Posts for February 14, 2013 -- Grub Street: New York Magazine's Food and Restaurant Blog

Posts for February 14, 2013

2/14/13 at 5:45 PM
Leftovers
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‘21’ Club Relaunches ‘On Tap’ Series; El Sombrero Struggles to Stay Open

• Just in time for New York City Beer Week, the '21' Club is welcoming back the return of Bar '21's "On Tap" series. The beer celebration features Speakeasy Brewery on February 26, Founders Brewing Co. on March 11, and Cricket Hill Brewery on April 8. Each event runs from 6 to 8 p.m. and includes three pints and executive chef John Greeley’s food pairings. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased by calling (212) 582-7200. [Grub Street]

• The national launch event for Funky Jewbelation, the eighth member of Shmaltz Brewing's Limited Engagement Barrel-Aged series, will take place at Barcade during New York City Beer Week on February 28 at 4 p.m. This beer will also be featured at Shmaltz's special beer dinner at Resto on February 26 and at the New York City Beer Week Brewers Choice event at City Winery on February 27. [Grub Street]

• El Sombrero, the 30-year-old affordable Mexican restaurant in the Lower East Side, is struggling to survive. A waitress there says that rising rents have driven the restaurant’s regular customers out of the neighborhood. [Bowery Boogie]

2/14/13 at 5:20 PM
Pie the Friendly Skies
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Nancy Silverton Opening Mozza in N.Y., But Not Where You’d Think

By Hugh Merwin

Hot sopressata! Chef, baker, and restaurateur Nancy Silverton says she is finally opening a branch of Mozza, the lauded L.A.-based pizzeria she operates with Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich, in New York. No opening date is given, but Silverton tells The Hollywood Reporter the restaurant is being planned to open in Terminal 4 at JFK airport. Thank goodness for the E train. [THR]

2/14/13 at 4:50 PM
Restaurant Power Rankings
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Grub Street’s Restaurant Power Rankings: Chef Shuffles Bring New Buzz to Old Spots

By Alan Sytsma

Photo: iStockphoto

Valentine's Day will soon be over, and Fashion Week is winding down, which means this weekend many of the city's buzzy restaurants will revert to their normal menus and non-model-filled states. Which is good news for food lovers who just want to go out and share a plate of animal face. But even if whole-head eating isn't your thing, there are plenty of places you should be eating these days, including two older spots with brand-new chefs. Find out where, straight ahead.

2/14/13 at 4:40 PM
Prawn Shop
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Clams on the Sad Shell: Brooklyn Fish Camp Is for Sale

By Hugh Merwin

Jack the Kipper strikes again.

Here's Park Slope did some Craigslist sleuthing and discovered that the owners of Brooklyn Fish Camp have put the business up for sale for $275K key money and the somewhat reasonable $6,333 monthly rent. The seafood restaurant, an offshoot of Mary’s Fish Camp in the West Village, has been open since June of 2005. [Here's Park Slope]

2/14/13 at 4:10 PM
Mutant Crops
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Billionaires Give Millions to Provide Farmers With Genetically Modified Seeds

By Sierra Tishgart

Thanks, Bill.

Bill Gates and telecom magnate Carlos Slim (the richest person in the world, according to Forbes) have donated a whopping $25 million to help farmers in the developing world grow more grain. Sure, that's chump change to them, but it's the thought that counts, right? Their gift will specifically go toward new biotechnology labs at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico City. CIMMYT is the research center behind the "green revolution" of the sixties, and now it's working to develop low-cost, genetically modified (GM) seeds through hybridization. Since only a few companies control genetically modified crops and own the patents, farmers, especially those in the developing world, haven't had access to them. CIMMYT is working to change that by donating GM seeds, or charging farmers low prices. It's a proactive way to combat issues like climate change, water shortages, and increased demand, so hats off to two all-star members of Team One Percent. [AP]

2/14/13 at 3:45 PM on Grub Street LA
El Bulli
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El Bulli Reopening for the Sake of Method Acting

By Hadley Tomicki

Ferran finds his light.

El Bulli, the now-closed bull's-eye of modern food fetishists, is going to reopen for a full month in the near future. And no, you still won't be able to get in, as the restaurant is not exactly making itself available to the public. The Catalonia home to Ferran Adrià's endless culinary experimentation and avant-garde eccentricities closed in 2011 but will reportedly spring back to life to aid the production of a fictionalized film based on the restaurant's final year in business, adapted from Lisa Abend's book, A Season in the Kitchen at Ferran Adrià's El Bulli. According to the Daily Meal, the restaurant's reemergence is being staged specifically for the yet-to-be-cast actors to immerse themselves in Adrià's world, upping the odds that the speriphied olives may be juggled at some point by Javier Bardem (or whoever ultimately plays Adrià).

2/14/13 at 3:25 PM
Flip
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7 Great Lines From Sasha Petraske’s Class Magazine Interview

By Hugh Merwin

Speak softly and open a speakeasy.Photo: Jed Egan

The new Milk & Honey soft-opened a few weeks back in Murray Hill, and barman Sasha Petraske, who essentially ushered in a new age of cocktail culture when he opened the highly influential original Milk & Honey on Eldridge Street the last day of December in 1999, has done a lengthy, great, and revealing interview with Difford's Class magazine on cocktail culture, the imitators, and the unexpected problems that occur when you use expensive metal straws.

2/14/13 at 3:00 PM
Chef Shuffle
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Graydon Gets His Woman: New Chef Named at the Beatrice Inn

By Alan Sytsma

Last month, the Beatrice Inn announced that chef Brian Nasworthy was out, just a few months after the spot opened to the public. Now the Times says his replacement will be Hillary Sterling, a former chef de cuisine at A Voce. What to expect when her new menu debuts on February 22: goat-cheese dumplings, schmaltz-poached triggerfish, and roasted hen. [Diner's Journal/NYT, Earlier]

2/14/13 at 2:10 PM
Lick It Clean
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What Happens If You Send the Dish Back?

Apparently there is a restaurant in Japan that will fine you if you order the salmon roe with rice and leave even a single bite of food. That fine is then donated to the fishermen who risked their lives to get the food. It seems the owner used to be a fisherman himself. [Gold Rush Japan via Gawker]

2/14/13 at 1:50 PM on Grub Street Boston
Fried Chicken
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Valentine’s Day Essentials: Condoms, Lube, and a Side of Fried Chicken

By Kara Baskin

Going to be a good night.Photo: Reddit

What is it about fried chicken that screams romance? The crunchy exterior? The supple skin? The juicy insides? The bones? Last week we sympathized with a lovelorn teen torn between choosing fried chicken and passion (he chose the chicken, naturally). And one grown-up has things similarly figured out: Check out this receipt from someone who's clearly preparing for a romantic night. The enterprising customer picked up some lubricant, condoms, toothpaste, a toothbrush, and then stopped over at the deli for that crucial deal-sealing purchase: eight pieces of fried chicken. Looks like someone got lucky. [Reddit, Earlier]

2/14/13 at 1:25 PM
Lawsuits
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Monster Energy Drinks Changes Its Label to Seem Less Frightening

By Hugh Merwin

"Dietary supplement" no more!

Seemingly in an effort to increase transparency and rehabilitate its image following the news that its product was cited in reports of at least five deaths, Monster Beverage Corp. announced this week that it will change the ways its products are classified. They will be "beverages" going forward and no longer considered "dietary supplements." After the parents of the 14-year-old Maryland teen who had died after drinking two Monster Energy drinks filed a lawsuit against the manufacturer, it was revealed that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had been monitoring the brand since 2004, logging 37 incidences of "adverse reactions" such as arrhythmia and dizziness. The shift means that the information printed on the side of Monster Energy drinks will now be presented as "Nutrition Facts" instead of "Supplement Facts," and since the caffeine- and taurine-loaded drinks are now considered "food," the company — its methods and its ingredients included — will be subject to increased scrutiny from the FDA. [AP, Earlier, Related]

2/14/13 at 12:40 PM
Sisig
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Maharlika Shut Down by Health Department, Will Return

By Hugh Merwin

The restaurant's longga dog.Photo: Noah Fecks

Well-liked East Village Filipino restaurant Maharlika was temporarily closed by the Health Department following a January 29 inspection filled with several critical food-safety violations, the Local East Village reports, including evidence of mice and roaches. The 64-point report was enough to forcibly close the restaurant, and signs posted on the door yesterday indicate a gas leak had caused the shutdown.

2/14/13 at 12:05 PM
Overnights
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Top Chef Seattle Recap: Spiritual Rice Washing and Fatherhood

By Alan Sytsma

It's like a very fancy firing squad.Photo: Bravo

David Rees isn't here today. He says he had a cruise previously planned, but I suspect he just needed some time off given the Sisyphean task that is recapping a show, week after week, always having to invent new ways to say that Padma looks high. Whatever the reason, Rees will be back next week — provided his cruise doesn't break down and get stranded at sea so long that people have to wade through feces — but until then the job falls to me, so let's get to it.

2/14/13 at 11:30 AM
Video Feed
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Watch Nigella Lawson Talk About Her Former Job As a Chambermaid

By Caroline Shin

Last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Taste's Nigella Lawson revealed that in a gap year before university, she wanted to do anything to earn a living except clean restrooms. Of course, she ended up getting a job as a chambermaid in Italy. But Nigella enjoyed snooping around, trying on everyone's clothes, and going through their drawers. See how her nosy behavior manifests itself today.

"You put their scent on."

2/14/13 at 11:20 AM
Deals
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Warren Buffett’s Company and Brazilian Investors Team Up to Buy Heinz

By Alan Sytsma

Some giant-food-company news this morning: Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and Brazil's 3G Capital are teaming up to buy Heinz for $23 billion. "Heinz is our kind of company with fantastic brands," Buffett told CNBC. But even though Buffett's in on the deal, it doesn't sound like he'll be doing much work. Instead, management of Heinz will fall to 3G, which also owns a majority stake in Burger King. Read more about the specifics of the deal over at Daily Intelligencer. [CNBC, Bloomberg, Daily Intelligencer]

2/14/13 at 10:45 AM
Coming Soon
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Michael White’s Fiamma Reboot Will Be Called Costata

By Hugh Merwin

Can you smell the wood smoke tonight?Photo: Patrick McMullan

According to paperwork filed yesterday with the State Liquor Authority, it's looking a lot like Michael White and Ahmass Fakahany's project within the old Fiamma space will be called Costata, which is Italian, essentially, for a specific cut of rib-eye. Could White, who is also opening the Butterfly in Tribeca this spring, be planning an Italian steakhouse? While the restaurateurs confirmed the project last month without divulging too many other details, White's Altamarea group did confirm it had leased three floors of 206 Spring Street, and yesterday's filings indicate there will also be a first-floor bar. Bring on the aperitivos. [SLA, Earlier, Related]

2/14/13 at 10:10 AM
Grape Expectations
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Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Will Start Selling ‘Miraval’ Wine

By Hugh Merwin

Everyone wants to know whether they'll use natural or synthetic corks.Photo: EPA/Corbis

Terroir! Just in time for Valentine's Day comes the news that the two swooniest movie stars to ever hold hands are going into the wine business: Bloomberg reports that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are putting their names on a line of rosé made from grapes grown on Chateau Miraval, their thousand-acre estate in Provence. The wine used to be called "Pink Floyd" but will now be known as Miraval, and while the label doesn't look like a Chanel ad, it does carry the names "Jolie-Pitt and Perrin"; the latter is that of a fifth-generation winemaker whose family owns the famous Chateau Beaucastel in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and he tells Bloomberg he'll be overseeing the ferments and sharing the profits. Miraval rosé will be the first release, with a white coming in the summer and a red wine next year. The best news yet is that Pitt and Jolie are reportedly "in full agreement on style" on the taste of the fermented grapes. "If you knew Brad and Angelina, you would see they are in search of perfection in everything," says Perrin. "They’re thinking long term." [Bloomberg]

2/14/13 at 09:25 AM
Video Feed
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Watch the Trailer for A Place at the Table, the Tom Colicchio-Produced Documentary About Hunger

By Sierra Tishgart

It's an awful statistic: One out of every two kids in the United States at some point will be on food assistance. A Place at the Table aims to bring awareness to the hunger epidemic in America by showing how unhealthy, expensive food poses serious risks. Tom Colicchio's an executive producer and appears in the trailer, saying, "There's a lot of education that needs to happen around what is healthy food." Jeff Bridges also stars. On March 1, this documentary hits select theaters, iTunes, and OnDemand.

"One nation: Underfed."

2/14/13 at 09:00 AM
Freebies
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Free Coffee (for Lovers) at Balducci’s Today

By Hugh Merwin

Okay, it's not just for lovers, but admittedly sounds somewhat saccharine: Balducci’s Gourmet On the Go Café in the Hearst Building is giving away cups of Valentine's Chocolate Strawberry Drip Coffee today. The coffee is flavored like chocolate-covered strawberries, which seems ideal for Don Juans in a hurry. Be still, my beating burr grinder!