Posts for February 4, 2013 -- Grub Street: New York Magazine's Food and Restaurant Blog

Posts for February 4, 2013

2/4/13 at 5:35 PM
Leftovers
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Hakkasan’s Chinese New Year Menu; A Laundry Bistro in the Works

• Celebrate the Jewish holiday Purim with martinis and hamentashen at 92YTribeca on February 22. But forget your grandmother's apricot fillings: Chef Russell Moss will fill his cookies with flavors like guava and cheese or toasted tomato with cinnamon and jalapeño. The event starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are $40 in advance or $50 at the door. [Grub Street]

• Michelin-starred Hakkasan will serve a menu in honor of Chinese New Year starting on February 9. Expect a dim sum platter, crispy sesame prawns, and wok fried scallops with Chinese chive. The menu lasts until February 24. [Grub Street]

• Chef Matthew Lightner of Atera will have a discussion with Adam Sachs from Bon Appétit and Travel + Leisure at 92YTribeca on Wednesday. The event starts at noon and tickets cost $21. [Grub Street]

2/4/13 at 4:45 PM on Grub Street SF
TV Land
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Watch the Teaser for Waffle Hut, a Food-Focused TV Pilot

By Jay Barmann

Welcome to Waffle Hut, a fictional restaurant in Traver, Ohio, where everyone is a talented sketch-comedy veteran. There's Wendi McLendon-Covey (Bridesmaids, Reno 911) as restaurant owner Reba, plus Colleen Camp, Melanie Hutsell (SNL), Beth Crosby, Jack Plotnick, Sam Pancake, and Drew Droege, who is playing a woman who has "deer tick's disease." It's a pilot that was written and directed by William Butler and shot last year, but has only popped up online in the last couple of days. And it appears the show is still up for grabs, so check out the trailer and decide for yourself if Waffle Hut deserved (deserves?) to be picked up for a cable slot.

2/4/13 at 4:35 PM
Coming Soon
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Brooklyn Brine and Dogfish Head Are Opening a Space Together

By Hugh Merwin

High time for brine time.

Shamus Jones, who co-founded Brooklyn Brine four years ago and opened his first retail shop last year, will further his fermento-collaboration with Dogfish Head at a new brick-and-mortar space in north Brooklyn. Jones worked previously with Dogfish's Sam Calagione on Brooklyn Brine's Hop-Pickle, and won't say just yet if the new project is a bar or restaurant, but he tells the Local East Village that "it isn’t going to be a factory and isn’t going to be a store." An official announcement is pending, but no matter how it turns out, it's surely going to be good news for people who love pickles and IPA. [Local East Village/NYT, Earlier]

2/4/13 at 3:50 PM
Expansions
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Desi Shack Is Opening Two New Locations

Indian and Pakistani fast-casual Murray Hill restaurant Desi Shack will open two new locations in the next year, the Post reports. The chain, which opened in the fall of 2011, is known for skewer-grilled meats and vegetarian options, and allows diners to create meals "a la Chipotle’s take on Mexican food," the paper reports. [NYP, Earlier]

2/4/13 at 2:55 PM
Yes Whey
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Strained Economics: Greek Yogurt Boom Has Hijacked New York’s Milk Supply

By Hugh Merwin

The big business of Greek yogurt has been argued to be equally good for the business of New York, what with the advent of yogurt bars, a gubernatorial yogurt summit, and now even an official, senatorial push to get little plastic pails of the cultured stuff into the lunchbox of every schoolchild in the state. The problem, Forbes reports, is that legislation designed to curb the size of farms means that the hundreds of millions of pounds of Greek yogurt produced in New York State each year are causing a serious drain on the dairy industry's more traditional outlets. Gallons of milk are getting more expensive, and because a relatively high volume of milk is needed to make a small amount of Fage or Chobani, there often isn't even enough skim leftover to cover the bottom of the cereal bowl. [Forbes, Earlier, Earlier]

2/4/13 at 2:25 PM
Opening Soon
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Boston’s Toro to Open in New York This Spring

By Sierra Tishgart

The beloved South End tapas restaurant has a new opening date. Ken Oringer and chef Jamie Bissonnette are aiming to launch Toro in May or June in the Chelsea Nabisco factory that houses Del Posto and Colicchio & Sons. Oringer's no stranger to the city; he grew up in New Jersey and has been gazing at New York for years (what else is there to do in Jersey?). "With the lights just across the river, you can imagine what that was like growing up," he says. If his New York outpost is anything like the Boston original, you can expect pork-and-snail paella, Spanish tuna belly, and lots of jamón. [Earlier, Improper]

2/4/13 at 1:55 PM
Video Feed
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Takeru Kobayashi Reduced to Pay-for-Play Stunt Eating at Low-Rent Frat Parties

By Hugh Merwin

So, speaking of Nathan's Famous, last night six-time Hot Dog Eating Contest champion Takeru Kobayashi ate a Domino's pizza at some dude's Super Bowl party. He was paid $1,500 for this, Deadspin reports, and as you can see in the video ahead, the competitive eater almost doesn't pull it off. Also, a vaguely xenophobic beer-chugging contest went down after this. Awesome.

"Thirty seconds!"

2/4/13 at 1:05 PM
The Works
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Take a Look Inside Post-Sandy Nathan’s Famous in Coney Island

By Hugh Merwin

In November, a company spokesperson said Nathan's Famous in Coney Island would not reopen until the spring, and Fork in the Road offers a clear depiction of the lingering damage inside the iconic Surf Avenue hot-dog shop: Demolition crews have been working on-site since last week removing all of the restaurant's furnishings, equipment, and fixtures, all of which will be replaced. "After 100 years, no hurricane will get us down," reads a banner across the restaurant's door. "We are rebuilding." [FITR/VV, Earlier]

2/4/13 at 12:30 PM
Expansions
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Café Katja Is Expanding Yet Again

By Hugh Merwin

Erwin Schrottner and Andrew Chase.

Following last year's annexation of 77 Orchard Street, business partners Erwin Schrottner and Andrew Chase are once again expanding their well-loved and weisswurst-y (yet vegetarian-friendly) Café Katja, this time into the space at 75 Orchard Street, Bowery Boogie reports. Schrottner and Chase are looking to knock down the wall between the two storefronts and expand the coverage of their liquor license. If approved, Katja will occupy three storefronts on Orchard Street, a dramatic change from the tiny 25-seat café that opened five years ago, and huge news in general for the Lower East Schnitzel. [BB, Earlier]

2/4/13 at 11:55 AM
Bookshelf
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Schaap Will Pour ‘Whiskey’ Next

Brooklyn bartender, Times columnist, and author of the memoir Drinking With Men, Rosie Schaap is writing an "informative, opinionated whiskey guide" called The Whisk(e)y Book, Publishers Marketplace (subscription required) reports. We'll get the rocks glasses out now. [PM, Earlier]

2/4/13 at 11:25 AM
Sashimi
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Chefs Who Served Whale Sushi Are Going to Jail

By Hugh Merwin

Spicy blubber rolls: Not worth the jail time.

In 2010, the documentarian-activist team behind the Academy award–winning movie The Cove
— which exposed the cruelty and the clandestine practice of dolphin-slaughter in Japan — made waves stateside when they revealed that a popular sushi restaurant near the Santa Monica Airport was serving endangered whale meat in plain sight. After two undercover diners at the Hump were offered "pink broad slices" of what turned out to be Sei whale, the team circled back with federal agents. While for a moment it seemed like charges might be dropped, a federal jury last week indicted the owners of the restaurant's parent company and two former sushi chefs for conspiracy to import and sell an endangered species. In addition to the parent company facing fines of up to $1.2 million, one of the two chefs may serve 67 years in federal prison. [LAT, Earlier, Earlier]

2/4/13 at 10:15 AM
Slideshow
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Pizza Perfection: 101 Awesome American Pies (and Slices)

By Alan Sytsma, Collin Keefe, Hadley Tomicki, Hugh Merwin, Jay Barmann, Kara Baskin, and Michael Gebert

It must be hell to be a carbophobe these days, particularly in New York. After all, you can't swing a cat in this town without hitting a delicately crisp, brightly flavored, meticulously crafted pizza. All over the city, you can see these tortured souls muddling through their starch-free lives, battling temptation at every turn.

That goes for the rest of the USA, too.

2/4/13 at 10:00 AM
Receipt Rant
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Restaurant Gives $4 Discount for ‘Well-Behaved Kids’

By Sierra Tishgart

Still doesn't cover the tax.

If you haven't been reading your restaurant receipts closely, start now. Receipt rants are all the rage these days, and whether you're offended or flattered, you'll certainly have a viral Reddit hit on your hands. A waiter at the Sogno Di Vino restaurant in Poulsbo, Washington, apparently gave a customer a $4 discount for having "well-behaved kids." Isn't that expected when you bring your children out to a nice Italian restaurant and wine bar? [Earlier, MSN]

2/4/13 at 09:35 AM
Closings
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Governor in Dumbo Will Not Reopen; Brad McDonald Leaves Restaurant [Updated]

By Hugh Merwin

Governor.Photo: Michelle Feffer/New York Magazine

The Main Street, Dumbo, restaurant Governor, which was immersed in and wrecked by five feet of storm surge during Hurricane Sandy, will not reopen, the Strong Buzz reports. Executive chef Brad McDonald, who also ran the kitchen at sister restaurant Colonie in Brooklyn Heights, has also left the restaurant group, according to a statement from its remaining partners.

The full statement.

2/4/13 at 09:00 AM
Eat Well
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Eat Well: Oyster Happy Hour at Hillside, Sandwiches at Animals, and Meatless Monday at Cookshop

By Kate Lowenstein

Aw, yeah.Photo: Norris/SoFood/Corbis

After last night's Super Bowl feast, you may want to take it easy this week. And hey, it's now February, which means it's officially time to abandon your New Year's resolutions. But just because you failed at going vegan and working out six days a week, it doesn't mean that all hope is lost. There are easy ways to eat healthily and enjoy yourself in the city, and this week, that means veggie-spiked margaritas, a cauliflower steak sandwich, and a prix fixe menu that's far lighter than most.

Veggie patties, braised chicken, and more ahead.