As Michael White and Chris Cannon prepare to open an osteria in Soho, another of their restaurants, Alto, is the latest to be sued for labor violations, according to a press release issued by Outten & Golden LLP (the firm also involved in the case against Mario Batali and others). Here’s the meat of the complaint, filed yesterday by current employees Arturo Reyes, Daniel Medino, and Jose Arenas: “[D]espite their great success, which Cannon and White achieved on the backs of their waitstaff, they required their waitstaff to share their hard-earned tips with tip ineligible workers, including the General Manager of Alto, that they unlawfully took a tip credit and paid less than the full minimum wage, that they denied their waitstaff spread-of-hours pay, and that they required them to purchase and launder required uniforms.” You can read the rest of the complaint below.

Arturo Reyes, et al., v. Altamarea Group, LLC, Alto 53, LLC d/b/a Alto, and Chris Cannon [pdf]

Read more posts by Daniel Maurer

Filed Under: lawsuits, alto, chris cannon, labor laws, michael white, wage violations

• 0 Comments

• Movie theaters and airplane menus will soon have to begin posting calories under a new federal law. [WSJ]

• Inspectors at the Iowa egg farms responsible for the recent salmonella outbreak found barns infested with flies and maggots and heaping piles of manure. [NYT]

• Heavy and moderate drinkers live longer than nondrinkers, according to a new study. [Time]

• Archaeologists recently found evidence that humans have been bringing food to funerals for at least 12,000 years. [Reuters]

• Eataly hopes to attract four to six million visitors a year. [Italian Life]

• Whole Foods will put up signs saying how all meat animals were raised by next year. [USA Today]

Filed Under: mediavore,

• 0 Comments

Meatball Sandwich An excellent meatball sandwich of a manageable size. We love this, and judging by the response to…

Terroir Tribeca

24 harrison st., New York

(212) 625-9463

• 0 Comments

If you grew up on the east coast, summers were probably spent at the shore-like Fire Island, The Hamptons, Long Beach…

BLT Fish

21 W 17th St, New York

(212) 691-8888

• 0 Comments

It’s not often that I come across a restaurant that is so memorable that I hardly know where to begin. Well, I have…

Marlow & Sons

81 Broadway, Brooklyn

(718) 384-1441

• 0 Comments

Bedford-Stuyvesant: Pilar celebrates its first anniversary with a pig roast on September 6 at nearby bar Sweet Revenge, where the Cuban eatery will serve food from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. [Bed-Stuy Blog]
A branch of the burger chain Checkers is moving into the empty storefront at 491 Nostrand Avenue. [Brownstoner]
East Village: Pizzanini is closed at the corner of Second Avenue at St. Mark’s Place. [EV Grieve]
Greenpoint: Tomorrow, Brooklyn Brine introduces its whiskey sour pickle with a party at Kill Devil Hill from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. [Greenpointers]

Lower East Side: Sweet Grapes Wine Bar has moved into 39 Essex Street, a space previously occupied by Flowers on Essex, and plans to open within four weeks. [Bowery Boogie]
The Gentleman Farmer, a French-American bistro, debuts tonight at 40 Rivington Street. [Bowery Boogie]
Upper West Side: Trader Joe’s is set to open at 72nd Street and Broadway on September 20. [My Upper West]

Filed Under: neighborhood watch, brooklyn brine, trader joe’s

• 0 Comments

While Steve Lewis talks to Noah Tepperberg and Co. about the soon-to-open Lavo (“a place,” says Lewis, “where uptown money, Europeans, and Upper East Siders can enjoy downtown and Vegas levels of service right in their back door”), the Feed and the Skinny Pig are excited about a couple of anti-uptown venues coming to Williamsburg. Frank Cisneros of the Dram on South 4th Street will soon open the Drink (“a place where if you were a midshipman up in Maine, you would go and drink,” says Cisneros) at 228 Manhattan Avenue between Grand and Maujer. Expect exotic punches and “salted and smoked fish, pickles, cured meat and cheeses” for food. Meanwhile, the guys behind Whiskey Town are opening the Whiskey Brooklyn at 44 Berry Street and North 11th Street. Expect shuffleboard (!), other games, and (to eat) a “Bowl O’ Bacon” and a “Bowl O’ Meatballs.”

Lavo New York Coming Soon, Will Not Miss [Blackbook]
Punches take the lead at the Drink, opening in September [The Feed]
The Whiskey Brooklyn Is Coming To The Burg [The Skinny Pig]

Read more posts by Daniel Maurer

Filed Under: openings, frank cisneros, lavo, nightlife, the dram, the drink, whiskey brooklyn

• 0 Comments

On a Community Board 2 agenda, Eater notices that one Friendly Foods LLC (the company Keith McNally used for Pulino’s) will be doing business at 18 Greenwich Avenue (next to Kingswood) at a venue seemingly to-be-dubbed Pulino’s Café. McNally isn’t commenting. [CB2 via Eater]

Read more posts by Daniel Maurer

Filed Under: empire building, keith mcnally, kingswood, pulino’s, west village

• 0 Comments

Foodies and fashionistas do sometimes cross paths — who can forget Tim Gunn hosting a salad-themed fashion show sponsored by the tastemakers at Wish-Bone? This Fashion Week, it’ll be Bertolli and its pitchboy Rocco DiSpirito hosting a private pop-up restaurant at Lincoln Center after Zac Posen’s fashion show. If the connection seems a little curious (the not-so-fashion-forward “gourmand mom” whose winning recipe will be featured at the dinner sure thinks so!), here’s a somewhat more organic crossover: Another designer, Jay Kos, will debut a line of outfits inspired by “seasonal finds” at the greenmarket. That’s right, now fashion designers (not just chefs) are using the greenmarket as a hook.

As you might guess from reading his food-obsessed blog, Kos has been a raw foodist for over a decade (though he cooks for others — often at his studio) and his line will feature polka dots inspired by tuna tartar, yellow cashmere inspired by a favorite artichoke and egg dish, as well as the little number he’s sporting here, inspired by a lamb burger he made for his son. Not only that, but the presentation itself is at South Gate, where Kos will help chef Kerry Heffernan prepare dishes inspired by the line. So: Seasonal dishes inspired by outfits inspired by seasonal dishes! But will there be a banana outfit?

Read more posts by Daniel Maurer

Filed Under: at the greenmarket, bertolli, jay kos, rocco dispirito, zac posen

• 0 Comments

Fun and trendy atmosphere. Good for groups of four or less. Extensive inexpensive drink menu. Wine list described as…

Schiller’s Liquor Bar

131 Rivington St, New York

(212) 260-4555

• 0 Comments

Chop Suey

Marriott is hoping the Bromberg brothers can succeed where Zak Pelaccio’s Chop Suey failed, and have enlisted them to open R Lounge (the first of nineteen restaurants they’ll do for the chain) in the Renaissance Hotel on September 13. Says Diner’s Journal, “Among the Blue Ribbon classics at the R Lounge, starting Sept. 13, will be white bean toast, smoked salmon toast, grilled cheese panini, fried chicken wings, fried rock shrimp and pulled pork sandwiches.”

Blue Ribbon Food Overlooking Times Square [NYT/Diner’s Journal]

Read more posts by Daniel Maurer

Filed Under: empire building, bromberg brothers

• 0 Comments

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 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? No
Best available: 8:30 p.m.

Craftbar (Menu)
212-461-4300
Two for eight? No
Best available: 8:15 p.m.

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

Eleven Madison Park (Menu)
212-889-0905
Two for eight? No
Best available: Closed for renovations through September 7

Gramercy Tavern (Menu)
212-477-0777
Two for eight? Yes

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,

• 0 Comments