• If you're not going to the Great GoogaMooga this weekend, how about a tasting-table-style music brunch? Gerald Hammil of Other Music specializes in rare, underground, experimental music and will curate live D.J. programs this Sunday at the Bedford. Newly appointed chef Jason Michael Giordano will serve up worldly market-driven specialties — including Nutella-and-currant-jelly French-toast fritters. [Grub Street]

• Lantern’s Keep has made the top ten hotel-bar finalists for the Tales of the Cocktail 2012 Spirited Awards. Big congrats. [Grub Street]

• Morso just opened its new outdoor terrace last week, just in time for summer. Enjoy Italian-Mediterranean specialties al fresco as you look over the Queensborough Bridge and Roosevelt Island cable cars all summer long. [Grub Street]

• Jimmy at the James opens their Summer Saturdays and Sundays weekend D.J. series with Chelsea Leyland on Saturday. Sunday beginning at 3 p.m., stop by the hotel for hand-crafted cocktails, light bites, great music, and a dip in the pool. [Grub Street]

• Andrew Carmellini takes Serious Eats editors on a tour of his favorite Soho jaunts and eats. Among the Dutch chef’s favorites? Morning chocolate buns and sipping Guinness and Macallan simultaneously. [Serious Eats]

• Rockaway Beach Club officially opens tomorrow. Indulge in Caracas’ arepas, Comodore East’s pork boats, and a chocolate-dipped frozen banana from Motorboat and the Big Banana [Gothamist]

• Nantucket comes to the LES, just in time for summer. New in the old White Slab Palace space at 77 Delancey Street is Grey Lady<, serving fresh-shucked oysters and homemade ales. [UrbanDaddy]

Filed Under: leftovers, closings, openings, summer

Watch the executive chef of North End Grill, Top Chef Masters winner, and Danny Meyer's lucky charm excite his many fans and prepare the popular British-inspired dish done his way over at the New York Culinary Experience.

Read more posts by Evan Kleinman and Jake Moore

Filed Under: nyce, floyd cardoz

Sofia Vergara continued to live la vida single this week, dancing on chairs at a Gloria Gaynor fête with sixteen girlfriends. This and more in our weekly roundup of celebrity dining.

Ai Fiori: Julian Schnabel was there once, and Reba McEntire returned twice, all in the same week. [Grub Street]
Asellina: Ashley Greene and a gaggle of "giggling girlfriends" stayed for two-and-a-half hours for a chow-down on ravioli, tiramisu, and some wine. [People]
Beauty & Essex: Last week it was Twinkies. This week, freshly single Sofia Vergara danced on chairs. She showed up to Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" event at the restaurant Wednesday with sixteen ladies. She and her leopard-print Louboutins boogied on the furniture until security stopped them for "safety reasons." [People]
Marea: Bono celebrated his daughter's college graduation with fourteen guests. [Grub Street]
Osteria Morini: Clive Owen dined on Monday night. [Grub Street]

Read more posts by Sarah Lawson

Filed Under: celebrity settings,

"You start your Sunday morning reading a terrible review of somebody’s restaurant and as long as you’re not the chef’s mother, you’re probably going to feel slightly better for the rest of the day,” —Identity-theft victim Jay Rayner on the subject of being a restaurant critic, 50 years after the New York Times published its first restaurant review. [CNN]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: quote of the day, critics, jay rayner

Former rocker-drummer and world-acclaimed pastry chef at Del Posto, Brooks Headley had some mind-bending fun at the New York Culinary Experience when he made a savory dessert featuring ... grilled eggplant. Watch the bad-ass master do his thing, and get ready to crave some chocolate-studded aubergine.

Read more posts by Evan Kleinman and Sarah Frank

Filed Under: nyce, brooks headley, del posto

Owners of Brooklyn Public House in Fort Greene had an impromptu opening last night for their new venture in Williamsburg. Located at 51 Kent on the corner of North 11th, the Lakes fills a big, dry gap in this mostly vacant stretch of pavement along the East River. The bar will be open Thursday through Sunday for the time being, with plans for a full opening in the coming weeks.

About half of the 24 taps are already flowing with a solid selection of imports and craft brews, and bartenders will be pouring from the other twelve — including two nitros, which makes beer creamier, with a richer head — soon. When it opens, the kitchen will serve mostly pub fare of the burger-and-hot-dog variety. If the owners have their way, sidewalk seating for about 50 will be in place in time for summer.

The Lakes, 51 Kent Ave., at N. 11th St.

Read more posts by Brad Cohen

Filed Under: nightlife, bars, openings, the lakes, williamsburg

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]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

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

Serious Eats goes on a Soho eating binge with Andrew Carmellini, where they start at Dominique Ansel and end at Milady's, with a lot of food and scoop in between. Over at Melvin's Juice Bar, Carmellini says he was was iffy about the au courant juice obsession, "until John Cusack was staying at The Greenwich Hotel where he brought his juicer and started juicing for me. He made this pear-kale juice and it was then, then I started to understand." Yup, Carm can say anything and we'll listen. [Serious Eats]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: name-dropping, carmellini, juicing, miss lily's

After roasting Richman and talking Angry Bobby Flay to Grub, Anthony Bourdain just couldn't bite his tongue when "Page Six" asked him about his famous feuds with Sandra Lee — “I don’t think much of her cooking, but a tough lady ... impressive, and I think, scary woman ... I don’t want to get audited." And of course, Paula Deen, and the only thing worse than Paula Deen, her hate-mailing fans: “Most of them couldn’t spell her last name. It’s only four letters in it. It’s scary. I’ve saved some of the mail in case I go missing.” [Page Six/NYP]

Related: Alan Richman Defends James Beard Win, Slams ‘Third-Rate Critic’ Ryan Sutton

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: same old, bourdain, paula deen

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]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

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

Yesterday we offered a pair of passes for this weekend's ExtraMooga to the commenter with the most debaucherous concertgoing experience. Some of you let us down (Hanson?!) and many of you did a lot of puking (keep it together, Grub readers). While getting hit in the face by a guitar during a Peelander-Z show impressed us, as did hiding out in a bathroom stall for hours to see Gunther, ultimately, kid_a's tale of accidentally consuming not one but three LSD-laced grilled cheese sandwiches at an Allman Brothers concert captured the win. What can we say? We are a food blog. Congratulations, kid_a, we'll be in touch. For the rest of you, ExtraMooga tickets are still available here.

Read more posts by Grub Street

Filed Under: congrats, contests, extramooga, giveaways

Safeway is in the process of cleaning up two aisles of shit-storm after a butcher was fired, rather than admired, for saving a pregnant woman from being kicked in the stomach — a backwards move that customers across the country are vociferously outraged by. Then, at Safeway’s annual shareholder meeting, senior vice-president and general counsel Robert Gordon made a stupid and offensive joke that equated Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi to "hogs," and now he's on the express line to demotion. [Slate]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: check-out line, grocery store, safeway

In the four years since Liza Queen closed her idiosyncratic Greenpoint restaurant, the Queen’s Hideaway, nobody has quite managed to fill her quirky locavore shoes. She brings a similarly rootsy regional sensibility to Potlikker, now in soft-open mode for diner-style lunch, with a more ambitious preview dinner menu launching May 25 (both are being offered at a 25 percent discount), and the official opening slated for June 1. Named for the brothy remains of cooking collards or other sturdy greens, Potlikker is devoted to decidedly American fare, often with what the chef calls “rural and working class roots”: New England boiled dinner, say, a meatloaf sandwich on a Parker House roll, or St. Louis pork ribs with cornbread upside-down cake.

Although the menu doesn’t outwardly display any trace of the two years Queen recently spent living and cooking in Vietnam, the experience taught her that “the expectation of graciousness and quality can exist equally in the lowliest street stalls as well as the swankier restaurants.” Not that there’ll be any mistaking Potlikker’s dining room for a Saigon back alley. The colorful, feminine design breaks tradition with Brooklyn-salvage chic, and comes courtesy of her sister, Samantha Crasco, who outfitted the guest rooms at Tribeca’s Greenwich Hotel.

Potlikker, 338 Bedford Ave., nr. S. 3rd St., Williamsburg; 718-388-9808

Read more posts by Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

Filed Under: openings, liza queen, potlikker, slideshow, williamsburg

Peter Kaminsky is a food writer whose job has taken its toll on his body. Between stints at our own New York Magazine and Food & Wine, Kaminsky "put on a good 30 pounds." And, he adds, "my blood-sugar was high, I was borderline diabetic. My life insurance was rejected and I was told I had to lose weight, that I had to try." Hence his newest book, Culinary Intelligence: The Art of Eating Healthy (and Really Well). "People have had their minds blown by food enough that it’s not simply the fireworks of the richest ingredients. I think people are a little more discerning and sophisticated, and take their pleasures in more zen ways." So we signed Kaminsky up for this week's New York Diet to put him to the test, to see if he could really eat healthy in a way that's also delicious — that's the whole point of his book, after all. Read on for tales of rooftop grilling, dinner with Danny Meyer, and a fishing trip gone awry thanks to Barack Obama.

Friday, May 11
Coffee, ground fresh, and some whole milk. The coffee is from Two for the Pot. John McGill has been selling good coffee since way before soul patches and pork-pie hats got hip again, probably since mid–Dizzy Gillespie. And some Granola that my wife, Melinda, buys at Pacific Green on Court Street. What kind? I ask. Izzy’s and Bob’s Red Mill mixed together. Topped it all off with whole roast almonds. Now we're talking.

At lunch, I spoke at the Rudd Center at Yale. We had delivery from a local modern –Italian restaurant. It was a so-so sandwich of overly crispy prosciutto and overly vinegar-ed veggies. The white-bean-and-greens soup, though, was excellent, to my pleasant surprise. Not too salty, just right. This is rare in a takeout soup.

Dinner was Parish Hall in Williamsburg. Okay, I'm a sucker for the Band and Dylan on the soundtrack. New place, clean look, maximum farm-to-table. It rocks. We had small plates to start: Spring greens with panna cotta and shallot vinaigrette; a plate of Nancy Newsom's ham with shaved asparagus and pickled haricots verts; fluke with turnips and turnip greens. Yes, turnips can be fresh and interesting, even captivating. The things I thought were pickled chickpeas turned out to be nasturtium capers. I was unaware of their existence. Then the entrée for the two of us: lamb sausage, loin, farro sausage, and nettle pesto. Finished with some killer cheeses.

Saturday, May 12
Coffee and milk. Defrosted some whole-grain raisin-walnut bread from Bien Cuit on Smith Street. How did I get the best bread baker in the world a block form my house? And how did the ground zero of the Brooklyn food explosion land in my neighborhood? I swear, if I can't walk or bike to it, I pretty much don't go.

Anyway, defrosted the heels of bread in the microwave (even stale bread gets moist again) then toasted. Two fried eggs — free-range, organic in a little butter. Eggs from the corner green grocer, Pacific Green. Fine and dandy. I wonder how the neighbors will take to my raising chickens in the back yard? I already know the answer but you can dream, can't you?

After that I worked until I remembered I needed to eat. Finally opened the can of little baby eels in garlic and chile peppers that I bought last year at Despaña. Dipped some Wasa whole-grain crackers in the oil. Next time I won’t wait a year. Really great.

Bought the first strawberries of the year at the Greenmarket. They tasted recent. I’m excited. Not full blown, deep-dark-red-all-the-way-through yet, but my hope is it’s just the beginning.

For dinner, we grilled up on the roof with our neighbor Patsy Taylor, her son Spencer, and some twentysomething friends. Way hipper than moi. Grilled asparagus in olive oil and then seasoned with flaky salt. Spencer brought some grass-fed lamb chops from Duclos and Thompson, a Vermont farm. His buddy Mark brought some McClure's pickle brine from Williamsburg. This worked well instead of the chimichurri that Patsy had intended to make earlier in the day, but Saturday being Saturday, somehow it never happened.

Also a few hanger steaks. Melinda made a salad of lettuce and arugula flowers. Didn’t know that arugula had flowers. Glad they do: delicious. Patsy brought a chocolate cake from Marquet on Court Street. Had a wee piece with the strawberries. It was rich and dark and a little went a long way in the flavor-per-calorie department.

Sunday, May 13
Standard breakfast. Whole-grain cereal, granola for crunch, almonds, dried cranberries, and the strawberries leftover from the night before.

Some figs and one slice of toasted whole-wheat rye from Bien Cuit (their miche is insanely great and crunchy-crusted beyond belief). On it, a shmear of Across the Pond cheese from Stinky: ripe and funky. “Across the Pond, “ I said to the counterperson as I bought it. “From England?” I asked, wanting to show I got the reference. “Nope, they are near a pond in Vermont.”

With that, a couple of pickled okras that I bought from the farm stand outside Roberta’s. The acid cuts the ripeness of the cheese. I almost wrote “cuts the cheese” as food shorthand, but realized that would be indelicate.

Back on the roof for dinner. Super-big treat, my daughter Lucy and her boyfriend Max. Bought last of the local fiddleheads at Jim and Andy’s and had them sautéed in beurre blanc. From the Carroll Street Greenmarket (my favorite), the supernal Lani’s had baby arugula flowers, baby mache, even redder strawberries. The fishmonger had fresh flounder, with that telltale grey tinge of super-fresh. Dredged the fillets in cornmeal, greased a plancha on the gas grill, and cooked 'em quickly. We ate on the roof at sunset.

Monday, May 14
Cereal again. More of the same. It's fine.

Lucy on a break from a jury duty assignment, so lunch was at Yemen Café on Atlantic Avenue. Lots of families and ladies in leopard-print headscarves. Cute kids. Had the salad with their amazing dressing of green pepper, herbs, garlic, and vinegar; homemade flat bread, fresh from the oven; and salta, a vegetable-and-fenugreek stew. Laced it with a couple teaspoons of their freshly made green hot sauce. It’s my favorite place in the neighborhood. Whenever a famous chef is in town, I take them there and they are tickled. Sheila Lukins loved this place. Michel Richard, too. Sifton. Cathy Erway. Okay, enough with the names.

Showed up at a reception for Theater For A New Audience in my standard Neil Young wear: flannel shirt untucked, jeans, tee, sneakers. Guess I got a “writers pass” for underdressing. Please patronize this new theater. It will be a great addition to Brooklyn. We ran into Danny and Audrey Meyer there, so we ambled two blocks to Colonie on Atlantic. I ordered a few apps: fried artichokes, one big soft-shell crab, clam crostini, and calcotada, grilled leeks with romesco. Danny ordered a bottle of Frappato, which my daughter first turned me on to at Frankies. Alas, no Band on the soundtrack.

Tuesday, May 15
Had my "gone fishin'" sandwich: A BLT on whole wheat with a scrambled egg. But no fishing, even though the stripers are in season. Drove up the FDR and peeked to see what was happening at U Thant Island, that little speck beneath Roosevelt Island off the U.N. Usually it's the one infallible fish-catching spot in the harbor, but oh my sweet lord ... a police boat sitting right in the rip current where the fish hang. I was bummed, until I realized Obama was in town. Sending memo to bluefish at U Thant Island: POTUS leaving, please stay put.

Lunch was Wasa crackers, Cabot cloth-bound cheddar, and some cornichons.

Later, a cocktail party for my book at the International Culinary Center, thrown by my sister-in-arms, Dorothy Hamilton. Great charcuterie, and damn fine Champagne from ... New Mexico?!

Afterwards, dinner with Dorothy, Andre Soltner, Jacques and Hasty Torres, daughter Lucy and Melinda. I’m in heaven. Andre is the man and Jacques is bonhomie personified. I had roast chicken because … well, why wouldn’t you? There was a lovely side dish of borolotti beans and greens, and Dorothy ordered up some Burgundies. I am a committed Burgundy slut. For dessert, I had half of a crème brûlée. It can be blah and average too often, but mine was great.

Wednesday, May 16
The morning was cereal and coffee.

I was flying, and lunch was a challenge. JetBlue says you can have your pick of all the wonderful restaurants in their terminal, but it's all doughnuts and pizza and cheeseburgers. The healthiest thing I could find was two Kind bars, so I bought them and ate them, and then I got the fabulously inauthentic, but not carcinogenic, hummus and whole-grain crackers from JetBlue.

I landed in Seattle and went to Pike Place Market and had a half sandwich. I wanted spring salmon really bad, but someone told me to have the halibut, so I did. Grilled onions, lettuce, and tomato, hold the bun. The fish had lots of spice rub but no salt. Got the shaker and I was happy.

Dinner was at Etta's. Many oysters, mussels and romesco, and some fresh King salmon. I was with Maxime Bilet, the co-author of Modernist Cuisine, his good friend Katie, and Warren Etheredge. Seriously great food talk. Had a nice Washington State Sauvignon blanc. They tried to talk us into dessert but virtue prevailed. Jet lag helped.

Read more posts by Alan Sytsma

Filed Under: the grub street diet, bien cuit, colonie, parish hall, peter kaminsky, roberta's, stinky bklyn, the new york diet, yemen cafe

• New lunch spot French Cafe Gourmand is (1) in FiDi, (2) not a chain or a branch of a chain, (3) run by real French people. Specials are chalked on a board outside, and sandwiches, pastries, soup, salads, and coffee drinks are among the offerings. [Midtown Lunch]

• A specialty foods company in California actually constructed a six-foot tower out of chocolate. [Curbed]

•Foodie pairings aren't all about food — on June 2, attend a pairing of the film Strange Brew with Josh Bernstein's Brewed Awakening as part of BBQ Films' series of underground food-and-film nights. Tickets are $25, and gourmet doughnuts and small-batch Sam Adams will be on hand at ACME Studio in Williamsburg. [Grub Street]

•The 2nd Annual Cookies for Kids Cancer Bake Sale will set up outside the Flatiron Building between Broadway and Fifth Avenue from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. ABC Kitchen and Maialino are among the New York establishments providing the eats. [Grub Street]

•Sit down to nine wines and four courses May 21 at 7 for L'Artusi's Sparkling Dinner. Beverage Director Joe Campanale will lead the tasting paired with food from Chef Gabe Thompson. All-inclusive tickets are $125. [Grub Street]

•Orchard Street will become an urban backyard between Houston and Delancey on June 3 from noon to 5 p.m. for the Lower East Side BID's DayLife Event. Bistro tables and astro turf will be the backdrop for the offerings of Lower East Side food vendors; plus, retailers, D.J.s, skateboarding, and ping pong round out the day. [Grub Street]

•Maslow 6 Wine Bar opens tomorrow in Tribeca (next door to Maslow 6 Wine Store), rolling out a small plates menu and 20 to 30 by-the-glass selections daily. Plus, try rare wines at the Freaky Fridays events and bring over any bottle from the shop next door for a $25 corkage fee. [Grub Street]

•NOIR, the new restaurant and lounge coming to Midtown, is set to open in two weeks and features a 10,000-square-foot bi-level space designed by Andres Escobar and a menu by Michelin-starred Jean-Yves Schillinger. [Grub Street]

Filed Under: leftovers, foodievents, openings

Forgive us for just now noticing, but today Cobble Hill Blog points our attention to the exciting-sounding shuffleboard bar opening soon in Gowanus. The 17,000-square-foot drinkery and sports center of sorts, dubbed the Royal Palms, is themed after Florida's senior scene — and while that sounds hipster-y, it also sounds awesome. One word, people: Yahtzee. More as we hear it. [Cobble Hill Blog via Gothamist]

Read more posts by Jenny Miler

Filed Under: nightlife, bars, gowanus, old people, openings, shuffleboard

Ben Benson teared up yesterday as he told the staff that the 30-year-old restaurant Ben Benson's would be closing on June 17, Father's Day. Benson, who is blind, and who also opened Grand Café and Smith & Wollensky, said that the Paramount Group, which owns the building, would not renew his lease. This is especially sad for one regular who got engaged there and has plaques with his children's names along the bar. [WSJ]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: closings, ben benson's, steakhouses

Of the Frenchies: "I frequently get asked about how they miraculously manage to keep the weight off while seemingly enjoying all the rich food in France," says food writer David Lebovitz in his introduction to staying slim while living a life of petit fours and Peppermint Patties. Thus, Lebovitz illustrates his French–influenced eating habits, flavor-to-calorie counts, and sneaking ice cubes into expensive wine à la Jacques Pépin. [David Lebovitz]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: fit foodies, david lebowitz, french

"Sushi is the gay marriage of food." —psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt on flavors and taste buds. [Awl]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: quote of the day, gay marriage, sushi

I watched this week’s episode of Around the World in 80 Plates with some friends who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America. They run a wine shop in my town (I used to volunteer there) and they know everything about flavors and haute cuisine — but I wasn’t exploiting them for their culinary knowledge; I was exploiting them because they own a television, which I do not.

On to the show:

France is the best country for food and everybody knows it. The most sophisticated entree of all time comes from France: duck l’orange. The healthiest breakfast snack was invented in France: foie gras. And Champagne (a.k.a. “Monsieur Fizzly”) grows only in France — and if it doesn’t, it can’t be called Champagne, because France will sue your ass for false advertising, so get out of my basement with your fake-ass Champagne, are you trying to get us all killed?!

(Also: Julia Child may have been American, but it wasn’t until she moved to France that she grew into a she-giant and captured our hearts, with toes as big as baguettes.)

Given that France is the center of the culinary world, is it any wonder that our crew of half-drunk vagabond chefs finds itself in France this week? Au contraire, it is c’est non small wonder.

Curtis Stone and Cat Cora (a person, not a paint color) lay down the rules for this week’s challenge via envelopes: Our teams will run around learning about traditional Lyonnaise food before taking over local Lyonnaise restaurants. Has anyone warned the Lyonnaise people?

THIS WEEK’S TEAMS:

1. Black Team (assembled by Chaz, last week’s overlord): Gary (who “knows how to French kiss”), Cheven (who wears his hat at a rakish angle), Nookie, and Avery.

2. Red Team: Nick, Sai (who chafes against the show’s Eurocentric claim that France represents the origin of all food), John, Jenna, and Nicole.

The gangs drive around in their rental cars and experience fresh air and roundabouts and weird French license plates and all the other things that make driving in France different from driving in America. (I was hoping the cars would be crusty old Citroëns, but they’re Infinitis because Infiniti is a sponsor of the show.)

Red Team is first to arrive at a country idyll bursting with sheep and flowers and trees and all that rural French bullshit. Turns out it’s the farm of a man who wears a little red kerchief around his neck! He’s French!

The teams have to identify which of 30 cheeses are made from sheep as opposed to cows. This is the kind of thing foodies do for fun. I know this because my C.I.A wine-friends start playing along from home EVEN THOUGH THEY CAN’T TASTE THE CHEESES.

Jenna starts misidentifying cheese like a racist at a rap concert, which annoys her teammates to no end. Finally she gets them all right, which means Red Team can move on to the next challenge, which is herding sheep without touching them, because they’re in France I guess? And France is home to psychic shepherds? Who knows. I still can’t believe people eat cheese that comes out of a sheep’s butthole or wherever it comes from.

Black Team’s cheese-identification process is also labored, but draws to a close, and soon enough both teams are acting goofy with sheep in a field without touching them.

Black Team wins the sheepherding contest, much to the joy of the sheep, who cry out: “Baah baah, we love you Black Team, take us to America where we can be free!” (JOKE.)

The next challenge makes my wine-store friends sit up and take notice: The teams must pair eight wines with the ingredients that make up their flavors. My friends go crazy watching the chefs screw everything up.

By that time Red Team shows up, but it’s too late: Black Team has paired the wines thanks to Nookie’s relentlessly logical process of elimination, and has thereby won the Exceptional Ingredient, which is ... dinner with chef Joseph of the famous restaurant Daniel et Denise, who feeds them a bunch of weird food like green-bean salad and rabbit sauce and something that looks like pork cracklins but probably can’t be purchased at American gas stations. Chef Joseph flirts with Avery, who finds him “very charming and very friendly.”

All this facetime with the chef is useful for Black Team, because they must produce four Lyonnaise dishes — including what I keep mishearing as “canal,” but is actually (per my chef friends) called “quenelle,” and which appears to be fish, eggs, and butter plopped in a bowl.

Red Team is reduced to doing field research from local menus. But these dudes don’t speak French very well! Jenna speaks the most French — she speaks the most, period — so she starts bossing everyone around and they can’t stand it, but what can they do? The lady speaks French.

Red Team takes over le Bistro Palais. Jenna works the front of the house because she speaks French. Sai has to poach eggs which freaks her out because Thai food doesn’t involve poached eggs. John’s poached-egg technique enrages Tim. (Remember: These people are chefs, and so they get emotionally invested in activities like poaching eggs.)

At Daniel et Denise, Gary’s knowledge of French and love of meeting people recommends him for the front of the room. Cheven continues to ramble about his strategy, displaying his knowledge of reality show cutaway-interview protocol.

Red Team’s quenelle is basically a dumpling. One French guy calls it “swollen pasta,” which qualifies as a vicious burn. My friend from the Culinary Institute of America agrees. “If you don’t know how to make quenelle, you don’t deserve to cook,” he says as I reach for more corn chips. Nicole makes haddock with special sauce. Sai is taking too long with her Lyonnaise salad, but it goes over well.

Over at Daniel et Denise, Gary nails the French small talk. He’s a good host! The pink quenelle by Avery impresses the locals — per Gary, “people are FLIP-ping!” Nookie’s foie gras is a little cold, but one French guy thinks it’s the best he’s ever tasted. Chaz is berserk because Gary wants everything served at the same time, which seems like the opposite of European. (Once I ate dinner in Belgium and it literally took three hours.) But Gary continues to demand all the food at once, as if he wants to suffocate his diners with calories and make foie gras from humans.

JUDGING:

Red Team’s quenelle stunk, but its sauce was good. Here’s the real question: Why didn’t every diner get a haddock? Somebody miscounted how many fish were in the oven, or mis-timed how long it takes to cook the fish, or something — this didn’t make sense to me, but everyone is apoplectic.

The judges ask Black Team why they served the chicken and salad simultaneously. Gary admits to his dumb decision. Meanwhile Chaz is called out for inconsistency in his chicken portions. But the good news is Avery’s quenelle was a hit!

The winning team is ... please hold for 90 seconds of dramatic music ... the Black Team! (My friend called it, because he’s a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, which really should start offering a major in “Reality-Cooking-Show Analysis,” if it wants to stay relevant.) Meanwhile Avery is the most valuable chef and is immune from next week’s foofaraw.

On the other side of the hand, Red Team has to send someone home. They return to their kitchen and process their emotions. John calls out Sai for taking two hours to make a salad with four ingredients. The conversation gets into interesting kitchen lingo about “counting proteins” and “firing fish” and other stuff that makes these yahoos sound like actual chefs for once. I wish the show had more of this, and less of people herding sheep.

Red Team votes to evict Sai, the self-identified sexy chef. She feels burned by her teammates. They’ll never know what magical dishes she could have conjured in Asia. And we’ll never get to see more of her erotic kitchen photos.

Next stop: Barcelona, Spain. Reader, I will meet you there next week!

David Rees is an artisanal pencil sharpener.

Read more posts by David Rees

Filed Under: overnights, around the world in 80 plates, david rees, recaps

Justin Ross Lee is the latest nightlife dilettante to wreak some hella-havoc on the meatpacking district and other glossy clubs and restaurants of the like. From STK Midtown to the Soho House, to even Pastis, where Lee's been banned, the young, debatably industrious schmuck has become infamous for "harassing doormen, teasing guests and acting out." And don't forget ... cashing in. [NYT]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: non gratis, dream hotel, justin ross lee, pastis, soho house

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?

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: closings, chinese, hot pot

Last night, Alan Richman was the center of attention at a GQ roast held in his honor at Le Bernardin. Of course the criticisms lobbed his way during the event were of the "all-in-good-fun" nature, but when we caught up with him, we wondered what he thought of one decidedly less-friendly attack. Specifically, we wanted his take on the knock Bloomberg critic Ryan Sutton directed at Richman after the GQ critic took home this year's Distinguished Restaurant Review Award from the James Beard Foundation. Richman didn't hold back.

First, the quick recap: One of the stories for which Richman won this year's award was "Diner for Schmucks," his complete evisceration of M. Wells. The piece itself drew a slew of reactions when it was released last fall, much of it negative. And last week, Sutton called it, on Facebook, "arguably the most irresponsible piece of restaurant criticism I've read in a long time." The day Richman won a Beard award for that story, Sutton wrote, was "a dark day for food writing." The comments were later picked up by Eater. So what did Richman think of Sutton's comments?

"To me, he’s a second-rate writer and a third-rate critic," Richman responded. "Not only was he inappropriate in doing it but he didn’t back up anything he said. I mean, why doesn’t he get off his Bloomberg butt, do some reporting and find out if I was right or not. It was just a cheap shot, beginning to end, a cheap shot. But, did anyone else complain? Who else?"

We pointed out that the Eater post hadn't exactly disagreed with Sutton's comments. (The post called the Beard choice "bizarre" and said the piece was "basically a rant.") "Eater is insane," Richman shot back. "I mean, if I'm running Eater, and I should be, I would just tell whoever did that blog post — that idiot who did that blog post — just present what the other guy said, but why did he agree with [Sutton]? It was so stupid."

As for the story itself, Richman told us that it's "probably the most carefully written, edited and fact-checked story I have ever done. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that story, and his complaint was that he found something wrong with that story." He added, "I’m not saying it was great or anything, but I just thought it was important and a very well done story."

Earlier: Sacre Bleu! Alan Richman Tears M. Wells Apart in GQ

Read more posts by Angelina Fanous

Filed Under: beef, alan richman, eater, gq, ryan sutton, the other critics

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

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

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

Last night at GQ's Alan Richman roast at Le Bernardin, Grub Street sat down with master-roaster Anthony Bourdain who, like many of us, feels that imaginary "RuthBourdain" and her five minutes on Twitter may be over, especially with parody "AngryBFlay" (Angry Bobby Flay) on her tail. "I gotta say, AngryBFlay has really come on strong. I put my money on AngryBFlay lately. I hate to say it but RuthBourdain has lost gas ... " His favorite AngryBFlay moment? "Complaining about the holes in cheese as wasted real estate." But to Bourdain, the best part about the existence of a fake Flay is "the anger and the bitterness and the fact that a lot of people believed it was actually Bobby."

Read more posts by Angelina Fanous

Filed Under: angry bobby flay, anthony bourdain, ruth bourdain

Food being the new rock — and chefs the new rock stars — this weekend's ExtraMooga (the food-focused portion of the Great GoogaMooga, of which New York is a sponsor) promises to be extra epic. If you don't have $250, fear not, we're giving away a pair of passes for Saturday or Sunday to one lucky reader. Simply comment below by 6 p.m. tonight and tell us your most epic, debaucherous, unforgettable concertgoing experience. The worst, er, best, story wins. We'll announce the winner tomorrow — now, onto the mud-wrestling tales.

Click here for complete contest rules.

Read more posts by Grub Street

Filed Under: giveaways, contests, extramooga

In Sin City for Vegas Uncork’d with husband Jean-Georges, author and TV host Marja Vongerichten recently told Robin "Champagne Wishes" Leach about the ongoing search to find her biological father. As Kimchi Chronicles fans no doubt already know, Vongerichten was born in 1976 in Uijeongbu to a Korean mother and an American father who had been stationed in the region with the Marines. Her father, whose name is William H. Brown, was relocated before she was born; and when she was 3 years old, Vongerichten was put into an orphanage and later adopted by a Washington, D.C., family.

She tells Leach that when she was young, her biological father even returned to Korea to search for her mother, and when reunited they recorded a message for her relating the story of her adoption. She has since met her mother, but her father remains a mystery.

She's hoping someone will recognize the man in this photo. "It would complete my journey and the experience," she says.

‘Kimchi Chronicles’ chef Marja Vongerichten is still searching for her father [Las Vegas Sun]
Earlier: Marja Vongerichten Snacks on String Cheese, Gives In to Her Soda Weakness

Read more posts by Hugh Merwin

Filed Under: searches, kimchi chronicles, marja vongerichten

• Astor Center will host a “sixties happy hour at sixties prices” on Tuesday, May 29. Taste eight classic Soave wines and groovy snacks and listen to sixties tunes for $10! Tickets must be purchased in advance. [Grub Street]

• This Saturday, Ed’s Lobster Bar Annex kicks off their Summer Seafood Weekends, hosted by executive chef and owner Ed McFarland. The back patio will host a seafood grill Saturdays and lobster boil clambakes on Sundays, all summer. For $25 a person, shellfish lovers can enjoy fresh seafood hot off the grill every Saturday from 3 to 9 p.m., and at $34 a person, guests may indulge in baskets of fresh steamers, mussels, and even a whole lobster, served with a complimentary glass of sauvignon blanc. [Grub Street]

• The Wayland is now featuring new seasonal cocktails on their spring menu, including a wild watermelon, fennel, and vodka ‘Bedford Cruise’ and an elegant ‘Bermuda Black’ balanced with dark and light rums and fresh ginger juice. Their ‘Mendoza Checkpoint’ is spiced with fresh jalapeño juice and anchor chile salt. [Grub Street]

• As Momofuku Noodle Bar turns eight this summer, Justin Warner of Do or Dine will celebrate his own bistro’s first birthday on June 3. Although not endorsed by David Chang, Warner’s team will be serving up their own versions of Chang’s primitive menu items, priced at the Noodle Bar’s original numbers. [Eater NY]

• LES favorite Fatta Cuckoo is serving a fresh, new spring-summer menu. Along with jumbo shrimp ceviche and seared Arctic char fish tacos, Chef Chris Mitchell has combined two of his favorites for a new spring-summer creation: crab cakes and fresh corn hush puppies. [Grub Street]

• Alphabet City Beer Co. or, ACBC, opens tomorrow, offering twelve tap lines and over 300 different craft beers. Hurry in and cozy up with a pint of Narragansett at one of their Game of Thrones–inspired communal tables. [Thrillist]

• Pip’s Place the Gluten Free Cakery opens tomorrow on the Upper East Side. Inspired by her own daughter’s Celiac Disease, Denise Cumming has created a menu of fresh, homemade gluten-free sweets — over 40 gluten-free cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and muffins, all made fresh daily from locally sourced ingredients. Customers can stop by opening morning for a bowl of gluten-free oatmeal or porridge. [Grub Street]

• Friday, Jeremiah Langhorne, of McCrady’s in South Carolina, will join chef Scott Anderson at Elements in Princeton, New Jersey, to kick off a guest chefs series. The two will pair up to create a seven-course tasting menu focusing on locally grown, seasonal ingredients that best complement each chef’s signature style. [Grub Street]

Filed Under: leftovers, bars, beer, farm-to-table, lobster, openings

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

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

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

John McDonald and Josh Pickard are about to sign a lease on the space at 257 Sixth Avenue. You'll recall the space formerly housed Scuderia, the Italian restaurant owned by Silvano Marchetto and his daughter Leyla. The new, as-yet-unnamed spot from McDonald and Pickard will be a 90-seat Mexican place with a guacamole bar and 40 outdoor café seats. Like their restaurant B&B on Houston Street (and the Dutch Miami, in which Pickard is a partner) the new spot will be designed by Meyer Davis, and McDonald says the space will be "heavy wood, brick and tile, mostly vintage fixtures." The team says they're aiming for a late-August opening, but how does McDonald, owner of Lure, B&B, and MercBar, feel about opening a spot outside of Soho? "While it's not immediately on Mercer Street, it's close enough,'' he says.

Read more posts by Beth Landman

Filed Under: coming soon, john mcdonald, josh pickard, scuderia, west village

"If we play chicken or the egg, I'd blame the yelpers and customers who put pressure on chefs to deliver things at the prices they do. There is little to no money in this industry and when money dries up people put their hooker heels on." —Eddie Huang takes issue with Gawker's proclamation that the Great GoogaMooga signals food culture has gone "too far." [Fresh Off the Boat]

Read more posts by Hugh Merwin

Filed Under: beef, eddie huang, gawker, the great googamooga

With almost no fanfare and little advance warning, it sounds as if a new 75,000-square-foot event space called the Brooklyn Terminal Project is set to open along the Red Hook waterfront on June 3. That's very soon! Amenities include a "killer sound system to experience your favorite DJs as intended," free parking, and best of all, a "food and vendor village."

Live music and food: Yay! But what is food and vendor village, exactly? That description makes it sound downright medieval, Deadhead–ish, or maybe even Smurf–esque. Ideally Brooklyn Terminal Project's F&B program will be a mix of all three; we've got a call into the new venue's hotline for some answers.

Here's what we know: Brooklyn Terminal Project is located at Pier 12, or 72 Bowne Street, which is also the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal's address. The summer season festivities commence with a show from Knife Party, an electro-house outfit from Australia who sounds like this.

So, full-on glow-stick territory; also, watch out, strobe-sensitive epileptics! It's sort of like if the Great GoogaMooga in Prospect Park were the Glastonbury Music Festival, this would be Ibiza. Dubstep fans know what we're talking about.

Brooklyn Terminal Project [Official Site]

Read more posts by Hugh Merwin

Filed Under: eating and dancing, brooklyn terminal project, red hook

Okay, real quick: Bill Wisth, a 6-foot, 6-inch man who weighs 350 pounds, went to an all-you-can-eat fish joint in Wisconsin, ate a dozen servings of fried fish, then got very, very upset when the restaurant claimed they were about to run out of fish for the night, so they gave him eight more pieces to go and sent him on his way. But it wasn't enough for this greedy glutton. He called the police on the restaurant and, according to CNN, "plans to picket the restaurant every Sunday until something changes." Yes, as others point out, it's like that Simpsons episode where Homer does pretty much the same thing. So congratulations, Bill Wisth, you've made your point while at the same time becoming a cartoonish symbol of America's ever-growing obesity epidemic. We just hope for his sake he doesn't plan on driving to the picket line each week! [CNN via KLTV]

Read more posts by Alan Sytsma

Filed Under: publicity stunts, obesity

What's GQ critic, Husk-hater, and recent James Beard award winner Alan Richman up to tonight? A rep from the men's mag writes in to let us know that they're celebrating Richman's 25 years of GQ service with a roast at Le Bernardin. As in, comedy roast. It isn't open to the public, just press, but as you've no doubt gleaned from the headline, the roasters will include Eric Ripert, Anthony Bourdain, and Dave Chang, who has probably picked up at least some comedy tips from his buddy Aziz Ansari.

Read more posts by Alan Sytsma

Filed Under: the other critics, alan richman, anthony bourdain, david chang, eric ripert, other magazines

Eating alone in a restaurant is a funny thing: Some people shudder at the thought, others swear by it. The recent announcement of a new diner-pairing site brought the practice to light, and the many, many jokes made at the service's expense indicate that dining alone, especially as a woman, hasn't lost its stigma. (Gakwer's take: "If Women Stop Eating Alone, Whom Will We Pity in Restaurants?") But lots of people — especially industry folks — happily eat alone all the time. Business travelers, too, are often forced to hit the town solo. Everyone has dined alone at some point, either by choice or circumstance, and there are considerable benefits to be had when doing so, provided you take advantage in the right way.

"You don't have to be on anybody's agenda but your own," says Joe Yonan, food editor at the Washington Post and author of Serve Yourself: Nightly Adventures in Cooking for One. From a food fan's point of view, eating alone could be the ideal.

One hidden advantage: It frees eaters up to forge relationships with the staff, and observe which dishes the rest of the dining room is ordering. That's why so many food writers and chefs go alone when they're eating for professional reasons. It's also when the culinary kismet happens: a chance meeting with a future source or business partner, chatting up the waiter who might take you back to meet the chef, or waxing on with the bartender about their amaro selection — and getting to taste all of it.

See, for restaurants, solo diners aren't sad, lonely people with no friends. Quite the opposite: Customers who dine alone signify that they're there for the right reasons. “I don't think there's anything more flattering than someone sitting and having dinner in the dining room alone," says Will Guidara, general manager and co-owner of Eleven Madison Park and NoMad in New York City.

By Guidara's count, Eleven Madison Park sometimes gets up to six solo tables per service. “People often feel like if they're taking up a two top with just one spot that the staff would be upset. That's not true at all,” Guidara says. "With a single diner, we really get the opportunity to interact with curious eaters. You know they're really there for the food.” He feels that the staff can engage in conversation more easily, simply because they're not interrupting a serious date or business meeting. So as tempting as it might be to distract yourself with an iPad or text frenetically to your buddies, it's best to engage with the front of the house instead. After all, that conversation can quickly lead to VIP-style service.

For the sake of method, this food writer went solo to her neighborhood Mexican joint to watch the NBA playoffs at an establishment nearly always frequented with friends. After making conversation with the barman about the importance (nay, necessity!) of switching channels to the Clippers game instead of the Dodgers, I discovered that said barman was the owner who'd run the establishment since 1975. We bonded over basketball and the importance of solid salsa. From there on, the margaritas were flowing — on the house, of course.

Sure, the allure of a few free tequilas or an extra amuse course probably won't be enough to tempt most people to plop down at a restaurant table in solitudo, which is why so many people turn to bar and counter seating. The advantages are clear: At a bar, you don't stick out as a solo diner; and you're more likely to encounter someone else eating alone. As Bon Appétit editor in chief Adam Rapoport once told Grub Street, "If you're eating at the bar and reading a magazine, it's great. Or if you want to strike up conversations with people at the bar, or the bartender, you can sort of manufacture company as necessary."

Following that same logic, sushi bars are great spots for people who are self-conscious about having all eyes on them as they eat alone. There are usually other businesspeople dining alone, and everyone is focused on the itamae, or cooks, not the other customers. “I think that a sushi bar is definitely set up for singles,” says Terrance Burton, director of operations for SBE and former G.M. of several Katsuya locations. “I would say that we would do ten to fifteen singles per night, sometimes even more.”

If all else fails, and you are forced to eat alone even if you don't want to, there is one more strategy: Just bring a notebook along with you and jot things down every once in a while. Michelin inspectors famously dine alone when they're on official business — who's to say you won't be mistaken for one?

Read more posts by Krista Simmons

Filed Under: department of deportment, eating alone, solo dining

Chef and restaurant gossip tends to hit a flash point during the week of the James Beard Foundation Awards, and one recurring leftover from last week's festivities is the rumor that the New York L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon may soon close to make room for another super-deluxe restaurant. And now Grub Street gets word from a few people close to the situation who say The Four Seasons is shopping the space around.

According to our sources, the hotel's management has already approached a few local, high-powered chefs to gauge interest in the space; another source says the restaurant could close as early as next month. You may recall that the restaurant hired a new executive chef, Christophe Bellanca, in January, and one recently departed cook tells us that the mood in the kitchen these days is decidedly mauvaise.

We reached out to The Four Seasons to see what's up, but a rep would only say that L'Atelier "is open for business" and that its potential closing is "only a rumor." Fair enough, but if we hear anything different, we'll let you know. In the meantime, ne nous quittez pas, Joël!

Read more posts by Hugh Merwin

Filed Under: rumors, joel robuchon, l'atelier de joël robuchon, the four seasons

Let's put our hands together and offer a round of welcoming applause to the Vegas Strip steak, a "new" cut of beef which today joins the hallowed ranks of other such butchery innovations as the Delmonico, the Tomahawk, cube steak, minute steak, the Newport, the flat iron, and the Denver steak.

The 14-oz Vegas Strip, which evidently comes from a cow part that nobody will identify in a forthcoming way, is the grill-bound love child of a chef at David Burke's Primehouse (of course) in Sin City and a "value-added meat processing specialist." Right now you'll have to go to Vegas to get in on this meat happening, which is intellectual property and patent pending, unless of course someone else figures out how to carve up a cow in a similar fashion.

<a href="">Steak Specialists Discover a New Cut of Beef [Gizmodo]

Read more posts by Hugh Merwin

Filed Under: steak yums, steak, vegas strip steak

During a special Scotland segment on Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show, things turned sort of sour between the host and Rashida Jones at the mere mention of haggis. "Oof, ugh," Jones utters. "It's actually delicious," Ferguson replies. "It's just like sausage." Jones, though, would beg to differ: "It's not just like sausage. I don't agree with that." Check out the clip, straight ahead.

Read more posts by Caroline Shin

Filed Under: video feed, craig ferguson, haggis, rashida jones

It was only a matter of time: Guy Fieri will open a restaurant in Times Square later this year. A tiny write-up in the Times this morning didn't offer much in the way of details, aside from dropping the name: Guy's American Kitchen & Bar. (Was "Big Bite Buffet" taken?) But Team Fieri writes in to Grub to drop some more, crucial intel: The place will be in the Times building, it will be fucking enormous, and it will be as full of booze as it will be of tourists.

What to expect: three floors, 500+ seats, three full bars, and "a variety of private dining options." Heartland Brewery CEO Jon Bloostein is a partner in the project, and, as such, there will be "an extensive draft beer program featuring signature beers craft brewed for Fieri right in New York City," all of which will no doubt pair well with the "wide-ranging menu full of the big, bold flavors Fieri is known for." That had better mean the barbecue-stuffed sushi rolls Fieri serves at his California joints. Without those, this place runs the risk of just becoming some kind of farce.

Read more posts by Alan Sytsma

Filed Under: coming soon, guy fieri, guy's american kitchen and bar, times square

This week, New York's Adam Platt gave two stars to NoMad (which he dubs 'Eleven Madison Light'). What did New York's crop of professional eaters think about the city's restaurants this week? Let's take a look.

A week after Village Voice's Tejal Rao, Pete Wells weighs in on Perla. The duck ragu (which he says can stop conversation) and the vitello tonnato (which he admits brings out the lion in him) earn the spot two Times stars. And while Wells laments the lack of reservable tables, he no doubt gives extra points to the hanging portrait of Mos Def. Ryan Sutton also hits Perla, where he enjoys the Jay-Z and foie gras PB&J. The gnocchi is deemed "fantastic." The place is "no Babbo-killer," but Sutton does call it "the city’s best new Italian restaurant in over a year."

Meanwhile, Oliver Strand pops over to Melvin's Juice Box for the Times, noting that while "Juices and smoothies have gone mainstream," cheerful juice guru Melvin Major "makes serious juice fun." And the solid food here is "satisfying without being particularly noteworthy."

Robert Sietsema seems to like breakfast food. He deals a passing assessment to Parish Hall in Williamsburg (sister restaurant to
Egg), noting some wholesome breakfast offerings, and the "red flannel hash" of baby fingerlings, beets, and corned lamb for dinner. Jay Cheshes is also in Brooklyn this week, checking out Gwynnett St. The restaurant earns three stars by "borrowing from here and there to create something altogether original." That includes "caramelized" lamb meat with caraway streusel, and "humble" hen-of-the-woods mushroom, "intensified" with onion purée and a lardo topping.

Two weeks after Adam Platt gave Atera four stars, The New Yorker touts the locavore fare at the new restaurant. Notables include "pickled quail eggs" shaped from aioli bound in milk skin and a "rock" dessert compared to a slightly melting Cadbury Creme Egg. Speaking of sweets, Tejal Rao dives into Per Se's new dessert tasting menu, a study in "harmony, beauty, and precision." Some dishes even include "savory ingredients like salty olives and fennel," and there's a side benefit: "the dessert tasting doubles as an affordable ticket into the city's science-fictional theater of money."

Read more posts by Sarah Lawson

Filed Under: the other critics, atera, gwynnett st., melvin's juice box, parish hall, per se, perla

The "mellifluously named" bistro is the latest restaurant to pull the historical-pricing publicity move, but it's tough to argue with an unoriginal idea when the deal sounds this good. On Thursday, diners can get an oyster (Rockefeller-style), chicken Marengo or lamb stew, and an ice cream sundae, all for $1.25, the price it would have cost in 1904, the year the building housing the restaurant first opened. The deal's good during lunch or dinner, but there shall be no reservations, so expect long lines, obv. [NYT]

Read more posts by Alan Sytsma

Filed Under: deals, millesime

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]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

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

Next Tuesday, Jamie Oliver will head to Boston to pick up an award from the Harvard School of Public Health "for his substantial achievements in working to end the childhood obesity epidemic," according to a press release. The school awards the so-called Healthy Cap Award "to an individual or group that has made significant contributions to public health and nutrition through acts of good will, charity, leadership, innovation, policy change, or the vigorous promotion of a healthy lifestyle." Among Oliver's contributions to that cause: his show Food Revolution. Taking advantage of this branding opportunity, Oliver's organization is also working to celebrate Food Revolution Day, urging people to "stand up for real food" on May 19. [Harvard, Boston Globe]

Read more posts by Alan Sytsma

Filed Under: honors, harvard, jamie oliver

• Kutsher's Tribeca is now delivering for lunch and dinner via SeamlessWeb or by calling the restaurant at 212-431-0606. Just in time for summer, Kutsher’s has also added some additional menu items, which include some traditional favorites like pan-roasted organic salmon, barbequed beef flanken, and Creekstone Farms dry-aged prime bone-in rib eye. L'chaim! [Grub Street]

• The Inaugural Preakness Party at Siro's will bring authentic horseracing culture to the Manhattan restaurant scene on this Saturday with a special $3.75 menu of bar bites including flatbread pizza, chicken tenders, jalapeño poppers, and handcut fries. Siro will also have a happy-hour special of half off all drinks from 3 to 7:30 p.m., and if Siro's winning pick, I'll Have Another, wins the race, everyone will receive another round of drinks on the house. [Grub Street]

• L'Asso EV will be opening for brunch and lunch everyday from 11:30 to 4:30 p.m. beginning tomorrow. Expect many of the Mott St. location’s regular menu items, as well as a few new ones. [Grub Street]

• In conjunction with American Craft Beer Week, 508 GastroBrewery and its brewmaster Anderson Sant'Anna De Lima, along with Brooklyn Brewery,
Kelso, and others who comprise NYC Brewer's Guild will be holding a special event to celebrate the group's formation, featuring some of the members' more obscure beers as well as food by 508 and Eataly. The event will take place next Tuesday from 7 to 10 p.m. at Brooklyn Brewery; tickets are $75 per person and can be purchased online. [Grub Street]

• Beginning Saturday, June 2, through October, Millbrook Winery will begin hosting its summer Vineyard Express tour on Saturdays and Sundays. For $85 per person, patrons will be shuttled by bus to the winery where they’ll enjoy lunch and a glass of wine at the Vineyard Grille, followed by a guided tour of the winery and grounds and a portfolio wine tasting (minimum of five wines). Tickets, directions, and information can be found on Millbrook’s website. [Grub Street]

Filed Under: leftovers, 508 gastrobrewery, american craft beer week, brooklyn brewery, kelso, kutshers tribeca, l'asso ev, littleneck, siro

Oops! Around 10:30 p.m. last night, a truck full of Chobani Greek yogurt overturned on a stretch of I-88 near Binghamton, spilling 36,000 pounds — that's eighteen tons, or 576,000 little cups — of the stuff all over the highway. [WBNG via NYDN]

Read more posts by Alan Sytsma

Filed Under: go-gurt, spills, yogurt

"There was very little time to spend with my wife, no chance to see my children and no second option. Strange how a lifetime is ultimately translated into only minutes — clarified, distilled, precise and yet unfair." —Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern on his sudden open-heart surgery. [CNN]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: quote of the day, gramercy tavern, michael anthony

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]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: for sale, asia de cuba, auctions

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]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: truckin', soho

Rumor has it that Tetsu, the latest restaurant from Masa's Masa Takayama could be teppanyaki style "à la Benihana" and like his latest in Vegas. Another rumor is that the restaurant could be in the World Financial Center. [Tribeca Citizen]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: tribeca, masa, teppenyaki

There's a million of these things out there, but this missed connection seemed extra, um, special: "Met outside Crif Dogs and walked from St Marks to 20th Street really late at night/early morning. Had a photo session w/ a homeless man. I bought cup noodles from him. I was wearing a black and yellow leopard print dress and ketchup on my face ... " [EV Grieve]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: oddballs, crif dogs, love connection

Ever wondered what a nun fart tastes like? Just ask Jesse Friedman and Laura Hadden, who made the pets de nonne for dessert at the Chadian edition of their supper club of sorts, United Noshes, on Sunday. Now ten months into their five-year mission to cook one meal from all 193 U.N. member countries — plus Palestine and Holy See (Vatican City) — the couple has raised more than $6,000 for the World Food Program USA from guest donations, helped by a dollar-for-dollar match from Google (Friedman's employer).

As documented through recipes and commentary on their blog, the project has helped turn Friedman into something of an amateur geographical culinary historian. He's also learned where in New York to find obscure ingredients, he says, such as fresh kajmak (a clotted cream typical to Bosnia) — a quest for yak butter (Bhutan) was less successful.

Friedman and Hadden scour the Internet and connect with natives when possible to keep meals culturally accurate; they say they usually end up serving the type of food you'd find at a big wedding. For Burundi, this meant eating by hand off of a large communal platter. And the Canadian meal ended with quaffs from a maple-syrup-vodka-filled "shotski."

The couple generally hosts about eight to ten guests per meal at their Carroll Gardens apartment, but they occasionally take United Noshes on the road. If you're interested in attending, contact United Noshes to receive their monthly e-mails. So far, Argentina holds the crown for best meal, they say (it's hard to beat ribs, blood sausage, and chorizo), but they have high hopes for this summer’s Cuban pig roast on a New Jersey beach.

Read more posts by Brad Cohen

Filed Under: foodievents, supper clubs, un, united noshes

In April, Cornelius Gallagher opened Dragonfly on the Upper East Side. The opening was a homecoming of sorts for the chef, who first garnered acclaim during his time at the original Oceana. But it's been six years since he left the restaurant. Roughly eighteen months ago, while traveling through Asia, Gallagher fell so in love with the food that he made it the focal point of Dragonfly's Asian–influenced menu. We caught up with the chef to see how his first month in business has been, and to get his take on the trip that changed his career.

How's the opening been?
It took a lot of work to actually get it open. [The space] had been a Mexican place for 28 years, and I did the new design and systems by myself for the most part. I even ran the cable. It was killing me and I broke down and got some help at the end, but I saved money and learned a lot along the way. We’ve been very busy so far, mostly with local people. We are aspiring to be a local place with tasty food.

Tell me how you first came up with the idea of an Asian restaurant.
I first fell in love with Asian flavors when I worked with Gray Kunz in ‘97; I learned to blend spices and contrast textures. Then, I went on a road trip to Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, and Thailand and I’ve never before been impacted so deeply. I got so immersed. It changed the way I look at Asian food.

What was the most impressive restaurant?
We started at Yan Toh Heen in Hong Kong, which is Michelin starred. I was eating a shaking beef — called that because it shakes when placed on a hot rock — served with golden coin turnips. The people at the next table were served a Peking Duck. The fat was completely rendered, and the skin was served as a separate course; it was stunning. I stared so hard that the table sent over a piece of skin to our table and then we ordered it ourselves. It was the best duck of my life.

We had shark fin soup in China, which was very gelatinous; more texture than taste. Flower crabs were delicious, in a sauce made with yellow wine and crab innards, but we paid about $200 for them. Things are so fresh. A truck rolls in with buckets of water — everything arrives live. You can choose your fish while it is still swimming.

Any surprises during the trip? Things you weren't expecting?
My friend Jason Casey, who I worked with at Daniel, had been the pastry chef at Jean Georges Shanghai. He brought me to a strip joint because he said they had the best pork knuckle. It was amazing. The skin was paper thin, blistered, and crispy, and we ate it with our hands.

The trip wasn't only about being a customer, right? I heard you worked in a few kitchens while you were there, too.
Yes, and I got to make rice paper in a hut on the side of the road in Vietnam. They had canvas drums that fit over boiling water, and there were two old ladies inside a hut with a bucket of rice milk. We spread it over the drums like sauce on a pizza, and after it cooked for a minute we would roll it off the drum onto wicker strips that look like room dividers, and let the rice paper dry in the sun. I also made thin rice-milk crepes at Banh Xeo in Ho Chi Minh City, and cooked lunch in a restaurant along the Mekong delta.

Gallagher, with an M60 in Vietnam.Courtesy of: Cornelius Gallagher

And you of course got to try all the street food, right?
Yes. There were outdoor woks filled with wood. They had holes in the bottom where hair dryers would blow air to stoke the flame. The heat that generates is unreal.

We went to Jay Fai, which is supposed to have the best street food in Bangkok, and the chef was cooking alone on two woks at once. She threw an egg on one and the wok was so hot that the egg souffléd up to the size of a softball. She also made millionaire’s crab, which is called that because they use so much crabmeat.

Any ideas you want to use at Dragonfly?
We had live mantas prawns. They were swimming around a tank, and each had about 50 legs; they looked like snakes. I’ve been speaking to purveyors, trying to get them here for satay, which would be cool because they are so long.

There was pork neck cooked over charcoal that had great flavor, and I sourced it for Dragonfly from Mo Se Fund farms. And I’m trying to get fresh durian.

How has the restaurant's menu changed since you opened?
I’ve been tweaking things. I’ve just added a whole branzino wrapped in baby bamboo, stuffed with lemongrass, Thai basil, and kaffir lime leaves, served with shredded vegetables in fish sauce, and garnished with mint and basil.

I’m also now doing head-on jumbo shrimp rolled in chopped phyllo with yuzu remoulade.

Any souvenirs in the restaurant from your travels?
Yes! There is a bottle of cobra-and-scorpion snake wine on the bar. The creatures are actually floating in the alcohol. Diners are always trying to grab the bottle.

Earlier: Cornelius Gallagher Returns to Manhattan With Dragonfly

Read more posts by Beth Landman

Filed Under: interviews, cornelius gallagher, dragonfly, upper east side

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.

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

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

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]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

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

Mickey Mantle's can strike out all it wants, because the restaurant's customers and investors just won't let it it close. What was meant to be a farewell party — which is usually what happens when restaurants get evicted for not paying rent and filing for bankruptcy — turned into a revival party Monday night as friends of the restaurant raised enough money to keep business in play. [NY1]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: nice save, mickey mantle's

• This Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wildwood Barbecue is helpfully offering a course on apartment barbecuing. Seventy-five bucks includes a demo, lunch, and beer tasting; call for reservations.

• Staten Island boosters, take note: You may soon be able to drink wines with an Island label, if the owner of Staten Island Winery School of Wine gets his way. [DNA Info]

• GQ checks in with Dale Talde for his Brooklyn go-tos. On the list: Franny's and Mile End (of course), but also Two8Two Burger and Chuko. [GQ]

Filed Under: leftovers,

Wow ... food critics tend to have many enemies and frenemies, but this scary plot line sounds like it's straight out of Law & Order: London Gourmands. Jay Raynor just ran a succession of tweets, which, strung together, read as: "Pls follow the next few tweets. Someone is impersonating me on facebook using an image of me with a blade in front of my face as profile pic As far as I can tell from the information I ahve been given they are cliaming to represnet the bbc, getting them to sign release forms [sic]. .. luring them to locations for a shoot to which no one else has turned up. Am investigating but if anybody knows anything about this please ...... email me on jay dot rayner @ observer dot co dot uk" Best of luck sorting out this bloody mess and hope no one gets hurt. [Jay Rayner/Twitter]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: sketchy, jay rayner

"Ok here we go. 50 days of clean living, hard work and dedication starts now. Lifestyle change." —Beauty & Essex chef-owner, New York Diet late-night-eating and hard-drinking subject Chris Santos on his new lease on life. [SantosCooks/Twitter]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: quote of the day, chris santos

Ask Madonna what's in vogue with her eating habits these days, and she'll tell you it's all about the good bacteria, i.e. "fermented soy beans, millet and brown rice." The trend, a form of "inner horticulture," involves the cultivation of intestinal flora, and eating foods rich in fiber and so-called good bacteria, including Activia yogurts and quinoa. So her digestive track is, essentially, like a virgin. [Vancouver Sun]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: activa, good bacteria, madonna

No matter what you think of the Food Network, it's arguably the most influential and certainly the loudest voice in today's food-media landscape. With that in mind, we wondered what some of the country's more intellectual food lovers thought of the TV juggernaut. From time to time, we'll invite those people to watch a random, midweek afternoon hour of programming, and record their thoughts in the process. To help us kick things off: former New York Times restaurant critic — and never one to mince words — Mimi Sheraton.

Paula Deen has just retrieved a dish of chicken from the fridge and announced to the camera, "I have four big breasts here!"

“You have two big breasts,” Mimi Sheraton says dryly. “Four would be a lot.”

As Deen glops a spicy mayonnaise mixture on her four big breasts and uses her hands to spread the marinade around, Sheraton tsk-tsks. “Ugh, look at those rings!” The camera zooms in. Deen’s enormous diamond rings, one per hand, are slathered. “Cooking with jewelry disturbs me. I always take mine off.”

Moments later, Deen, still massaging her breasts, tells us that she was “the only mother that taught my 14-year-old boys to rub their meat.” Sheraton pauses. “I don’t know how I feel about that.”

Sheraton, 86, rarely watches food television anymore, unless it’s a PBS Sunday program — she particularly likes America’s Test Kitchen and Kimchi Chronicles. But while she appreciates that food television as a whole gets people interested in cooking, she’s not so keen on two specific sub-genres.

First up is what she terms “the cleavage crowd.” When watching hosts like Giada De Laurentiis, Sheraton finds herself getting nervous: “When I cook, I know there is sputtering fat, and I know there are crumbs flying, and I wonder how much of it gets down there,” she says. “I mean, you would never fry shad roe because it sputters so much!”

The other genre she can't stand: “confrontational” television, like Iron Chef or Gordon Ramsay, where the food preparation and talk are “ugly.”

“The word fuck seems to have become very essential,” she muses. “I believe it started with Anthony Bourdain, and now we have David Chang who seems to use it every other word, very consciously I believe." She adds, “I saw him on Charlie Rose and he never said it once. They must have warned him. He spoke like a perfectly normal, educated nice Queens boy. And I thought, This guy is a phony.”

Chang isn’t the only phony in Sheraton’s book. She’s not certain Deen’s twang is even real — during a commercial she contemplates the possibility that when the cameras stop rolling, Deen might develop a Brooklyn accent. And a few minutes later, as Deen’s son piles vegetables on the grill, Sheraton deems the recipe phony as well.

“I don’t like grilled vegetables as a rule,” she says. “Grilled zucchini gets very bitter, and grilled asparagus to me is a travesty.”

Sheraton remembers the days of early food television, when, in the forties and fifties, she’d watch Dione Lucas, the English chef and first female food television host. Lucas's successor, Julia Child, transformed America’s relationship to food, and Sheraton still keeps six taped videocassettes (“to show you how long I’ve had them”) of Child's shows. “It’s just wonderful to see how she handled the food,” she says.

Back on the TV, Deen licks extra icing off her red-velvet whoopee pie with gusto. Sheraton doesn't miss a beat: “I don’t know if you can eat that with diabetes, honey.”

The other half of our Food Network hour is spent with Ina Garten, a personality Sheraton finds much more palatable: “There’s something about her that looks nice and very convincing,” Sheraton says, watching Garten make homemade batter for biscuits, which will become individual peach raspberry shortcakes. “There’s something about her hands that makes me think she came out of cooking to do this. The others, I think, were personalities who went into cooking.”

As Garten chops herbs for an herbed butter, to be served with radishes and sea salt, Sheraton gives her knife skills an approving nod — “She does it the way I do it” — and endorses her overall demeanor. “I love her face. She looks good enough to eat!” Sheraton even contemplates making the shortcakes herself. “Ina does delicious-looking food, not difficult, with a broad appeal, with just enough little touches to make it seem worth doing.” A ringing endorsement.

But one thing about Ina's show irks her: When Garten and her guests sample some whipped cream, they moan in happiness. “You know what I’d like to see on TV? I’d like to see a cook put something in her mouth and say, 'Oh my God, back to the drawing board.' It happens to all of us.”

Read more posts by Sophie Brickman

Filed Under: the feeding tube, food network, mimi sheraton, phonies

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]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

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

There seems to be more trouble at Centolire, the Upper East Side Bolognese-and-gelato spot owned by the "dark prince of Italian fine dining" Pino Luongo. An auction listing in yesterday's Times (also available online, with pictures) indicates that the restaurant's mortgagee is seeking unpaid funds in the form of assets, so everything from Centolire's fine china to the freestanding glass elevator (with a reported $300k value) is up on the block today starting at 1 p.m. A call to the restaurant this morning was answered by a manager who told us, "I don't know where that information came from, but it's totally wrong." So, what gives? Has Centolire put out its last chicken ragout with strozzapreti?

When the restaurant was temporarily seized by the taxman in January, Luongo's attorney blamed an errant bookkeeper as the source of the problem. The "rather minimal" back taxes were paid, and Centolire swiftly reopened. According to the listing, this restaurant's contents are being sold by order of a UCC secured party mortgagee. A representative of the auctioneer tells us that Luongo's representatives are in court this morning to prevent the auction from taking place. We'll let you know when we have more information.

Earlier: Did Tax Troubles Do In Pino Luongo’s Centolire?

Read more posts by Hugh Merwin

Filed Under: centloire, going once going twice, pino luongo

The New Potato has a long talk with Tom Colicchio about his life as one of the pioneers of celebrity chefdom, a term he "hates" and finds "silly" because, "You don’t say celebrity actor." He also thinks some people do wrong by overordering at Craft, and says there's only so many way to re-create a dish because, when it comes to culinary technique, "It’s like music, there are only twelve musical notes. You can’t help but hear the Beach Boys in REM." Additionally, he uses Kevin Gillespie’s bacon jam and is mostly keeping tracking of this season’s winner of Top Chef, Paul Qui. [New Potato]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: top chef, craft, tom colicchio

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.

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

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

Talk about rubbing their stomachs: 150 people who attended a Mother's Day garden party at a New York Buddhist monastery were take to the hospital with severe food poisoning, reports The Wall Street Journal. The un-Zen eaters were headed from chanting ... to shopping at Woodbury Commons when the stomach problems struck. [WSJ]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: inner-peace, buddhists, mother's day

In this week's New York, Adam Platt visits NoMad, the "posh, coolly impersonal new restaurant" from Eleven Madison Park's Daniel Humm and Will Guidara. The sprawling restaurant hosts "a hodgepodge of styles under one roof" including the Library, the Atrium, and the plush Parlour. Skip the snacks and move straight to fare like "a flawlessly executed egg appetizer (poached over a bed of quinoa and Parmesan)"; or the chicken for two: "pre-carved, with deposits of foie gras-rich brioche inserted under the crackly skin." However, "there's a vague assembly-line feel to the proceedings that is compounded by the prices." These are high enough to dock the place a star; NoMad receives a two-spot.

Meanwhile, Benjamin Wallace delves into the biggest wine hoax in history, which took place right under the noses of a number of seasoned collectors. Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld get wind that Terroir is hitting the High Line. And Katie O'Donnell of Frankies 570 Spuntino shares her recipe for non-fishy bluefish crostini.

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: in the magazine, frankies 570 spuntino, from the magazine, katie o'donnell, nomad, terroir, wine fraud

7-Eleven's usual tactics for upping frozen treat sales include free Slurpee days and putting mom-and-pops out of business. But now USA Today writes that the Slurpee will soon be available in a Splenda version that has a mere twenty calories in an eight-ounce cup, versus 66 normally (though who actually only buys the eight-ounce size?). Low-cal flavors mango, strawberry banana, and cherry limeade will roll out by free Slurpee day on May 23 — mark your calendars. [USAT]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: sweet news, 7-eleven, desserts, low-calorie, slurpee

• Latin flavor hits the midtown food truck scene with Blend Latin Fusion’s blackboard specialties. The Long Island City guys offer simple tacos, burritos, bowls, and Cuban sandwiches, best washed down with homemade lychee lemonade or passionfruit iced tea. [Midtown Lunch]

• Still searching for a pair of coveted tickets to the Great GoogaMooga? Until May 16, the Wines of Alsace will be awarding two pairs of tickets to their Limerick Challenge. Complete the last line of one of the two limericks on Facebook or Twitter with #AlsacePoem. [Grub Street]

• Marky Ramone has teamed up with Keith Album to feed the East Village late-night scene with their new Cruisin’ Kitchen. The “worldwide balls” truck, boasting “More Balls Than Most,” serves up globally inspired specialties — from chorizo balls with mango salsa to Marky’s own Marinara. [East Village Local/NYT]

• On May 20, Questlove will offer his signature “Love’s Drumsticks” for one night only at Momofuku Noodle Bar, following his chicken showdown with David Chang on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Guests will be able to sample the drummer’s acclaimed recipe and all proceeds from the sale of his drumsticks will benefit the Food Bank of New York City. Reservation requests begin today and are accepted for parties of six only. A limited number of walk-in spots will be available on the day of. [Grub Street]

• Hotel Chantelle will launch their rooftop brunch series this Saturday at noon. Jeff Kreisel’s diverse crepe menu is paired with a classic list of brunch cocktails at $6 each. Brunch will be served on the roof every weekend this summer, rain or shine, with an elegant retractable roof. To celebrate their brunch series launch on Saturday, Dandy Wellington and his band will swoon diners until 4 p.m., when Hotel Chantelle will kick off their HEATWAVE party. Included in the line-up are Lauren Flax and Lily Vanilli. [Grub Street]

• For a whopping $3,500 incentive, participants in a Washington University in St. Louis study will be eating only fast food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner over the next three months, but with one immense catch. Members of the obesity study must gain at least 5 percent of their body weight before the deadline. [HuffPo]

• The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has deemed Obama’s not-so-healthy fast-food runs not-so-photoworthy, pleading the White House not to release photos that might promote unhealthy eating to the public. [NYDN]

• The Guilty Goose will be serving a five-course dinner paired with a new line of “ancient ales” on June 4. Innovative classics like brasserie salad and duck-duck-goose terrine will be served along with beers modeled after archaic brews. [Grub Street]

Filed Under: leftovers, brunch, late-night, obesity

Last week over at the New York Culinary Experience, hungry students (who weren't busy with Torres or Jean-Georges) learned how to make the perfectly poached egg with Hollandaise sauce by Shaun Hergatt of SHO Shaun Hergatt. There's aeration, emulsification, and butter in a gun. Not bad for a simple something.

Read more posts by Sarah Frank

Filed Under: eggcetera, NYCE, shaun hergatt, sho

Coming off his two James Beard wins this week, the ridiculously likeable Hugh Acheson has also signed a second book deal &#0151 "organized by seasonal ingredients, and focused on produce easily-sourced at farmers' markets, CSAs, and within the local community" &#0151 with Emily Takoudes at Clarkson Potter for publication in fall 2014. Congrats!

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: lit news, clarkson potter, hugh acheson

"In addition to hiring two masseuses for my wife and several of her friends, I'll be preparing vitello tonnato and whole-poached California King salmon with olive oil-poached asparagus and watercress and caper aioli." —Michael Chiarello to Food Republic on how to give a good Mother's Day. [Food Republic]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: mother's day, chiarello

At this point, Maialino, on the ground floor of Gramercy Park Hotel, is so popular that it's practically a New York institution. Now Danny Meyer will renew his focus on the hotel's rooftop bar and café, Gramercy Terrace: On May 18, the Union Square Hospitality Group–operated space will reopen with a newly welcoming attitude, reworked menus, and a brand-new Stumptown coffee bar.

The space will be open to the public for breakfast, lunch, and weekend brunch (evenings are reserved for private events). Chef Jeff Seizer's menus are full of American classics. So expect biscuit sandwiches and pancakes for breakfast; cobb salad and burgers with "fancy sauce" — maybe the first-ever on-menu Step Brothers shout-out — for lunch.

There's also a new cocktail menu, which you can check out below, and the aforementioned Stumptown coffee bar. All in the refurbished rooftop garden space, and no doubt served with Danny Meyer's unyieldingly hospitable and helpful service style.

Gramercy Terrace Breakfast [PDF]
Gramercy Terrace Lunch [PDF]
Gramercy Terrace Cocktails [PDF]

Read more posts by Beth Landman

Filed Under: what to eat, danny meyer, gramercy park hotel, gramercy terrace, reopenings, union square hospitality group

One of the best espresso shots in Queens is crossing Newton Creek to Williamsburg. On Monday, Sweetleaf, the prized Long Island City coffee shop, is opening a new location on Kent and North 6th where it will do battle with other serious pours like nearby Toby's Estate Coffee and Blue Bottle. Owner Rich Nieto's weapon of choice is his trusty La Marzocco Strada EP, broken in at the LIC shop and ready for action. Beans will hail mainly from Ritual, Heart, and Stumptown, though Nieto plans to bring in "guest" beans for special runs once they're settled in the new digs.

The Williamsburg location will see an expanded pour-over program, which will occupy a long length of the bar. As for eats, this Sweetleaf will open with a simple menu of some of the same freshly made pastries and muffins served in Queens.

The space is designed to pick up on the industrial vibe of the neighborhood — lots of metal and reclaimed wood; the bar itself is fashioned mostly of antique doors. But Sweetleaf will come equipped with one asset no other Williamsburg coffee shop can claim: Nieto has installed a foosball table in the shop’s standing area. And lest you think the Brooklyn address means Sweetleaf has abandoned its LIC roots, there are already plans for a second location there to be opened somewhere near the river in the next four or five months.

Sweetleaf, 135 Kent Ave., at N. 6th St.

Read more posts by Edna Ishayik

Filed Under: coffee buzz, coffee, coffee wire, long island city, openings, sweetleaf, williamsburg

New Nordic hot spot Acme has rolled out brunch, happening every Saturday and Sunday beginning at 11 a.m. The bleary and beautiful can feast on Mads Refslund's Euro spins on classic weekend-morning dishes, including a Danish omelette with bacon and tomatoes served in a skillet, a grilled romaine salad, or various sweet options including his beer-and-bread porridge and Danish doughnuts. See the lineup below and have a drool over the photos in our slideshow.

Menu [PDF]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: slideshow, acme, brunch, mads refslund, menu changes, menus, noho, nordic

Dreams of a Bungalow 8 return have hit a huge snag. The Post has it that Community Board 4 has prevented LDV Hospitality (upon threat of liquor-license difficulties) from involving Sacco or using the "Bungalow" name in their redo of the former XL space at 357 West 16th, next to the Dream Downtown. So now LDV, best known for Scarpetta, needs a new concept for that space, probably not one involving cosmos. Bungalow nostalgists needn't despair completely, however: Since LDV bought the concept and name from Sacco, they may well resurrect it somewhere else — if any neighborhood in the city will let them. [Page Six/NYP]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: non grata, amy sacco, ldv hospitality, xl

On Sunday, Food Network will roll out its eighth season of Next Food Network Star, the reality competition that purports to take members of the general public and transform them into food-television celebrities. That means Food Network has been doing this for seven years running, more than enough time for us to look back and assess just how successful the show has been at, you know, actually creating stars. So, we looked at exactly what's happened to every person who has ever been a NFNS contestant and turned that data into an extremely scientific, yet still very easy to read, chart.

The unofficial Next Food Network Star alumni chart.Photo: Jesse David Fox and Allison Gore

Read more posts by Jesse David Fox

Filed Under: the feeding tube, next food network star, pretty pictures

Stephen Starr tells Grub Street that after months of drama and neighborhood opposition, he's decided to cut his losses and walk away from the shuttered Paris Commune space. In March, Community Board 2's SLA Committee rejected Starr's proposal — which would have expanded occupancy at the spot from 80 to 137 seats — and Starr had offered to present a new, scaled-down version of his proposal this week. Then he changed his mind.

"We're moving on," he told Grub Street. "We would have settled for a smaller space, but we would have had to close at midnight. That would have been intolerable." Starr said he had no specific plans for another restaurant in the vicinity but noted that no matter where he went, next he would look for a "great space and a location where the neighbors aren't uncomfortable." Elaine Young, a member of Community Board 2 and a West Village activist told Grub, "He's a great operator but his plan wasn't right for that venue."

Earlier: Stephen Starr on CB's Paris Commune Rejection: 'Maybe We'll Just Walk Away'

Read more posts by Mary Reinholz

Filed Under: next up, paris commune, rejection, stephan starr

Celeb dining in New York wasn't all pretty this week. Joe Bastianich snubbed Le Cirque's Sirio Maccioni in his new book, then offered a masterful non-apology. Rihanna partied too hard at SNL and the Met Ball and needed an IV drip to nurse her back to health. And our favorite voluptuous Modern Family star pounded some Hostess cakes post-breakup. All this and more in our weekly roundup of celebrity dining.

• Luscious enunciator Sofia Vergara is reportedly single after splitting with longtime boyfriend Nick Loeb, and she was seen scarfing down Twinkies on Wednesday at the Einstein College of Medicine's Annual Spirit of Achievement Awards at the Plaza. People's source says nothing was bothering her, since she seemed fine popping the packaged treats in her mouth. Then again, maybe that's why she was inhaling them. [People]

• Rihanna got "sick" after the Met Ball and had to receive an IV drip and penicillin the next day. Initially thought to be dehydration, it became apparent she simply had been partying too hard. [Page Six/NYP]

• Joe Bastianich, author of Restaurant Man, non-apologized to Sirio Maccioni this week about knocking Le Cirque in his book. He apologized for "being quoted out of context" in the Post. In the book, he calls Maccioni's customers "dead or dying," and although he "doesn't dislike" him, he writes Maccioni has always treated him "like a piece of [bleep]," says "Page Six." At least he's sending Maccioni two copies of the book. The perfect non-apology. [Page Six/NYP]

• Tim Tebow and Mark Sanchez were regular bros at a dinner with the Jets' offensive line Tuesday at Abe & Arthur's. [Page Six/NYP]

• The Lohan romp from last week continued, as LiLo went out on a Sunday night to Soho's Sway Lounge. D.J. Lohan took over the D.J. booth with unreleased Marilyn Manson tracks off her own iPod. After a dance-off, she tipped the bouncers $100 for their trouble. [Page Six/NYP]

• Brooke Shields was among the gaggle of New York socialites toasting the new wine book The Juice from Jay McInerney, WSJ's wine columnist, at his Greenwich Village penthouse. A 2010 Droin Chablis Vaillons Premier Cru and Pol Roger Brut Champagne were also in attendance. [Page Six/NYP]

• The launch of Questlove's new partnership with Graham Elliot (Cook 4 Quest) drew celebs like Aziz Ansari, David Chang, Amanda Freitag, and Michael Chiarello to the Penthouse at Mondrian Soho on Sunday night. [Grub Street]

• The 2012 Miss USA contestants ended their New York media tour Wednesday at Brother Jimmy's, where some tweeted "bites" of the mac 'n' cheese and others replaced diets of water with a little sweet tea and 'cue. [Grub Street]

Read more posts by Sarah Lawson

Filed Under: celebrity settings,

Most conversations with chefs turn quickly to food, or their restaurants. But during a walk along the High Line yesterday with Andoni Luis Aduriz, the man behind Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain, the chef wanted to discuss the effect of war on humans. “Normal people kill children, neighbors take each other’s eyes out,” he said in Spanish, through an interpreter. “The context turns them into monsters. If a person in a specific context can become desensitized, then why can’t we create a space where people can become more sensitive?”

Last week, Mugaritz ranked third in the annual S. Pellegrino 50 Best Restaurants awards. The restaurant also has two Michelin stars. Using modern techniques to create a cuisine he calls “techno-emotional,” Aduriz creates food that defies preconceptions. That beef carpaccio is actually watermelon. That stone, served with garlic aioli, is a potato.

With the release of his newest book, Mugaritz: A Natural Science of Cooking later this month, he invites the world behind the scenes of his restaurant-cum-science lab. You may not have an immersion circulator, or keep natural black carbonized vegetable dye in your pantry or leafy goosefoot shoots in the vegetable drawer, but Aduriz believes the text and 70 recipes will be an inspiration to anyone who is curious.

“Today, there are programs on television that teach you how to construct an airplane, build a building,” he said. “In gastronomy, the same thing happens with the audience. They want to know how we do the things we do.”

Aduriz, 40, grew up in the city of San Sebastian, and turned to cooking after discovering that traditional school didn’t interest him. He spent two years at Ferran Adrià’s famed elBulli and later found space for his own restaurant in his hometown’s surrounding hills.

Mugaritz opened its doors in 1998 when Aduriz was only 27. No one came. Bored, the young chef made his way out into the green hills to poke around.

In Mugaritz, he recounts how “suddenly the continuous expanse of green began to offer up shapes and hues that until then had been invisible to us … we began to gather a few leaves and sprigs of herbs.” And so began his era of exploration.

Aduriz worked with botanists to determine if certain herbs and grasses surrounding the restaurant were edible. One resulting dish, “Flowers, Flowers, Flowers,” calls for petals from twelve different kinds of flowers, piled on top of fried artichoke. Another, “Roasted and raw vegetables, wild and cultivated shoots and leaves,” consists of hundreds — literally, hundreds — of leaves, herbs, and vegetables, served with “cheese juice.” Some of the plants and herbs he included in the dish were bitter. But it got to the heart of Aduriz’s aims: to have diner’s question assumptions, and always be curious.

“There was a key moment in the evolution of Mugaritz when we realized that we were serving certain things that, objectively, weren’t ‘good,’ but which had great emotional power,” he writes in the book. “What it comes down to is: You don’t have to like something for you to enjoy it. Pleasure is not only found in the mouth … In the end, it isn’t only about eating; it’s also about discovering.”

On the High Line, as tourists snapped pictures of each other against a backdrop of the Hudson River, Aduriz honed in on the abandoned train tracks that snaked their way between swaths of green. He marveled at how the manmade and natural world morphed into one, likening it to Mugaritz.

“When people come to the restaurant, they see that it’s a place where humans have intervened with nature,” he said.

Then, in true philosopher-chef fashion, he went on a slightly grand tangent: “You see a forest and you think it’s a natural forest, but it’s not always that way,” he mused. “It could be planted, or cultivated, or maintained for various reasons. If you exchange a natural forest for a forest of buildings, you get New York.”

Later on, Aduriz attended a screening at Lincoln Center of the documentary he made with musician Felipe Ugarte, Mugaritz BSO. It follows Ugarte on a three-year journey as he travels the world to research and compose music inspired by a handful of Aduriz’s dishes. (Think: the song of the liquefied cheese, written for guitar.)

When the lights fell and the film started, it appeared to be running in slow motion. The sound was languid, Aduriz’s speech low and drawn out. Is this on purpose?, a few audience members muttered to each other, All part of some grand plan? Everyone watched the screen intently as Aduriz fed Ugarte what appeared to be an unshelled walnut, very slowly. Ugarte easily bit through the shell, and, in a protracted, almost comical few seconds, his face morphed into a huge, surprised grin. Then the film flickered, the lights came on and someone announced, “We’re having a problem with the sound.”

Read more posts by Sophie Brickman

Filed Under: interviews, andoni luis aduriz, mugaritz

Last week, Grub turned up the music with Courtney Love's leg rubs and Pétrus parties, so we thought now would be a good time to take a nice, deep breath with the comforting foodstuff of Sarabeth Levine. Owner of the super-popular Sarabeth's restaurants, where every good New Yorker has experienced a morning-after brunch, beautiful baby shower, or well-rehearsed break-up talk, Levine has created an institution for caffeination, celebration, "chocolate chubbies," and crazy cups of tomato soup. She's a woman who adores food and wants to "eat every delicious-looking thing" she sees, but is also a Weight Watchers loyalist, resulting in a healthy, wholesome diet of everything in moderation ... including moderation. Read about Sarabeth's steady stream of coffee intake and how she prepares orange pork tenderloin at her cottage out east in this week's New York Diet.

Friday, May 3
At 5:45 a.m., my eyes opened like clockwork. Within ten minutes, I'm in front of my Nespresso coffeemaker adding fresh water to the reservoir and popping a Volluto or Capriccio capsule into the machine. Next, I frothed 2 percent organic milk to add. I have two of these every morning while I read the paper or check my e-mail. This is definitely my favorite moment of the day.

I always have breakfast when I get to the bakery. This morning I made a huge pot of organic steel-cut oats for the bakery staff. They love when I make the oatmeal! I cooked it in the top of a double boiler with a pinch or two of salt. This slow-cooking method makes superior cereal. And then coffee, number three! Also, baked some Three-Seed Flatbreads. Had a few bites for quality control.

Lunch consisted of my usual salad of mixed greens, tomatoes, diced apple, avocado, and cucumber with our lemon vinaigrette. To the salad, I added a small scoop of tuna salad.

Later, I baked a batch of Morning Cookies; these are a special recipe I’ve come up with that uses oats, whole-wheat flour, and Shredded Wheat. They are only three points on Weight Watchers! And of course I had to eat one. Pretty yummy! Had my last coffee of the day and an orange.

I catered a bridal shower that night and ate there: had a few of the hors d’oeuvres: tuna tartare in mini tacos, quail deviled eggs, and a white-bean puree with roasted red pepper on fresh focaccia. Everything was cute and delicious! Dinner consisted of a Caesar salad, dressing on the side, and Arctic char with roasted cauliflower and a sun-dried-tomato pesto. It was the perfect meal for me. Skipped the dessert.

Saturday, May 5
The usual two Nespresso coffees at 6 a.m.

Toasted whole-grain bread from the bakery with cottage cheese and orange slices.

I grabbed a banana and headed out east to our cottage with my husband, Bill. We love escaping the city, and the weekends give me a chance to cook new things and sit down like a real person while I am eating. I am embarrassed to admit how many daytime meals I consume while standing — I’m working on this bad habit.

We arrived at the house for lunch and I made a salad of arugula, romaine lettuce, red cabbage, olives, and a few tomatoes that I brought with me from the city. Dressing consisted of lemon juice, Arleta balsamic vinegar, and extra-virgin olive oil. We also shared a can of Costco’s Kirkland chunk chicken breast, which is a staple in our house. I added a small amount of mayo and a touch of lemon juice, salt, and pepper. It is better than canned tuna.

Off to Citarella’s to shop for dinner and to the bird store for safflower seeds for the feeders. I decided on a small pork loin, and we stopped at a farm stand on the way back for some asparagus. Had a few almonds, about ten.

Around 7 p.m., I prepared a spinach salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, and romaine, tossed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and a garnish of chopped avocado. Decided on Dorie Greenspan’s Fresh Orange Pork Tenderloin with cardamom and oranges from her book, Around My French Table. You can always depend on Dorie for a great recipe. Served that with a small baked yam and asparagus.

Dessert was a sliced mango and a Tom Hanks movie.

Sunday, May 6
Two cups of Nespresso.

Cottage cheese with cantaloupe and whole unsalted almonds.

Bill and I are golfers, so we headed to the Baiting Hollow Golf Club on the North Fork of Long Island, for a round. Had more coffee there.

We ate an unusually late lunch at the Lobster Roll in Baiting Hollow. I had a mixed salad and grilled salmon garnished with two slices of grilled pineapple. The salmon was cooked perfectly and I loved the fruity combination. I also had a glass of club soda with a twist of lemon. After lunch, we came back to the city.

We ate so late that I wasn’t very hungry for dinner. I had a plain Chobani yogurt with strawberries and a banana, a slice of lightly buttered whole-grain toast, and a decaf Nespresso.

Monday, May 7
5:30 a.m. Up extra-early today and had one Nespresso. Off to the bakery to get ready for the James Beard Foundation Awards. I was serving a special butter cookie and James Beard’s strawberry shortcake.

I made a huge pot of steel-cut oats, cracked wheat, and flaxseed for the nine of us. We needed our energy, and we topped it with strawberry-mango compote with fresh vanilla bean. This was the filling for our James Beard shortcakes. Great combination!

I ate a light lunch because was saving myself for all the great food that I would eat at the Beards. So I just had a fruit salad and cottage cheese and a few of those great seeded crackers that I make. Also, half of a shortcake and one of the cookies. Needed to be sure they tasted good. Do I really need an excuse? No! And of course, a coffee to go along with it.

At the Beards, I had few samplings of what the other chefs had prepared, but I was actually starving by the end of the evening because we were so busy serving dessert at our table that we did not really have to time to eat a lot. So much for saving my points earlier in the day!

Tuesday, May 8

Two Nespressos as usual.

Barbara’s Shredded Wheat and low-fat milk plus a banana at the bakery.

We had to make a lot of our Morning Cookies for an pretty intense OpenSky order. I have to say that I did eat a cookie or two during the process. Considering we made 500 cookies, a cookie and a half is not bad if you knew how much I love this cookie.

For lunch, I made myself salad with dressing and had some of the baker’s family meal, huevos con tomate (omelette-style eggs in tomato sauce). Not only are they great bakers, they are great cooks.

At night, there was a book signing for Sarabeth’s Bakery: From My Hands To Yours at Williams-Sonoma. I left there and got takeout dinner from Ditch Plains. I really like Marc Murphy’s chopped salad. It has so many great veggies — cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, kidney beans, carrots, and radicchio with tender little curly shrimp. The dressing is pretty bright and flavorful, a perfectly balanced red-wine vinaigrette. I was so happy to throw off my shoes and eat dinner from a tray while watching “Dancing With the Stars.”

Wednesday, May 9

6:00 a.m. two Nespressos.

I made five-grain hot cereal with bananas and 2 percent milk.

Lunch was a mixed green salad with green apples and goat cheese and a plain omelette. Snacked on three small flatbreads, right off the baking tray. My latest creation. Another snack, later, was an oatmeal cookie and coffee, but I was still hungry so I had a banana. I was in the mood to eat everything in sight, but restrained myself.

I went to the book launch for my friend David Kirchoff, President and CEO of Weight Watchers, then came home and cooked dinner: grilled turkey burger with avocado and tomato, and Heinz ketchup, of course. Pickle on the side. Lightly dressed cabbage slaw made from red and white cabbage and grated carrots. I use Greek yogurt and a little mayo, with a touch of white balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice. A perfect end to my day, and so happy Bill waited to have dinner with me.

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: the new york diet, sarabeth levine, sarabeths, the grub street diet, weight watchers

• In other Bushwick tidings, Roberta's announces its garden dinner series (via Tumblr and an interestingly Photoshopped invitation), with each month featuring a different animal. Starting May 21 at 7 p.m., a five-course spread focuses on lamb (fried lamb tongues with watercress, lamb shank with purgatory beans ... ). June is seafood, July, goat, and August, pig. All-inclusive tickets are $95. [Roberta's]

•China Grill adds creative sushi to its menu.The Wagyu Tartare roll packs Australian Wagyu, cornichons, wasabi, pickled onion, and crispy rice. Monday through Friday from 4 to 7, all sushi is half price at the bar. [Grub Street]

•The Gowanus Canal Conservancy announces its Spring Forward, a night of BBQ and fundraising, on June 6. Chefs from Applewood, Brooklyn Cured, Lot 2, and Mile End will barbecue, and Bar Table will curate the bar. Live music from local acts starts at 8. Tickets are $55, including dinner, two beers, and the concert, and all proceeds go to the conservancy. [Grub Street]

•There's still time to plan Mom's special day (nudge: it's Sunday) — Wall & Water offers a special Mother's Day brunch menu from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. that comes in hot ($45) and cold ($32) options. Plus, Mom gets a wrapped spiced-apple cake. At the Shop at Andaz 5th Avenue, moms get a tin of tea in the flavor of their choice. Plus, check out our roundup to map out your Mother's Day. [Grub Street]

•The crew aboard the Frying Dutchmen split due to — ahem — creative differences. For now, the ship (read: food truck) is parked. [NY Street Food]

•Rumor has it 45th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues is getting a new British pub very soon. Rumor also has it that it will be called Cock & Bull. [Midtown Lunch]

Filed Under: leftovers, closings, openings

That's three times the city's average rate. And it's actually the least of their problems, says a story in the Daily News documenting the untold hardships of the mostly Brooklyn-based immigrants. Mamnun Haq runs a health-and-education program for the community and notes, “Their food is too starchy; they eat too much rice." [NYDN]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: melting pot, diabetes, indian food

One professional drinker is just sickened by peanut-butter-and-jelly rum and bubblegum gin, saying, "You know who loves flavored liquor? Underage kids." After being offered blackberry whiskey, the writer reached his breaking point and cried, "My favorite flavor of whiskey is whiskey." Salute to that. [Bon Appétit]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: cocktails, vodka

Lidia Bastianich is no stranger to a court summons, following the very weird allegations that surfaced last summer from a former employee. Now wage-violation-crusading attorney Maimon Kirschenbaum sends over a complaint filed by some former Felidia servers, who allege that Bastianich and the restaurant illegally distributed tips and failed to meet minimum-wage requirements; there are also questions of overtime compensation and spread-of-hours pay. Wonder what Joe Bastianich, Kirshenbaum's most vocal detractor, will have to say about this?

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: lawsuits, felidia, lidia bastianich, maimon kirschenbaum

It’s rare to catch a glimpse of a snow cone in New York City — except for maybe when the circus is in town. But Daniel Levin started changing that last summer when he sold his housemade snocones (as he spells it) at the now-shuttered Blackbird Parlor. Now he’s opening an artisanal snocone and sweets shop, Handsome Dan’s Stand, in Williamsburg’s Mini Mall. The shop, which is soft-opening this week, sells snocones in grown-up flavors like thyme dream, earl grey cream, orange blossom ginger, rose pomegranate, and chili passion fruit.

The housemade syrups double as flavors for sodas that will be available starting next week; lavender lemonade and egg creams round out the seasonal drink menu. The tiny shop, which has a candy-cane-striped pipe in the middle of it, is stocked with around 100 nostalgic candies, including Ring Pops and Pixy Stix for the kids of the eighties and Mallo Cups for the baby boomers, says Levin. While the inspiration for the shop came from his childhood, Levin assures us these snocones are made with natural ingredients, so they’re not likely to dye your tongue blue. Hours are noon to 10 p.m weekdays and noon to 11 p.m on weekends.

Handsome Dan’s Stand, 218 Bedford Ave., nr. N. 5th St., Williamsburg; 410-241-3472

Read more posts by Devra Ferst

Filed Under: sweet news, candy, candy stores, desserts, handsome dan's, openings, snow cones, sodas

Australia is having something of a culinary identity crisis as younger eaters increasingly fail to embrace Vegemite, writes The Wall Street Journal. The yeasty spread (a by-product of beer-making, we just learned) is notorious for its pungent smell and salty flavor, not qualities generally beloved by children. And a growing Asian population in places like Sydney means many youngsters have no familial obligation to ingest the stuff, since their parents never did.

Though it sounds like Vegemite could go the way of Oleo, oddly, New Zealanders have been clamoring for Marmite, a similar product, after the factory making it there was damaged by an earthquake. A jar of the stuff, dubbed "black gold," went for $1,674 at a recent charity auction. Vegemite does contain umami, says the WSJ, so we suggest it play up that angle before it's too late. Aussie Delicacy Vegemite Loses Some of Its Savory Appeal [WSJ]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: crises, australia, marmite, vegemite

Do you like food? Do you like the world? If you’re like me, you do! But here’s the most important question, reader: Do you like plates? I think plates are pretty cool — I like big circular plates covered with leafy greens and pork chops and mashed potatoes and other such delights. I’m also fond of oval platters suffocating under the weight of extreme nachos. I’ll confess to hating rectangular and triangular plates of the type you find at certain restaurants who take as their motto “Let’s confound diners’ expectations about the most basic shit in the universe,” but overall I guess you could call me a fan of plates. Anyway, there’s a new show made for people just like you and me: Around the World in 80 Plates is Bravo's celebration of travel and cuisine and arguing and all that stuff we’ve come to expect from reality TV (and reality itself).

The show — hereafter: AW80P — is hosted by Cat Cora (not a manga character) and Curtis Stone, whom I fell in love with while recapping America’s Next Great Restaurant. Here’s how it works: Our contestants, accomplished chefs one and all, fly around the world sampling regional cuisines and then taking over local restaurants where they must impress “the toughest critics of all”: the local customers.

It’s “a game of skill and strategy,” the likes of which haven’t been seen since the West’s latest colonialist folly, and the winner of the show goes home with $150,000 thanks to Sam Pelligeroni(sp?), the fine bubbly water that reminds me of drinking really, really boring olive oil.

Other corporate sponsors include Infiniti cars and something called Chase Sapphire Reserve, which I assume is an ultra-exclusive credit card available only to Jay-Z, or people who have as much money as Jay-Z, or anybody who has heard of Jay-Z.

We’re introduced to our contestants in a frenzy of video snippets and sassy comments addressed to camera. Of note: A chef named Sai is introduced via sultry photos of her posing provocatively while she asks, “Who do you think people would rather fuck: (a) Paula Deen; (b) Rachel Ray; or (c) Chef Sai?” (Actual quote! Though Bravo bleeped the F-word.)

Gary used to be a private chef at a sorority house, while Steve a.k.a. “Nookie” is an executive chef for the Boston Red Sox, cooking for team owners and bigwigs and other people I probably don’t have much in common with.

Liz, who cooks at a place called the Foundry on Melrose, which sounds like a Game of Thrones-themed restaurant, thinks people will underestimate her because she looks young. Sure enough, when Liz meets Nookie he makes fun of how young she looks. Boom! There’s our proof that people underestimate Liz because of how young she looks.

Clara, a chef at Local Harvest, has the best hair. Meanwhile John works for a famous chef and has cooked for two presidents! Cheven, “a rising-star chef” works for all the “famous celebrities.” That name is a combo of "chef" and "Keven."

The chefs are dumped in the back of a transport plane with bags over their heads and flown to London. There they are greeted by Cat and Curtis, the latter of whom still possesses the rakish style I have come to adore. The chefs are sorted into two teams: Red Team and Black Team.

The teams must go on a good ol’ fashioned pub crawl, sampling famous British pub food and pub drinks. It’s a race, of course, and the first team to finish will get to use the Exceptional Ingredient when planning their own gastropub meal.

Here the show reveals its dark genius: Because the pub crawl is a race, our American chefs don’t have time to savor the food — they just shovel it into their mouths when they’re not slamming back drinks. What was billed as a celebration of international culinary traditions becomes instead an orgy of overclocked consumption.

Black-pudding hash, steak-and-kidney pie, fish and chips: All are dumped into the gaping maws of our friends, like hay into horses.

Red Team finishes first because they took taxis from pub to pub while Black Team ran around like a bunch of blind drunks. How will Black Team work together in the kitchen?

Our teams must prepare five dishes of authentic gastropub food. Red Team has earned this week’s Exceptional Ingredient: the humble potato. Black Team can’t use potatoes in their gastropub food! Imagine fish and chips with no chips! (Reminder: What British people call chips are actually French fries.)

Both teams debate whether to make a dessert. Nookie thinks Jenna wants to make dessert because she’s drunk and “super-annoying.” Clara wants to include a vegetarian dish because good veggie dishes are hard to come by in London. (Indeed, there is no word for “vegetarian” in British English.)

Black Team is running the Duke of Cambridge and having trouble with the stove. Red Team is running the Drapers Arms and having trouble converting Fahrenheit to Celsius. (Remember: For every five degrees of Fahrenheit, add two points to your Celsius at 9.5 percent APR and you’ll get the right temperature.)

After the standard food-show shots of people running around in the kitchen and banging pots and pans and yelling at each other, the pubs open and the British customers rush in to eat their favorite pub foods!

There’s a special guest among the rabble: Sexy chef Nigella Lawson, the amazing talent who could make eating wilted celery leaves look pornographic.

Black Team serves fish with polenta chips instead of potato-based chips. Nigella Lawson smears the polenta chips all over her chin, turns to the camera and whispers, “Do you like what you see?” (JOKE). Next out of the kitchen is steak-and-kidney pie, which Nigella Lawson pours down the front of her blouse while chanting, “Bad little girl make a naughty mess!” (JOKE). As for the halibut, Nigella Lawson ties it to a bedpost and flogs it à la Fifty Shades of Grey (JOKE.) There’s also bread pudding, which is so gross you can’t even make a joke about eroticizing it — though you are welcome to try in the comments section. The judges are impressed.

Over at the Drapers Arms, Red Team announces they have temporarily changed the name of the pub to British Love, American Pride (!?!). The British patrons, to their credit, are openly furious.

Red Team brings out their food, which is just crappy British pub food fancied up with little green odds-and-ends sticking out every which way, and weird orange spices dribbled around the sides of the plate. You know the deal, ladies and gentlemen: This is how a grilled-cheese sandwich becomes something you pay $12 for.

Nigella talks to the diners. All the British people talk about which pub’s food they like better but I get confused about which pub’s food they liked better. I guess so that I’ll be surprised at the end of the show.

Cheven starts saying bad things about other team members so he can manipulate their emotions and conquer the show. He’s the bad guy.

Red Team and Black Team are assembled before Curtis and Cat for interrogation. Nookie is called out for his steak-and-kidney pie: “The diners in your pub didn’t like your steak-and-kidney pie.” And also? The black-pudding hash “sucked major donkey balls.” (Not an exact quote.)

Black Team praises Chaz for his excellent communication and leadership skills. This burns Cheven. And Cheven gets even more burned when Chaz takes credit for dessert, which was Cheven’s idea! Can you believe the madness and subterfuge we are witnessing here?

The judges make their decision: Black Team wins! Their delicious dessert has conquered London and brought England to its knees. Chaz wins immunity for the next city, which means he can do whatever he wants. Time to start racking up speeding tickets!

Red Team sits and stews. Which of their fellows will they eliminate? They discuss how sucky their food was. Nookie tries to convince everyone that they should eliminate Clara because his dish was more difficult than hers so that’s why it’s okay that it sucked.

Nookie’s strategimatizin’ works: Clara is VOTED OUT. Red Team hugs each other in the wake of their agonizing decision.

So London is finished — reduced to a smoldering mountain of rubble — and our culinary marauders set their sights on the next target: Lyon, France!

See you next week!

David Rees is an artisanal pencil sharpener.

Read more posts by David Rees

Filed Under: overnights, around the world in 80 plates, bravo, recaps

It is according to the Daily News, anyway. There's an artsy flower shop, an art gallery, and a Kosher food emporium that sells $20 bottles of truffle oil and other gourmet grub. There's even the requisite mommies-with-strollers hang in the form of a Kosher pizzeria, Basil, whose owner is planning a second restaurant for the hood. Sarabeth's and Magnolia Bakery, you listening? [NYDN]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: crown heights, kosher, neighborhood watch

He may have looked all award-clad and Ethan Hawke–like at the James Beard Awards, but apparently Achatz is suffering from insomnia, tweeting, "Any tips on readjusting sleep schedule after being in 5 time zones within 18 days. I am up at 4 every morning now. Productive I guess ... " Unfortunately, he's not getting the answers he needs either, with a follow-up tweet: "Responses 2 correcting jetlag sleep disorder range:Booze, weed, cocaine ambien, herion or cocktail of all vs Melatonin/fasting. Who r u ppl?:" [Gachatz/Twitter]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: sleep no more, alinea, grant achatz

Donatella Arpaia takes to HuffPo to write about being "the 40-Year-Old Mom." Each Mother's Day, she says, "As much as I loved being the cool celebrity aunt, what I really wanted was the title we were celebrating that day." She only felt ready for a family in the past few years, "having gone through the high highs and extreme lows of a career in a male-dominated industry." She claims Mommy Donatella is a different person than the glamorous one known for nurturing a Prada habit: "while I still like to put on heels, I don't panic if someone sees me without mascara." You go, Donatella, and if you need somewhere to celebrate Mother's Day ... [HuffPo]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: bringing up baby, donatella arapaia, mother's day

“I love seeing how people’s eyes roll to the back of their heads when I tell them that I live in Newark,” says RedFarm's Ed-Eddie Schoenfeld. In addition to expanding RedFarm to the laundromat below and to the Upper West Side, he has moved from Brooklyn to Jersey, into a big old house that came with oddball furniture and art. [NYP]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: jersey, ed scoenfeld, redfarm

You're supposed to "mention" you're in the industry, but in reality, all are welcome to Osteria Morini on Monday nights from 9:30 p.m. on, when Michael White is serving up pasta for ten bucks a plate starting this week (and will be there himself). Sounds like a steal, and a scene.

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: mondays, industry night, osteria morini

• Michael "Bao" Huynh’s Mickey’s Burger in Gramercy closed last week. Though no replacement has officially been announced, fans of the decadent namesake burger can expect another Bao concept to take its place. [Eater NY]

• If you're into the pig, check out Chow's new food-porny video of Bar Covo's grilled heritage pork chops and cauliflower steaks. [Chow/NY1]

• On Friday, May 18, Brix Wine Shop will celebrate the dawning of rosé season with at their annual Rosé Gala from 5 to 8 p.m. Twenty rosés from top wine importers will be paired with local bites from East village food shops and restaurants. Tickets may be purchased in person or by phone for $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Remember to wear pink to receive a door prize, and all guests receive 10 percent off any bottle in store. [Grub Street]

• Tickets for Bon Appétit’s Grub Crawl Brooklyn are on sale now. The interactive neighborhood food tour will take you through the best of local Brooklyn fare. What to expect? Fine southern specialties at Seersucker and succulent sliders from the Meatball Shop to name a few. [Eater NY]

• Hear this, chocolate lovers: Tomorrow, May 10, Lindt will celebrate the grand opening of its flagship Chocolate Boutique in the Rolex building on Fifth Avenue. Buyers will receive a free Excellence bar with every purchase, and will be assisted through the new location by Lindt Chocolate Advisors. In the evening, guests will indulge in an exclusive opening celebration with representatives from Lindt and Wempe. [Grub Street]

• This Sunday, Ciano and the National will be toasting mothers with exceptional menu additions. At Ciano, a four-course meal at $89 a head will be served from noon until 7 p.m., with decadent dessert selections. In addition to their classic brunch menu, every mother will receive a complimentary MOMosa brunch cocktail to pair with at the National. [Grub Street]

• Craving the best of Neapolitan fare at your doorstep? The recently opened Via Tribunali now accepts delivery orders by phone, GrubHub, and SeamlessWeb. But don’t stay in this Sunday, when every mother at Via Tribunali will receive a complimentary glass of Prosecco and a fresh flower. Order a bottle of wine between 4 and 8 p.m. and customers will receive a complimentary pizza through the local deal app Leloca. [Grub Street]

Filed Under: leftovers, closings, mother's day, openings

The Daily Meal has a cute guess-the-chef slideshow featuring top chefs and food celebrities as drooling babies and little runts ... funny enough, some of them haven't changed a bit. [The Daily Meal]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: brat pack, top chefs

A receipt from Mr. Chow in New York could save John Travolta a lot of embarrassment, as it indicates that he was far, far away from a kinky massage table in Beverly Hills at the time and date in which a masseur says that Travolta groped him. Additionally, there are photos of the actor in New York at the time, proving that this is just another case of Pulp Fiction meets penis fiction ... and also, that Travolta is a good tipper. [Daily Mail UK]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: sweepers, mr. chow, travolta

Students at U.T. Austin can now buy coffee made by "robistas" (robot baristas), thanks to a kiosk installed recently on campus. Just think: No need to agonize over etiquette, no lines (since you can order online or on your phone), and it's pretty cheap, too — $2.80 for a basic latte. Java-heads can indicate sweetener and milk preferences and a screen flashes your name when the drink's ready, so you can still get a kick by claiming you were christened Myrtle, like we used to never did back in the day. [Singularity Hub]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: coffee buzz, coffee, cool, robots, the future

Everyone has kitchen gadgets sitting around that they never use. But the flip side is that we may have other gadgets sitting around that we could use for cooking, but never do. Up until now, this column has focused on secret ingredients, but there's no reason why new techniques can't also pump up the flavor of your food. And so I started wondering if it was possible to cook with a vaporizer. As it turns out, yes, you can. And it's awesome.

Vaporizers aren't designed with food in mind (with the possible exception of munchies); they're used for "smoking" marijuana without any actual smoke. The machines, which start off cheap but can go for more than $500 for top-quality models, blow hot air over, ahem, "organic material," vaporizing essential oils without combusting the herb. The temperature is capped to prevent burning, eliminating the acrid flavors and the lung-clogging by-products of smoke.

I first saw a vaporizer used for cooking purposes a few years ago, when Grant Achatz demonstrated a few of his notable Alinea dishes at Astor Center in New York. The evening had much to do with aroma. He poured liquid nitrogen over rosemary and fanned the room with pine as we munched on sous-vide Kobe beef. The beef was cooked without rosemary, but effectually tasted like it had been. Then Achatz fried rabbit kabobs on oak twigs and lit the leaves on fire. The whole room smelled like a wood-fired October game feast. Then he broke out his vaporizer and filled a plastic pillow with lavender vapor before puncturing the bag and passing it around the room. It reeked of Provence in July. At Alinea, his staff famously serves the flower-powered pillows to diners. The weight of a dish set atop the pillow slowly forces the lavender air out as you eat. It’s lovely.

As far as anyone knows, Achatz and his team first invented the idea of using the vaporizer for food purposes, but other chefs have been deploying theirs to great effect, too. The Culinary Institute of America’s Francisco Migoya vaporizes cinnamon into the packaging of the Bacon Maple Candy Bars the C.I.A. sells at its Apple Pie Bakery Cafe. There is no actual cinnamon in the bars, but when the packaging is ripped open the aroma of the spice mingles with the bacon and maple flavors. It’s far out, man.

Vaporizers are increasingly mainstream; the Times "Style" section even featured a snazzy portable model. Relatively affordable vaporizers can be found on Amazon. The thing to keep in mind is that the cheaper ones don't moderate the temperature as steadily or force the air out the way more expensive ones do — you have to suck it out first, but the possible uses are still the same. Top a glass of beer with hop vapors (or alternate between taking drags and swigs); add rose essence to lamb chops; cover your favorite brownie with a dome and pump in cannabis vapors for a mod take on a classic. Or do what I've started doing and vaporize aromatic ingredients instead of adding them to the recipe. Below are recipes that work great with this technique: butternut ravioli with brown butter and sage vapor, and vanilla-vapor sugar cookies. Feel free to make your own cookies and ravioli, or just buy them and start sparkin’ up.

Sage vapor, wafting over.Photo: Ian Knauer

Butternut Ravioli with Brown Butter and Sage Vapor
Serves 4

For Pasta:
1 cup cake flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 large egg yolks
11/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup water

For Ravioli:
2 lb butternut squash, peeled and cut into one-inch chunks
3 oz goat cheese
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 stick unsalted butter
dried sage

Pulse the flours and salt together in a food processor. Add the yolks, oil, and water, then run the motor until dough comes together and forms a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for one hour.

Steam butternut over boiling water in a large pot fitted with a steamer basket until very tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Pulse squash in food processor with goat cheese and salt until combined. Let filling cool.

Cut the dough into four pieces. Roll out two pieces with a pasta roller to the thinnest setting. Place tablespoon-sized mounds of filling at two-inch intervals. Brush edges of pasta sheet with water, then gently lay second sheet over top, pressing down around filling mounds to seal. Cut into square ravioli with a knife or pasta cutter. Repeat with remaining dough and filling (you will have a little leftover filling).

Heat butter in a large heavy skillet over medium high heat until it begins to brown. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.

Boil ravioli in boiling salted water until al dente, about four minutes. Drain pasta then divide between serving plates. Top with browned butter.

Cover each serving plate with a bowl. Place sage in vaporizer and vaporize, catching vapor under bowls. Place bowls on top of plates and serve.

Bags, waiting to be opened.Photo: Ian Knauer

Vanilla Vapor Sugar Cookies
Makes 12 cookies

12 sugar cookies (store bought or using a recipe like this one
foregoing the vanilla in the recipe)
12 small ziplock baggies
1 vanilla bean, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Place cookies in ziplocks and seal almost all the way. Place vanilla in vaporizer and vaporize into baggies. Seal completely and serve.

Ian Knauer is the author of The Farm: Rustic Recipes for a Year of Incredible Food.

Read more posts by Ian Knauer

Filed Under: flavor ammo, cooking, pot, vaporizers

That M.I.A. is so multifaceted. Paper mag has it that the musician (who's also evidently a visual artist) was tapped by Beck's to design a beer label. You can see the swirly specimen at right, which practically oozes peace, love, and harmony — totally how it feels to drink beer, man. [Paper via Spin]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: booze news, beck's, m.i.a., nightlife, shilling

Rejection was a hard pill to swallow for Audrey Saunders on Monday night, when her cocktail lounge, Pegu Club, lost a Beard to ex-employee Jim Meehan’s PDT. Sources say she was "stewing" and "bitching," and no doubt fixing herself something straight-up and dirty. [NYP]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: sore loser, jbfa, pdt, pegu club

Drop that honey-dipped doughnut now ... because half of us are turning into future fat-asses within the next twenty years. A new study predicts that 42 percent of Americans will be hugely rotund by 2030; but then again, "obesity forecasting" — which uses variables like unemployment rate, fast-food prices, alcohol prices, and fuel prices — isn't always on point, especially since horizontally challenged subjects tend to tell fat lies to researchers. [Slate]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: hunger games, obesity

It seems French spot Bar Henry has quietly morphed into something called ZirZamin, a "subterranean music parlour." Interestingly, the new place has an Austin-themed menu — the brief lineup features that Lone Star city's hits, including breakfast tacos, queso, brisket tacos, and a burger; cocktails focus on Tito's (naturally) and tequila. According to ZirZamin's Facebook page, it's open from 5:30 p.m. to 3 a.m., so we guess the egg tacos are meant for a very early breakfast. Scope out the menu below, y'all.

Menu [PDF]

ZirZamin, 90 W. Houston St., nr. W. Broadway; 646-823-9617

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: openings, bar henry, bars, breakfast tacos, closing, menus, nightlife, zirzamin

There's nothing New York's professional eaters love to do more than deliberate on our city's best pizza (besides fight about the city's best bagels). Continuing the tradition, a frustrated, ever-opinionated Ben Leventhal says that as far as Artichoke pizza goes, he is officially, totally over it. Comparing the joint to the bad side of Shake Shack, he frowns, " ... at Artichoke the only post-game emotion is the empty feeling that you have gotten a little fatter for no good reason." Over at Slice, they beg to differ. And won't be bullied. And then grandma gets involved. [Slice/Serious Eats]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: slice wars, artichoke pizza

God forbid that Tanorexic steal one minute more of her classless-attention-whore thunder — Catherine Scalia has been uncuffed and released back to her hot-dog and boob-craving customers. “I’ll be out there in my bikini top selling my hot dogs!” Scalia told press. But not for long ... she'll be back in the clink on June 16. “Come taste my onions!” she also screamed. [NYP]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: stripperly, hot dog

On Monday, New York's Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite gave two stars each to two downtown sandwich spinoffs San Matteo Panuozzo and Taboonette. What did the city's crop of professional eaters think about restaurants this week? Let's take a look.

For her review debut at the Village Voice, Tejal Rao gives us the full experience at Perla
— shrimp heads that taste “like a campfire that burns by the sea,” a friendly waitress that chants “do it, do it” when a last bite of foie gras and pistachio butter sits on the plate, the Dirty Dancing soundtrack playing overhead. One thing she’s not interested in doing — chronicling her night via Twitpic.

Robert Sietsema samples three types of sausages during “opening” weekend for Vandaag’s weenie window. The only dog he’s barking about is the bunless Double Dutch — a Braty boudin blanc and a dissolving blood sausage.

Pete Wells can’t get enough of the charcutier and saucier expertise at La Silhouette in Hell’s Kitchen. He awards the year-old eatery one star (and a gold star for politeness).

Ryan Sutton says Torrisi Italian Specialties has shed its clumsy chicken parm sammies and lunch and lines out the door. Now he dubs its $150 tasting menu (a $100 upcharge and a month’s wait) “New York heaven,” awarding the little restaurant three and a half stars (between “first class of its kind” and the ultimate Bloomberg Valhalla, “incomparable food, service, ambience”).

Jay Cheshes relishes the "luxurious setting, flawless service, and preponderance of foie gras and truffles" at the NoMad, "an old-fashioned restaurant that’s also exciting and new." A poached egg starter is "over-the-top," and duck breast carries the "he exotic perfume of Vadouvan curry." Basically, "the food will haunt you" Cheshes writes in his five-star review.

For Steve Cuozzo, the fussy American fare at Vitae makes it the best American-Nouveau lunch spot in midtown — even if it is because it’s one of the only modern American restaurants for blocks, and its nearby competitor is a Build-a-Bear.

Research — and The New Yorker — suggests you’ll like French wine bar Thirstbaràvin because you’ll have to work to get there. Once you reach the cozy spot in “unfortunate location” Crown Heights, there’s no wait.

Read more posts by Sarah Lawson

Filed Under: the other critics, la silhouette, perla, the nomad, thirstbaravin, torrisi, vandaag, vitae

We'll bring you this week's ratings from the critics shortly, but over at the Times, this month marks 50 years since Craig Claiborne's regular restaurant reviews started appearing, as Pete Wells writes. It was then that "reading the critics, eating what they had recommended, and then bragging or complaining about it ... bec[a]me a national pastime." Much like the gastro-seekers of today, the ahead-of-his-time Claiborne could be found "prowling the streets in search of Filipino, Armenian, Lebanese, Mexican, Hungarian and Czech menus." Aspiring food writers, go read about this guy. [NYT, Related]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: legends, craig claiborne

Andrew Friedman announced on Toqueland this morning that he and Dieterle have finally come up with a concept and title for Dieterle's first book. Harold Dieterle’s Kitchen Notebook will feature fully formed recipes — rooted in both Kin Shop and Perilla — on one page, with the opposite page featuring "the most potent and/or versatile element of the dish," along with "an essay about its charms." Think: ramp kim chee and spaetzle. Write on. [Toqueland]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: lit news, cookbooks, dieterle

• Dinosaur Bar-B-Que has added yet another barbecue outlet to its growing report; this time, across the river. The Dino just opened their first New Jersey location in Newark, New Jersey, on the corner of Market and Mulberry streets. [Grub Street]

• Nothing says Summer like a picnic in the park, and for that, Andaz 5th Avenue has you covered. The baskets range in price from $35 to 75 per person; the service of an Andaz Picnic Butler (!) also can be purchased for $300. [Grub Street]

• Now and in the next few weeks, the butcher at Foragers City Grocer has some outstanding specials rolling out for the New York meat enthusiast. This week's special burger blend is a winning combo of brisket, sirloin, and the Foragers housemade bacon. In addition, Foragers will be hosting a "Butcher Night" once a week, where the talents behind the station will be creating an array of specialty sausages and roasts to be served. This week apple-cider-brined smoked pork chops are available, as well as a smoked duck sausage with fried cherries and crystalized ginger. [Grub Street]

• With Restaurant Days at Rockefeller Center (Wednesday, May 16 through Friday, May 18 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.), Rockefeller Plaza will be transformed into an outdoor dining haven offering seasonal specials from the Center’s restaurants. [Grub Street]

• Saturday, Lidia Bastianich will make an appearance at the Red Hook Fairway for a book signing from noon to 2:00 p.m. There will also be a sampling of her pastas and sauces. [Grub Street]

• On Thursday, May 10, Hearth and British wine critic/author Stuart Pigott will host the second annual Long Night of German Wines, a pre-summer kickoff to the Summer of Riesling. The dinner is $50 per person and all proceeds will benefit Help Us Hope, a South African charity dedicated to the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. [Grub Street]

• They say when one door closes, another opens. That seems to be just the case for the Claw, who recently opened up a new location in place of the former Hallo Berlin Express. [Midtown Lunch]

Filed Under: leftovers, openings

Perhaps the secret to getting a reservation at Brooklyn Fare (we've never succeeded, ahem) is to live above it. Crain's writes that the building on 37th between Ninth and Tenth that will house the bigger, better Manhattan location has already leased two dozen of its units in just a few weeks. The twelve-story building has 97 total apartments, with studios starting at $2,625. Foodies, better get your broker on the horn now. [Crain's]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: location location, brooklyn fare, hell's kitchen, real estate

Seven major food companies, including Danny Meyer's Beard-dripping Union Square Hospitality, which also has a Boston Shake Shack in the works, are vying for a spot at One World Trade Center where sales are predicted to be extraordinarily lucrative. This could mean a Shake Shack up so high that it would practically be in heaven. Sounds about right. [NYT via Eater]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: empire building, cloud burger, danny meyer, one world trade

Over on Slate, Scott Jacobson shares his touching tale of moving to L.A. and bowing to pressure to adopt an all-kale diet. While keeping a "kale journal," Jacobson finds that his favorite leafy green is a bit high maintenance ("kale must actually be massaged"), not beloved by cats, and can be enjoyed as a flavor of Orbitz gum [Ed. note: not really]. Of course, switch to an all-kale regimen and you "eventually start peeing a substance much like the cabbage stew once served in Victorian workhouses." Would that be a sign it's time to start attending KA meetings? [Slate]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: dystopian futures, kale

Mother’s Day — fast approaching; it's this Sunday — is the perfect opportunity to spoil Mom and let her know how special she is, or to brownnose. Either way, show mama you love her with a decadent prix fixe brunch, à la carte dinner, or an airy outdoor affair. All moms say they don’t have favorites, but surprise her with a meal at any of these spots on her big day and you’ll be on the fast track to favoritism, especially if you keep the complimentary mimosas coming. Scope our map of dining destinations below.

Aquavit
65 E. 55th St., nr. Madison Ave.; 212-307-7311
When: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
What: Let Aquavit give Mom the Viking treatment — an all-day Nordic-style smorgasbord where she can pick from leg of lamb, herring, salmon, and ris à la malta (rice pudding).
Price: $65 per person

Benoit
60 W. 55th St., nr. Sixth Ave.; 646-943-7373
When: 11:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; 5 to 11 p.m.
What: Highlights at this Parisian transplant include an unlimited dessert bar with tarts, cakes, and a Paris-Brest filled with hazelnut cream.
Price: à la carte

Brasserie
100 E. 53rd. St., nr. Park Ave.; 212-751-4840;
When: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
What: Surf-n-turf’s the proverbial word with Brasserie’s three-course prix fixe menu. It’s Mom’s choice of king salmon tartare, grilled striped bass, and prime-rib of beef Bordelaise, plus lemon mille feuilles and blueberry compote. Or she can pick from an à la carte menu and raw bar featuring oysters, clams, and shrimp. Every mama in the house gets a free mini brown-butter cake.
Price: $49 per person

Brasserie 8 ½
9 W. 57th St., nr. Fifth Ave.; 212-829-0812
When: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
What: B is for Brasserie, brunch, and buffets — lots of buffets. There are hot and cold buffets offering pizza, crepe, and mac and cheese stations, barbecue pulled pork shoulder, and poached jumbo shrimp. For dessert, there’s peanut butter pie, chocolate eclairs, lemon meringue custard cups, and cupcakes. And for Mom, a free Kir Royale.
Price: $55 a person; $25 for kids under 12

DBGB Kitchen & Bar
299 Bowery, nr. Houston St.; 212-933-5300
When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
What: Each of Daniel Boulud’s restaurants is offering a Mom-day brunch special. DBGB’s is a three-course prix fixe (and the cheapest).
Price: $27

Donatella
184 W. Eighth Ave., nr. W. 20th St.; 212-493-5150
When: noon to 11 p.m.
What: Owner Donatella Arpaia offers special Mother’s Day menu items like a calzone with bacon and smoked mozzarella, crispy soft shell crab with radish salad and pickled ramp vinaigrette, and a Torta Della Mamma with layers of frangipani and apricot — on her own first Mother’s Day as a mom.
Price: à la carte

Dragonfly
1463 Third Ave., at E. 83rd St.; 212-203-5518
When: 5 to 9 p.m.
What: Chef Cornelius Gallagher shares dishes developed from travels through Southeast Asia, like wasabi pastrami marrow dumplings, dashi, and Sriracha bacon for Mother’s Day dinner.
Price: à la carte

Edi & the Wolf
102 Ave. C, at E. 7th St.; 212-598-1040
When: 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
What: Start mom’s brunch with spring ingredients and finish it with chocolate with this three-course prix fixe. Artichoke salad and roasted Cornish hen are finished with “chocolate two ways” served with cherries, milk, and verbena.
Price: $48 per person

Haru Sushi
Multiple locations
When: 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
What: Choose an appetizer (like a tower of spicy tuna, salmon tartare, king crab, and caviar), an entrée (like grilled chicken teriyaki), and a dessert (cheesecake tempura) at this affordable brunch spot. And give Mom some bubbly with cocktails like Enter the Dragon with Prosecco and pomegranate (not included).
Price: $25

JoeDoe, JoeDough
45 E. 1st St., nr. Second Ave.; 212-780-0262 and 135 First Ave., nr. St. Marks Pl.; 212-780-9222
When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
What: Co-owner Joe Dobias pays homage to his own mother’s Irish roots and partner Jill Schuster honors her mom’s meatloaf with some homey brunch specials at the “Aggressive American” eatery. At nearby Joe Dough, Momma Dobias’s pancake sandwich has fried duck eggs and maple syrup between two pancakes, and Mom’s meatloaf sandwich is topped with homemade ketchup and American cheese.
Price: entrees, $10 to $14

Junoon
27 W. 24th St., nr. Broadway; 212-490-2100
When: Special menu from noon to 4 p.m.; Mother’s Day gifts noon to 10 p.m.
What: The Flatiron Indian restaurant offers a special thali in vegetarian and meat options in addition to the regular menu. Moms get a complimentary Sparkling Saffron Champagne cocktail and a spice mix from Junoon’s in-house spice room.
Price: $25 to $29

Kutsher’s Tribeca
186 Franklin St., nr. Greenwich St.; 212-431-0606
When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; 5 to 10 p.m.
What: Kutsher’s usual brunch items, like challah French toast and matzo brei, are all under $20. For dinner service, Mom gets a complimentary glass of Prosecco and onion rolls to take home.
Price: $17 and under

La Promenade des Anglais
461 W. 23rd St., nr. Tenth Ave.; 212-255-7400
When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; 5:30 to 10 p.m.
What: Chef Alain Allegretti’s three-course prix-fixe menu for brunch and dinner includes seasonal touches: a corn-and-crab soup, white and green asparagus salad, caviar and eggs, and a Guanaja chocolate mousse with salted caramel, feuilletine, and hazelnut gelato. You’ll need to walk it off on the High Line.
Price: $65

Lansky’s Deli
235 Columbus Ave., at W. 71st St.; 212-787-0400
When: Sat. and Sun., 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
What: Crab cake and eggs Benedict, pancakes and sausage, and cheese blintzes are all available under $20 at this weekend brunch spot.
Price: $20 and under

Lincoln Ristorante
142 W. 65th St., nr. Broadway; 212-359-6500
When: 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; 5:30 to 10:30 p.m.
What: Two courses and three dining rooms at Lincoln’s Mother’s Day brunch, with choices of spaghettoni alla carbonara, gnudi di ricotta, a strawberry puree, and Prosecco cocktail toast.
Price: Brunch, $32 per person; dinner à la carte

Marcony
184 Lexington Ave., nr. E. 32nd St.; 646-837-6020
When: noon to 9 p.m.
What: This four-course prix fixe menu includes a glass of Prosecco and a choice of appetizer, pasta course, entrée, and dessert. Let Mom choose from an eggplant cake filled with mozzarella, ricotta-filled ravioli with red beets and sage butter, grilled salmon, and lemon curd tart with raspberry.
Price: $75 per person

The Mermaid Inn
568 Amsterdam Ave., nr. W. 88th St.; 212-799-7400
When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; 5 to 10 p.m.
What: Mermaid fish tacos with pico and avocado and a lobster sandwich top the seafood-heavy menu at this Mother’s Day brunch, which also coincides with Lobsterpalooza — a pound and a half of lobster plus veggies for $24.
Price: à la carte

Mymoon
184 N. 10th St., nr. Driggs Ave., Brooklyn; 718-599-7007
When: 5 to 11 p.m.
What: Whisk mom to Brooklyn and Mymoon for a three-course prix fixe menu on the outdoor patio. Inside or out, there’s Spanish tapas and Mediterranean nibbles — octopus carpaccio with mango, butternut squash gnocchi with capers and kalamata olives, chocolate mousse with toasted baguette, olive oil, and sea salt, and more on the menu.
Price: $45 per person

Pure Food and Wine
54 Irving Pl., nr. E. 17th St.; 212-477-1010
When: noon to 4 p.m.
What: Pure raw joint pairs its vegan menu with the outdoors for a Mother’s Day brunch, weather permitting. The regular lunch menu will also be available.
Price: à la carte

Recette
328 W. 12th St., at Greenwich St.; 212-414-3000
When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; 5 p.m. to late
What: For brunch, treat Mom to decadent braised oxtail and bone-marrow hash browns. For dinner, a springtime ramp soup with fried clams and chorizo.
Price: à la carte

Ristorante Asellina
420 Park Ave. S, at E. 29th St.; 212-317-2908
When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (flowers 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.)
What: Asellina becomes a pop-up floral shop where moms can pick out their own bouquet from a flower cart in the restaurant for free. Also complimentary for moms is a Rosolio rosewater-based cocktail from Asellina’s mixologist. Additions to the regular brunch menu include shrimp frittata, sage and orange pappardelle, pacific sole, and Champagne and butternut squash pudding.
Price: à la carte

Rock Center Café
20 W. 50th St., nr. Fifth Ave.; 212-332-7620
When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; 4 to 9 p.m.
What: A homey brunch or dinner awaits mom at the rink-side café, like buttermilk pancakes and a stuffed chicken breast, and outside in the new Summer Garden and Bar, a live performance by Juilliard musicians. Plus, mothers get a gift pack with spa products, a spa gift card, herb garden starter kit, and chocolate petits fours.
Price: Brunch, $40; Dinner, $59

Salinas
136 Ninth. Ave., nr. W. 19th St.; 212-776-1990
When: noon to 3 p.m.
What: The Mother’s Day brunch menu at this Spanish eatery includes nibbles like an Iberian-style pizza with bacon, Mahon cheese, and shaved Brussels sprouts and a pesto with toasted bread crumbs, almonds, and sherry.
Price: à la carte

The Sea Grill
19 W. 49th St., nr. Rockefeller Plz., 212-332-7610
When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
What: After her three-course prix-fixe brunch of Montauk calamari à la plancha and grilled New Zealand snapper, Mom gets a gift of spa products, a $25 spa gift certificate, an herb garden starter kit, and dark chocolate petits fours.
Price: $60 per person

SushiSamba
245 Park Ave. S., at E. 20th St.; 212-475-9377
When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
What: Latin sushi fusion SushiSamba adds sweet brunch specials like quinoa waffles with apple membrillo and strawberry-caipirinha compote with vanilla and cinnamon butter, and savory ones like cast-iron steak and eggs with soft polenta. It’s all set to a Bossa Nova performance by Trio Zona Sul from noon to 3 p.m.
Price: $10 to $18

Toloache 50, Toloache 82, Toloache Tacqueria, Coppelia, Yerba Buena Perry, and Yerba Buena Ave. A
When: Sunday, all day
What: Toloache 50 and Toloache 82 offer a prix-fixe brunch menu, and all Mother’s Day patrons at all six of Chef Julian Medina’s restaurants have to chance to enter a raffle for a trip to Oaxaca for a mother and one guest.
Price: à la carte

Triomphe
49 W. 44th St. nr. Sixth Ave.; 212-453-4233
When: 10:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
What: Triomphe plans her day with a prix-fixe brunch and a ticket to Broadway’s End of the Rainbow at the Belasco Theatre. Choose your small plate, a main plate, and side dish, or order from the à la carte menu (almond butter and strawberry jam pancakes and coconut waffles). Specialty cocktails available after noon.
Price: $120

Related: Feed Your Mother [NYM]

Read more posts by Sarah Lawson

Filed Under: grub guides, mother's day

This entire report sounds bogus, but as they say, there is a sprig of sage truth in every rumor (and don't forget about that Il Buco Alimentari episode, which did not sound very pleasant). So, allegedly, Rachael Ray — who is moving into Martha Stewart's television studio — has "asked staffers to perform a wacky exorcism ritual ... ordering them to burn bundles of sage to chase away negative spirits." Wonder if Martha can grab some scraps for her next asparagus dish? [NYP]

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Filed Under: spellbound, martha stewart, rachael ray

"Feeling mighty sunny on a grey day despite de minimus sleep following Beardfest. Bestest industry in the world." —Danny Meyer, the morning after his protégés Michael Anthony and Daniel Humm took home top honors, adding to the ever-multiplying James Beard Awards under the Union Square Hospitality umbrella. [Danny Meyer/Twitter]

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Filed Under: quote of the day, danny meyer, jbfa

The hard-to-spell, umlauted original gourmet ice cream brand is giving away free cones this afternoon from 4 to 8 p.m. All you have to do is show up at any of these participating locations (there are nine in Manhattan). Grub's favorite flavor, coffee, doubles as an afternoon pick-me-up. [New York Street Food]

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Filed Under: giveaways, free, free food!!!, haagen-dazs, ice cream

If tall white hats, muscular forearms, and a way with knives make you tingle, then you may be primed to date a chef. Over on HowAboutWe's blog, one writer went so far as to marry one, and she reports back with the perks (we think they're perks, anyway). Sure, eating well, visiting under-the-radar restaurants, and sporting an impressive food vocabulary sound great. But among the other benefits, going to sleep and to events alone, having friends treat you as a walking guidebook (not to mention calling you a chef-schtupper), and having date night only on Mondays sounds pretty dismal. If you're going to try this at home, be sure to stock up on independence and patience, along with all the Pepto-Bismol. Readers in the field, does that sound about right? [Date Report/HowAboutWe]

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Filed Under: oui chef, chefs, dating

We usually leave the look-book beat to our friends over at the Cut — because most chefs spend so much of their time in white jackets and toques. But at the James Beard Awards gala, attendees go all out with their sartorial choices, and this year's show wasn't any different. Plus, a red-carpet roundup feels appropriately awards-y. With that in mind, check out the looks from last night's ceremony, straight ahead.

Related: And the James Beard 2012 Winners Are: Daniel Humm, Christina Tosi, Michael Anthony, and More
Earlier: How Chefs Dress Up for Their Awards Show

Read more posts by Alan Sytsma

Filed Under: sharp!, james beard foundation awards 2012, slideshow

It's shaping up to be kind of a bad week for hot-dog carts. The latest smear comes from Hell's Kitchen, where the proprietors of bi-level suds emporium Beer Authority are claiming a cart parked just outside their entrance produces so much smoke it's driving customers away. "Nobody wants to come in here because of the stink," one of the owners told DNAinfo. The team has tried contacting the DEP, DOH, NYPD, 311, and other bodies in hopes of getting help, to no avail. And they can't even figure out who owns the cart in order to tell him off. Clearly, somebody needs to get creative. Maybe the hot-dog hooker wants to set up instead? [DNAinfo]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: beef, beer authority, hell's kitchen, hot dog cart

Grub Street caught up with a rhapsodic Jay McInerney at last night's James Beard Awards at Lincoln Center to gossip a little bit about how things have changed since the roaring eighties, "who's actually cool" in the food scene (besides, obviously April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman), and the controversial oenophile question of the moment: Why do most wine bars bite the big one?

Be real with us, is anyone here actually cool?
Hell yeah! There's April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman; they're the absolute coolest. Paul Grieco is a renegade and a badass. And, Eric Ripert ... some of his clients might be boring, tight-ass suits, but that's no reflection on him. Believe me. Same with Boulud. I can't even tell you some of the nights I've had with those guys because it would get everyone in a lot of trouble.

Have chefs sold out a little bit since the eighties?
Well, in the eighties, I didn't eat because we were doing other things that pretty much precluded eating. Our nutrition back then was "post-nasal drip" and vodka. But in the nineties, I discovered food. Really, through wine, I discovered food.

Which leads to wine bars ... are there any good ones?
Most wine bars don't really have any guiding philosophy except this alleged commitment to whatever is trendy in the wine industry at that moment. Again, Paul Grieco at Terroir, that's happening. He doesn't follow trends, he makes them. Il Posto Accanto, on the Lower East Side, is fantastic; all Italian wines, owned by great people who are doing God's work. That right there is your top, non-sucky New York wine bar.

Earlier: And The James Beard Winners Are...

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Filed Under: eric ripert, jay mcinerney, ken friedman, terroir, wine bars

The glamorous James Beard Awards were last night, a fête at which April Bloomfield wears eyeliner ("People aren't recognizing me!") and PR girls get fired for not allowing Jacques Pépin into the press room. Exciting wins included Momofuku Milk Bar's Christina Tosi for Rising Star and EMP/NoMad's Daniel Humm for Best Chef, plus a tie (!) for Best Chef Southeast between Hugh Acheson and Linton Hopkins. "Giving that speech was interesting; I said the first word, he said the second, and [we] went back and forth," Acheson exhaled to Grub. The most poignant moment was Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern, who recently "had a very serious health emergency" and won for Best Chef NYC. "This year, I was extremely touched by everyone in the industry who reached out with care, food, and encouragement. And to be able to thank all of them in person was extraordinary."

Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH)
Bruce Sherman
North Pond Chicago

Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (D.C., DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA)
Maricel Presilla
Cucharamama Hoboken, NJ

Best Chef: Midwest (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI)
Tory Miller
L’Etoile Madison, WI

Best Chef: New York City
(Five Boroughs)
Michael Anthony
Gramercy Tavern

Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, NY State, RI, VT)
Tim Cushman
O Ya Boston

Best Chef: Northwest (AK, ID, MT, OR, WA, WY)
Matt Dillon
Sitka & Spruce Seattle

Best Chef: Pacific (CA, HI)
Matt Molina
Osteria Mozza Los Angeles

Best Chef: South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS)
Chris Hastings
Hot and Hot Fish Club Birmingham, AL

Best Chef: Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV)
Hugh Acheson
Five and Ten Athens, GA

Linton Hopkins
Restaurant Eugene Atlanta

Best Chef: Southwest (AZ, CO, NM, NV, OK, TX, UT)
Paul Qui
Uchiko Austin, TX

Best New Restaurant
Next
Chicago

Outstanding Wine, Beer, or Spirits Professional
Paul Grieco
Terroir NYC

Outstanding Wine Program
No. 9 Park
Boston

Outstanding Bar Program
PDT
NYC

Outstanding Service
La Grenouille
NYC

Outstanding Pastry Chef
Mindy Segal
Mindy’s HotChocolate Chicago

Outstanding Restaurateur
Tom Douglas
Tom Douglas Restaurants Seattle

Rising Star Chef of the Year
Christina Tosi
Momofuku Milk Bar NYC

Outstanding Restaurant
Boulevard
San Francisco

Outstanding Chef
Daniel Humm
Eleven Madison Park NYC

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Filed Under: winners, christina tosi, daniel humm, emp, gramery tavern, jbfa, michael anthony

• Chef David Santos’s Um Segredo supper club, the clandestine, fourteen-seat dinner party that takes place in secret locations across the city, has announced its late-May events, including a May 17 Portuguese dinner and a May 18 vegetarian meal. The most mouthwatering date is May 25, for Santos’s “Duck, Duck, Goose,” whose savory menu is deliciously apparent. [Grub Street]

• Williamsburg’s My Moon has debuted an inventive, all-new menu, courtesy of new chef Ivan Vilches. The el Bulli protégé has turned tapas slightly on its ear, offering smoked sea bass, octopus with potato foam, and salt-cooked foie gras. [Brooklyn Paper]

• Corkbuzz Wine Studio has brought their thrifty Friday Blind Tasting Happy Hour to Mondays. Corkbuzz’s master sommelier is doling out blind flights of three different wines for a mere $15 from 5 to 6 p.m. [Grub Street]

• Bob Holman’s Bowery Poetry Club, which opened up back in 2002, is finally vying to open up a restaurant from within and has taken to Kickstarter to raise the $50,000 necessary to do so. [Bowery Boogie]

• Still looking for that last minute Mother’s Day gift? A $500 food and wine getaway sounds great to us. The Lake Placid Lodge is giving away just that to the first three guests who reserve a room or cabin at their Relais & Chateaux property. Yes, mom is definitely worth the five-hour drive north. [Grub Street]

• In more crowdsourcing news, East Harlem Café is on the verge of foreclosure and aims to raise $10,000 via Indiegogo in 30 days for kitchen supplies, equipment, and more. [Indigogo]

• Discounted wine is always a good thing, which is why Paprika’s Half-Off Wine Mondays is perfect. The northern Italian eatery normally offers bottles from $28 to $91, but Monday night patrons can slash those prices by 50 percent. [Grub Street]

• Jamaica, Queens, just scored one of the more interesting restaurants we’ve come across in awhile: Bangladeshi and Chinese fusion. Voot-er Adda comes from the man behind midtown’s Biryani Cart and, despite the location, appears delectable. [Midtown Lunch]

Filed Under: leftovers, bowery poetry club, corkbuzz wine studio, east harlem café, lake placid lounge, my moon, paprika, sprinkles cupcakes, um segredo supper club, voot-er adda

"I don't think there's anybody who doesn't drink in the cast. And only two true hardcore alcoholics, only two truly degenerating people. This is out of six adults. There are two people who are living so hard they're shortening their lives; and four who just drink more than they should." —Modern Family star Ty Burrell on the cast's boozing. [Daily Meal]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: quote of the day, modern family, ty burrell

Josh Russ Tupper, co-owner of the incomparable and sublime Russ and Daughters, recommends Bacaro for date spots, An Choi for bánh mì, and Freemans for visitors. He's also nostalgic for naked women and druggies from visiting Bubby and Zadie way back when. [The Lo-Down]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: LES, russ and daughters

A few weeks ago, the magazine brought word of a burgeoning Chinese cuisine: Yunnan, whose influencers range from Southeast Asia to Tibet. Tonight, Yunnan Kitchen opens its doors on Clinton Street, with Franny's alum Travis Post's locavore spin on the province's traditional fare. Think lots of herbs, including mint and lemongrass — as in the pork belly with Yunnan spices and mint, or the lemongrass chicken. While owner Erika Chou waits on a beer-and-wine license, she's offering a selection of teas, many from fertile Yunnan itself. When the booze does flow, expect Sixpoint Bengali Tiger on draft (the better to go with a vintage tiger rug that hangs on the wall) along with three wines on tap, Finger Lakes Riesling among them. See the space and a few dishes straight ahead.

Menu [PDF]

Yunnan Kitchen, 79 Clinton St., nr. Rivington St.; 212-253-2527

Related: From Hunan to Yunnan [NYM]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: openings, chinese, lower east side, menus, slideshows, yunnan, yunnan kitchen

After years of battling and boycotting, Flaum Appetizing, makers of Kosher hummus and other foods in Williamsburg, will pay twenty former workers, "most of them Mexican immigrants," the money they are owed in back wages: $577,000. [NYT]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: lawsuits, hummus

It would seem like giving up pizza is just part of the deal when one goes gluten-free — and that such a junky sacrifice would actually feel healthy and rewarding. But not anymore! Domino's introduces a gluten-free pizza crust today, proving that just because you're on a health-conscious diet, you can still eat like a stoned dumbass. This raises the question: Which sounds grosser — hot-dog-stuffed crusts from Pizza Hut, or gluten-free crusts from Domino's? [USAT]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: crust, domino's, gluten-free

Ah, spring ... the season for boot camp. Not the whipping-your-arse-into-shape kind (though we could use some of that), but the urban-farming kind. BK Farmyards has a three-session program for aspiring urban farmers/gardeners that begins later this month and costs $250 for two evening lecture classes and a hands-on day at Foxtrot Farmyards. If that sounds like your bag of mulch, head on over to Skillshare to sign up. [Skillshare]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: foodievents, bootcamp, brooklyn farmyards, urban farming

With the recent news that a bidder offered $200,000 for a twenty-person charity dinner cooked by Eric Ripert (not to mention Edvard Munch's The Scream fetching an astronomical $120 million at auction last week), we had the subject on our mind at this weekend's Lucky Rice Grand Feast, held at the Mandarin Oriental. So, when we bumped into some of the chefs in attendance — Susur Lee, Gramercy Tavern's Michael Anthony, and Ming Tsai — we asked them, flat-out, what's the most money somebody's ever paid to eat one of your dinners?

Lee told us that his biggest ticket didn't come from an auction, but instead a regular diner at his Toronto restaurant: "Two or three years ago, a man came in, brought a party of five, and spent $14,000," he told us. "I was watching from the kitchen and he sat like an emperor at the head of the table." But, we asked, did he feel the need to do anything special for a diner dropping that much cash? "I sent over some extra desserts."

Anthony, taking a page from the playbook of his ever-diplomatic boss Danny Meyer, told us that Gramercy Tavern's staff "doesn't really measure [the success of our meals] in dollars," but did reveal that a bidder once offered $35,000 at a City Harvest event in exchange for a private dinner for twenty people.

The winner of the night, though, was Ming Tsai, who told us that he once auctioned off a small meal for eight people for $100,000 — that's $12,500 per person, if you're doing the math — to none other than Tiger Woods, who "bought it for his foundation," Tsai says. "It was a gift to his best friend, who was getting married ... We served a lot, a lot, of food."

Read more posts by Alexandra Peers

Filed Under: big spenders, charity auctions, ming tsai, tiger woods

We already know that Pat LaFrieda president Mark Pastore likes to eat, so how does he trim the fat? Turns out it's not just table-hopping: The social butterfly got into spinning workout SoulCycle a few months ago and has lost 50 pounds turning and burning. "Now my skinny jeans don't fit me anymore," he says. Gotta look good for TV, right? [SoulCycle]

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: workouts, mark pastore, pat la frieda meat purveyors, soulcycle

On the more exciting side of Chef's Night Out, Grub Street spoke to Thomas Keller, who had just recorded his tribute to Julia Child and was in prep mode for the James Beard Awards tonight. “I get nervous all the time,” he tells us about public speaking, reminding us that he is a human being with actual human flaws, like struggling with intimidation. "Julia Child, Jean Louis Palladin, Jacques Pépin — the legends. I am never totally at ease talking to chefs of that caliber even though they are all incredibly gracious and nice,” he admits. “I know what it’s like to be on the other end and I always try to return the favor the greats did for me to the new, younger crop.”

Earlier: What Went Down at Chef's Night Out

Read more posts by Adeena Sussman

Filed Under: human condition, jbfa, thomas keller

The Long Island mom who moonlights as a hot-dog-pushing hooker, and was already busted for the same slut-truck years back, has been caught again and is now rotting in jail. Kinda blows. [NYP]

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: doggy style, hookers, hot-dogs

Last night, the popular personalities of the food universe gathered at Chelsea Market for their annual, pre-JBFA Chef's Night Out. Considering the crowd, it could have been a rip-roaring rager. But damn, is debauchery dead? Seamus Mullen reminds us that he only gets wasted "once or twice a year," and Curtis Stone is all about the babies, not babes. “Life is so much better," he gushes to Grub about having a son. "Everything feels sunnier.” At least Andrew Zimmern had some fire in his eyes ...

During the party, Zimmern told Grub that he has some old, unresolved beef with Tyler Florence, stewing from long before the Twitter era. “I booked Ty-Flo to go on my radio show that I had before I became famous ... and he canceled on several occasions ... I gave him shit about it on the air. It got back to me that he’s STILL annoyed at me about it all these years later." What would Zimmern like to say to him? “Tyler Florence, come back home, all is forgiven. You’re a good kisser but you’ve got busy hands.”

Read more posts by Alyssa Shelasky

Filed Under: parties, bravo, chefs night out, curtis stone, jbfa

In this week's New York, the Underground Gourmet turns its attention to two sandwich-y spinoffs: San Matteo Panuozzo and Taboonette. What is a panuozzo, you ask? As the U.G. explains, it's "like a supersize panino" — pizza dough that's baked, stuffed, folded, and baked again. At the shop in question, the specimens are "hefty and filling, ­although constructed in the minimalist Italian fashion, and served with an enthusiastic smile"; San Matteo Panuozzo earns two stars.

The U.G. also investigates Taboonette, the new spinoff of Hell's Kitchen favorite Taboon, which is dedicated to "meat, seafood, and vegetable fillings stuffed into pita, folded into wraps, or served over vermicelli-strewn rice." Rob and Robin particularly enjoy the breakfast-sandwich shashuka, "a Middle Eastern Egg McMuffin of sorts"; as well as the "pulled-pork pocket with fennel-jicama-apple slaw and chicharrónes, and the sautéed calamari option with yogurt sauce and chimichurri"; this one also gets a two-spot.

Meanwhile, folks elsewhere in the food-iverse are wondering about the fate of the humble bodega. If 7-Eleven has its way, mom-and-pop groceries may go the way of the dodo, writes Willy Staley. Less depressing, here's a downright salty chocolate-chip cookie to consider, the handiwork of Smile to Go pastry chef Brenna White. And do also consider this recipe for asparagus-and-pastina soup, from the lovely little book Zuppe by Mona Talbott.

Read more posts by Jenny Miller

Filed Under: in the magazine, 7-eleven, from the magazine, san matteo panuozzo, taboonette

A handful of hardworking writers and journalists are (hopefully) trading in morning meetings for mimosas today after winning James Beard awards on Friday. Among them are Amanda Hesser for Food52; Gabrielle Hamilton for Blood, Bones & Butter; and Alan Richman for, among other reviews, his famous/infamous takedown of M. Wells ("Diner for Schmucks"). Congrats to all the deserving winners! Check out the full list here!

2012 James Beard Foundation Awards Winners

Cookbook of the Year
Modernist Cuisine
by Nathan Myhrvold with Chris Young and Maxime Bilet
(The Cooking Lab)

Cookbook Hall of Fame
Laurie Colwin
Home Cooking and More Home Cooking

American Cooking
A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen
by Hugh Acheson
(Clarkson Potter)

Baking and Dessert
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home
by Jeni Britton Bauer
(Artisan)

Beverage
Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, with Cocktails, Recipes, & Formulas
by Brad Thomas Parsons
(Ten Speed Press)

Cooking from a Professional Point of View
Modernist Cuisine
by Nathan Myhrvold with Chris Young and Maxime Bilet
(The Cooking Lab)

General Cooking
Ruhlman’s Twenty
by Michael Ruhlman
(Chronicle Books)

Focus on Health
Super Natural Every Day: Well-Loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen
by Heidi Swanson
(Ten Speed Press)

International
The Food of Morocco
by Paula Wolfert
(Ecco)

Photography
Notes from a Kitchen: A Journey Inside Culinary Obsession
Artist/Photographer: Jeff Scott
(Tatroux)

Reference and Scholarship
Turning the Tables: Restaurants and the Rise of the American Middle Class, 1880-1920
by Andrew P. Haley
(The University of North Carolina Press)

Single Subject
All About Roasting
by Molly Stevens
(W.W. Norton & Company)

Writing and Literature
Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef
by Gabrielle Hamilton
(Random House)

2012 James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards
For articles published in English in 2011.

Publications of the Year
Amanda Hesser
Food52

Darra Goldstein
Gastronomica

Cooking, Recipes, or Instruction
Anna Thomas
EatingWell
“The Soup for Life”

Environment, Food Politics, and Policy
Ben Paynter
Fast Company
“The Sweet Science”

Food Coverage in a Food-Focused Publication
Saveur
James Oseland

Food Coverage in a General-Interest Publication
Lesley Bargar Suter
Los Angeles
“Chinese Food in L.A.,” “It's Time for Breakfast in L.A,” “Food Lovers Guide”

Food Culture and Travel
Fuchsia Dunlop
The Financial Times
“Global Menu: Kicking Up a Stink”

Food-Related Columns
Lettie Teague
The Wall Street Journal
On Wine: Lettie Teague: “Drink, Memory: How to Remember that Wine;” “In Praise of the One-Cabernet Lunch;” “May I recommend: Lessons of Great Sommeliers”

Group Food Blog
The Salt: NPR’s Food Blog
Maria Godoy

Maureen O’Hagan
The Seattle Times
“Feeling the Weight: The Emotional Battle to Control Kids’ Diet”

Humor
Brett Martin
GQ
“The Hangover Part III”

Individual Food Blog
Poor Man’s Feast
Elissa Altman
Poormansfeast.com
“Craving the Food of Depravity”

Personal Essay
Cal Fussman
Esquire.com
“Drinking at 1,300 Ft: A 9/11 Story About Wine and Wisdom”

Profile
Susan Choi
Food & Wine
“The Spice Wizardry of Lior Lev Sercarz”

Visual Storytelling
Landon Nordeman
Saveur
“Soul of Sicily,” “BBQ Nation,” “Heart of the Valley”

Wine, Spirits, and Other Beverages
Sarah Karnasiewicz
Imbibe
“Fizzy Business”

Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review Award
Alan Richman
GQ
“The Very Tasty Liberation of Paris,” “I Heart SF,” “Diner for Schmucks”

MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award
John T. Edge
Saveur
“BBQ Nation”

Radio Show/Audio Webcast
Fear of Frying: Culinary Nightmares
Host: Nina Barrett
Area: WBEZ
Producer: Jason Marck

Special/Documentary (Television or Video Webcast)
A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt
Network: HBO
Producers: Sally Rowe, Rachel Mills, and Alan Oxman

Television Program, In Studio or Fixed Location
Chopped
Host: Ted Allen
Network: Food Network
Producers: Linda Lea, Dave Noll, and Vivian Sorenson

Television Program, On Location
Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern
Host: Andrew Zimmern
Network: Travel Channel
Producer: Andrew Zimmern

Television Segment
CBS News Sunday Morning
Host: Martha Teichner
Network: CBS
Producers: Lauren Barnello, Jon Carras, Edward Forgotson, Patrick Lee, and David Small

Video Webcast
eatTV with Jamie Tiampo
Eattv.com
Host: Jamie Tiampo
Producers: Suzanne Glickstein, Jimmy McCoy, and Jamie Tiampo

Media Personality/Host (Television or Video Webcast)
Host: Ted Allen
Show: Chopped
Network: Food Network

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Filed Under: big machers, james beard foundation awards 2012, jbfa, media awards