Top Chef: Just Desserts premieres on Bravo on September 15, 2010 at 11 p.m. Expect guest appearances from chocolatier Jacques Torres, Le Bernardin pastry chef Michael Laiskonis, Sherry Yard of Spago, and others. We've got a list of the cheftestants and a little biographical information below.

Danielle Keene, 29
Hometown: Los Angeles, California; Resides in South Pasadena, California
Owner of Bittersweet Treats, an online dessert company. Former pastry chef at the Little Door, Blair’s, and BLT Steak in Los Angeles. Follow her on Twitter.

Eric Wolitzky, 38
Hometown: Rochester, New York; Resides in New York, New York
Pastry chef at Baked in Brooklyn.

Erika Davis, 40
Hometown: Tamms, Illinois; Resides in Jacksonville Beach, Florida
Executive pastry chef, the Ponte Vedre Inn and Club. President, Culinary Wonders USA. "The mission of the Culinary Wonders USA is to introduce, share and cultivate minorities in the field of the culinary arts."

Heather Chittum, 37
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York; Resides in Washington, D.C.
Worked for Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan before studying food. Worked at Citronelle, Circle Bistro, and is now the pastry chef at sustainable seafood restaurant Hook.

Heather Hurlbert, 40
Hometown: Seoul, South Korea; Resides in Atlanta, Georgia
Executive pastry chef, Cherokee Town & Country Club.

Malika Ameen, 35
Hometown/Resides in Chicago, Illinois
Former executive pastry chef and co-owner of Aigre Doux.

Morgan Wilson, 37
Hometown: Sonora, California; Resides in Dallas, Texas
Executive Pastry Chef, the Ritz-Carlton Dallas.

Seth Caro, 34
Hometown: Chappaqua, New York; Resides in New York, New York
Former pastry chef at Perilla and Grayz. Facebook friends with Paul Liebrandt.

Tania Peterson, 39
Hometown: Cambridge, Massachusetts; Resides in Boston, Massachusetts
Pastry chef at catering company Max Ultimate Food. Previously worked at Tremont 647 and Bricco.

Tim Nugent, 41
Hometown: Alburgh, Vermont; Resides in Oakland, California
Executive pastry chef at Scala's Bistro in San Francisco.

Yigit Pura, 29
Hometown: Ankara, Turkey; Resides in San Francisco, California
First name is pronounced "Yeet." Former pastry sous at Daniel in New York. Now the executive pastry chef at Taste Catering and Event Planning in San Francisco.

Zac Young, 27
Hometown: Portland, Maine; Resides in New York, New York
Pastry chef at Butter.

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Filed Under: top chef, food tv, top chef just desserts

Spending a fetid weekend cooped up in a kitchen sounds dismal right now, but it'll be all the rage come fall. New York and the French Culinary Institute can make your dreams of hands-on lessons with some of the city's best chefs come true on October 2 and 3 at the third annual New York Culinary Experience. Play with chocolate as Jacques Torres advises from over your shoulder. Alex Guarnaschelli will critique your glazing technique as together you slow-roast a Long Island duck. Choose sessions with Blue Ribbon's Eric and Bruce Bromberg, Babbo pastry chef Gina DePalma, Shaun Hergatt, and many others. Tickets ($1,595) include four classes, breakfasts, lunches, and a closing reception each day. Only 175 slots are available, so order your tickets now.

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Filed Under: foodievents, new york culinary experience

It takes a lot more than blinding sun and stifling humidity to keep a bunch of Hamptonites out of a tasting event. A few hundred folks in sundresses and seersucker gathered at the Wölffer Estate in Sag Harbor to honor Martha Stewart at the James Beard Foundation's annual summer gala, Chefs and Champagne. Ms. Martha was perspiration-free, of course, despite her leggings. She loved (we were drinking our own nearby when she said it) the La Caravelle Champagne Rosé, and marched through the tent tasting much of the food offered by more than 30 chefs. We couldn't compare notes with Martha, but a few of our favorites were Anita Lo's spicy steak tartare, the it-tastes-like-it-sounds BLT soup from Commerce, and Gavin Kaysen's decadent summer soup, a corn velouté with crab beignets and chervil. Watch the slideshow to see what else was served. Ta-ta till next summer!

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Filed Under: foodievents, chefs and champagne, james beard foundation, martha stewart, photo plates, slideshow

When Mister Softee driver Nike Olasokan told CNN last month that she didn't sell as much on her Brooklyn route when it was scorching hot, we didn't believe her. Who doesn't like ice cream when it's crazy hot, we wondered, while wishing we worked at the kind of place that randomly distributed ice-cream sandwiches on Fridays. Mister Softee's sales are down 10 percent this summer. It turns out that normal people stay inside in this kind of weather. "When it’s really hot, people are out in the pool or locked up in an apartment with the A.C. on,” a Mister Softee distributor told City Room. "They aren’t out trying to buy ice cream." [City Room/NYT]

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Filed Under: we all scream, dessert, ice cream, mister softee

NYC Icy reopened (again) in May on Avenue A, and the perpetually beleaguered Ray Alvarez of Ray's Candy Store is firing back at the chain. East Village blogger Slum Goddess noticed that Alvarez is now selling icees, too. [EV Grieve via Slum Goddess]

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Filed Under: the new cold war, icees, nyc icy, ray's candy store

Chef Anita Lo is now the sole owner of Annisa after buying out longtime partner and GM Jennifer Scism. "Anita and I made an agreement that if I stayed and helped rebuild Annisa, trained the new staff and worked with the old, that she would buy me out of my half of the restaurant," Scism told Diner's Journal. She's leaving New York to join her husband at their home in Maine, where she's returned every weekend for almost four years. Gregory Fellows will assume front-of-the-house duties in addition to being Annisa's wine director. Michael Cherry will manage the office. Scism said she made the decision to leave the city while trying to resurrect the restaurant after last year's fire. She and Lo still plan to collaborate on a cookbook.

Annisa Loses Its Host, and an Owner [Diner's Journal/NYT]

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Filed Under: back of the house, anita lo, annisa, jennifer scism

One possible side effect of DOH letter grades in restaurants: fewer hospitalizations. According to a 2003 study, hospital admissions for food-borne illnesses in Los Angeles declined by 20 percent after the city tied letter grades to health inspections. A Stanford University economist wants to replicate the study in New York, WNYC reports. The Department of Health isn't so sure there's a connection, though: "Association is not proven." [WNYC]

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Filed Under: health concerns, department of health, doh, letter grades

Back before the Internet invented Twitter and Foursquare and Facebook, chefs blogged. Though no one's keeping up with their LiveJournal, Eater researched a few who still do, including Pichet Ong ("Pichet's Tumblr is a mostly food porn, with the occasional pic of a man-bag he's got his eye on") and Daniel Mowles of Lily's, who doesn't always write about food but gives an accurate picture of "the life of a hard working young chef in New York." Daniel Angerer keeps a blog, too, and it's not filled with as many photos of breast-milk cheese as we feared. All of these sites have plenty of food porn, though, so be warned: NSFW before lunch.

Chef Blogs [Eater NY]

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Filed Under: food.com, blogs, chefs, food websites

Food writers around the country are poised over their keyboards, chops glistening, waiting for David Chang and Anthony Bourdain to share a stage in September at the 92nd Street Y. Last fall the duo had a public talk dubbed "I Call Bullshit," during which they denounced culinary tenets from San Francisco chefs ("Fuckin' every restaurant in San Francisco is just serving figs on a plate," sneered Chang) to critic Alan Richman (who just wants chefs to "kiss his ring," Bourdain said). Chefs Piss and Vinegar will jeer together again on September 13. [92Y]

Earlier Ten Things Anthony Bourdain and David Chang Hate

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Filed Under: foodievents, anthony bourdain, david chang

Follow Chick-fil-A's Twitter feed to see where the company is distributing free sandwiches today in an effort to further torture those of us without an NYU I.D. Next stop: Pulitzer Fountain, noon-ish.

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Filed Under: freebies, chick-fil-a, sandwiches

Want to shop like Michael Anthony at the Gramercy Tavern? OpenTable created a map of purveyors for their string-bean salad. The fava beans are from Cherry Lane Farms in South Jersey; the purlsane was grown in Warwick, New York; and the green and yellow string beans were cultivated about 65 miles west of Manhattan in Changewater, New Jersey. If you're not up for a road trip, you can find all of these ingredients at the Union Square Greenmarket.

Cultivated Plate: Gramercy Tavern's String Bean Salad [OpenTable]

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Filed Under: shopping list, gramercy tavern, greenmarket, michael anthony

In recent months, Anita Lo's time and attention was devoted to reopening Annisa and not so much to the Rickshaw Dumpling Bar. Lo will not renew her contract with Rickshaw, Florence Fabricant reports. Lo is also working on a cookbook, Cooking Without Borders. [Diner's Journal/NYT]

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Filed Under: chef shuffle, anita lo, annisa, rickshaw dumpling bar

Successful lobbying by the beverage industry is what killed the soda tax, the Times explains in an analysis of Governor David Paterson's failed campaign. "The health message resonated with public-spirited groups like the New York Academy of Medicine and editorial writers," says the public-spirited Times. "Enter New Yorkers Against Unfair Taxes, set up by beverage companies, grocers, Teamsters who represent drivers and production workers and others." The American Beverage Association spent $9.4 million on its opposition campaign in just the first four months of 2010. The Alliance for a Healthy New York, a group the supported the tax, spent about half that. Where was the tobacco lobby when we needed them?

New York Drops Soda Tax Plan After Ad Campaign [NYT]

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Filed Under: food politics, david paterson, soda tax

The Macy's fireworks may be exploding over the Hudson for the benefit of the people of New Jersey (again!), but at least Brooklyn has better food. Eric Demby assures us that the Brooklyn Flea is open for business on Saturday (Fort Greene) and Sunday (Williamsburg), with plenty of stuff to buy and eat. To further entice you, watch this fine short documentary about the Flea's food vendors by Food.Curated's Liza de Guia.

[Brownstoner via Food.Curated]

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Filed Under: video feed, brooklyn flea, eric demby, liza de guia, video

Chef Colin Kruzic was fired on Sunday as executive chef of Jo's, he told Grub Street in an e-mail. Co-owner Johnny Santiago confirmed that Kruzic was fired, but declined to specify why. According to Kruzic, his departure was the result of a "continuing disagreement of the direction of the business and the delegation of responsibility there." (Kruzic was hired as executive chef in January.) Santiago and partner Jimmy Chu have no immediate plans to replace Kruzic. "The vision of the restaurant — fun dishes like meat in a cup — we're taking much more control of that process and working with a team of chefs as more of a collaboration," Santiago said. "I still hope they succeed," Kruzic wrote. He plans to announce a new project within a few months.

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Filed Under: chef shuffle, colin kruzic, jo's, johnny santiago

Upstairs at Bouley will close on Saturday, says the Tribeca Citizen. What Adam Platt once called a "haphazardly endearing little restaurant" is David Bouley's second shuttering this year. He closed Bouley Bakery and Market in April. [Tribeca Citizen]

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Filed Under: closings, david bouley, upstairs at bouley

Pat Kiernan, our favorite Canadian, is the prize for a Gothamist contest that starts today. The contest involves answering trivia questions posed on Twitter; the fantastic grand prize is eating poutine with Pat at Mile End. The contest begins this afternoon, and the winner's date with Pat is July 15. Good luck, players! [Gothamist]

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Filed Under: contests, gothamist, mile end, pat kiernan

Pastry chef and cocktail muddler Johnny Iuzzini will be the head judge on Bravo's Top Chef: Just Desserts, we learned during last night's episode of Top Chef: D.C.. Today, Bravo announced that Iuzzini will share the Judges' Table with San Francisco chef Hubert Keller (who was a contestant on the first season of Top Chef Masters) and Daily Candy editor-at-large Dannielle Kyrillos. The show will follow the franchise format of Quickfire and elimination challenge, and will premiere "later this year." Read the full release, below.

SWEET! BRAVO ANNOUNCES JUDGES FOR “TOP CHEF: JUST DESSERTS”

Renowned Pastry Chef Johnny Iuzzini Joins as Head Judge; Acclaimed Chef Hubert Keller and DailyCandy’s Dannielle Kyrillos Serve as Judges; And “Top Chef” and “Top Chef Masters” Judge Gail Simmons Set To Host

NEW YORK - July 1, 2010 - Bravo sweetens the deal as “Top Chef: Just Desserts” -- a spin-off of the popular Emmy-nominated and James Beard Award-winning “Top Chef” -- adds celebrated pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini as Head Judge with critically acclaimed chef Hubert Keller and DailyCandy Editor-at-Large Dannielle Kyrillos rounding out the judges’ table. As previously announced, “Top Chef” judge Gail Simmons will serve as the host of Bravo’s newest delectable delight that airs on Bravo later this year. For more information, visit www.BravoTV.com. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BravoPR.

Each episode of “Top Chef: Just Desserts” holds two challenges for the pastry chefs: the first is a quickfire test of their basic abilities and the second is a more involved elimination challenge designed to test the versatility and inventiveness of the pastry chefs as they take on unique culinary trials such as working with unusual and exotic ingredients or catering for a range of demanding clients.

Iuzzini, one of the country’s most celebrated and innovative pastry chefs, joins as head judge of “Top Chef: Just Desserts.” Currently the Executive Pastry Chef at Restaurant Jean Georges, which has three Michelin stars, and Nougatine, Iuzzini has received numerous accolades throughout his career. In May 2006, The James Beard Foundation awarded Iuzzini “Outstanding Pastry Chef of the Year,” for which he was also nominated in 2003; he was named one of the Comite Colbert’s “Emerging Young Artists of 2000;” earned the title of “Best New Pastry Chef” by New York Magazine in 2002; and was named one of the “10 Best Pastry Chefs in America” by Pastry Art and Design Magazine in 2003 and 2004. Iuzzini, who has appeared as a guest judge on “Top Chef,” published his first cookbook, Dessert Fourplay in 2008.

Keller will be a familiar face to “Top Chef” fans having appeared multiple times as a guest judge on “Top Chef” and as a contestant on season one of “Top Chef Masters.” His world-renowned restaurants, Fleur de Lys San Francisco and Las Vegas, feature Keller’s contemporary French cooking accented with Mediterranean flavors. With his palate attuned to America’s evolving tastes, Keller launched his wildly popular Burger Bar restaurants in Las Vegas, St Louis, and San Francisco as well as the cutting edge SLeeK Steakhouse and Ultra Lounge in St Louis. He has won numerous awards including the James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef: California” and has been elected to the Foundation’s prestigious Who’s Who in Food and Beverage. Food & Wine magazine tapped him as one of the ten Best New Chefs in America, and Restaurants & Institutions gave him its Ivy Award.

Entertaining expert and Editor-at-Large of DailyCandy, Kyrillos shares insider scoop with readers across the country on the latest news in food, fashion, travel, gifts and entertaining. She wrote several chapters of DailyCandy’s two books, Daily Candy A to Z: An Insider’s Guide to the Sweet Life and The DailyCandy Lexicon: Words That Don't Exist But Should. For the past four years, she has also helped cover the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen for Plum TV as an on-camera host.

Food & Wine’s Simmons, who has been a judge on “Top Chef” for the past seven seasons, takes on the hosting duties of this highly competitive spin-off series showcasing the best of the best in the world of pastry arts. She is responsible for special projects for the magazine, acting as liaison between the marketing and editorial teams on magazine events and chef-related initiatives. During her tenure at the magazine, she has been responsible for the annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, America’s premier culinary event. Born in Toronto, Canada, Gail moved to New York City to attend culinary school at what is now the Institute of Culinary Education. She then trained in the kitchens of legendary Le Cirque 2000 and groundbreaking Vong restaurants, and worked for esteemed food critic Jeffrey Steingarten at Vogue as well as for chef Daniel Boulud. Throughout her career, Simmons has contributed to several cookbooks, including It Must’ve Been Something I Ate by Jeffrey Steingarten, Chef Daniel Boulud: Cooking in New York City and The New American Chef, by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page.

“Top Chef: Just Desserts” is produced by the Emmy-nominated Magical Elves. Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz serve as executive producers.

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Filed Under: top chef just desserts, dannielle kyrillos, desserts, hubert keller, johnny iuzzini, top chef

Competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi blames the International Federation of Competitive Eating for blocking him from the Nathan's hot-dog event on July 4. The eater says the Federation wants him only to compete in their events. Richard Shea, the federation's Harold Hill–ish founder, told the News that Kobayashi has accepted this exclusivity clause for years: "His saying this is like Tom Brady saying he'd like to be in the Super Bowl, but not in the NFL." Kobayashi is still in training (eating ten to fifteen hot dogs a day) in case he settles with the federation in time for Sunday's contest.

Don't Gag Me, Says Kobayashi [NYDN]

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Filed Under: foodievents, natha's famous fourth of july hot dog eating competition, takeru kobayashi

"Brooklyn has become as much a brand these days as a location," says Inc. in a story about opening businesses in Brooklyn. They make it sound so easy! In an accompanying list of "Best Brooklyn Entrepreneurs," Inc. touts Brooklyn Brewery, Roberta's, People's Pops, and Red Hook Lobster Pound as local businesses making good. [Inc.]

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Filed Under: foodienomics, brooklyn, brooklyn brewery, people's pops, red hook lobster pound, roberta's, small businesses

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Filed Under: launches, jim spanfeller

"I hope I don't mistake him for a suckling pig!" —Expectant father Ilan Hall on the miracle of life [Life & Style]

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Filed Under: top chef alumni newsletter, ilan hall, quote of the day, top chef

Sam Talbot has only one more summer in the Hamptons before he comes back to helm the restaurant at the Mondrian Hotel, and it sounds like he'll spend much of it on the water. Per a VF Daily questionnaire (decidedly not Proustian), Talbot wears a Loomstate swimsuit, his song of the summer is Locksley's "The Whip," and he enjoys "herbal therapy" in the evening, whatever that could possibly mean. [VF Daily/VF]

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Filed Under: summer fridays, sam talbot, surf lodge

The team behind Abe & Arthur's, SL, and Tenjune signed a lease for a seafood restaurant and lounge in the meatpacking district, Eater reports. Franklin Becker of Abe & Arthur's will plan the menu and break in the kitchen, but will not be the full-time executive chef. Look for it next summer. [Eater NY]

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Filed Under: empire building, abe and arthur's, franklin becker

"If we’re as successful as we want to be, we’ve created the culinary destination in New York that each of the 45 million people who visit NYC stop and visit before they leave. New York doesn’t have that. Maybe it used to be Windows on the World, but there’s not one go-to." —Joe Bastianich shares his goals for Eataly, opening in September [Capital NY]

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Filed Under: quote of the day, eataly, joe bastianich

Remember two weeks ago when everyone was talking about icing? And then they weren't anymore. But that doesn’t mean it's too late for a Salon story about the female version of the trend, Girls Busching Girls! Yes, it's called that. "Girls Busching Girls aims to flip the misogynist-leaning dialogue of the game to exclude bros and enforce 'the girl code,'" asserts writer Margaret Eby. That's just what the Tri Delts say. [Broadsheet/Salon]

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Filed Under: beer me, beer, bros icing bros, drinking games, girls busching girls, nightlife

In the interest of international diplomacy, President Barack Obama took Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to Ray's, a hamburger spot in Arlington, Virginia. Our president had a "cheddar cheeseburger with onions, lettuce, tomato and bread-and-butter pickles," the Times reports. Their president ate a Cheddar burger topped with jalapeños, onions, and mushrooms. Whatever you do, Mr. President, do not kiss Dmitry Medvedev. [Caucus/NYT]

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Filed Under: food politics, barack obama, dmitry medvedev, hamburgers

Maybe we were wrong to hate on the Union Square Friday's. The restaurant is already ingratiating itself with the neighbors, the Awl noticed today. "T.G.I Friday's is Coming Out in Union Square!" a sign screams. "Join us for Gay Pride Sunday June 27." The end is near, for both the gays and Union Square. [Awl]

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Filed Under: end times, t.g.i. friday's, union square

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Filed Under: freebies, pizza, two boots

It looks like Time.com is keeping Josh Ozersky on as a columnist, but not without a strong talking to. "Josh should have made his personal ties to the chefs in the piece clear and disclosed that the food and the venue he was describing were gifts," Time's press office said in a statement to Diner's Journal. "Josh understands that such proper disclosures are to be made in the future." That's one lucky food writer. [Diner's Journal/NYT]

Earlier:
Ozersky: The Sin of Omission
Sietsema to Ozersky: Who Paid for Your Wedding Feast?

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Filed Under: beef, josh ozerksy

"[I]t was dumb of me not to be more explicit about the fact that I did not pay for any of their delicious contributions, and I was wrong not to make this clear to my editor beforehand," Josh Ozersky writes on time.com in response to Robert Sietsema's criticisms of his wedding-food column. "It was a mistake, but I was hardly trying to trade column space for goods, as Sietsema is pretending to suppose." [Time]

Earlier: Sietsema to Ozersky: Who Paid for Your Wedding Feast?

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Filed Under: beef, josh ozersky, robert sietsema

Desperate Housewives' Eva Longoria Parker sold Eva's Kitchen: Cooking With Love for Family and Friends to editor Emily Takoudes at Clarkson Potter, Publishers Marketplace reports. The book, out in spring 2011, will include "personal stories and intimate photographs" and, presumably, recipes.

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Filed Under: bookshelf, cookbooks, eva longoria parker

Central Park is looking for a few good food carts. The city wants four fancy food carts to vend on the patio of the former Tavern on the Green, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Parks Department will solicit bids from vendors serving "slightly more high-quality food" a member of Manhattan's Community Board 7 said. That means no hot dogs. But how about lobster rolls? Red Hook Lobster Pound lost a cart contract to Ditch Plains in Brooklyn Bridge Park this year. Central Park is nice, too. Leave your vendor wish list in the comments.

Tavern 2.0: Shuttered Restaurant to Host Food Carts [WSJ]

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Filed Under: cartography, central park, food carts, tavern on the green

Eleven Madison Park's Daniel Humm is shilling for Victorinox Cutlery these days, but that makes more sense than dragging Michael White into the strange marriage between the James Beard Foundation and Mercedes-Benz. "Sharing the same commitment to heritage and excellence makes Mercedes-Benz and the James Beard Foundation a natural fit," a press release assures us. Michael White's part of the deal is creating "innovative picnic appropriate recipes" for an upcoming Mercedes-Benz promotion.

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Filed Under: celebrity chefs, daniel humm, endorsements, michael white

Alan Richman struggles to define "ethical eating" in the July issue of GQ, and consults many of the usual suspects (Dan Barber, Alice Waters) only to conclude that our country has to change the way it eats, and soon. More original are his "10 Commandments of Ethical Eating," including "food wrapped in plastic or Styrofoam is ethical only if you're an astronaut" and "buying eleven-grain bread instead of seven-grain bread does not make you a better person." The rules are online; the article is not. [GQ]

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Filed Under: the other critics, alan richman, ethical eating, locavores

"Re: Gourmet. They're reviving the brand, not the magazine," Ruth Reichl said on Twitter. "Pity." Women's Wear Daily broke news today of Condé Nast's new digital venture, called Gourmet Live. "Will have cooking, travel. Attempt to attract new readers, via the ipad." The company announced the "immersive and interactive content experience built on an ever-expanding collection of articles, menus, photos, videos and more, encouraging social connectivity and sharing, and game play" today. If that sounds like it means "dumping our entire archives into an app and then adding Facebook Connect," you could be right. Watch the culty video preview below, then wait to download at the end of 2010.

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Filed Under: app-etizing, apps, gourmet, gourmet live, revivals, video

CNN Money took a ride on a Mister Softee truck for its "Best Jobs" series, and driver Nike Olasokan claims to make $800 to $900 a day in good weather (about half that in bad weather). That's much more believable than her insistence that she loves the Mister Softee music, which she pays a weekly fee to play. Watch the video and start saving up that $90,000 you'll need to get in good with Mister Softee.

[CNN Money via Consumerist]

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Filed Under: truckin', dessert, food trucks, ice cream, mister softee, video

Tickets are still available to Thursday's premiere of Florent: Queen of the Meat Market at the NYC Food Film Festival. In addition to the film, your $75 admission entitles you "to taste a selection of original menu items." But don't expect titular subject Florent Morellet to join your nostalgic weeping for the supposed good old days — he doesn't participate in what he considers "the whine of middle-class, white people," reports the Daily News. "I didn't move here from bum-fuck France to live in a city that has to be frozen at the bottom of its depression." Watch the trailer below.

Florent: 'Shut up, and quit whining!' [NYDN]

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Filed Under: video feed, florent, video

Mayor Michael Bloomberg seems to have switched sides on the food-truck debate. Last week, his administration opposed Councilwoman Jessica Lappin's bill that would suspend a vendor's license if they got three parking violations in a year. On his radio show last week, the mayor revealed that he agrees with the spirit of the law, if not the letter. "The Health Department does not have the staff to go and do it the way she wants, but we're trying to find another way to accomplish because she is right," Bloomberg said on his weekly radio show. "Moving stores into the streets is not what the streets were designed for, and that's exactly what we're doing." Considering that Bloomberg managed to ban the use of a legal product in public, steamroll his way into a third term, and tell food producers what ingredients to use, the future of food trucks does not look good.

Mayor Likes Food Truck Regulation, Just Not Lappin's [NYO]

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Filed Under: truckin', food politics, food trucks, michael bloomberg

Brownstoner spied a cop ticketing a falafel truck in DUMBO today and wondered if the fuzz were anticipating passage of a proposed city law that would suspend food trucks with more than two violations a year. It's unlikely that the NYPD will paper trucks with abandon (cops have to eat, too), but the ensuing comments on the Brownstoner post indicate that not everyone is in love with the street food craze. See varying points of view, below.

"I too question the use of parking spaces for retail, not to mention the competitive imbalance with brick-and-mortar restaurants. I mean, if have a produce stand, can you stack fruits and vegetables in the street as long as you keep feeding the meter?" —g man

"The Government can suck more tax money out of food establishments with fixed real estate locations, that is all that matters. Plus, restaurants contribute more money to political campaigns and they view the food trucks as unfair competition. This is pay back to campaign contributors to keep out competition." — Grand Pa

"Who parks what where is besides the point. How about the inequity btwn retailers in the traditional bricks and mortar space paying rent that covers real estate tax liabilities and other costs a dude and his van don't have to bear? Playing field is not level here." — Donald Brennan

Food Truck Crack-Down Begins? [Brownstoner]

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Filed Under: truckin', food politics, food trucks

New York and Finger on the Pulse are throwing some fantastic barbecues at Good Company in Williamsburg this summer, and the next one is on Wednesday with food by Cathy Erway of Not Eating Out in New York and a D.J. set by Freelance Whales. The event begins at 7 p.m., and plates of food are $5. Admission is free. See the entire tantalizing schedule below — including sets from Au Revoir Simone and Andrew W.K. and food from the likes of Fatty 'Cue and Sam Mason.

Wednesday, June 16
Restaurant/Chef: Not Eating Out in NY ($5/plate)
D.J. Set by Freelance Whales
@ Good Company, 10 Hope St., Wiliamsburg
7–11 p.m.

Saturday, July 10
Restaurant/Chef: Sam Mason ($10/plate)
D.J. Set by Finger on the Pulse
@ Good Company, 10 Hope St., Wiliamsburg
7–11 p.m.

Wednesday, July 28
Restaurant: Mile End Delicatessen ($5/plate)
D.J. set by Au Revoir Simone
@ Good Company, 10 Hope St., Wiliamsburg
7–11 p.m.

Saturday, August 21
Restaurant: Fatty 'Cue ($10/plate)
D.J. Set by Punches
@ Good Company, 10 Hope St., Wiliamsburg
7–11 p.m.

Wednesday, August 25
Restaurant: Frankies Spuntino ($5/plate)
D.J. set by Andrew W.K.
@ Good Company, 10 Hope St., Wiliamsburg
7–11 p.m.

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Filed Under: foodievents, bbq blowout, finger on the pulse, good company

Back in 2006, Brooks of Sheffield wrote a brief, vitriolic lament headlined "The Proverbial Straw" about the closing of McHale's in midtown and what that meant for New York City. Dozens and dozens of New York icons have shuttered since then, and Brooks chronicled them with well-placed outrage in nearly 3,000 posts. "I began the blog because I was incensed and alarmed at what the city was becoming. It was losing its grit, its fabric, its very character," he wrote Saturday in his final post. "It's like writing a volcano report from Pompei; you know the communiques are going to end sometime." His final gift to readers is the great Lost City List: "a simple tally of classic, utterly New York place [sic] worthy of your patronage." We concur, and thank Brooks for his great service to New York City, past and present. [Lost City]

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Filed Under: closings, blogs, brooks of sheffield, lost city

Stay out of places that don't want you, Union Square Hospitality Group COO Randy Garutti urged other fast-food restaurateurs in an interview with trade publication QSR. The Nolita Shake Shack was abandoned after [cruel, burger-hating] neighbors protested the plans. “We looked at that situation and said, ‘That’s not something we have to fight against,’” Garutti told QSR. “We want them to be thrilled they’re getting one, and obviously that’s not the case here. … When a Shake Shack is coming to town, we want people to say, ‘Wow, we’re getting a Shake Shack in our neighborhood!’”

5 Tips From Shake Shack [QSR]

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Filed Under: empire building, randy garutti, shake shack

"This puts pickles on a whole 'nother level." — Jersey Shore connoisseur Snooki, eating fried pickles for the first time [MTV]

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Filed Under: quote of the day, pickles, snooki

The cursed corner of Smith and Pacific Streets in Boerum Hill is finally out of the restaurant business. What was formerly Gravy, Trout, Since 1963, and (most recently) Bueno will reopen as a stationery store. [Brooklyn Paper]

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Filed Under: closings, boerum hill, bueno

Fans of Red Hook Lobster Pound can finally reserve crustaceans online, via a new website the company launched last night. You can order up to ten lobsters at a time (prices vary by week; steaming is a dollar extra), as well as lobster salad. Reservations made through Thursday are honored for that weekend's shipment. [Red Hook Lobster Pound]

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Filed Under: lobster fest, lobsters, red hook lobster pound

Readers, when we posted our list of New York's 101 best sandwiches, more than a few of you requested either a text list of the sandwiches or a map. Now there are both, thanks to a pair of industrious Grub Street readers. Nick Minichino posted a complete text version of our list, and Matt Lehrer created a Google Map of our favorite sandwich destinations. Thanks, guys.

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Filed Under: audience participation, lists, sandwiches, user's guide

Did our rundown of 101 sandwiches make you rethink your lunch? Grub Street invites you to vote for your favorite on our list. And to thank you for your vote, one lucky reader could win a sandwich a day for a year! That’s up to $2,000 in free lunches you could win just for voting. Forget about packing your sad brown bag with a sodden peanut butter and jelly or a limp-lettuced chicken-salad sandwich. Instead, you could face each day with the promise of a brisket sandwich from Blue Smoke or the Mark's Croque M. Choose your favorite sandwich here, and then cast your lot for lunch. Be sure to read the small print, below.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THE DREAM COME TRUE SWEEPSTAKES. Legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia 13 or older can register from this website. See Official Rules for alternate entry method and geographic eligibility.

New York's 101 Best Sandwiches

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Filed Under: contests, sandwiches

VillageVines, a new service that helps diners score reservations and discounts at restaurants across Manhattan, launches today. Though it sounds like a wine shop, VillageVines actually connects customers with available tables at restaurants like Kittichai, Butter, and Ouest. Join the service and make short-lead reservations for $10 a table.

VillageVines makes deals with restaurants not only for open tables, but also for a discount ("typically 30 percent," they say) taken off the entire bill. The discount is automatically applied — there's no secret code to remember or cheap-looking coupons. The company, founded by two young finance guys, is looking to attract customers who want to impress clients or women, but at minimal cost and effort. That sounds like Wall Street and midtown to us!

VillageVines [Official site]

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Filed Under: launches, discounts, reservations, villagevine

As previously mentioned, Robert Newton's Seersucker won't open in Carroll Gardens until later this week, but there is much to anticipate on his "cleaned-up Southern" menu. Take a look for yourself, and decide between dishes from crispy pig's foot to shrimp and grits.

Seersucker's Dinner Menu [PDF]

Seersucker, 329 Smith St., nr. President St., Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn; 718-422-0444

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Filed Under: menus, carroll gardens, openings, robert newton, seersucker

Big-spending Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee donors don't have to suffer through another rubber-chicken dinner tonight. President Barack Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi are the special guests at this $15,000-a-plate event at the St. Regis, but the kitchen star power is significant, too. A tipster provided the menu, below.

French Culinary Institute deans Alain Sailhac, André Soltner, Jacques Pépin, and Jacques Torres will prepare:

Chilled Maine lobster with avocado and black radish in yuzu dressing
Roasted filet mignon with truffle gift box potato
Braised leeks and broccoli in cabernet sauce
Opera cake in mini chocolate oven
Petit fours

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Filed Under: food politics, barack obama, french culinary institute

Cancel those La Esquina plans: The restaurant is temporarily closed. "The Department of Buildings has determined that conditions in this premises are imminently perilous to life." According to photos submitted by a Grub Street tipster, it's the restaurant itself that's the source of the trouble. "It is hereby ordered that all persons occupying any part or parts of the structure located at CELLAR LEVEL (EATING AND DRINKING ESTABLISHMENT) vacate such … parts of the premises forthwith."

A closer reading of the vacate order gives us pause: "There is imminent danger to life or public safety … in that at cellar level arranged for over 284 occupants with wood combustible ceilings and inadequate Egress (illegal Egress through intervening spaces on 1st floor." But why now? La Esquina has always been in a combustible basement with inadequate egress. Either someone just got around to inspecting them, or the Department of Buildings is in a crackdown kind of mood today.

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Filed Under: temporary closings, department of buildings, la esquina, vacate

What are Tom Colicchio, David Chang, Eric Ripert, and Wylie Dufresne doing in this week's episode of Treme? Other than "something at a bar," this photo (released by HBO) gives us few clues, so we'll have to wait till Sunday night. If you prefer your chef cameos in shows that are, let's say, less challenging, Rocco DiSpirito took an awkward turn on ABC's Castle last night. We don't know if he did it, but we doubt it. The killer used liquid nitrogen, which isn't Rocco's style. Watch the clip, below.

Castle: "Food to Die For" [Hulu]

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Filed Under: food tv, david chang, eric ripert, tom colicchio, treme, video, video feed, wylie dufresne

Take the time to watch the excellent new episode of VBS.TV's "Munchies" series featuring Andrew Carmellini. The Locanda Verde chef and two colleagues take the cameras out for a night of restaurant hopping, including stops at Torrisi's Italian Specialties and Char No. 4. Char's Matt Greco worked for Carmellini at Café Boulud, and the chef is not above talking some trash to his former sous. "It seems at Café Boulud that you didn't give a shit about foie gras terrine. And you didn't give a fuck about sauce a poivre," Carmellini says. "You just wanted to cook some meat with some wood." Watch the video to see how that worked out.

Munchies: Andrew Carmellini [VBS.TV]

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Filed Under: video feed, andrew carmellini, char no. 4, matt greco, torrisi italian specialties, video

There are many happy food writers, editors, TV producers, and cookbook authors tearing up SD26 right now at Chefs' Night Out, the unofficial after-party for the James Beard Foundation Media Awards. Grub Street offers special congratulations to New York contributor David Sax, author of Save the Deli; Ed Levine and the Serious Eats crew for winning Best Food Blog; the staff of Chow.com for food website honors; and Rachel Wharton for her "food-related columns" in Edible Brooklyn. Be forewarned: It's going to be a slow day on the food Internet tomorrow. A complete list of winners is below.

2010 JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION
MEDIA & BOOK AWARD WINNERS

Book Awards
Presented by Green & Black’s® Organic Chocolate

American Cooking
Real Cajun
by Donald Link with Paula Disbrowe
(Clarkson Potter)

Baking and Dessert
Baking
by James Peterson
(Ten Speed Press)

Beverage
Been Doon So Long: A Randall Grahm Vinthology
by Randall Grahm
(University of California Press)

Cooking from a Professional Point of View
The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts
by The French Culinary Institute with Judith Choate
(Stewart, Tabori & Chang)

General Cooking
Ad Hoc at Home
by Thomas Keller with Dave Cruz
(Artisan Books)

Healthy Focus
Love Soup: 160 All-New Vegetarian Recipes from the Author of “The Vegetarian Epicure”
by Anna Thomas
(W.W. Norton & Company)

International
The Country Cooking of Ireland
by Colman Andrews
(Chronicle Books)

Photography
Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way
Photographer: Santiago Soto Monllor
(Artisan Books)

Reference and Scholarship

Encyclopedia of Pasta
by Oretta Zanini de Vita
Translated by Maureen B. Fant
(University of California Press)

Single Subject
Pasta Sfoglia
by Ron and Colleen Suhanosky
with Susan Simon
(John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)

Writing and Literature
Save the Deli
by David Sax
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Cookbook of the Year
The Country Cooking of Ireland
by Colman Andrews
(Chronicle Books)

Cookbook Hall of Fame
A Book of Middle Eastern Food
by Claudia Roden

Broadcast Media Awards
Presented by Lenox Tableware and Gifts
For television, webcast, and radio programs aired in 2009.

Audio Webcast or Radio Show
The Kojo Nnamdi Show
Host: Kojo Nnamdi
Areas: Washington, D.C., Online
Producers: Tara Boyle, Michael Martinez, Ingalisa Schrobsdorff, Brendan Sweeney, and Diane Vogel

Television Show, In Studio or Fixed Location
French Food at Home with Laura Calder
Host: Laura Calder
Network: Food Network Canada
Producer: Johanna Eliot

Television Show, On Location
Chefs A’ Field: King of Alaska
Host: Rick Moonen
Network: PBS
Producers: Heidi Hanson and Chris Warner

TV Food Personality
Andrew Zimmern
Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern
Network: The Travel Channel

Television Special
Food Trip with Todd English
Host: Todd English
Network: PBS
Producers: Matt Cohen, Joel Coblenz, Todd English, and Gina Gargano

Television Segment
ABC News Nightline
Host: John Berman
Network: ABC
Producer: Sarah Rosenberg

Video Webcast
The Greenmarket: One Farmer’s Story
Seriouseats.com
Producers: Ed Levine, Serious Eats, and Optic Nerve

Journalism Awards
For articles published in English in 2009. Winners will be announced on May 2, 2010.

Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Reviews
Jonathan Gold
LA Weekly
“Sauced,” “Hot Birria, Cold Cerveza,” “Hare Today”

Food Blog
Serious Eats
Ed Levine
Seriouseats.com

Food-Related Columns
Rachel Wharton
Edible Brooklyn
Column: Back of the House
“Egg,” “Roberta’s,” “Franny’s and Bklyn Larder”

Magazine Feature Writing About Restaurants and/or Chefs
Anya von Bremzen
Saveur
“Soul of a City”

Magazine Feature Writing with Recipes
Francine Maroukian, Jon Reiner, and Staff of Esquire
Esquire
“How Men Eat”

Magazine Feature Writing without Recipes
Barry Estabrook
Gourmet
“The Price of Tomatoes”

M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award
Francine Prose
Saveur
“Faith and Bacon”

Multimedia Food Feature
Kevin Pang
Chicagotribune.com
“The Cheeseburger Show”

Newspaper Feature Writing About Restaurants and/or Chefs
Jared Jacang Maher
Westword
“A Hunger to Help”

Newspaper Feature Writing
Cliff Doerksen
Chicago Reader
“The Real American Pie”

Newspaper Food Section
The Washington Post
Joe Yonan

Reporting on Health, Environment, or Nutrition
Rowan Jacobsen
EatingWell
“…Or Not to Bee”

Website Focusing on Food, Beverage, Restaurants, or Nutrition
Chow.com
Jane Goldman

Writing on Spirits, Wine, or Beer
Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl
Minnesota Monthly
“Chardonnay Uncorked”

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Filed Under: james beard awards, chow.com, david sax, ed levine, edible brooklyn, james beard foundation, james beard foundation media awards, rachel wharton, serious eats

Sam Mason's Dinner With the Band makes its IFC debut tonight with guest Rufus Wainwright. As Rufus sings, Mason prepares a German menu of "Schnitzel at Last (rabbit schnitzel), Zebulon Spaetzle (mustard spaetzle) and New York Sauerkraut (parsnip sauerkraut)." Following tonight's episode are two shorts of Grub Street favorite Food Party. Watch Rufus sing a song to get you in the mood.

Dinner With the Band [IFC]

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Filed Under: food tv, dinner with the band, food party, rufus wainwright, sam mason, video, video feed

Back in December, Grub Street reported that Farmers Diner owners Tod Murphy and Denise Parras were scouting locations for their Vermont-based locavore operation in Prospect-Lefferts Garden. Neighborhood blog Hawthorne Street today confirms that Murphy and Parras are negotiating a lease on Flatbush Avenue. Details, and a curious business plan, are below:

The current plan is for the restaurant to be open 24/7, have a separate take-out station with prepared meals (a la Whole Foods), and a full bar. Prices for dinner entrees are expected to run from $9 to $12.

Farmers Diner is looking for local "stakeholders," says Hawthorne Street. That sounds like another way of saying "investors." Start your checkbooks!

Farmers Diner Plotting New Restaurant in PLG [Hawthorne Street]
Earlier: Farmers Diner, Short-Order Locavore Joint, Coming to New York

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Filed Under: openings, famers diner, prospect lefferts gardens

Boerum Hill's Trout gasped through one last summer in 2009, but it looks like our favorite dumpy oasis could be reincarnated this year. A Trout enthusiast and Grub Street tipster told us about a Community Board 2 notice posted on plywood surrounding the property. It's controlled by 271 Pacific Restaurant Corp. (an entity not yet registered with the New York Department of State), and owners will appear before a Community Board 2 committee to plead for a liquor license on Wednesday night.

The phone number CB 2 posted belongs to Lucky Boy Development, a Brooklyn residential developer whose projects include unbuilt luxury condos like the Cobble Hill Houses on Amity Street and the Williams in Williamsburg. We spoke to a Lucky Boy rep this afternoon, who said there are a "handful of obstacles" involved in opening the space, which he did confirm would be a restaurant with outdoor seating. Lucky Boy added that they are involved only with the former Trout space and not the boarded-up restaurant with the identity crisis (Gravy, Since 1963, Bueno) on the corner of Smith and Pacific.

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Filed Under: developing, boerum hill, openings, trout

Boerum Hill's Trout gasped through one last summer in 2009, but it looks like our favorite dumpy oasis could be reincarnated this year. A Trout enthusiast and Grub Street tipster told us about a Community Board 2 notice posted on plywood surrounding the property. It's controlled by 271 Pacific Restaurant Corp. (an entity not yet registered with the New York Department of State), and owners will appear before a Community Board 2 committee to plead for a liquor license on Wednesday night.

The phone number CB 2 posted belongs to Lucky Boy Development, a Brooklyn residential developer whose projects include unbuilt luxury condos like the Cobble Hill Houses on Amity Street and the Williams in Williamsburg. We spoke to a Lucky Boy rep this afternoon, who said there are a "handful of obstacles" involved in opening the space, which he did confirm would be a restaurant with outdoor seating. Lucky Boy added that they are involved only with the former Trout space and not the boarded-up restaurant with the identity crisis (Gravy, Since 1963, Bueno) on the corner of Smith and Pacific.

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Filed Under: developing, boerum hill, openings, trout

Careers are made with a "Best New Chef" nod from Food and Wine magazine, and this year's class must be plenty excited. The official announcement won't be until the party this evening, but the news came early over F&W's new Best New Chefs iPhone app, which provides free info on two decades of winners. This year's class will be fêted tonight at a party catered by previous winners like Andrew Carmellini, Paul Liebrandt, and Daniel Humm. See the list of chefs below, and join us in congratulating the Food and Wine Best New Chefs of 2010.

Roy Choi, Kogi BBQ truck, Los Angeles, California
Matt Lightner, Castagna, Portland, Oregon
Clayton Miller, Trummer's on Main, Clifton, Virginia
Missy Robbins, A Voce, New York, New York
Jonathon Sawyer, The Greenhouse Tavern, Cleveland, Ohio
Alex Seidel, Fruition, Denver, Colorado
Mike Sheerin, Blackbird, Chicago, Illinois
John Shields, Town House, Chilhowie, Virginia
Jason Stratton, Spinasse, Seattle, Washington
James Syhabout, Commis, Oakland, California

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Filed Under: honor roll, awards, best new chefs, food and wine, kudos

Careers are made with a "Best New Chef" nod from Food and Wine magazine, and this year's class must be plenty excited. The official announcement won't be until the party this evening, but the news came early over F&W's new Best New Chefs iPhone app, which provides free info on two decades of winners. This year's class will be fêted tonight at a party catered by previous winners like Andrew Carmellini, Paul Liebrandt, and Daniel Humm. See the list of chefs below, and join us in congratulating the Food and Wine Best New Chefs of 2010.

Roy Choi, Kogi BBQ truck, Los Angeles, California
Matt Lightner, Castagna, Portland, Oregon
Clayton Miller, Trummer's on Main, Clifton, Virginia
Missy Robbins, A Voce, New York, New York
Jonathon Sawyer, The Greenhouse Tavern, Cleveland, Ohio
Alex Seidel, Fruition, Denver, Colorado
Mike Sheerin, Blackbird, Chicago, Illinois
John Shields, Town House, Chilhowie, Virginia
Jason Stratton, Spinasse, Seattle, Washington
James Syhabout, Commis, Oakland, California

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Filed Under: honor roll, awards, best new chefs, food and wine, kudos

The BLD Project got a preview of Traif, a new restaurant on Williamsburg's South 4th Street that is decidedly not for its Hasidic neighbors. Expect a small-plates menu featuring "shrimp, scallops, bacon, chorizo, pork belly, pork cheeks, potstickers, foie gras, lobster, ribs several ways … " Owners are California transplants Heather Heuser and chef Jason Marcus, and opening day is Friday. [BLD Project]

Traif, 229 S. 4th St., nr. Havermeyer St.; 347-844-9578.

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Filed Under: openings, heather heuser, jason marcus, small plates, traif, williamsburg

The BLD Project got a preview of Traif, a new restaurant on Williamsburg's South 4th Street that is decidedly not for its Hasidic neighbors. Expect a small-plates menu featuring "shrimp, scallops, bacon, chorizo, pork belly, pork cheeks, potstickers, foie gras, lobster, ribs several ways … " Owners are California transplants Heather Heuser and chef Jason Marcus, and opening day is Friday. [BLD Project]

Traif, 229 S. 4th St., nr. Havermeyer St.; 347-844-9578.

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Filed Under: openings, heather heuser, jason marcus, small plates, traif, williamsburg

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Filed Under: quote of the day, fairway, guster, ryan miller

Mark Bittman takes a turn in front of the Big Think camera today, and in addition to discussing his menu choices for Adolf Hitler and Barack Obama (different dinners), the food writer discloses a healthy belief in his own abilities: "I don't want to have to convince anybody that what I'm making is good. I know it's good. I usually enjoy it. If someone enjoys eating, they'll enjoy eating the stuff I cook. If they don't, something's wrong somewhere."

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Filed Under: video feed, big think, mark bittman, videos

Noah Tepperberg and Jason Strauss will meet with Harvard Business School students today to discuss "the business of nightlife." In February 2009, three HBS students wrote a case study on Marquee (worth reading) addressing such issues as "filler crowd" and the need to build a strong client base. "When I am going out early in the week, on a Monday or Tuesday, I know I am going to run into many people who are serious about going out. Those are the people I like to invite to Marquee," promoter Jonathan Schwartz told the researchers. Tepperberg and Strauss will be available, along with a few doormen, to provide similar insights to America's future executives.

Harvard Students to Get Nightlife Lesson [NYP]

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Filed Under: an education, marquee, nightlife, noah tepperberg

The Grand Hyatt in midtown opened a small food stand called Market in its lobby today that could be an answered prayer both to those who eschew room service and midtown workers who despair of their lunch options. The space was designed by Bentel & Bentel — who also did Gramercy Tavern and the Modern. The uniforms are J.Crew, and the food options are "locally-sourced essentials," says the hotel. Look for Roasting Plant coffee and desserts from Chikalicious, as well as hot food and sandwiches. If all goes well, the Hyatt could put a fancy food stand in all of its hotels.

Do It Yourself Dining at the Grand Hyatt [NYT]

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Filed Under: openings, grand hyatt, market

Back in January, we wondered if it was worth spending $42,000 on culinary school. The French Culinary Institute enlisted three students to help answer that question with a new blog called Food 2 School. Sarah is on the classic culinary track (that's the one that costs $42,600); Allen is a real-estate agent taking night classes to turn his passion for Korean food into a new career; and Molly abandoned her desk job for the allure of the pastry kitchen. Watch our three culinary heroes as they say "humbug" to student loans and "hooray" to the high-paying, glamorous world of professional cooking.

Meet the Class [Food 2 School/FCI]

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Filed Under: an education, culinary school, food blogs, french culinary institute

Dana Cowin of Food and Wine is Twittering clues to the identities of the 2010 class of "Best New Chefs." Those who correctly I.D. all ten chefs win a chance to come to the "Best New Chefs" party on Tuesday, traditionally one of the New York food scene's most fun nights. [FWScout/Twitter]

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Filed Under: contests, best new chefs, dana cowin, food and wine

"I really have no problem with 'foodies,'" I have a problem with snobbery," Shut Up, Foodies! contributor Meatball tells Eat Me Daily. The three anonymous and wicked minds behind the blog discuss their food backgrounds, the "deification of Michael Pollan," and the unexpected, but pleasant reactions to their site. Some zingers are below.

• I loathe cooking, but I dated a chef once. That ended badly.

• I like to skewer people a bit who act like the solution to crappy fast food is having a garden in your backyard and spending a ton of money at the farmer's market.

• As far as Michael Pollan goes, I have to plead the Tori Amos on this one — his fans suck, he does not.

• Social scientists talk about “ambient awareness” and I think food culture has reached that status for a lot of sectors of society. It’s like how I know the names of all the characters on Sex and the City, even though I never watched it. It’s all around us. If I, ramen-eater, have heard the drumbeat of ramps approaching, then it’s pretty loud.

Interview with Shut Up Foodies [Eat Me Daily]

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Filed Under: other blogs, shut up foodies

Top Chef Masters debuts on Wednesday night, and in addition to what Bravo calls "a new competitive" edge among the participants is a promising roster of guest appearances.

This season's guest stars and judges include Mekhi Phifer, "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening and star Hank Azaria, Andrew Zimmern of "Bizarre Foods With Andrew Zimmern," the cast of ABC's "Modern Family," U.S. Olympic swimmer Jason Lezak and the cast of Bravo's "Real Housewives of Orange County," who will be judging a cocktail challenge.

'Top Chef Masters' host Kelly Choi geeks out about New York's food scene for Bravo [NYDN]

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Filed Under: top chef, top chef masters

Cops arrested Nate Appleman last week for weapons possession after some officers were suspicious of a chain that hung from the chef's belt to his pocket. The weapon in question? "It's a pocket knife that's two inches long that I used to cut boxes at work," Appleman told the Post. He was in the clink for only a couple hours and goes to court on April 27. [NYP]

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Filed Under: blotter, nate appleman, pulino's

Last month, we selected our final four for both the NCAA and, more important, Jezebel's pie versus cake tournament. Our brackets are good and busted, in both cases. There were some upsets, especially birthday cake's heartbreaking loss to German chocolate. The final four are German chocolate versus red velvet, and apple versus cheesecake. (The selection committee considered cheesecake a pie for some reason.) Watch "One Shining Moment" to put you in the mood, then cast your vote.

The Final Four of Pie vs. Cake [Jezebel]

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Filed Under: competitive eating, cakes, desserts, pies

The State Liquor Authority granted a liquor license to Red Hook wine store Botta di Vino after nearby competitor Dry Dock opposed — and stalled — the application. Botta di Vino's owners expect to open next week. [Brooklyn Paper]

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Filed Under: oenofile, botta di vino, dry dock, red hook, wine

The Greenpoint Food Market opens on April 10, but what's with the vendors' names? "One could reasonably assume that many of these businesses were selling children's clothing. Or vibrators," complains Fork in the Road. On the list: Whimsey & Spice, Fanny & Jane, Creme Fatale, and Cut Brooklyn. [Fork in the Road/VV]

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Filed Under: market watch, greenpoint food market, vendors

Looking for something to do? Shut Up Foodies suggests you play Food Writer Bingo. Grab your fave critic's latest review, then mark your card anytime you see a word like "redolent" or "toothsome." It won't make the critic any less irritating, but it will make their review more fun. [Shut Up Foodies]

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Filed Under: the other critics, bingo, food reviews, shut up foodies

Want to serve at Má Pêche? Eater got its hands on an e-mail that Momo management sent to front-of-house employees. Some rules to work by: "Wobble wedges should not take 3 people to install" and "No pointing!" [Eater NY]

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Filed Under: front of the house, ma peche, momofuku, rules

Marco Canora cooked for Nightline's "Platelist" series last night and in the interview revealed that he's trying to re-create his favorite junk food: unfrosted blueberry Pop-Tarts. (Unfrosted? What's the point?) Watch our clip below to hear Canora get existential, but be sure to read the entire interview for gems like this: "I always remind my cooks and I always remind myself that at the end of the day, this is about one person who walks through this door and sits down and has their two or three or four dishes and for that one person, they don't care about a backstory. They don't care about anything — they're coming here, they're paying a lot of money, and they want their salad and their fish and their dessert. [It] has to resonate with them."

Marco Canora Returns to His Roots [Nightline]

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Filed Under: video feed, marco canora, nightline, platelist, videos

College Humor fessed up: They are the In-N-Out evildoers. "We made signs, hired actors to dress as employees, made flyers, etc. Lots of people bought it," the smug jerks write. "Tons of people, actually. Then In-N-Out commented and the jig was up." Let's hear it for journalism!

Happy April Fool's Day [College Humor]
Earlier: In-N-Out Employee Crushes Our Dreams

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Filed Under: cruel jokes, april fools, college humor, hamburgers, in-n-out

As expected, today's In-N-Out story is bunkum. Keith, a very nice man in In-N-Out's marketing department (they sure start work early there) just told us that there are no plans for In-N-Out in New York now … or likely ever: "One of the reasons is that we deliver things fresh from our main warehouse. And that's in Southern California." But we doff our cap to today's pranksters. We haven't heard people this outraged since Crif Dogs plastered cars with "Porking Tickets" some years ago. Honorable April Fools' Day mention goes to Chow's story about mustache nets for Brooklyn bartenders.

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Filed Under: sad things, april fools, burgers, hamburgers, in-n-out

"A friend of mine spotted a 'Coming soon — In & Out Burger' sign in Union Square this morning," a Grub Street tipster wrote us today. "Could be hearsay," he warned. We're wary; it is April Fools' Day, after all. But could we at least dream a little? Because a different reader wrote us on Monday — four days before the Fool — to tell us she heard In-N-Out was coming, too. (We'll give a call when their office opens.) This is New York: Anything is possible.

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Filed Under: burgers, hamburgers, in-n-out, pranks

Momofuku Milk Bar is no longer selling cake by the slice, Eater laments, but Christina Tosi tells Fork in the Road that it's for our own good. "We were running into issues with waste. I don't want to say no to somebody at 10 at night who wants a slice of banana cake, even though I know that the chance of other people wanting a slice is slim to none." But there's always pie, and new containers will help you take your slice to go. [Fork in the Road/VV]

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Filed Under: sweet news, cakes, christina tosi, desserts, momofuku milk bar, pies

Matt Roff and Soda Bar's Anatoly Dubinsky will open Dutch Boy Burger on Friday to feed the drinking masses at adjacent Franklin Park in Crown Heights. "The whole space used to be one of the Dutch Boy paint shops that was bought by Sherwin Williams," Roff tells Grub Street. "When we took off the old storefront, the original sign was hanging there and was in pretty good condition and now it's hanging in the restaurant."

All of the beef burgers will feature a combination of brisket and short rib from Los Paisanos Meat Market in Cobble Hill. Michelle Ragussis, formerly of Beast, will turn out dishes like a blue-cheese bacon burger, a beer-braised burger with onions and mushrooms, and a lamb burger stuffed with feta. Dutch Boy is also selling sausages — kielbasa, knackwurst, and bratwurst — from Morscher's Pork Store in Ridgewood served with "Gulden's Mustard, because that's what I grew up on," says Roff. (You can have Bauer's horseradish mustard, too, if you'd like.) Also available is a pulled-pork sandwich with pomegranate barbecue sauce, a veggie burger, and a turkey-meatball sandwich with turkey-mushroom gravy. Drink Abita root beer on tap or order Foxon Park sodas. The milk shakes are made with Blue Marble ice cream and U-Bet chocolate syrup. (You can also order your shake spiked.)

Franklin Park customers can order from Dutch Boy, and you can enter the bar through the burger joint. (A temporary wall is up right now to satisfy a permit issue with the Buildings Department, but it should come down soon.) Delivery service in the neighborhood will begin after the kitchen gets situated, but takeout is available immediately. Dutch Boy Burger is open daily, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., though Franklin Park customers can order from the kitchen till 1 a.m on Monday through Saturday, and midnight on Sundays.

Dutch Boy Burger, 766 Franklin Ave., nr. St. John's Pl., Crown Heights, Brooklyn; 718-230-0293.

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Filed Under: openings, anatoly dubinsky, burger, crown heights, dutch boy burger, matt roff, michelle ragussis

Brooklyn Flea returns to Fort Greene on April 10 with 25 food vendors. Eric Denby tells us that this season's roster includes Porchetta; the Good Fork; imported olive oil and house-brand ricotta from Salvatore Bklyn; bagles and lox from Mile End; stroopwafels from Good Batch; and drinks from Brooklyn Soda Works.

The Flea also announced concessions plans for Central Park SummerStage today: AsiaDog, Blue Marble Ice Cream, Pizza Moto, Red Hook Lobster Pound, Soler pupusas, and Marlow & Daughters. Food vendors will also peddle in an outdoor space at the Flea's Williamsburg Savings Bank location beginning Sundays on April 11.

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Filed Under: foodievents, brooklyn flea, vendors

Nevada Smith's patrons are just as crazy about their bartenders as they are about soccer. A group of customers is threatening to boycott the bar until owner Paddy McCarthy reinstates the two bartenders who were fired after authorities briefly shuttered the bar last week for serving minors. According to an online petition in support of the bartenders, "Nevadas [sic] has built its reputation and strong customer base through the hard work of the likes of two individuals in question." But a McCarthy supporter claims the owner had no choice: "The court initially specified a number of conditions in order for the bar to be reopened (fairly standard practice for the court). These initially included the rule that all four barmen who were ticketed be fired!"

Trouble in Soccer Paradise [EV Grieve]
New York Gooners Forum

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Filed Under: beef, nevada smith's, nightlife

How would you grade your favorite food truck? City Councilman Dan Garodnick has introduced a bill that requires food trucks to post health-inspection grades, just like restaurants. Remember what a mess it was for the Red Hook Vendors to comply with city cart codes? Expect more of the same. [Our Town]

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Filed Under: cartography, bureaucracy, dan garodnick, health inspectors

New York editors are hard at work on an upcoming Neighborhood issue, but we need your help. Where do you live? Do you like it? What's best about it? What's not? (We assume that Grub Street readers shape their answers based on restaurants, and that's just fine.) Please take a few minutes to respond to our brief poll, and tell us why your 'hood is the best (or worst!) in the city. Find out what everybody else thinks on April 12.

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Filed Under: survey says, neighborhood watch, neighborhoods

Marcus Samuelsson expects to open Red Rooster over Labor Day weekend, he tells the Journal today. "I’m just excited to be able to introduce Harlem through food," he says. "There are some storytelling restaurants there and we’re the new kid on the block who can add our experience to it — farm-to-table fresh food, a little speakeasy in the basement." [WSJ]

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Filed Under: openings, harlem, marcus samuelsson, red rooster

The Dang family, who own the Nicky's Vietnamese Sandwiches chain, may close their East Village location. "I am not sure if my family will keep that location in the East Village but we will find out in the next month or two," a rep wrote to EV Grieve, who spotted a "For Rent" sign above the 2nd Street shop. The good news is, the Dangs will open a new Nicky's on Nassau and Anne Streets in a couple months. [EV Grieve]

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Filed Under: empire building, closings, nicky's vietnamese sandwiches, openings, sandwiches

If you feel the need for a dessert course at Wildwood Barbeque, you can cap your dining experience with a glazed cinnamon doughnut topped with candied bacon. Really. [Always Hungry NY]

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Filed Under: excesses, bacon, doughnuts, wildwood barbeque

Crain's New York lauds three food scene machers in its annual "40 Under 40" list: chef Michael White, Craft exec Katie Grieco, and Food Network Magazine editor-in-chief Maile Carpenter. White has a bold expansion plan: "In five years, Mr. White says, he wants to have restaurants around the world and revenues of $100 million. Then he corrects himself: 'We will be a $100 million company.'" Grieco was Tom Colicchio's assistant at Gramercy Tavern and then went on to supervise the launch and operation of all the restaurants in the Craft empire. (Are you taking notes, Michael White? Colicchio's restaurants are worth a mere $50 million.) Grieco is married to Hearth owner Paul Grieco, which makes her part of a food power couple just like fellow Crain's pick Maile Carpenter, who is married to Wylie Dufresne. Carpenter, a former TONY food editor, launched one of the decade's most successful magazines.

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Filed Under: lists, katie grieco, maile carpenter, michael white, personalities

The recession must be over, because big-ticket food events are back! Daniel Boulud hosts the "Burgundy, Bordeaux, Blue Jeans & Blues" event at Daniel on April 18 for $1,000 a plate. The fine Oxford American is hosting a dinner at Blue Smoke on April 6 to celebrate its 2010 Southern Food Issue. Guest editor John T. Edge, director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, will be there with some OA writers and "special guests." Homesick southerners interested in participating should prepare to pay a tax-deductible $500 for their meal. (Call 501-320-5730 or e-mail for reservations.) For those on more modest budgets, Edge and contributors to the food issue will appear on a panel at the Beard House on April 7 at noon. (Suggested donation, $20; for reservations call 212-627-2308.)

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Filed Under: foodienomics, blue smoke, citymeals on wheels, daniel boulud, foodievents, john t. edge, other magazines, oxford american

Growing numbers of small farms and declining numbers of slaughterhouses are worrying locavores who have no way to get this little piggy to market. Farmers complain of a backlog of animals to be slaughtered and livestock that may travel a significant distance to get to a slaughterhouse. Possible solutions: "local cooperatives or mobile slaughter facilities," says the Times. Trouble is, no one wants to live near a slaughterhouse. [NYT]

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Filed Under: unintended consequences, locavores, meat, slaughterhouses

In his profile of Pat LaFrieda this week, David Amsden notes that the storied meat purveyor is moving operations out to New Jersey. So who's moving in? Art gallery Gavin Brown’s Enterprise will take over the 10,000-square-foot West Village building in May, says Crain's: "Its first exhibit in its new digs will be the work of the artist Jonathan Horowitz; the exhibit is titled "Go Vegan!" [Crain's]

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Filed Under: diametrically opposed, art, meat, pat lafrieda, vegans

One final entry in the tale of the Columbia Daily Spectator critic who trashed Colicchio & Sons and sparked ire among our readers and the Don himself. In an interview with IvyGate today, Bell explains that he wanted to "take part in the dialogue among food writers in the city" and that the tone of his review reflected his role in the city as a student. "Students are participating in an academic environment constantly, so in a way my student perspective, more than other critics, mimics or parodies an academic voice. Which I don’t think a lot of people got — they though [sic] I was just being over the top or verbose," says Bell. "That may be the way I write when I write about Derrida, but I think it’s amusing to apply that academic voice to food criticism." Bell adds that slamming his review simply because he's a college student "is an ad hominem attack with no real merit." Separately, Bell submitted a response to Grub Street's coverage of the review and its aftermath. Read it below, in full.

Dear Grub Street,

After reading Grub Street’s coverage of my Colicchio & Sons review and watching the aftermath unfold, I feel compelled to respond. I intended the review to strike a humorous chord, but I believe many aspects of the piece contain serious criticism that merits consideration. In particular, while I appreciate Grub Street’s commentary, I do take issue with that commentary’s sarcastic attitude.

For example, when describing flaws in the veal breast and pain perdu courses, I purposely employ rhetorical strategies that appear, in Grub Street’s terms, “over-the-top.” References to “trash talk” and a piling-on of adjectives establish a snarky tone that I intended to function in a self-referential manner. I wanted my review to not only darkly chuckle at Colicchio & Sons, but also at the various absurdities of the review’s very existence itself (which Grub Street accurately discusses). But why then must these rhetorical strategies diminish the veracity of my arguments? The fact remains that the food at Colicchio & Sons, to my palate, tastes poor. Moreover, the entire dining service feels suspended in a play-act world where haute cuisine clashes with oftentimes amateurish service and milieu. Other critics may disagree with me, however, Grub Street’s attempts to belittle my analysis with a backhanded slap of snark fail to actually undermine my criticism on any meaningful level.

Tom Colicchio’s own response to my humorous review seems even more absurd. Insinuating that my review is “nonsense” and not worth reprinting emphasizes Colicchio’s own elitist sentiments. In his mind, I am nothing more than a meaningless college student, devoid of any food knowledge, a voicebox for virtual gibberish that simply adds another annoyance to his day. Yet, I smile at Tom Colicchio’s tweets, at his immature ravings, because they help me understand why Colicchio & Sons is such a horrendous restaurant. In effect, the bitter taste of Colicchio’s entitled, elitist attitude spills over into his food and infects the ethos of his restaurant. When I went to Colicchio & Sons, I felt like an outsider, isolated and denied access to the true possibilities of Colicchio’s skill. And when I read Sam Sifton’s review, a glowing assessment of a restaurant I never enjoyed, this seemed all the more apparent. Disguising snobbery and exclusivity in a few rustic dishes or casual restaurants only makes that rottenness all the more revolting when encountered unmasked.

Oh, and Grub Street, I know that the chef-owner personally doesn’t make the dessert. Yet, when the media so highlights Colicchio’s daily involvement in the back of the house, it seems safe to assume that on the average night Colicchio takes a decent look at the plates leaving the pass. Even if his pastry chef, Stephen Collucci, designed the dish and his line cooks or pastry sous (if he has one) execute it, Colicchio should have been the ultimate quality control mechanism.

I too see the humor in my post. I injected it in to every line. Nonetheless, I hope that Tom Colicchio sees the essence of my criticism peeking through: every diner deserves an excellent meal, whether a college student paying $19,648 in tuition or the New York Times restaurant critic.

Sincerely,
Jason Bell
Food and Drink Editor
Columbia Daily Spectator

Interview With the Columbia Freshman Tom Colicchio Loathes [IvyGate]

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Filed Under: the other critics, colicchio and sons, columbia spectator, jason bell, tom colicchio

Andrew Matthews (formerly of Gramercy Tavern, Boqueria, and Town) is the new executive chef at One If by Land, Two If by Sea. Eater reports that former chef Sam Freund is moving to Denver. Another personnel move: Stephen Mancini is leaving Maialino. Assistant GM Sam Lipp will handle all your wine needs in the interim, Feast assures us. [Eater NY, Feast]

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Filed Under: chef shuffle, andrew matthews, maialino, one if by land, sam freund, stephen mancini

Tasting Table is adding another national newsletter to its roster: Chefs' Recipes. The twice-weekly mailing "will serve up an exclusive recipe that we've adapted and tested for you to cook at home." Sign up now; your free subscription starts with a pasta recipe from New York's Maialino. If you don't want to wait, you can always search New York's enormous recipe database.

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Filed Under: recipes, newsletters, tasting table

A group of French culinary enthusiasts known as Le Fooding came to New York last fall, and Adam Gopnik reports in The New Yorker that they'll be back in the U.S. again this year. Founder Alexandre Commas describes the movement this way: "'Fooding' means to eat and drink with feeling — to recognize that one eats with the nose, the eyes, and the mouth, with everything that makes us human!" Gopnik makes this analogy: "Le Fooding was to cooking what the New Wave was to French cinema. The hidden goal was to Americanize French food without becoming American … " So what better way to do that than come to États-Unis?

"The next Fooding event in New York is promised for September," Gopnik writes. "But, instead of being once again a Franco-American conversation, it will be a match, even a confrontation between San Francisco and New York chefs." Est Côte, Ouest Côte, Bébé!

No Rules! [NYer]

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Filed Under: foreign relations, foodievents, le fooding

Get on line now: The Red Hook Food Vendors start serving on May 1. Weather permitting, the carts will be at the Ball Fields Saturdays and Sundays through October. Vendor rep Cesar Fuentes also tells NYC Food Guy that Rafael and Reina Soler will sell their pupusas (under the name Soler Dominican) at Central Park SummerStage. Maybe Wayne Coyne will write a song about them. [NYC Food Guy]

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Filed Under: cartography, central park summerstage, red hook vendors, soler dominican

Should you take your kids to high-end restaurants? That's what the guys at DadWagon debated this week. "Are you out of your mind? Of course not," writes one sensible pa. "Fuck restaurants in general. I’m tired of them," says another who could use a good night out, or at least a nap. This is a quieter debate than the old babies-in-bars katzenjammer; your fellow diners appreciate the silence. [DadWagon]

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Filed Under: eatiquette, children

After only a brief closing, Nevada Smith's is back open. Goooaaaaalllll! [EV Grieve]

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Filed Under: reopenings, nevada smith's, nightlife

Top Chef Masters is less than two weeks away, and we can't wait to see chefs like David Burke, Susan Feniger, and Graham Elliot Bowles bumble around the kitchen struggling to remember their days as line cooks. Who will freak out? Who will make a mistake so elementary that even dishwashers titter? Who will get drunk and hate on James Oseland at Judges' Table? Find out on April 7. In the meantime, watch a preview, and get stoked.

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Filed Under: food tv, top chef masters, video feed, videos

Part of the new national health-care-reform plan requires restaurants with more than 20 locations to post calorie counts. This is already law in New York and Philadelphia, but is the rest of the country ready to face the fat truth? The Daily Beast ruins our lunch by compiling a superlative list of the "40 Deadliest Fast Food Meals." What we learned: No fast food is good for you; Taco Bell is exceptionally bad for you; and you may well stroke out at Wendy's mid-Baconator Triple. The more you know!

40 Deadliest Fast Food Meals [Daily Beast]

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Filed Under: food politics, calorie posting, fast food

Early in 2009, Trader Joe's sued Gristedes for opening a shop called "Trader John's" near Union Square. Then Gristedes obscured the signage and later changed the name to Grocer John's, says Jeremiah's Vanishing New York. After yearlong struggle with identity, the store is donezo. [Vanishing NY]

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Filed Under: closings, gristedes, grocer john's, trader john's

The World Cup is 77 days away, but is that long enough for Nevada Smith's to reopen? The longtime soccer-watching HQ was closed by police yesterday, according to EV Grieve. Nevada Smith's Twitter blames "circumstances beyond our control." In the meantime, try Woodwork in Prospect Heights, our pick for "Best Soccer Bar." [EV Grieve]

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Filed Under: temporary closings, nevada smith's, nightlife, soccer

In the magazine this week, the Underground Gourmet reviews Saltie and Cheeky — two sandwich shops with serious menus to offset the impish names. Williamsburg's Saltie is "Mediterranean-inflected, a little Indian, pickled, herby, a bit messy, with heavy veggie tendencies and a few blatant Britishisms," while Cheeky channels New Orleans on the Lower East Side. Rachel Wolff quantifies the pending "Tunapocalypse" with scary numbers like $30 or $40: the cost per pound for "lab-grown" bluefin that is prohibitive to most restaurants.

The Blue Ribbon cookbook is out next month, but follow Rob and Robin's timeline to find out why it took Bruce and Eric Bromberg eighteen years and nine restaurants to publish it. The sap is running upstate, but Locanda Verde pastry chef Karen DeMasco offers a maple-roasted pineapple recipe that you can follow here in the city. Finally, Rob and Robin compiled a promising list of openings this week, including Kenmare and d.o.b. 111.

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Filed Under: in the magazine, blue fin tuna, blue ribbon, cheeky, karen demasco, saltie, sandwiches

Your bracket may be busted already (Thanks for nothing, Notre Dame), but there are plenty of other contests that pit one thing you don't know much about against another thing you don't really have an opinion on. Take, for instance, Jezebel's Cake vs. Pie Tournament. Our final four are Apple, Rhubarb, Coffee, and Ice Cream, with apple pie dominating coffee cake in a tasty nail-biter. What say you? [Jezebel]

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Filed Under: cakes, competitve eating, desserts, pies

Got five minutes? That's how long it'll take to get even a cup of drip coffee at Blue Bottle in Williamsburg. The Oakland coffee company followed Stumptown east to test the patience of New Yorkers, who sometimes buy their coffee from a cart and are totally fine with that. But there's lots to look at while you're waiting, from the beautiful, giant roaster in the back to the Rube Goldberg–looking iced-coffee makers from Japan. Watch our slideshow and see if you can replicate any of this stuff at home.

Earlier: Will Blue Bottle Make New York a Coffee Town?

160 Berry St., nr. N.5th St., Williamsburg

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Filed Under: openings, blue bottle, coffee, slideshows

The dessert is the highlight of Colicchio & Sons for Jay Cheshes: "Despite high-end pretensions … Colicchio seems only tepidly committed to delivering a real fine-dining experience. [TONY]

Gael Greene has already been to ABC Kitchen twice. "Vegetables are being reinvented," she writes, "and I am determined to taste them all." [Insatiable Critic]
Related: First Look at ABC Kitchen

Larry Forgione's presence at P.J. Clarke's is not welcomed by Steve Cuozzo: "Has the beloved watering hole and grill immortalized on-screen in The Lost Weekend lost its grip? [NYP]

"You would think, with Conant in the kitchen, not much could go wrong. A lot does," writes Alan Richman of Faustina. On the upside, "I don’t believe anybody will depart Faustina complaining about the cost of food." [Forked & Corked/GQ]
Related: Faustina's Menu, Illustrated

"The gastro is overwhelmed by the pub," Ryan Sutton says of Highlands, "which is unfortunate because chef William Hickox, late of the Michelin-starred Public, has given New York its only refined Scottish menu." [Bloomberg]
Related: Inside Highlands

"The appetizers and sandwiches are good, the entrées not. Order accordingly," suggests Leo Carey about dining at Corsino. [NYer]
First Look: Corsino

"Ultimately, you should put a meal together without regard for distinctions the menu makes between apps and mains," Robert Sietsema suggests for a meal at Brighton Beach's Skovorodka, where the menu is comprised of "regional fare from former Soviet republics." [VV]

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Filed Under: the other critics, abc kitchen, coliccchio and sons, corsino, faustina, highlands, p.j. clarke's, skovorodka

Oh, boy! Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, the longest day of the year for transit workers, bartenders, and the NYPD. Our advice? Avoid bars with Irish names. But if you absolutely have to wear a plastic green bowler hat and stumble through "Danny Boy," at least go beyond a pint of Guinness.

Irish Spirits [St. Patrick's Day Guide]

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Filed Under: booze you can use, nightlife, st. patrick's day, user's guide

The Bronx has the city's highest rate of obesity, but it also suffers from hunger. The South Bronx, especially, is "food insecure," meaning that residents don't have access to staples, fresh produce, or even a grocery store. More than a third of the people in the borough's 16th Congressional District, one of the nation's poorest, said that they couldn't afford to buy food at least once in the past year. [NYT]

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Filed Under: food politics, bronx, south bronx

Look out for Burger Heaven on the season premiere of Celebrity Apprentice on Sunday night (NBC, 9 p.m.). The network is keeping mum about the episode, but per this Sinbad video, it looks as though the "celebrities" — including Rod Blagojevich, Cyndi Lauper, and Bret Michaels — had to take a lunch shift at the upscale diner. We figure hilarity ensues. [NBC]

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Filed Under: tv land, burger heaven, celebrity apprentice

"There were enough big clunkers over four visits to make me wonder how consistently hands-on Conant can be in a place he runs under a management contract," worries Steve Cuozzo about Faustina. But he admits that "most choices are fine for the price, and several would be bargains at any price." [NYP]
Related: Faustina's Menu, Illustrated

"Unfortunately, Colicchio seems to have become a bit sloppy in the kitchen," complains Andrea Thompson of Colicchio & Sons. "Most everything was fine, but only that." [NYer]
Related: What to Eat at Colicchio & Sons

Don't expect a quick lunch at Sandwiched, warns Ed Levine. But if you take your time and order the ham and sharp cheddar (a "perfect creation") or the turkey and gouda, it's well worth the wait. [Serious Eats]

Adam Block "hasn't missed a hot buzzword" at Print, a farm-to-table restaurant with its own forager. "But beyond political correctness, the food by the husband-and-wife tag team of toques — Charles and Heather Carlucci-Rodriguez — is mostly good and sometimes wonderful," Gael Greene declares. [Insatiable Critic]

"Every experiment at Northern Spy doesn't necessarily end well, but you've got to give the restaurant credit for trying," writes Robert Sietsema. The prices are less than you'd expect, too. [VV]
Related: Inside Northern Spy

Jay Cheshes calls Recette "an ambitious West Village newcomer that replaces appetizers and entrées with too-small plates." [TONY]
Related: First Look: Recette

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Filed Under: the other critics, colicchio and sons, faustina, northern spy, print, recette, sandwiched, strip house

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

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

This year's "Best of New York" is a multicourse scavenger hunt for the adventurous eater. Start with breakfast at the Breslin, have a deceptive Vegan doughnut from Babycakes, or fuel efficiently with Milkthistle Organic Dairy Farm yogurt. Take advantage of the stellar $15 prix fixe lunch from Abraço, or try one of the city's many entries into the booming sandwiches category. Swing by Brooklyn Kitchen Labs and the Meat Hook to see what's in stock at the city's best gourmet grocery, or wait until June to visit New Amsterdam Market.

Pork still dominates dinner menus, but don't miss out on Maialino's roast chicken, SHO Shaun Hergatt's innovative Asian fusion, or the quality meat and potatoes at Minetta Tavern. Have a chocolate-chip cookie at Má Pêche for dessert, and breathe deep — you've still got a lot of edible treasures to unearth in 2010.

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Filed Under: in the magazine, best of new york

If user-generated critiques of restaurants aren't enough for you, now there's user-generated critiques of individual dishes! Twiddish, an unfortunately named new iPhone app and website, invites users (or "dishers") to photograph their food and rate it according to criteria such as flavor, aroma, and value. You can also include a line or two of text in your evaluation, and search the site either by users or individual dishes. Twiddish is NYC-heavy right now, but anyone anywhere can post a review. [Twiddish]

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Filed Under: app-etizing, apps, twiddish

Don't miss German photographer Oliver Schwarzwald's images of breakfasts eaten around the world. Russia's looks the prettiest. [Designboom via Atlantic]

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Filed Under: the most important meal of the day, breakfast, oliver schwarzwald

This summer, look for a bakery-café from François Payard in Greenwich Village. Payard is partnering in the new, unnamed venture with A Voce owner Marlon Abela. “Inexpensive, lots of bread, sandwiches and rustic stuff,” the chef told Diner's Journal. Payard will also use the kitchen at 116 West Houston (near Sullivan Street) to prep for other locations, including another casual café planned for 2010. [Diner's Journal/NYT]

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Filed Under: empire building, bakeries, francois payard, openings

The New York City Parks Department is seeking food vendors for the highly anticipated Brooklyn Bridge Park. There's room for two "mobile-food carts" (one with booze!), a big sit-down restaurant, and a smaller restaurant near Atlantic Avenue. What would you like to see in the park? Leave your suggestions in the comments, and be sure to let the city know your order. [Eater NY/NYP]

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Filed Under: parks and recreation, brooklyn bridge park, cartography

Choptank's "dishes, which run the gamut from lowbrow bar food to urbane composed plates, don’t add up to a coherent identity," observes Jay Cheshes.
[TONY]

"Prime Meats is a competitor not just to Luger, but to every steakhouse in Manhattan," writes Ryan Sutton, who cautions that "[s]ometimes the hip slacker factor goes overboard." [Bloomberg]

Out in Bay Ridge, Robert Sietsema suggests you "stick with the vegetarian stuff" at Tanoreen and stop by Athena Express (484 77th Street) for "meaty earthbound delights at bargain prices." [VV]

"Counterintuitively, the food [at the Standard Grill] isn’t a postscript, though the chef, Dan Silverman, misses as often as he hits," says Mike Peed. [NYer]

Bagatelle is an "oddly charming little bistro" says Gael Greene. "[T]he food is not bad at all. Indeed, it can be very good." [Insatiable Critic]

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Filed Under: the other critics, athena express, bagatelle, choptank, prime meats, standard grill, tanoreen

Dine in Brooklyn, the borough's own restaurant promotion, will take place March 15 through March 25. More than 175 eateries, from Bath Beach to Williamsburg, will offer three-course meals for $20.10 (lunch) or $25 (dinner). Borough President Marty Markowitz "also reminds everyone to be generous and properly tip their wait staff," his office said today. (Hear that, David Sax?) [Visit Brooklyn]

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Filed Under: foodievents, brooklyn, dine in brooklyn, marty markowitz

Mario Batali is the most-frequent guest on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, and he was on again last night to celebrate the show's one-year anniversary. Judah Friedlander hung around for Batali's segment, looking impressed by the preparations for fettuccine with lobster and tomato sauce. "This is so good I would eat it before you even cook it," Friedlander told Batali. "You are that good." Watch the video to see what kind of gifts you'd get from the chef if you were friends.

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Filed Under: video feed, jimmy fallon, judah friedlander, mario batali, tv, video, videos

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Filed Under: trends, dining out, predicitions

Laurent Tourondel and partner Jimmy Haber are breaking up their empire, says Florence Fabricant. Tourondel keeps the BLT name, and will stay on as executive chef in all the BLT restaurants in hotels. Haber gets BLT Steak, BLT Fish, BLT Prime, and BLT Burger. Tourondel initiated the break, but everyone seems nicey-nicey about it. [Diner's Journal/NYT]

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Filed Under: back of the housel, blt, jimmy haber, laurent tourondel

Sophie Brickman worked on the line at Jean Georges for a few months last year, and reveals some of the inner workings of JGV's kitchen. "I never saw a single line cook eat food between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. I subsisted on radish peelings and, once I got bold enough, granola bars in the bathroom," she writes for The Atlantic. She did manage to copy some of the recipes out of the master book on the sous-chef station, and works on them at home: "One recipe I prepped — during the one week when I graduated from peeling vegetables — called for 26 grams of salt. 26. Who am I to judge? Maybe one gram of salt is the difference between three Michelin stars and two."

A Master's Precision in the Home Kitchen [Food/Atlantic]

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Filed Under: back of the house, jean georges, jean-georges vongerichten

Chicken-wing prices are flying (zing!) thanks to an increase in consumer demand. The wholesale price of wings is $1.47 a pound, up 39 percent since 2008. [UPI]

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Filed Under: foodienomics, chicken wings, snacks

In the magazine this week, Adam Platt is overwhelmed in a bad way by the vast dining room at Collichio & Sons, and the menu doesn't mitigate Platt's unease: "[T]he overall impression, as one item succeeds another, is of a kitchen throwing as many flavor combinations at the wall as possible, in the hopes that one or two of them will stick." Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld map new eats downtown, observing: "Once gritty, now gourmet, the Bowery has become the latest restaurant row."

In their openings report, the Robs preview the Brindle Room and Tangled Vine Wine Bar & Kitchen. Meyer lemons are now in season, and Joel Dennis of Adour Alain Ducasse shares his recipe for marmalade. Rob and Robin also alert us to a new dinner menu at Torrisi Italian Specialties that debuts on March 9 — look for hearts of palm with Bazzini peanuts and house-cured anchovies and ravioli Caruso. Finally, browse with a drink at "six recently opened stores selling consumables of all kind" in addition to furniture, yarn, and biker gear.

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Filed Under: in the magazine, bowery, brindle room, collichio and sons, meyer lemons, tangled vine, tom collichio, torrisi italian specialities

Noah Bernamoff's Mile End Deli carries Montreal bagels, but they'll be even fresher beginning this Saturday. Two of Bermanoff's friends from high school, Joel Tietolman and Jon Leitner, will go to the famed St-Viateur Bagel at midnight and pick up several dozen bagels, and then drive them to New York City. The trip takes about seven hours, says the duo. The deli sells the bagels, but also serves as a pick-up point for anyone who has preordered via the Mile End Montreal Bagel website. "We are looking for other locations to make distribution agreements," Tietolman and Leitner told Grub Street via e-mail.

The bagels come in sesame and poppy-seed varities, and cost $12 for six and $22 for a dozen. Preordering on the website results in a $2 discount per dozen. (These prices are just for the special Saturday delivery; Mile End will continue to replenish its bagel stocks through a courier throughout the rest of the week.) Tietolman and Leitner have cleared their bagel export operation with both the U.S. customs and the FDA, so crossing the border with a car full of bagels is a lot less like international espionage than we'd like to imagine. "Also worthy to note that bagels fall under NAFTA," Tietolman adds.

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Filed Under: imports, bagels, boerum hill, mile end

How do you make a hot dog safer? The parenting blog DadWagon enlisted Brooklyn artist Jon-Paul Villegas to design more "child-friendly" weenies following a report on the hazardous food icon from the American Academy of Pediatrics. We liked the one that looked most like a traditional hot dog, called the Scary Dog: "Dress up the dog in some kind of a scary outfit so the kid doesn’t recklessly wolf it down." That way, there's more for us.

A Safer Hot Dog [DadWagon]

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Filed Under: hot doggery, chocking victim, food safety, hot dogs, jon paul villegas

Good-bye, line cooks; hello, food robots! The Times today introduces us to several food robots (in a story sweetly headlined "Just Like Mombot Used to Make"): the AIC-AI Cooking Robot, which makes Chinese food; the omelette-making Chief Cook Robot from Switzerland; and a completely creepy robot hand that makes sushi. The future is delicious. [NYT]

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Filed Under: kitchen supplies, food technology, robots

"The best main courses [at Choptank] took leave of Chesapeake Bay for the familiar waters of Modern American cookery — and chef Matthew Schaefer’s way with fish lifts all boats," Steve Cuozzo asserts. [NYP]

"Tabla’s sprawling new menu, featuring lower prices on dishes once served only upstairs, includes an outstanding cross-section of regional vegetarian cookery," Jay Cheshes writes. "The old Tabla is dead; long live the new one." [TONY]

"The mix of middle eastern influences at Tanoreen makes for a jumbled, and satisfying, menu, says Sam Sifton. "Is such cooking authentic? Yes, though no. It doesn’t matter and who cares. It’s mostly delicious. Authenticity, anyway, is almost always a lie." [NYT]

At Maialino, "the food, served with a relaxed, knowing smile, is usually delicious, occasionally spectacular," writes Shauna Lyon. [NYer]

Gael Greene revisits Picholine and finds the love again. "It’s not as sexy as Daniel or as vibrant as Le Bernardin, but it’s hardly an old folks’ spa. … Once you start eating, you won’t care who’s sitting across the way." [Insatiable Critic]

Ovest Pizzoteca "may not pack the same crowd" as Luzzo's, observes Adam Kuban, "but the food quality is much the same, which is to say very good." [Serious Eats NY]

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Filed Under: the other critics, choptank, maialino, ovest pizzoteca, picholine, tabla, tanoreen

"The best main courses [at Choptank] took leave of Chesapeake Bay for the familiar waters of Modern American cookery — and chef Matthew Schaefer’s way with fish lifts all boats," Steve Cuozzo asserts. [NYP]

"Tabla’s sprawling new menu, featuring lower prices on dishes once served only upstairs, includes an outstanding cross-section of regional vegetarian cookery," Jay Cheshes writes. "The old Tabla is dead; long live the new one." [TONY]

"The mix of middle eastern influences at Tanoreen makes for a jumbled, and satisfying, menu, says Sam Sifton. "Is such cooking authentic? Yes, though no. It doesn’t matter and who cares. It’s mostly delicious. Authenticity, anyway, is almost always a lie." [NYT]

At Maialino, "the food, served with a relaxed, knowing smile, is usually delicious, occasionally spectacular," writes Shauna Lyon. [NYer]

Gael Greene revisits Picholine and finds the love again. "It’s not as sexy as Daniel or as vibrant as Le Bernardin, but it’s hardly an old folks’ spa. … Once you start eating, you won’t care who’s sitting across the way." [Insatiable Critic]

Ovest Pizzoteca "may not pack the same crowd" as Luzzo's, observes Adam Kuban, "but the food quality is much the same, which is to say very good." [Serious Eats NY]

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Filed Under: the other critics, choptank, maialino, ovest pizzoteca, picholine, tabla, tanoreen

The Whole Foods site along the Gowanus Canal should be "decontaminated" by the end of April, an environmental consultant for the company said at a Community Board meeting yesterday. Whole Foods is "still committed" to building a store at the site, but for people who need their groceries in a timely fashion, there's still the Pathmark on 12th Street. [NYP]

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Filed Under: whole foods, gowanus, neighborhood watch, pathmark

Café Boulud's Gavin Kaysen and Salumeria Rossi's Cesare Casella were both on Martha Stewart today to demonstrate soups and stews. Kaysen made a duck civet, and Casella prepared a pasta e fagiole con mista. [Martha Stewart Show]

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Filed Under: food tv, cesare casella, gavin kaysen, martha stewart, soups

More gardens, more markets, more composting, and fewer water bottles, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer demands. "FoodNYC: A Blueprint for a Sustainable Food System" calls for food policy to be incorporated as part of Mayor Bloomberg's sustainability and development strategy for the city, PlaNYC. Stringer, who hosted a food-policy summit last December, is making a push to be the city's food-policy guy, which is not only a good and interesting cause, but also one that's politically expedient. (Council President Christine Quinn is trying to get in on this, too, by advocating a Pike Place–esque market in the old Fultin Fish Market space.) Here are some of Stringer's suggestions:

Modernize and Expand Hunts Point Produce Market: The Mayor and the NYC EDC should work with the State Department of Agriculture and Markets to ensure that the necessary resources are allocated to the redevelopment of the Hunts Point Produce Market. The market must be redeveloped to meet the city’s and region’s environmental and economic needs, including a Wholesale Farmers Market and a rail link connecting upstate to downstate.

Mandate Procurement of Regional Food: The New York City Council should pass a local law requiring preferences and targets for City agencies to procure specified percentages of food from regional producers.

Institute Meatless Mondays in City Schools: The NYC DOE SchoolFood office should institute “Meatless Mondays,” a public health awareness initiative launched by the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to promote healthy, environmentally friendly, plant-based choices.

Increase the Number of Water Fountains: The New York City Council should pass legislation expanding access to free tap water in public spaces by building new water fountains.

FoodNYC [PDF]

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Filed Under: food politics, food policy, scott stringer

More gardens, more markets, more composting, and fewer water bottles, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer demands. "FoodNYC: A Blueprint for a Sustainable Food System" calls for food policy to be incorporated as part of Mayor Bloomberg's sustainability and development strategy for the city, PlaNYC. Stringer, who hosted a food-policy summit last December, is making a push t