Posts for January 29, 2010 -- Grub Street: New York Magazine's Food and Restaurant Blog

Posts for January 29, 2010

1/29/10 at 6:35 PM
Celebrity Settings
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Ethan Hawke Chaperones at Serafina; Bill Clinton Carbo-loads at Scarpetta

By Sally Holmes

Photo: Jemel Countess/Getty Images

Most of the boldface and the beautiful were at Sundance this week, but we still had some sightings. Former president Bill Clinton loved the stromboli bread at Scarpetta so much he requested a new basket with each course. Amanda Hearst enjoyed some faux-French cuisine at Indochine. Exhausted Ethan Hawke showed his parental prowess as he watched over 25 youngsters at his son’s birthday party at the uptown eatery Serafina. See who else was out and about in this week's Celebrity Settings roundup.

1/29/10 at 5:37 PM
Neighborhood Watch
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iPhone Helps You Cut at Shake Shack; Kinski Reopens

By Alexandra Vallis

Chelsea: The Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ festival is happening tomorrow at 608 West 28th Street. [Bourbon Blog]
Flatiron: A new app helps you join friends (cut) in line at Shake Shake. [A Hamburger Today/Serious Eats]
Lower East Side: Czech-Austrian café Kinski reopened with a new menu and now sells dumplings. [Fork in the Road/VV]

1/29/10 at 5:16 PM
The Chain Gang
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Not Exactly a Good Time for Great Taste of McDonald’s

Some rumblings in the world of Mickey D’s today. First, Brownstoner reports that the McDonald’s at 169 Tillary Street has lost its lease after what they guess is twenty years. And Crain's brings word that Irwin Kruger — who first brought the golden arches to midtown — has, for undisclosed reasons, sold his four restaurants back to the company after 42 years as a franchisee.

1/29/10 at 4:40 PM
Two for Eight
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Tables Available at Convivio; Babbo, Locanda Verde Fully Booked

It's time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they could 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: Notable Italian.

1/29/10 at 4:26 PM
BYO
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Forget BYOB, Bring Your Own Fish!

By Beth Landman

In an effort to keep expenses down, some diners have been bringing their own wine to restaurants. But Sagaponack, which opened for dinner this past Wednesday, is taking the interactive concept to a new level by inviting customers to bring their own fish on Mondays and Tuesdays. For a $15 plate charge, owner James Kang will cook up the catch and serve it with fresh vegetables and a choice of truffled mashed potatoes or seven-grain rice.

1/29/10 at 4:15 PM
Closings
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Miracle Grill Went Out Owing $380,000

By Daniel Maurer

A few weeks ago when Southwestern institution Miracle Grill followed its East Village shuttering with a Park Slope closure, Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn wondered “if the ever-crowded Barrio right across the street put them out of business or if it's just a sign of the economic times that they couldn't make it.” Now Crain's brings an answer: The restaurant’s lawyer says they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because of the downturn in the economy. The brunch standby, which counted Bobby Flay as its first chef, had $35,000 in assets and over $380,000 in liabilities. “It owes money to more than 50 creditors, including a debt of more than $3,500 to Joli Seafood and Meat in Brooklyn and another of $470 to Longo Coffee & Tea on Bleecker Street.”

Park Slope brunch spot is another recession victim [Crain's]

1/29/10 at 4:05 PM
Openings
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Niagara Opens Annex Tonight

UrbanDaddy reports that Niagara’s reboot of the adjacent Pizza Shop space will open tonight without a name and without oysters and burgers, which will be added in a week. Expect “exposed brick, tufted black leather banquettes, an old chandelier or two and just enough light to see Agyness Deyn sitting in the corner.” [UrbanDaddy]

1/29/10 at 3:55 PM
Celebrity Settings
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Harold Ford’s New York Diet

Senate hopeful Harold Ford has revealed his neighborhood go-tos to Cindy Adams. Gawker rightly teases him for naming Starbucks, and we’re slightly amused that (getting in on the fried-chicken trend?) he praises Big Daddy’s. Wonder if he goes during half-off Fridays. [Cindy Adams/NYP via Gawker]

1/29/10 at 3:41 PM
TV Land
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Prepare to Meet Your Masters

“I think Bravo is about to announce TCMasters lineup very soon.” —Gael Greene [GaelGreene/Twitter]

1/29/10 at 2:47 PM
Foodievents
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Brooklyn’s Latest Cook-Off Will Be Soup-er Fun

By Daniel Maurer

Soup and Bread, the Chicago bar event where local personalities ladle their free homemade soups and then pass the hat on behalf of local food pantries, is coming to Brooklyn. Organizers Sheila Sacks and Martha Bayne (who started the event while bartending at one of our favorite Second City dance dens, the Hideout) have wrangled a host of local chefs and bloggers to cook at the Bell House on February 4 from 6 p.m. till 9 p.m. Here’s the latest lineup.

1/29/10 at 2:05 PM
The Twitterverse
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Another Pulino’s Menu Clue

Nate Appleman is still tinkering and tweeting: “Do [sic] anyone know the best variety of potato for salt roasting?” [NAppleman/Twitter]

1/29/10 at 1:00 PM
Closings
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Rhong-Tiam Leaves West Village; Michael Huynh Will Open Gastropub

By Daniel Maurer

Photo: Konstantin Sergeyev

While Michael Huynh, who just pulled out of a project at 6 Clinton Street, contemplates opening a gastropub at 239 Third Avenue (per Diner’s Journal), there’s news from another indecisive entrepreneur. Eater has noticed a sign in the window at the city’s unlikeliest Michelin-star holder, Rhong-Tiam, indicating that Andy Yang has closed the La Guardia location and it will now operate out of (and deliver from) the 87 Second Avenue location that opened as Kurve.

Rhong Tiam Closes, Moves All Operations to Kurve Space [Eater NY]
Huynh Closes One Door and Opens Another [Diner’s Journal/NYT]

1/29/10 at 12:25 PM
Foodievents
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Chanterelle Shows Off Three Decades of Menu Covers

By Daniel Maurer

A recent menu, designed by Juan Hamilton.

As previously reported, Chanterelle’s wines live on at Nice Matin and Barbounia, and now (for two days, anyway) so do the menu covers that were created by the likes of Edward Albee, Matthew Barney, Robert Mapplethorpe, Allen Ginsberg, Francesco Clemente, Annie Leibovitz, Richard Prince, and many others. On February 7 and 8, Greenpoint antiques store Kill Devil Hill will display the works of art (some of them for sale), from the first one by Marisol to one by Chuck Close that never saw the light of day. Here’s the incredible roster of contributors.

1/29/10 at 12:12 PM
Freebies
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Free Beer and Milkshakes Today

Direct from Schnipper’s: “We will be giving away a free 12 ounce milkshake (chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry) hand dipped from Gifford's Ice Cream, or an Ice Cream Float, or a 12 ounce draft beer from our selection of 6 American craft beers with the purchase of any burger. It's available in store only (not on delivery, sorry!) all day from 11 AM to 11 PM.”

1/29/10 at 11:25 AM
Openings
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St. Marks Loses One KFC (Korean Fried Chicken), Gains Another

By Daniel Maurer

Photo: Daniel Maurer

Hanover Café, the deli underneath the U2 Karaoke parlor, hasn’t hit its December 18 opening date (the image you see here is a rendering posted on the window), but a look inside indicates that in addition to salads, sandwiches, and sushi, it will boast an outpost of Korean-chicken chain Kyedong. As previously reported, another Korean-chicken contender, BBQ Chicken, flamed out down the block and will be replaced by the “irresistible Taiwanese food” of TKettle. Now Fork in the Road notices that TKettle’s reopening has also been delayed, till February 10.

1/29/10 at 10:43 AM
Openings
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Artichoke Basille’s Crew Opens Roast-Beef Sandwich Shop

By Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

A roast-beef sandwich operation poised to open (maybe today) in the old Birdies fried-chicken space is the brainchild of Artichoke’s Francis Garcia and Sal Basille (plus an unaffiliated friend), and joins their nascent pizza-and-zeppole East Village empire. This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef brings to the neighborhood Artichoke’s trademark nostalgia, but no little piggies (“Everybody’s doing pork,” says Garcia). The featured attraction here is roast beef, and plenty of it. Sandwiches come “This Way,” in homage to Sheepshead Bay’s venerable Roll ’n Roaster, on a roll, au jus, with Cheez Whiz, or “That Way,” an Italian-American riff on half a hero loaf from Reliable Bakery, with onion, gravy, and fresh mozzarella. There will be housemade fries and milkshakes, too, plus a pastrami sandwich with cole slaw and mustard on rye. “I cracked the code for Katz’s Deli,” says Garcia, who seems to be remaking New York’s culinary institutions one by one.

This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef, 149 First Ave., nr. 9th St.; No phone yet.

1/29/10 at 10:15 AM
Reopenings
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Ruby’s Returns to Coney

Vanishing NY, via Forgotten NY, hears the great news that Ruby’s, Cha Cha’s, and other Coney Island boardwalk veterans (including Lola Staar, which moved out last summer) are being allowed by the city (their new landlord) to open again this year. Yay! [Vanishing NY]

1/29/10 at 09:48 AM
Unsolved Mysteries
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Is Padma Getting a Dell?

A source tells the New York Post that the mystery man who fathered Padma Lakshmi’s baby is Adam Dell, the venture capitalist and brother of Dell founder Michael. Padma’s publicist is keeping mum, but either way, it was her silver fox, Teddy Forstmann, who was at her side during a recent five-day hospitalization. [NYP]

1/29/10 at 09:18 AM
Mediavore
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Salinger’s Fiction Full of Food; Museums Eschew Cafeterias

By Leila Cohan-Miccio

• J.D. Salinger's fiction was filled with food, like the chicken sandwich in Franny and Zooey that signified the rift between Franny and her boyfriend. [Diner's Journal/NYT]

• Museums are eschewing cafeterias in favor of destination restaurants like the Wright. [NYT]

• City public-school kids drank 1.3 percent more milk (and consumed 25 percent fewer calories) after whole milk was swapped out for skim. [NYP]

• LeBron James is partnering with McDonald's on a multi-year ad campaign. [NRN]

1/29/10 at 09:00 AM
The New York Diet
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Mr. Chocolate, Jacques Torres, Stashes Cocoa Nibs in Pockets, Rides a Scooter to Sushi

By Alexandra Vallis

Photo: Melissa Hom

Chocolatier Jacques Torres lost twenty pounds last year by limiting exposure to red meat and rich foods — like the cookies he faces every day at his Hudson Street headquarters. Lucky for him, he doesn’t put chocolate in this category. Torres snacks on unsweetened cacao nibs and sticks to what he deems healthier candies: dark-chocolate bark and chocolate cereal. You can ask him for sweet diet tips at the 92Y on Wednesday when the FCI pastry dean joins Dorothy Hamilton and chef friends (Tom Coliccho, Dan Barber, Andre Soltner) for a panel called “Doing What You Love.” The subtitle of this week’s New York Diet could be “shed pounds while eating what you love.”