Bowery: Tea room and vegetarian café Teany has reopened (reportedly under new management) after a weeklong forced closure by the Health Department. [Bowery Boogie]
Carroll Gardens: Seersucker will host a fried chicken dinner tonight as a fund-raiser for the P.S. 58 student vegetable garden program. Tables for the dinner are sold out, but the bar is open for walk-ins all evening. Entrance is $50 per person, excluding tax, tip, and beverages; your participation will help support Seersucker’s long-term goal of building a rooftop garden for the students. [Grub Street]
Chinatown: The Le Baron club at 32 Mulberry Street has finally received its liquor license, which means the long-gestating night spot can finally open. [Eater NY]

Everywhere: With projected sales increases of 40 percent this year, Davidovich Bakery is poised to fill the bagel void left by H&H. The bakery is on the lookout for a location for its flagship store. [WSJ]
Flatiron District: Celebrate Craftbar’s tenth anniversary with a three-course prix fixe lunch menu that will include parsnip and fennel soup, veal ricotta meatballs, guinea hen ravioli, and a selection of specialty desserts. The lunch, which will be offered from noon to 4 p.m. Monday, January 16 through Friday, January 27, is $24 per person (plus tax and gratuity). Call 212-461-4300 to make a reservation. [Grub Street]
Gramercy: Get your Mexican-Asian-Hawaiian-Brazilian fix at Wahoo’s Fish Tacos, a West Coast mainstay set to open its first NYC location at 333 Park Ave. South (at 25th Street) next month. [Eater NY]
Lower East Side: Raise a toast to Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns, at Mary Queen of Scots‘ annual Burns Night on January 25. Haggis, roasted cod, neeps and tatties, and steak and ale pie are on the $55 set menu, with an optional whiskey pairing for $35. Call 212-229-2670 for reservations to the 7:30 p.m. seating. [Grub Street]
Brown Cafe, previously a breakfast-and-lunch-only spot, is now open on Friday nights as a wine bar featuring small bites from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sample menu items: asparagus with romesco sauce, seared chilies, arugula and tomato crepes, and chocolate tortitas. [Grub Street]
West Village: Take part in a cheese and Champagne happy hour at the Tea Set (235 West 12th Street), where Champagne cocktails, wine, Champagne, and beer are two-for-one, and cheese and charcuterie plates are $5 daily from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. [Grub Street]

Filed Under: neighborhood watch, brown cafe, craftbar, davidovich bakery, le baron, mary queen of scots, openings, p.s. 58, seersucker, stk midtown, teany, the tea set, wahoo’s fish tacos

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A Chihuahua can dream.

Taco Bell, which is more sensitive than it looks and isn’t performing too well financially, has decided a rebranding is in serious order. The look they’re going for? Chipotle. So parent company Yum! Brands Inc. has hired Miami chef Lorena Garcia to fancify the menu with “gourmet” staples like black beans, exotic rice, and corn salsa. The “Why Pay More” chain still plans to emphasize value, even with its newfound snob effect. Pass the cilantro? [Bloomberg]

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Filed Under: fast food, chipotle, taco bell

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These puppies double as a biceps workout.

It’s no secret that chefs are driven, obsessive sorts — why else would they do things like hurl lobsters or rant about blogs in public forums? And we as diners reap the literal fruits of this single-mindedness every time we pick up a fork at a finer restaurant. Well, now a newish book, Notes From a Kitchen: A Journey Inside Culinary Obsession, has put together a two-volume tribute to the particular edible obsessions of chefs like George Mendes, Sean Brock, Johnny Iuzzini, Emma Hearst, and others. Equal parts cookbook and scrapbook, the tomes contain recipes scrawled in the chefs’ own hand, candid photos of the toques behind the stove or otherwise engaged (Iuzzini on a motorcycle, anyone?), handwritten lists of ingredients, or random things like a list of other chefs to research. And Grub Street has a copy to give away to one lucky reader.

Since the books concern culinary obsession, we want you to tell us the following in the comments below: What’s the one meal or dish you’ve prepared that best demonstrated your own culinary passion? It could be a dinner for someone special, a marathon barbecue session, or … anything, really. Impress us below in the comments by 5 p.m. EST this Friday, January 13, and you could win the books. (Click here for complete contest rules.)

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: contests, emma hearst, george mendes, giveaways, johnny iuzzini, notes from a kitchen, sean brock

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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: TV Chefs.

Babbo (Menu)
212-777-0303
Two for eight? No
Best available: Fully booked

Craft (Menu)
212-780-0880
Two for eight? No
Best available: 9 p.m.

Daniel (Menu)
212-288-0033
Two for eight? No
Best available: 9:45 p.m.

Felidia (Menu)
212-758-1479
Two for eight? No
Best available: 8:15 p.m.

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

Kin Shop (Menu)
212-675-4295
Two for eight? No
Best available: 8:45 p.m.

Le Bernardin (Menu)
212-554-1515
Two for eight? No
Best available: 10:15 p.m.

Mesa Grill (Menu)
212-807-7400
Two for eight? Yes

Morimoto (Menu)
212-989-8883
Two for eight? No
Best available: 8:15 p.m.

Red Rooster (Menu)
212-792-9001
Two for eight? No
Best available: 10 p.m.

Filed Under: two tor eight

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Another pizza place enters the fray.

Next Wednesday, chef Justin Bazdarich and partner Todd Feldman — whose homemade mozzarella was a hit at Brooklyn Flea and Smorgasburg this past summer — will open their brick-and-mortar venture, Speedy Romeo, in Clinton Hill. In addition to the mozzarella, expect seasonal pizzas and Italian-inspired entrees cooked in the wood-burning oven. Bazdarich, who’s done kitchen stints at Jean Georges and Perry Street, says the goal is to serve “every food that customers will crave.”

The final menu is still being worked out, but look for dishes like grilled half-chicken, strip steak with salsa verde, and grilled chicken Parmesan. As for pizza toppings, some combos that will definitely make an appearance are wild-mushroom with mozzarella and egg, potato-lardo, and their specialty Saint Louie, which is topped with Provel cheese, housemade sausage, and salami.

As for the name, the duo says the Romeo portion reflects the restaurant’s Italian slant and Speedy reflects the roots of the building, which used to house an auto body shop. (The façade sports dozens of automobile logos.) Despite the nods to the space’s past, the team completely gutted the interior and hired Hech Design to put the space together — check out the full build-out in our slideshow.

Prices run from $9 to $16 for the pizzas and entrees, $6 to $12 for wine and beer; appetizers are in the $8 range. Hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Speedy Romeo, 376 Classon Ave., nr. Greene Ave., Clinton Hill; 718-230-0061

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Filed Under: first look, cobble hill, openings, speedy romeo

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After hearing only great things about the Meatball Shop, I kind of had to try it. Though its not a place that I would…

Meatball Shop West Village

64 Greenwich Avenue, New York

(212) 982-7815

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Even the A-list agrees with her.

“If you have a fly on your sidewalk cafe, you’re getting a fine and you’re getting a point against you in your grade. How the heck are you supposed to prevent flies from being in your sidewalk cafe? We need a system that’s fair to the consumer and fair to the small businesses or restaurants in New York.” —New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, on why the grading system is not fair. [CBS News]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: quote of the day,

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The Waxman playlist obviously rocks.

In a radio interview this morning, Jonathan Waxman reveals the five songs that move him the most: “God Only Knows,” the Beach Boys; “Sexual Healing,” Marvin Gaye; “Naima,” John Coltrane; “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” the Police; and “Deacon Blues,” Steely Dan. Yep, he is the coolest. [KCRW]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: chef beatz, jonathan waxman

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It’s beer or nothing at this point.

Dario Wolos went into Community Board 2’s SLA meeting last night armed with 5,000 signatures supporting his plans for a full liquor license at Fonda Nolita, which currently has a beer and wine license. But the SLA committee shot down his bid, claiming the area was already saturated with bars. Wolos pointed out that he didn’t want a bar, and that his goal “is to deliver an authentic restaurant experience.” In fact, he only plans to serve four different drinks, and no margaritas. Of course, that prompted committee co-chair Richard Stewart to remark, “If I can’t get a gin and tonic [at a restaurant], I’d leave.” He added, “Four drinks is not enough for me to say you should have a full license.” [Earlier]

Read more posts by Mary Reinholz

Filed Under: community boards, cb2, fonda nolita

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If you are looking for an excellent cup of coffee and want to go to Nolita, or venture a bit up from Soho, I highly…

Gimme! Coffee

228 Mott St, New York

(212) 226-4011

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Sorry, kids, no grinding here.

When Grub Street heard that the new Acme, which launches any day now, was going to have a dance club downstairs, it didn’t sit quite right. So we had to ask them if the disco-cheese rumors were indeed true. “The downstairs will 100 percent not be a dance club. We have NO idea where anyone got that,” a manager tells Grub. “Downstairs will have cocktails and a bar, and you can have parties there, but to be compared to Kenmare or Merkato 55 was pretty degrading.” Consider the record set straight … just don’t shake your ass to it.

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: rumors, acme

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Lightner, sans lichen.

So far details on Atera, the upcoming project from PDX’s Matthew Lightner, have been scarce, but today there’s a bit more revealed courtesy a foraging-focused story in the Post. It’s no news that Lightner is into the wild stuff — in his previous post at Portland’s Castagna, he was known to serve a hyperseasonal menu with dishes like morels and nettles. But now we learn that he’ll take it further at Atera, courtesy “a state-of-the art lab/kitchen housed downstairs,” not to mention “a ‘living’ wall” where he’ll grow herbs.

When the restaurant opens at 77 Worth Street in (hopefully) March, diners will see ingredients like “wild licorice root, dried lichen, wintergreen, sassafras, monkfish roe and spruce” and later, “wild ginger, birch water and shad roe will appear.” So start developing your foresty palate now. Like Compose before it, Atera will have twelve seats and an open kitchen. Two seatings a night will be available for a daily-changing prix fixe priced around $150, much less than Compose charged, which is probably a good thing. [NYP, Related]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: coming up, atera, foraging, matthew lightner, openings, tribeca

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