The mother-son operators of the Orchard Street location.

Last week there were rumors that Guss’ Pickles will change its name when it leaves the Lower East Side for Borough Park next month, perhaps owing to a longstanding trademark dispute with Guss’ Pickles of Cedarhurst. There was also word that, in a game of musical pickle barrels, the Cedarhurst operation might be opening up near Russ & Daughters. Today DNA Info confirms the name change (the Orchard Street store will be called Ess-a-Pickle — no relation to Ess-a-Bagel!), and, in the meantime, we’ve sussed out the Russ & Daughters rumors.

A person who answered the phone at Guss’ of Cedarhurst told us today, “We’re trying to work with Russ & Daughters by getting a stand inside of there.” According to that person, who didn’t give a name, the two venues “had a phone call” last week, so nothing is definite yet, but he says there’s a “50/50” chance something will come of it. Not so fast — Joshua Russ Tupper of Russ & Daughters says he’s perfectly happy with the pickles he currently sells (they come from a “local big pickle place” that he declined to name), and though someone from Guss’ did indeed give him a call last weekend, he says he hasn’t entered into any serious talks with them. “I took a call and didn’t really have a conversation, and said we could talk after the holidays.” Clearly, it’s much too early to say whether Guss’ will team up with Russ, but this much is clear: Guss’ is looking to make a move on Manhattan.

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Filed Under: empire building, borough park, cedarhurst, guss pickles, guss’ pickles, lower east side

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Back in November we told you Spanish fast-casual chain Lizarran would open the first of five planned New York City locations in Soho. They didn’t hit their January opening date, but as a stop-in last week revealed, they’ll be ready (once the furniture arrives) to open for dinner on Wednesday. Lizarran (with 200 locations everywhere from China to California) operates a little differently from other local tapas joints, in that waiters jet around trying to tempt you with trays of what are essentially tapas mounted on bread, each of them costing $2.50 to $2.75 (there’s a constantly rotating selection of 200 of them). You choose what you want and are billed by the toothpick — somewhat like a dim sum joint except in this case, you’re likely to be under the influence of Spanish beer and wine.

The pinxtos range from Basque classics to creations more in the tradition of molecular gastronomy, and there’s also a menu (which you can see below) of larger dishes. Check out the former Cendrillon space in its raw form and imagine bar-height tables along the narrow front area and skylight dining in the back, from 11 a.m. till midnight.

Lizarran menu [PDF]

Lizarran, 45 Mercer St., nr. Grand St.; 646-837-6580

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Filed Under: slideshow, basque, centrillon, lizarran, molecular gastronomy, openings, pinxtos, soho, spanish, tapas

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Shaking the Wellington Fizz.

Sean Hoard of PDT will be one of three bartenders representing the U.S. in the Cocktail World Cup later this month in New Zealand. (The event’s sponsor, 42 Below, is a Kiwi vodka.) Hoard joins D.C.’s Todd Thrasher and Mark Stoddard of Denver on the team, which was selected last weekend by a panel of judges that included chef Sam Talbot and cocktail guru Dale DeGroff. Hoard’s entry was the Wellington Fizz, made with vodka, lime juice, passion-fruit purée, and heavy cream, among other ingredients.

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Filed Under: booze you can use, nightlife, pdt, sean hoard

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Some news on the Community Supported Agriculture front today: Midtown Lunch brings word that the Mohawk Valley’s Free Bird Farm will be distributing organic produce to members on Tuesdays from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Vanderbilt YMCA from June through October of this year. In Brooklyn, the Bay Ridge Co-Op announces, via its newsletter, that you can sign up for its budding CSA at a meeting tomorrow (the Rogowski Farm of Pine Crest will provide fresh vegetables and eggs). Green Fork reports that Greenpoint’s Eagle Street Rooftop Farm has launched the nation’s first rooftop-based CSA. And finally, Edible Queens has a helpful rundown of CSAs in the big borough.

Raising (Food on) the Roof: Follow Your Farmer [Green Fork]
New CSA Starting in Midtown East [Midtown Lunch]
Bay Ridge Food Co-Op [Newsletter]
Community Supported Agriculture [Edible Queens]

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Filed Under: farm to table, bay ridge food co-op, csas, queens, the turtle bay csa

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from Grub Street San Francisco

Alas, the “post-Sideways world” is rife with faux Pinot.

“Pinot partisans have been growing irate that their heartbreak grape is being ruined by the masses. It is an affirmation of every Pinotphile’s conspiracy theory: that our beloved grape has been defiled by large-scale industrial winemaking.” — SF Chronicle wine critic Jon Bonné, regarding the continued fallout from Pinotgate. [Chron]

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Filed Under: quote of the day, jon bonne, oenofile, pinotgate

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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: Danny Meyer and Tom Colicchio.

Bar Room at the Modern (Menu)
212-333-1220
Two for eight? Yes

Craft (Menu)
212-780-0880
Two for eight?Yes

Craftbar (Menu)
212-461-4300
Two for eight? Yes

Colicchio & Sons (Menu)
212-400-6699
Two for eight? Yes

Eleven Madison Park (Menu)
212-889-0905
Two for eight? No
Best available: 8:45 p.m.

Gramercy Tavern (Menu)
212-477-0777
Two for eight? No
Best available: 9 p.m.

Tabla (Menu)
212-889-0667
Two for eight? Yes

Union Square Café (Menu)
212-243-4020
Two for eight? No
Best available: 8:45 p.m.

Filed Under: two for eight, bar room at the modern, colicchio & sons, craft, craftbar, eleven madison park, gramercy tavern, tabla, union square cafe

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The normally humble Susur Lee joins Alain Ducasse in blaming New Yorkers for his failings here. He admits to the Toronto Sun that things haven’t gone so well at Shang: “If I say everything is great, I’m lying to you. In New York, people are still driven by money and they don’t want to show off their money in expensive restaurants right now. They feel the pressure.” But Lee thinks it’s more than just the fact that he opened to mixed reviews weeks after the Lehman Brothers crash.

Lee is also the first to admit that New Yorkers were perhaps not ready for his avant-garde Chinese food.

“You know what, looking back … no, I don’t think they were ready,” he says.
While we tend to think of New Yorkers as very adventurous when it comes to food, they are more traditional than we think.

“New York is always difficult,” says Lee. “Your idea has to be suitable for New York. No matter how creative you are, if they don’t understand, they won’t come. Tradition is really important here.”

“People won’t go for chicken feet no matter how many truffles you stuff in there,” says Lee. “It’s a question of culture. On Asian cuisine they are not that advanced.”

So we’re not “adventurous,” eh? Having traveled to Flushing for the pig’s blood and intestine soup at Spicy & Tasty just a few days ago, we have to disagree! In fact, we’ll happily join Chef Lee at the table when he’s soon forced to eat crow.

T.O. icon tackles New York [Toronto Sun]

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Filed Under: financial woes, chinese, shang, susur lee

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A Georgetown, D.C., blog reports that Serendipity 3 will open a location there in the spring. The Upper East Side location has gotten visits from Bill Clinton and Sarah Palin. [Vox Populi]

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Filed Under: empire building, georgetown, serendipity 3, washington d.c.

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More banh mi? Sure, why not. This is a relatively new place on Orchard St. in the LES that specializes in Vietnamese…

An Choi

85 Orchard St., New York

(212) 226-3700

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A missive from Colicchio & Sons: The restaurant will begin serving lunch tomorrow, and you can sample it this week only as a three-course prix fixe for $25. Brunch is available on weekends from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., beginning on Saturday, March 13. We’ve got the menus, below.

LUNCH

Appetizers
Kale & white bean soup with ham hock 9
Squid salad with chickpeas & radicchio 11
Warm octopus and potato salad with paprika & capers 12
Salad of pears, country ham & baked endive 10
Mixed greens with balsamic vinaigrette 9
Fresh ricotta with roasted root vegetables & truffle honey 12

Sandwiches
Suckling pig with sauerkraut & fontina 13
Leg of lamb with eggplant caviar & tapenade 15
Tap Room burger with balsamic onions & pecorino 14

Pizza
Onion, fontina, rosemary & potato 11
Tomato, mozzarella & basil 12
Chanterelle, nettle & cacciatorini 12

Mains
Quail with farro & vin cotto 19
Baked rigatoni with duck & cavalo nero 17
Braised rabbit legs with grits & soffrito 18
Roasted loup de mer with tomato confit 20
Herb-roasted poussin with braised potatoes 16
Skirt steak with chimichurri, leeks & potatoes 20

BRUNCH

Pork scaloppini with sunny side up eggs, salsa verde & white beans 12
Toad-in-the-hole with spicy tomato piperade 9
Ricotta root vegetable frittata with truffle honey & arugula 10
Baked eggs with mushroom ragout & crispy ham 11
Carolina rice johnny cake with duck confit, poached eggs & red-eye gravy 10
Eggs your way with wood oven potatoes & choice of meat 10
Irish oatmeal with caramelized pecans, compressed apples & brandied raisins 9
10th avenue hangover: soffrito tripe with beer sabayon & poached eggs 12
Merguez scotch egg with curried lentils & caramelized yogurt 12
Peekytoe crab omelette with spring onions, bitter greens & fontina mornay 12
Brioche pain perdu with smoked maple syrup & bourbon butter 10
Pizza with onion, fontina, bacon jam and a sunny side up egg 10

Sides
Pork sausage patties 6
Wood fired potatoes 6
Nueske’s bacon 6
Cheddar grits 6
Roasted vegetables 6
Assortment of pastries 6

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Filed Under: menus, brunch, collichio and sons, lunch

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Forget those bearded dudes at the Meatball Shop — dethroned hot-dog king Takeru Kobayashi has just beat the world record by eating 29 meatballs in one minute. They look kinda tiny, though. [Gothamist]

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Filed Under: awards, meatballs, takeru kobayashi, the meatball shop

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Eater gathers from a Community Board 2 agenda that the ghostly Beatrice Inn space will be reanimated as a restaurant helmed by Cobi Levy of Charles and the in-the-works Commodore. Levy declined to reveal details when we e-mailed him, but it’s safe to say there’ll be no more walking past 285 West 12th Street and humming, “this used to be my playground … ”

The Former Beatrice Inn Space Readies To Reopen As A Resto [Eater NY]

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Filed Under: openings, beatrice inn, cobi levy, commodore, the charles, west village

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