It’s almost ready.

It’s almost here: FloFab has it that San Francisco cult fave Mission Chinese Food will open Tuesday at 154 Orchard Street on the LES. Like spring’s other big Asian import, Pok Pok Ny, Mission won’t take reservations for tables — only for the twelve seats at the bar. As it does in San Fran, the restaurant will donate 75 cents from each dish to charity; here it’s the Food Bank of New York City (see S.F.’s menu here to get an idea of what will be served). Mission will be dinner only to start, adding lunch and drinks a bit later on, and it will be, quirkily, closed Wednesdays. Get ready. [Diner's Journal/NYT, Earlier]

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Filed Under: imports, exciting, lower east side, mission chinese food, openings

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When you can’t go home again.

Peter Khoury files a yearning piece in the Times about his quest to find a new roost in the year since Elaine’s shuttered. “Like dozens of other people, I am part of the Elaine’s diaspora,” he writes. Trying out other restaurants and bars has been “a sort of speed dating.” And he’s been getting around, dropping into Donahue’s, Campagnola, Nicola’s, Sardi’s, “a hideaway bar in Midtown that shuns publicity and has a great Côtes du Rhône,” and finally settling on Neary’s as a sort of replacement. But it’s not the same. “After one year in the post-Elaine’s world, I can say that for me there is still no place that makes up for the loss of Elaine’s, and there might never be.” [NYT]

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Filed Under: the long good-bye, elaine’s

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The holy grail for spice fiends.

This morning Bowery Boogie brought the sad news that Grand Sichuan on Canal Street had shuttered, which bodes ill even though the restaurant claims it will reopen. We’ve spent a number of happy evenings there foisting things into a tureen of fiery broth studded with Sichuan peppercorns, red-faced and hopped up, slugging beer, and now the loss leaves a hole in the downtown hot-pot scene. A mental survey of other options nearby led to the discovery that Old Town Hot Pot also seems to have quietly shuttered, supposedly for “renovations,” as they’re announcing on Yelp. We know sister restaurant Hot Kitchen, in the EV, offers hot pot. Has anybody given it a slurp? And did we miss any?

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Filed Under: closings, chinese, hot pot

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Demi Monde is at last ready to bow tomorrow night, and to tide you over till then we’ve gotten our paws on the cocktail list. The lineup looks promising (we’d expect nothing less given that co-owner David Kaplan is a partner in Death & Co. and mixologist Alex Day used to bartend there) — for spring, the drinks lean fizzy and fruity. A number are made with sparkling wine (and say, Calvados, chamomile, chartreuse, plus lemon) or an ingredient simply called “fizz,” and others are classified as “house sodas,” boozy ones of course. As mentioned, Phillip Kirschen-Clark is doing both a small plates and a chef’s tasting menu — the latter begins May 24. Drinks list below.

Cocktail and Snacks Menu [PDF]

Demi Monde, 90 Broad St., nr. Stone St.; 212-248-7220

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Filed Under: nightlife, bars, demi monde, financial district, menus

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That says ‘Biang!’

That Xi’an Famous Foods sit-down restaurant we told you about is set to debut to the world on Sunday. It’s called Biang!, which manager Jason Wang tells us via e-mail is “an onomatopoeia for the sound of the noodle when it’s being pulled and whacked against a work surface. It’s a local dialect of Xi’an and Shaanxi province.”

A peek at the menu shows that many of Xi’an Famous Foods’s noodle dishes will be served (liang pi, cumin lamb), but there’s tons of new stuff too. Dishes making their debut include several salads, skewers of beef stomach or wheat gluten, a buckwheat pudding with spicy dipping sauce, and cubes of pig’s blood in a garlic-chile-vinegar sauce. So some new flavors for Western palates! If you want to see how all this tastes, the restaurant is giving half off meals on Sunday to anyone who RSVPs via Facebook then shows up and fills out a survey. Sign up for that here, and see the menu below.

Menu

Biang!, 41-10 Main St., nr. 41st Ave., Flushing

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Filed Under: openings, biang!, flushing, menus, xi’an famous foods

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Sloane Crosley’s new hang?

Last time we wrote about the revamped Algonquin, we joked about neo Round Tables. Well, that’s a matter the hotel is serious about, as the Post reports: In honor of the May 23 reopening (and in conjunction with Book Week), the Algonquin will host a private round table on June 4 with Simon Doonan, Junot Diaz, Elizabeth Gilbert, and John Hodgeman. The hotel is hoping to attract hip literary types in general, writes the NYP — perhaps they can offer free whiskey to any published author in order to lure them from Park Slope or Greenpoint? And old-timers are mad that the Oak Room cabaret night isn’t slated to be resurrected (Blue Bar’s renovation encroached some into the Oak Room’s space). However, Matilda the cat will be roaming as usual, so that’s one piece of good news. [NYP]

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Filed Under: makeovers, algonquin, blue bar, matilda, oak room, openings, reopenings

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If you have sentimental memories from the decade and a half that now-closed Asia de Cuba was tops on the haute Asian scene, you might stop by 237 Madison tomorrow when the restaurant’s contents get auctioned off. Tables, bar stools, and Jade stoves will be on the block; no word on the two-story waterfall picture. [Amodeo Auctions]

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Filed Under: for sale, asia de cuba, auctions

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Hello, lunch.

Our friends at Midtown Lunch have the exciting news that a new food-truck court has formed in Soho, at the corners of Varick and Grand (not the best lunch territory normally). Even in the rain today, Kelvin Natural Slush Co., Mexico Blvd., Kimchee Taco Truck, and Milk Truck are offering their wares — hurry, and maybe you can still grab lunch. [Midtown Lunch]

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Filed Under: truckin’, soho

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Mmm, escargot.

Grub learns that the owners of Bukowski-homage whiskey den Post Office are planning a new one, most likely called OTB, for 141 Broadway in south Williamsburg. Beverage-wise, OTB will focus on emerging distilleries, wineries, and breweries. Post Office chef Sam Glinn will head up a full kitchen here, turning out a seafood-leaning menu including escargot and fried clams and oysters. Look for an early fall opening.

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Filed Under: coming up, bars, nightlife, openings, otb, post office, south williamsburg, williamsburg

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Back when Mathieu Palombino’s Bowery Diner opened we were promised 24-hour service, and now Bowery Boogie brings word that those hours started last night. You can booze it up till 1 a.m. during the week and 2 a.m. on weekends, according to the “After Hours” menu, which sticks mostly to breakfast (some cream-filled French toast?) and done-up burgers. [Bowery Boogie]

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Filed Under: late night, 24 hours, bowery, bowery diner, menu changes

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The latest club.

Attempts to make nightlife happen on Chrystie Street have started and sputtered in past years, with Kush and, recently, Panda throwing in the towel. But now Thrillist brings word of Inga, a three-story club and karaoke joint (which seems to be Mystique’s replacement) that joins newcomer Experimental Cocktail Club on the street. Matt Levine also has Cocktail Bodega coming up soon, and Home Sweet Home and the Box seem to be sticking around. Could Chrystie be poised for resurrection? [Thrillist]

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Filed Under: nightlife, bars, chrystie street, inga, openings

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Cheerio.

Cocktail obsessives gathered Friday night for one of the biggest events of the year: the Manhattan Cocktail Classic Gala at the New York Public Library. Dressed to impress, guests roamed the building’s four stories, sampling an all-you-can-drink cocktail buffet and passing between rooms decked out in the décor of swingin’ London, a clubby lounge, and even a list-only speakeasy courtesy of James Beard Outstanding Bar Program winners PDT. In one area, the Naked Cowboy held court in front of a table of his eponymous oysters, while in the basement, dancers performed to big band sounds. See it all straight ahead.

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Filed Under: what you missed, foodievents, manhattan cocktail classic gala, nightlife, slideshow

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