashion Week, Bryant Park boasts numerous restaurant options. [Zagat Buzz]

Read more posts by Evan Mulvihill

Filed Under: Ambala Sweet & Bakery Chat House, baohaus, coney island, jackson heights, lower east side, Neighborhood Watch, park slope, times square

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Follow Me Caffe is a cozy, adorable, reasonably priced little place you’d expect to find in the East Village…

Follow Me Cafe

145 E 62nd St, New York

(212) 832-9772

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Now that we’ve seen the exterior of Kenmare, let’s take a look inside, shall we? These photos come courtesy of Patrick McMullan, who hit up the Purple party. He didn’t make it to the basement, but we hear it’s been painted white. What do you think — an improvement over Civetta? Not that it’s going to matter all that much in determining the fate of this place.

Read more posts by Daniel Maurer

Filed Under: slideshow, civetta, kenmare, nolita, nur khan, paul sevigny

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from Grub Street San Francisco

Roaming Hunger marketed itself at this weekend’s street food fest in L.A.

A war is brewing amongst street food aggregators, both web- and app-based. There’s the Taco Loco iPhone app, and TruxMap, which boasts a real-time, Google-Map-based food truck locator. Now there’s Roaming Hunger, which aggregates tweets from food carts and trucks in seven cities including NYC, L.A., and San Francisco, ranks vendor by popularity, and features a blog. As the battle for street-foodie traffic wages on, please watch out for stray, projectile empanadas and the like.

Roaming Hunger [via SF Weekly]

Read more posts by Jay Barmann

Filed Under: app-etizing, cartology, roaming hunger, taco loco, truckin, truxmap

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A couple of industry types (one a blogger, the other a chef) are pondering food TV today. First, Raymond Blanc, the acclaimed chef who hosted the BBC’s The Restaurant (a.k.a. Last Restaurant Standing), has come out against what he says is the “sensationalism” of current-day food programs (he had a chance to host Hell’s Kitchen but declined). “I did a lot of shows in the 1980s,” he told the Independent, “but I chose to stop because TV started sensationalising food.” Meanwhile, Josh Ozersky is perhaps more sympathetic to hype in a Time essay. He ponders whether the Bocuse d’Or (a “monstrosity” that is “basically just a bigger, more elaborate version of [Top Chef]”) is worth all the pageantry and decides: It’s “the gastronomic version of the Apollo program. There’s no real reason to do it, the difficulties are nearly insoluble, and the cost in time and money is prohibitive. But to plant the flag on the alien surface of European haute cuisine! To beat the Frenchies at their own game! The chef that pulls that off will be a hero to his peers, and will make his career overnight.”

What the Bocuse d’Or Says About Culinary Culture [Time]
Top chef Raymond Blanc slams ‘TV sensationalism’ [Independent UK]

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Filed Under: tv land, bocuse d’or, hell’s kitchen, raymond blanc, the restaurant, top chef

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Remember when Top Chef alum Spike Mendelsohn came to New York on a pizza-eating odyssey and told us he was planning to open a Napolean [sic] pizza joint? Well, NBC Washington reports that We the Pizza will begin selling thin-crust slices next to his burger joint, Good Stuff Eatery, at 305 Pennsylvania Avenue S.E. in mid-April. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Buzz blog reports that last season’s fan favorite Kevin Gillespie is working on a book (though they don’t say much about it) in addition to planning a barbecue restaurant in his native Hotlanta.

Checking in with Kevin Gillespie, post “Top Chef” [Buzz]
Good Stuff, Better Stuff: Spike Moves to Pizza [NBC Washington]

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Filed Under: other cities, good stuff eatery, spike mendelsohn, top chef, washington d.c., we the pizza

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

Minetta Tavern (Menu)
212-475-3850
Two for eight? Yes

Aldea (Menu)
212-675-7223
Two for eight? No
Best available: 9:30 p.m.

Maialino (Menu)
212-777-2410
Two for eight? No
Best available: Fully booked

SHO Shaun Hergatt (Menu)
212-809-3993
Two for eight? No
Best available: 8:30 p.m.

A Voce Columbus (Menu)
212-823-2523
Two for eight? No
Best available: 8:30 p.m.

Seasonal Restaurant & Weinbar (Menu)
212-957-5550
Two for eight? Yes

Marea (Menu)
212-582-5100
Two for eight? No
Best available: 9:45 p.m.

Filed Under: two for eight, a voce columbus, aldea, maialino, marea, minetta tavern, seasonal restaurant & weinbar, sho shaun hergatt

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The Cut has a report on the Purple magazine party at Paul Sevigny and Nur Khan’s Kenmare (you’ll recall Purple threw a party at the Beatrice in 2008 — but again, this is “not a new Beatrice”). Of course, some guy got naked and dripped candle wax on himself in return for a cigarette that he then accidentally burned himself with. Wait, really this isn’t the new Beatrice? Oh, but there was food: We hear chef Joey Campanaro prepared meatball sliders, risotto, artichoke heart salad, steak, and grilled swordfish for the occasion. Here’s a look at the restaurant’s exterior, complete with La Esquina/Indochine–esque neon signage.

Purple Magazine Dinner Results in Nudity, Hot-Wax Pouring [The Cut]

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Filed Under: openings, kenmare, nolita, nur khan, paul sevigny

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TT recently told me he was planning on taking his girlfriend, CT, to check out a few Restaurant Week restaurants, so…

Nougatine

1 central park west, New York

(212) 299-3900

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Marco Canora and Paul Greico are having some fun while they gear up for the April 1 opening of Terroir Tribeca. Perhaps inspired by Locanda Verde’s pastapalooza, they’re now offering a “red sauce” prix fixe that will essentially turn Hearth into the Mulberry Street restaurant of your dreams — on Sundays, anyway. $39 (same as pastapalooza!) gets you a choice of first course (fried calamari, Caesar salad with anchovies, beef carpaccio, tre colori salad, or escarole soup), a choice of second (spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna Bolognese, rigatoni with Sunday meat ragu, eggplant parm, or gnocchi), and a dessert (affogatto, tiramisu, torta della nonna, biscotti, or panna cotta). What, no “New York’s best cannoli”?

Read more posts by Daniel Maurer

Filed Under: foodievents, hearth, marco canora, paul greico, terroir, tribeca

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Deconstructed potato omelet.

Last month we told you that Spain’s Jesús Nuñez (known for his “interactive dishes” and exotic preparations, such as shark and deer carpaccio) was looking for a space. The Observer now reports that a 69th Street brownstone between Broadway and Columbus Avenue (formerly home to a kosher restaurant) “will undergo a drastic renovation” and reopen as Graffit. No date set yet.

Spanish Foodie Phenom Picks West Side Brownstone for First City Spot [NYO]
Earlier: Spanish Enfant Terrible Jesús Nuñez Hopes to Bring Shark Carpaccio to New York

Read more posts by Daniel Maurer

Filed Under: openings, jesus nunez, molecular gastronomy, spanish, upper west side

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Earlier we reported that Ed Levine and Adam Kuban, writing for Every Day with Rachael Ray, had narrowed their favorite pizza in the country down to four: Pizzeria Mozza, Great Lake, Motorino, and Pizzeria Bianco. And the winner is: Phoenix’s Pizzeria Bianco, which Levine had already said was his national favorite in A Slice of Heaven (so much for all the money Rachael Ray blew shuttling these guys around the country). Diner’s Journal describes this as “a tough loss for New York pizza supremacy,” but the truth is, Chris Bianco is actually a Bronx native, so Levine and Kuban don’t have to feel like they betrayed their hometown.

It’s Pizza Oscar for Bianco, Says Rachael Ray [Diner’s Journal/NYT]

Read more posts by Daniel Maurer

Filed Under: lists, chris bianco, great lake, motorino, pizza, pizzeria bianco, pizzeria mozza, pizzerias

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