Posts for August 5, 2009 -- Grub Street: New York Magazine's Food and Restaurant Blog

Posts for August 5, 2009

8/5/09 at 6:36 PM
Openings
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Todd English Rumored to Be Teaming With Jon B

By Daniel Maurer

Guest of a Guest hears a rumor, “verified” by Steve Lewis, that Jon B of the shuttered Guest House and Home will be opening a restaurant with Todd English at 539 West 21st Street (formerly Aria and Opera). Zagat had previously mentioned the restaurant, His Royal Highness, but Todd English’s involvement is news, and strange news at that. Last we heard, English was partnering with Tao’s Sam Hazen. His involvement with Jon B (whose nightclubs became the symbol of all that was wrong with the West Chelsea scene) is a curious one. We’re not so quick to accept Steve Lewis’s word on this one (given that he has tussled with English in the press and called him a “two-bit, lying punk”), so we’ve asked English’s rep (who so far doesn’t know anything about this) for comment.

8/5/09 at 6:30 PM
Neighborhood Watch
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Pick Plantain in Fort Greene Park; Robert’s Steakhouse Expands

By Alexandra Vallis

Carroll Gardens: Bar Great Harry will turn its taps over to local beers from Kelso Brewery next Tuesday from 6 to 10 p.m. “As usual, prices will be nices and the meat and cheese will be free.” [Bar Great Harry via Brooklyn Based]
East Village: Russ & Daughters will be featured on Friday’s episode of Chef vs. City. [Lox Populi]
Fort Greene: Plantain also happens to be the name of a common weed that relieves itching, tastes nice in salads, and flourishes in Fort Greene Park. [The Local/NYT]

8/5/09 at 5:20 PM
Lawsuits
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Irving Mill Fights Ex-Chef John Schaefer in Court

By Daniel Maurer

Irving Mill is embroiled in a messy lawsuit with its opening chef (and Ryan Skeen’s precursor) John Schaefer, according to papers City File has unearthed. The chef, who now works at Grotto in Morris Plains, New Jersey, sued the restaurant for breach of contract several weeks ago, claiming that owners Suzanne, Mario, and Sergio Riva fired him without cause and that they used the restaurant’s bank account for personal expenses. According to City File, “He also says that when he was ultimately dismissed and requested his outstanding paychecks, the Rivas refused and threatened to expose him as a drunk if he took legal action against them.” Irving Mill filed a countersuit last week, alleging that Schaefer refused to get treatment for his drinking and also mentioning “repeated mismanagement of the restaurant and repeated refusal to obey the orders of the restaurant ownership.” Check out the complaints, which indicate that Schaefer is seeking at least $100,000, over at City File.

Irving Mill and Its Former Chef Face Off [City File]

8/5/09 at 4:50 PM
The Other Critics
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Has the Restaurant Critic’s Power Dwindled?

By Daniel Maurer

As you read in Mediavore, the Observer published a fortuitously timed piece about the state of the traditional restaurant critic this morning. The long and short of it: “In this world of ubiquitous foodies, where everyone’s a fan or a critic, it seems that the post of Times restaurant reviewer has lost some of its power in the eating game.” You’d think this would be music to the ears of bloggers (who are largely responsible for the loss of power), but one of them, Josh Ozersky, chimes in to admit the following.

8/5/09 at 4:25 PM
Top Chef
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Top Chef Masters Gets ‘Raw,’ Says Judge

By Alexandra Peers

James Oseland on Top Chef Masters.

So far, Bravo’s Top Chef Masters has been marked by a surprising civility among its supposedly cutthroat superstar chef contestants. Is all that camaraderie for real? Yes, says judge James Oseland — but don’t expect it to last. At a Shake Shack fete saluting his magazine’s “Burger Bible” in the September issue, the Saveur editor spoke frankly about the cooks in the TV kitchen. “These are pros who don’t have time for the undergrad nonsense,” Oseland said, but that doesn’t mean everyone is gracious all the time. “I don’t know what they’ll show [tonight], but everybody is starting to get tired and things get a little raw. ”

8/5/09 at 4:00 PM
Two for Eight
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Tables Available at Benoit, Daniel; Balthazar Mostly Booked

It’s time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze in a couple for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don’t guarantee the results.) Today: Gourmet French.

8/5/09 at 3:15 PM
The Other Critics
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What Does Sam Sifton’s ‘$25 and Under’ Experience Mean?

In addition to his Diner’s Journal reviews of 2004, Sam Sifton also wrote for the $25 and Under column for about half of 2002, when he penned reviews for Hurricane Hopeful, Celeste, Relish, Lima’s Taste, Sun Lok Kee, Wyanoka, M Shanghai Bistro, DuMont, Cabo Rojo, Da Andrea, Svenningsen's, Manetta's of Long Island City, Joe's Ginger, O Mai, Bennie's Thai Cafe, Biscuit, Brick Lane Curry House, Cocotte, and Hope & Anchor. It would be presumptuous to say Sifton’s $25 and Under experience signals that the next Times reviewer will focus more on inexpensive or moderately priced restaurants, but this does make us wonder: With so much reviewing experience under his belt back then (something Bill Keller strangely didn’t mention in his memo), was Sifton in the running for the job when Grimes left in 2004, before Bruni eventually got it?

Earlier: Get to Know Your New Times Critic: A Sam Sifton Reader

8/5/09 at 1:50 PM
The Other Critics
Comment

Get to Know Your New Times Critic: A Sam Sifton Reader

By Daniel Maurer

As it turns out, Sam Sifton also contributed to the Times’ Diner’s Journal column for a brief time in 2004 (he filed reviews between William Grimes’s departure and Bruni’s first review), and we’ve now had a chance to look back on his archive. The writing is punchy, showing a flair for creative food description (he recounts “a wrist-size hunk of braised pork belly strewn with enough honey-glazed garlic to make a mockery of the divide between sweet and savory”) while also evincing some of Bruni’s humor. In reviewing Craftbar, he describes Hearth as a “Xanax restaurant,” meaning it’s an escape from the urban fray. (Sifton, like Bruni, doesn’t seem to be a fan of restaurant noise, if his Spice Market review is any indicator.) Sifton also has an eye for the anecdote: He spends two paragraphs describing a funny incident at Junior’s, wherein a man asked the host after his mother (“a big woman”). He knows his way around a simile and isn’t afraid of pop culture: Megu is “situated on Thomas Street in Tribeca in the manner of a caparisoned elephant stuck in an alley,” and it’s interior is “part Lost in Translation, part Kill Bill.” Perhaps most promising of all, he’s willing to mock restaurants while also acknowledging the good in them — for instance the $25 edamame or the absurd menu at the aforementioned eatery. All told, we don’t expect this to be a radical departure from Bruni — here’s a buffet of highlights from his Diner’s Journal entries.

8/5/09 at 12:57 PM
Changing of the Guard
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Times Picks Culture Editor Sam Sifton As New Critic

By Daniel Maurer

The Times has named former dining-section editor and current culture editor Sam Sifton as its new restaurant critic, per a memo from executive Bill Keller reprinted by the Observer. While the Observer mentions Sifton’s interest in food (he recently wrote about cooking meat loaf for Nora Ephron in The New York Times Magazine), it doesn’t mention that he was the restaurant critic for the New York Press (among other positions) back in the nineties. We’ll see if we can dig up some clips from the archives to find out whether his writing will indeed put a smile on our faces, as Keller promises. But one thing is for sure: With photos of Sifton readily available on the Internet, the age of the anonymous critic is over. Keller’s introduction is below.

8/5/09 at 12:12 PM
Burger Boom
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Burgermania Reaches Point of Absurdity: ‘The Burger Art Show’

By Daniel Maurer

As if it wasn’t enough that burgers have become an object of gourmet fascination (the Feedbag is not looking forward to watching that played out on tonight’s episode of Top Chef), they’re now also the stuff of art. On Saturday, a group of artists will gather at a Brooklyn gallery to make art-themed burgers. Case in point: the Bernini Burger, in honor of seventeenth-century sculptor Gian Lrenzo Bernini. Check out the artist’s statement (yes, the artist’s statement about a hamburger).

8/5/09 at 12:00 PM
The Food Chain
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Masa Takayama Craves Dinosaur Bar-B-Que’s Big Ass Pork Plate

By Alexandra Vallis

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que’s Big Ass Pork Plate packs ten ounces of meat.Photo: Melissa Hom

Each week on the Food Chain, we ask a chef to describe a dish he or she recently enjoyed. The chef who prepared the dish responds and then picks his or her own memorable meal. On and on it goes. Last week, Yank Sing co-owner Vera Chan-Waller discussed uni risotto with Masa Takayama. Your pick, Takayama!

8/5/09 at 11:25 AM
Now Delivering
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Scuderia Delivers

With new chef Carlo Apollini onboard, Scuderia will launch delivery this Friday. Call 212-206-9111 between noon and 10 p.m. daily, and the full menu will be available, as long as you’re between Spring Street and 10th Street, and West Broadway and Hudson Street.

8/5/09 at 10:25 AM
Truckin'
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Has the Food-Truck Backlash Officially Begun?

By Daniel Maurer

In today’s Post, Carla Spartos (who might just be spending too much time with Steve Cuozzo) rants against the “twee-ification” of street food, targeting the new Bistro Truck and Schnitzel & Things when she writes, “Just as we’d prefer not to be served Hot Pockets for lunch at Jean Georges, there are certain items we’d rather not eat from a food truck — cod schnitzel, quiche Lorraine, and crème brülée, among them.” She admits that they serve decent food (in fact, the Bistro Truck’s Nutella crêpe is “outrageously good”), but she doesn’t like the “annoying Twitter feeds” (okay, so don’t subscribe to them?), the erratic schedules, the relatively high prices (“quite reasonable for restaurant — but not truck — food”), and the fact that you can’t have a beer with your food (just brown-bag it if it’s so important?) and have to eat it on a park bench, next to some icky homeless guy. As you can imagine, the trucks are not happy about this.

8/5/09 at 09:25 AM
The Other Critics
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Union Square Cafe Loses a Star; Greene and Freeman Check Out Hotel Griffou

By Alexandra Vallis

Danny Meyer must ply the staff at Union Square Cafe “with either Method-acting classes or major pharmaceuticals” to get them to be so accommodating, jokes Frank Bruni. “The courtesies explain something else, too: the blind eye many Union Square regulars seem to turn to its slippage; their silence about its drift.” [NYT]

“The kitchen’s still slowish but getting more confident” at Hotel Griffou, writes Gael Greene. Chef Jason Giordano is “cooking to please himself and serious eaters for when the trendetti move on.” (Greene also coins the term burger sluts for haute-burger admirers.) [Insatiable Critic]
Related: First Look at Hotel Griffou, Opening for Public Previews Tonight

“Perhaps they should rebrand Hotel Griffou as a cocktail bar with good desserts,” decides Danyelle Freeman, who did not enjoy “tiny” portions of French-American food but clearly liked the drinks. [NYDN]