Posts for November 18, 2009

Restaurant Owners Are Quietly Freaking Out Over Health-Care Reform

By Daniel Maurer

He should've called in sick.

Restaurateurs are seemingly sick at the thought of health-care reform. A couple of days ago Nation’s Restaurant News reported that the National Restaurant Association opposed certain provisions in the bill that was recently passed by the House, requiring business with a payroll of over $500,000 to offer benefits to part-time employees or pay a penalty (the NRA wants broader exemptions for small businesses) and requiring calorie labeling among chains with twenty or more locations. New York City restaurateurs are also facing changes on the local level: Nation’s Restaurant News reports that yesterday, small-business owners rallied on the steps of City Hall against a measure that already exists in San Francisco and Washington D.C. and is currently being considered by the New York City Council.

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Film Series at Café Grumpy Roastery; Half-Price Dim Sum and Sushi at Shang

By Alexandra Vallis

Greenpoint: Café Grumpy’s launched a November film series called Roastier and Toastier: Sweater Movies on Fridays at 7:30 p.m. outside its roastery at 193 Meserole Avenue. Next up: The Ice Storm, followed by Christmas Vacation. [Café Grumpy via Brooklyn Based]
Lower East Side: Shang has a new happy hour that doubles as a dinner deal: Monday through Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m., dim sum and sushi platters are half price and basic mixed drinks go for $6. [Grub Street]
Midtown West: The Noodle Bar at Woorijip is now closed on Mondays and accepts cash only. [Blondie and Brownie]
Park Slope: Sarah Lohman, the Historic Gastronomist, will prepare a Thanksgiving feast over the hearth at the Old Stone House on Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. Sample dishes like stewed squab and maced cauliflower. Free. [Grub Street]

Mr. Chow Adds Backstabbing Chefs to $10 Million Lawsuit Against Philippe

By Daniel Maurer

It’s been a while since we revisited the case that Michael Chow brought against Chak Yam Chau and Stratis Morfogen back in July for allegedly stealing Mr. Chow’s concept and dishes when they opened Philippe together, but lawyers in the Florida and California cases are now seeking to merge them so they can be heard by the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida.

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Another Red Mango Down

Uh-oh. Not only did Red Mango recently close its Bleecker Street location, but Midtown Lunch notices that its store at Eighth Avenue near 45th Street is also a goner. Is the Mang just focusing on its new Rock Center location, or is this a bad sign? [Midtown Lunch]

H&H Owner Indicted on Tax-Fraud Charges

By Daniel Maurer

Photo: Ty Hewitt

H&H reopened shortly after it was seized for non-payment of taxes back in May, but that wasn’t the last of it. City Room reports today that owner Helmer Toro has been indicted on tax-fraud charges stemming from his alleged failure to fork over $370,000 in payroll withholdings to state and federal tax authorities. It seems it wasn’t a case of absentmindedness, since Toro is said to have set up six different shell companies in order to keep his unemployment insurance costs down. Toro is facing a maximum of fifteen years in prison and $1 million in fines. And now we know why Mayor Bloomberg chose Fairway’s bagels as the best in New York.

Bagel Shop Owner is Indicted [City Room/NYT]

Can We Talk About This Newfangled McDonald’s for a Second?

By Daniel Maurer
View Slideshow

The AP has a story today about the McDonald’s at 541 Sixth Avenue in Chelsea, which got an “upscale” redesign this fall that included knockoff mod furniture, laptop outlets, and other trimmings. Seriously, have you seen this place? It looks more like a W Hotel lobby than a Mickey D's. We got sucked in a while back and were so mind-boggled that we just had to snap some photos (see slideshow). The AP mentions that local office workers have started holding meetings here, but doesn't note that the place is already starting to smell a little like the lower level of the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

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Tables Available at Bar Boulud, Allegretti; Balthazar Mostly Booked

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

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Chang Vindicated for Fig Flap?

So after last month's whole "figs-on-a-plate" flap, it turns out David Chang might be right about San Francisco. SFist unearthed a Chez Panisse menu from last year featuring "A bowl of Cannard Farm Black Mission figs and a Frog Hollow Warren pear" for $8.25. [SFist]

Frank Bruni Can Still Make Eric Ripert Blush

By Aileen Gallagher
Watch Video

Eric Ripert was on Charlie Rose last night, and Rose chuckled his way amiably through a bit about Frank Bruni. To no one's surprise but the host's, Ripert explained how he prepared his staff for a visit from the former Times critic. "You wanted to recognize him," Rose said. "Of course!" responded Ripert. "We do that with all of them." Watch the video to see Ripert get a little flush when he realizes just how much Bruni likes Le Bernardin.

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Animal Denies Nieporent Partnership

By Hadley Tomicki

Jon Shook

Animal was closed last night for a "world's strongest beer" event (Sam Adams' Utopia, 27 percent alcohol). Before the suds scrambled anyone's thoughts, chef Jon Shook denied Eater's rumor that he and partner Vinny Dotolo would open a New York restaurant with Drew Nieporent. Shook says it has no basis in reality. "We'd of course love to work with someone as respected as Drew Nieporent, but there are no plans set to work with anyone right now. We have had a lot of great people interested in doing stuff with us, and it's an honor, but right now we're focused on making this as strong as we can."

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Michael White Admires Le Bernardin’s Escolar With Red-Wine Béarnaise

By Alexandra Vallis

Escolar at le Bernardin.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, Peasant chef-owner Frank De Carlo discussed spinosini pasta with langoustines with Marea’s Mike White. Your move, White.

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Is Your Favorite Chef One of the 40 Under 40?

By Adam Martin

The same folks who identified the nation's hottest young farmers back in July have turned their attention to chefs, calling out 40 under 40 years old who patronize the sustainable farmers it last profiled. High on the list we find Philadelphia's Jose Garces, 38, the favorite on the Next Iron Chef and chef-owner of Amada, Tinto, Distrito, Chifa, and Village Whiskey. San Francisco's Kin Lui, 29, a chef and partner at sustainable sushi venture Tataki, also made the list.

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Bourdain Has Reservations About New Boss

By Daniel Maurer

Is Anthony Bourdain worried that Scripps Howard, the parent company of his ex-employer and current-day nemesis the Food Network, has purchased his current employer, the Travel Channel? He tells Rochester City Newspaper: “Um, yes. We are about halfway through shooting season six, ratings have never been higher, but I think ... I'm definitely taking a wait-and-see [approach]. I'm not happy about sharing a hot tub with Guy Fieri, is what I'm saying.” Bourdain also has a typically great quote about his current job title: “I'll live with celebrity chef, or television personality, but in my heart of hearts, I'd put it on the same level as lighting director on porn film, habitual masturbator, or aspiring arsonist.”

INTERVIEW: Anthony Bourdain [Rochester City Newspaper]

This Thanksgiving, Stuff Your Turkey with White Castle Sliders

By Helen Rosner

Your new family tradition begins here.Photo: courtesy White Castle

Deep-fried White Castle sliders might have found their match in Mana Food Bar chef Jill Barron's Thanksgiving stuffing, which she shares in today's Sun-Times. In lieu of the usual bread and sausage components, Barron uses the mini fast-food burgers to beef up (heh) her turkey accompaniment. There it is in the ingredient list: "18 White Castle hamburgers (no pickles), chopped into 1-inch pieces."

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Cheap Lunch Discovered in Midtown

Stop the presses. Zach Brooks and his commenters have sniffed out a signless, menuless Dominican spot in a freight-elevator hallway at 306 West 37th Street. At Aries Café, a platter of stewed goat, rice, and beans is $5 and it’s “freakin’ tasty.” [Midtown Lunch]

Zach Braff Is a ‘Foodie,’ and a Partner in Mermaid Oyster Bar

By Daniel Maurer
Watch Video

This might be even more random than Kevin Bacon plugging vegan ice cream: Zach Braff shilling for Mermaid Oyster Bar on the PX 11 Morning News. Turns out Braff has known Mermaid chef Laurence Edelman since he was 13 and is an investor in the new restaurant. Watch as he serves up the obligatory double entendres (“I love to sizzle my garlic”) while Edelman prepares rock shrimp and crab fra diavolo. Ladies, now you know exactly where to find him.

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100-Year Scotch

This has to be the coolest thing since Nero’s banquet hall was discovered, and it’s straight out of a Jameson ad: Excavators have unearthed two cases of MacKinlay's Rare Old Scotch Whisky underneath the hut where Ernest Shackleton camped out during his 1908 expedition to the South Pole. [Daily Mail UK]

Monster Taco Truck Moves Downtown

By Daniel Maurer

Photo: Daniel Maurer

After launching on 110th Street a little over two years ago, Patricia Monroy’s monster taco truck moved down to 86th and Lexington, within prime Anthony Bourdain striking distance. Now, for the past few weeks, it’s been moonlighting in Union Square. Every night around 9 p.m., Paty (only one 't') hands the keys over to her son and the truck rolls down to Union Square West and 14th Street, where it camps out till as late as 5 a.m. in all of its multicolored neon glory (don’t miss the Aztec mural on the side of the truck). Like another uptown newcomer to 14th Street, the Super Tacos truck, Paty’s serves tlacoyos as well as other Mexican staples (huaraches, tostadas, quesadillas, tortas, etc.), and it also doles out shrimp tacos (served with cucumbers and radishes on the side), gigantic specialty burritos, fajitas, and even a buffalo-chicken wrap. Here’s the menu.

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Sifton Dislikes the New Oceana; Another Rave for A Voce Columbus

By Alexandra Vallis

"If the Oceana of old was a pleasant, shipshape room with elegant food and a caring touch, the new version is a high-functioning luxury mill, designed to service pre-theater crowds and to celebrate corporate success on expense-account dimes," writes Sam Sifton. [NYT]

Travertine manages to be "a neighborhood spot with a velvet-rope sensibility," says Jay Cheshes, who doesn't mind the D.J. and likes chef Manuel Treviño's fancy plate work. [TONY]
Related: First Look at Travertine and Top Chef Manuel Treviño's Food

At Quinto Quarto "if appearances point mostly to excellence—particularly the atmospheric space, previously occupied by AOC Bedford, with its cozy brick and old-Italia artifacts—there are occasional unsettling portents... the food appeared alarmingly slapdash," writes Andrea Thompson. [NYer]

M & T Restaurant in Flushing specializes in Chinese cuisine from "Shandong, another northern province that had once harbored a German concession," explains Robert Sietsema. Thanks to a parade of unique dishes, "every visit to M & T proved a revelation." [VV]

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Another Bid for Cadbury; Waltuck Leaves Macao

By Leila Cohan-Miccio

• Hershey's and Ferrero are considering a bid for Cadbury, which could spark a bidding war. [WSJ]

• David Waltuck is no longer involved with Macao Trading Co. [Diner's Journal/NYT]

• Marcus Samuelsson will cook a state dinner at the White House next week. [Politico]

•Petite Crevette owner Neil Ganic threw a live lobster on the table of a customer who complained about a dish and isn't sorry. [Gothamist]

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First Look at Spot and Pichet Ong’s Daring Desserts

By Daniel Maurer
View Slideshow

OBAO isn’t the only restaurant that Ace Watanasuparp and Chai Huadwattana opened this week. Yesterday they also opened Spot Dessert Bar with another one of the city’s prominent Asian chefs, Pichet Ong, in the below-ground space that used to house the Iron Fairies store. With so many dessert options already on this block alone (Pinkberry, Red Mango, Yogurt Station, and the soft-serve at Baoguette Café, to name a few), it’s hard to imagine East Villagers are craving another one, but leave it to Pichet Ong to keep things interesting by offering exotically flavored puddings, cupcakes, and cookies, as well as creations such as a miso ice-cream sandwich (the wildest thing to happen to Asian ice-cream sandwiches since Xie Xie!).

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