Laboratorio del Gelato is finally about to fix its three downfalls — lines outside, early closing times, and only a limited number of its many flavors in play at a given time (we die inside every time they don’t have olive oil, avocado, or buttermilk). Diner’s Journal reports that they’ll open a new location at 188 Ludlow Street (near East Houston) in June, and it’ll be “five times larger, with as many as 60 flavors, later hours and a few seats inside.” The best part, given the current location’s schoolgirl-ish hours, is that it may stay open as late as midnight on weekends. Meanwhile, Eater relays a wild unconfirmed rumor that Steve and Andrew Leibowitz, who bought the Guss’ Pickles trademark and famously fought with the owners of the Orchard Street store of the same name, is opening a pickle shop near Russ & Daughters.

Off the Menu: Il Laboratorio del Gelato [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
New Vital Info About Guss’ Pickles… [Eater NY]

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Filed Under: openings, guss’ pickles, laboratorio del gelato, lower east side, russ and daughters

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With Atlantic Yards set to break ground next week, libertarian sounding board reason.tv visits Freddy’s Bar, the Best Bar That’s Not Long for This World per the 2004 Best of New York. Now the bar is really not long for this world — a Brooklyn Supreme Court ruling earlier this week cleared the way for its eminent domain seizure.

A patron and member of the Fightin’ Freddys says, “What’s going on here is wrong on top of wrong multiplied by extra wrong and we’re not afraid to break the law,” while another says he’s willing to go to jail and cuff himself to the bar when Freddy’s is evicted in the next few months (“we’ve tried to make the cuffs long enough so that we can get to our beers”). A modest proposal: Just incorporate Freddy’s into the new stadium — or wouldn’t Nets fans appreciate cheap beers for a change?

Billionaires vs. Brooklyn’s Best Bar [Reason.tv]

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Filed Under: endangered, atlantic yards, bullshit, freddy’s bar and backroom

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Carroll Gardens Look for coffee, records, and antiques at a new store on Court Street. [Brownstoner]

Chelsea: Grab some Oscar-themed cookies at Eleni’s. [Fork in the Road/VV]

Flatiron: Tabla launches an “Unleavened Bread Bar” menu on March 30 as Passover begins; call ahead to go in on a $95 Seder service that same day. [Fork in the Road/VV]

Fort Greene: Have tea and tea sandwiches and discuss women’s history at Fort Greene Park on Sunday at 11 a.m. [NYC.gov via Local/NYT]

Jamaica Bay: A new Palm Bar & Grille opens before security in JFK’s Terminal 4. [Grub Street]

Midtown East: Partake in Holi, the Indian Festival of Spring and Color, at At Vermillion this weekend, where a traditional five-course prix fixe dinner will run you $45. [Grub Street]

Park Slope: Spencer Rothschild’s Barrio hosts an inaugural taco-eating contest on March 18 at 7 p.m; send an e-mail to participate and try to win a $100 gift certificate. [Grub Street]

Sunset Park: As Fuzhou Chinese move into the area, Cantonese restaurants are disappearing. [Sunset Park Blog]

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Filed Under: flatiron, jamaica bay, JFK, midtown east, Neighborhood Watch, park slope, passover, tabla, the palm

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With the lineup of the much-anticipated “Obsessed” episode of No Reservations now out (Tony will visit Kampuchea, Co., Esca, Pat LaFrieda Meats, Minetta Tavern, Txikito; his tablemates will include blogger-types Steve Plotnicki, Steve Shaw, and Josh Ozersky; and you can check out Tony butchering a pig in the clip), the latest Travel Channel mystery becomes: Who will win the pastrami episode of the new show Food Wars: Katz’s or 2nd Avenue Deli?

We called the big-ups at each deli to find out who won the taste-off that recently took place at the Delancey (the panel of judges included a Katz’s fan, a 2nd Avenue Deli fan, a Jets player, a man-on-the-street type, and just one food expert, Sarah DiGregorio of the Voice), and of course nobody would spill the chili beans. We’re told the episode won’t air till April (the Travel Channel hasn’t announced a date), but we’re pretty sure Katz’s took the prize.

Manager Jake Dell (son of owner Alan) told us, “Whoever it was — the better deli won.” And it’s quite clear Dell thinks his is the better deli: “I truly believe there is no competition between the two of us — we’re the experts. We have our own process for cooking the meat till it’s so juicy and tender that you can’t use a machine to slice it, you have to carve it by hand.”

We’re thinking the 2nd Avenue Deli’s thinner, machine-carved pastrami had to settle for silver (“I think we have a great product and we really put out a great product for the competition,” is all owner Jeremy Lebewohl would tell us), but here’s consolation for fans of that fine establishment: Lebewohl says construction of the new location at the corner of 75th and First Avenue is “moving along very nicely,” and he hopes to open within six to nine months. Don’t expect hand-carved pastrami at the new location: “If there will be any differences they’d be minor.”

“Obsessed” [Travel Channel]
Food Wars: Upcoming Episodes [Travel Channel]

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Filed Under: tv land, 2nd avenue deli, anthony bourdain, co., contests, esca, food wars, josh ozersky, kampuchea, katz’s, minetta tavern, no reservations, obsessed, steve shaw, travel channel, txikito

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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 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: Gourmet French.

Adour Alain Ducasse (Menu)
212-710-2277
Two for eight? No
Best available: 8:30 p.m.

Allegretti (Menu)
212-206-0555
Two for eight? No
Best available: 9:00 p.m.

Balthazar (Menu)
212-965-1414
Two for eight? No
Best available: 11:00 p.m.

Bar Boulud (Menu)
212-595-0303
Two for eight? No
Best available: 9:15 p.m.

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

Daniel (Menu)
212-288-0033
Two for eight? No
Best available: 9:30 p.m.

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon (Menu)
212-350-6658
Two for eight? Yes

Le Bernardin (Menu)
212-554-1515
Two for eight? No
Best available: 10:00 p.m.

Le Cirque (Menu)
212-644-0202
Two for eight? No
Best available: 7:45 p.m.

Filed Under: two for eight, adour alain ducasse, allegretti, balthazar, bar boulud, benoit, daniel, latelier de joel robuchon, le bernardin, le cirque

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Here’s something to tide you over while you await the summer release of Coney-themed Luna Lager. Brooklyn Brewery informs that it will release its latest Brewmaster’s Reserve on the week of March 22 (see below for a list of bars and restaurants that usually carry Brewmaster’s Reserve). It’s described as a “robust brown ale aged for four months in bourbon and rye whiskey barrels” that’s “full of caramel and chocolate flavors heightened by vanilla-like oak notes and hints of the barrels’ previous tenants” (some of the barrels were previously used for the Manhattan Project brew). So how’s the brewery’s expansion going? We’re told it just purchased the requisite equipment from German manufacturer Rolec, which also helped in Stone Brewing Co. of San Diego’s expansion. It’ll take six months to build and one month to ship, and the new brewhouse should be installed in October.

Get Brewmaster’s Reserve at:

Wilfie & Nell

Amsterdam Ale House

Back Forty

Jimmy’s 43

Pony Bar

10 Downing

George Keeley’s

Crif Dogs

Vento Trattoria

Spitzers

Dell A Nima

East Village Tavern

The Dive Bar

Blind Tiger Ale House

David Copperfields

Tabla

Manchesters

Gramercy Tavern

Tap Bar

Waterfront Ale House

Trump Bar

Hop Devil Grill

Rattle N Hum

The Hide Away

Union Hall

Brooklyn Bowl

Spuyten Dyvil

Barcade

Bar Matchless

Brooklyn Public House

Downtown Bar and Grill

TBC

DBA

Mugs Ale House

Lucky Dog

The Gibson

The Mark Bar

Bar Great Harry

Beer Table

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Filed Under: booze news, brewmaster’s reserve, brooklyn brewery, dark matter, expansions

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Before becoming a Daily Show correspondent, Aasif Mandvi starred in a play, Sakina’s Restaurant, that was set in a Jackson Heights restaurant (if you read his New York Diet, you already knew that). Now he’s co-written a film, Today’s Special, in which he stars as a young chef in a “hip, hot Manhattan restaurant” (per India West) who gets fed up with “the whims of his PR-savvy boss” and ends up taking over his father’s place in Jackson Heights: “Along the way, he falls for a gorgeous sous-chef despite his mother’s wish for an arranged marriage.” Something akin to Superior Donuts? Today’s Special premieres at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival on March 11 at the Castro Theater.

Aasif Mandvi’s Comic Talents Shine in ‘Today’s Special’ [India West]

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Filed Under: at the movies, aasif mandvi, indian, jackson heights, sakina’s restaurant, the daily show, today’s special

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An infographic published on DNA Info today is every bit as eye-opening as that map of fast-food fiefdoms. It shows just how few liquor-licensed bars and restaurants there are in a certain part of Harlem as compared to the number of churches and schools — and that’s before bar owner turned nightlife nixer Daniel Squadron’s attempt to revise the “200-foot law” so that it prevents liquor licenses within 200 feet of a church or school’s property line (the statute currently applies to the church or school’s doorway). Of course, anyone who appreciates the scene in The Simpsons movie during which churchgoers and bargoers trade sides as the apocalypse arrives would be happy to see the law abolished altogether. Leave it to a Post commenter to come up with the most colorful commentary about this: “Fine by me, just require churches to apply for liquor licenses. Then they’d have to pass out the wine 500 feet away … ”

Harlem Bars Could Be Squeezed Out by Dan Squadron’s Tighter Nightlife Law [DNA Info]
Bars to stay away from Churches [NYP]

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Filed Under: booze news, 200-foot-rule, bars, churches, daniel squadron, liquor licenses, nightlife, schools, state liquor authority

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When Adam Melonas called off plans for a New York restaurant, we went back to waiting for José Andrés to open a place here. But when will the spunky Spaniard finally dock? Doesn’t he want an excuse to get wasted with David Chang more often? Today he tells Feast “it will happen before I’m 45” (he’s currently 40): “I’m working on an American concept restaurant for anywhere that we find the right place.” Wait a minute — an “American concept”? Hey, we’ll take what we can get from this versatile chef, but during this time of “American concepts,” are deconstructed cheeseburgers what we really need from the country’s leading proponent of Spanish avant-garde cuisine?

José Andrés Talks Awards, Italy’s Backwards Politics, and New Restaurants [Feast]

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Filed Under: empire building, jose andres, spanish

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As we anticipated yesterday, the IACP officially revealed the finalists for their annual culinary book awards today. The complete list (now with categories!) can be found here. It’s still missing Momofuku, and we’re still scandalized by that.

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Filed Under: awards, cookbooks, iacp, momofuku

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from Grub Street Chicago

Squash blossom pizza at L.A.’s Mozza

Taking a quick break from boobs and lingerie, Playboy named its top eight pizzas in America this week. The selections won’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention to the national pizza wars of late — chalk up another one for Phoenix’s Pizzeria Blanco. Also making the list: Chicago’s Coalfire, Tacconelli’s in Philadelphia, Pizzeria Mozza in L.A., Oakland’s Pizzaiolo, and New York favorite Di Fara. The background image of a 1990’s Pam Anderson wearing a lace bustier is a nice bonus, too. [Playboy, SFW]

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Filed Under: lists, coalfire, di fara, pizza, pizzaiolo, pizzeria mozza, playboy, tacconelli’s

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A.A. Gill

Recently, A.A. Gill (notorious baboon slayer and the restaurant critic at the Times of London) visited three New York eateries (Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar, the Breslin, and DBGB) and came away with the impression that “right now in New York, there is an infantile-regression recession. Not quite comfort-club grub, but there is an anti-sophisticate meatiness to everything.” Gill’s take on local restaurants has been questioned before (the Feedbag, in a post that’s now offline, called his five-star review of the John Dory “the worst restaurant review ever written”), but this one has whipped Voice critic Robert Sietsema into a foaming fury.

In a post with the headline “Kill Gill,” Sietsema calls his British counterpart “a dimwit, a standup comedian given to improvisational riffing on restaurants he’s barely visited,” and says his assessment of Boulud’s restaurant (Gill mentions “a Vermont sausage with cheese that was like eating an infected toe”) can be attributed to his “age-old hatred of the English for the French.” Meanwhile, Gill likes April Bloomfield’s cooking: “Of course he does. She’s English.”

Sietsema’s reaction seems a little harsh. One of his complaints is that Gill only visited three restaurants before coming to the conclusion that we’re awash in an upscale, meat-heavy comfort-food trend. Fair enough, but they were three very popular restaurants, and even if he could’ve visited Ko instead of Milk Bar and Daniel instead of DBGB, his sketch of the zeitgeist isn’t exactly inaccurate.

Besides which, Gill wasn’t entirely unflattering in his assessments: Was he really issuing a “backhanded compliment” when he called the DBGB hot dog “pretty much what you’d expect to get at Coney Island” (“I’m sure he’s never eaten a hot dog in Coney Island,” fumes Sietsema, “so he has no idea that comparing Boulud’s to Nathan’s is a real compliment.”) Actually, the line may well have been intended as a real compliment — Gill calls the hot dog the best thing on the menu and gives DBGB three out of five stars (that’s two stars more than Platt gave it). For that matter, he gives Momofuku Milk Bar four out of five stars and the same to the Breslin.

Sietsema calls Gill “about as xenophobic as he can get,” and yes he’s way off base when he describes Momofuku as “a small chain of related restaurants run by a Korean chef. Korean is this year’s must-have oriental.” But if an American critic had penned this piece (a piece that essentially shows a city making the best of hard times instead of resorting to Twinkies and Jello), would Sietsema have been so outraged? Then again, Sietsema admits we’re not above xenophobia, either. Imagining that Gill might be peeved because he didn’t get the “royal treatment” he expected at these restaurants, he writes: “New York has always been wary of such international scoundrels.”

AA Gill reviews Momofuku Milk Bar, DBGB Kitchen, and The Breslin [Times UK]
Kill Gill: Taking on A.A. Gill for His Farcical Review of New York Restaurants [Fork in the Road/VV]

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Filed Under: other critics, a.a. gill, beef, comfort food, daniel, dbgb, feuds, momofuku bakery and milk bar, momofuku ko, robert sietsema, the breslin

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