Posts for February 15, 2013 -- Grub Street: New York Magazine's Food and Restaurant Blog

Posts for February 15, 2013

2/15/13 at 5:40 PM
Leftovers
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Academy Awards Viewing Parties at Osteria Morini and Sugar and Plumm; Wine Classes at Terroir

• Everyone wins on Oscar night when Sugar and Plumm offers hand-crafted chocolate statuettes. The edible Oscars come in dark, milk, and gold dark chocolate and are also sold online. [Grub Street]

• Osteria Morini is also hosting its own Oscars viewing party on February 24. Starting at 5 p.m., take in the celebrities while inhaling stuffed pasta bites. [Grub Street]

• Winter wine classes kick off at Terroir Park Slope on February 16. With an introduction by Terroir co-owner Paul Grieco, the six-part series will cover a different wine each week, from the glory of Riesling to why pinot noir is the Lindsay Lohan of grapes. Saturdays at 4 p.m., then again at 5:30 p.m.; $20 a seat with a max of twelve per class; e-mail Allison Whittinghill to reserve a spot. [Grub Street]

2/15/13 at 5:05 PM
Slice Wars
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Vinny Vincenz Vs. 2 Bros.: Pizza Slice War Is Officially On

By Hugh Merwin

Over on First Avenue in the East Village, Vinny Vincenz owner Ari Elalan isn't very amused that $1 slice titan 2 Bros. Pizza has just opened next door. His pie definitely stands up, Elalan explains, but he's not sure the center can hold: Last month, he told the Local East Village that he'd preemptively dropped his prices to compete with the new guy, but also that he was worried the surge in customers going for the plain pie would ruin the market for his pricier, specialty alla vodka and margherita slices. And it gets worse: Joey Pepperoni across the street is now also selling dollar slices. [Local EV/NYT]

2/15/13 at 4:40 PM
Glazed
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Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Are Making People Insane

By Hugh Merwin

HOT NOW.

"If Edinburgh is overweight today," says Tam Fry, the spokesperson of a U.K.-based anti-obesity group, "then it will certainly be obese by tomorrow." Fry is referring to the chaos in Edinburgh, where Krispy Kreme opened its first Scottish outlet last week with numerous promotions and freebies that have caused three days of mile-long lines and a general accumulation of cruller fiends. London resident Ben Esterson camped out in the cold outside the store to make sure he was the first customer. He is now entitled to two dozen free doughnuts per month for one year. "I was first in line for the Wales Krispy Kreme store too," Esterson tells the Daily Mail, "so when I heard they were opening in Scotland I couldn't not be first here as well." Fair enough.

Kruller and punishment.

2/15/13 at 4:05 PM
Splat
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School Food Fight Ends With Police Spraying Mace

By Sierra Tishgart

Ouch.

Food fights aren't supposed to involve chemical spray and trips to the emergency room. But after a fifteen-minute, 200- to 300-person food fight at South High School in Minneapolis turned into a violent brawl, police had to intervene. According to a sergeant, students were throwing "anything they could get their hands on," sending four people to the hospital with minor injuries. So far, no arrests have been made, but the cops are reviewing surveillance video. These kids should probably dye their hair and start donning disguises; the charges can be extensive. School officials maintain that the cops sprayed above the crowd, but students are complaining about the effects: Mace doesn't taste as good as pie to the face. [Earlier, AP]

2/15/13 at 3:30 PM on Grub Street LA
Video Feed
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Watch 13,000 Boxes of Girl Scout Cookies Get Crushed by Heavy Machinery

By Hadley Tomicki

Look away, lovers of Samoas and Tagalongs: 13,200 boxes of unexpired, "perfectly fine" Girl Scout cookies were crushed by a tractor in Redlands last spring and then sent to a landfill. A CBS investigation finds the Southern California region's scout council pinning the blame for all this waste on ABC Bakery, which supplies the troops with their product and destroyed the cookies when a local troop bought more than they could offload. The devastation-by-tractor is basically how the unsold extras get disposed of around these parts, a policy set to change now that food banks and churches are catching wind of the practice. "We would have gladly accepted the cookies and they would probably disappear as fast as any product we have in here," says a Westside Food Bank rep. Indeed, the deliberate waste makes good old destruction pretty hard to stomach. Nonetheless, take a look as oh-so-many Thin Mints meet the big metal death machine in this video.

2/15/13 at 3:00 PM
Foodievents
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Acclaimed Philly Chef Marc Vetri Will Cook at Eataly

James Beard Award-winning chef and Vetri, Amis, Alla Spina, and Osteria restaurateur Marc Vetri is making a communal, four-course dinner at La Scuola Grande at Eataly on March 22. The menu includes vitello tonnato, quail with lavendar potatoes and liver-Cognac sauce, and braised rabbit with polenta and chanterelle mushrooms. Vetri will talk about each dish as he cooks in the restaurant's open kitchen, and the $125 price includes wine pairings. All of the details, including the link to buy tickets, are here.

2/15/13 at 2:35 PM
Openings
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Now Open: The Bocuse Restaurant, the Culinary Institute of America’s New Public Dining Room in Hyde Park

By Sierra Tishgart

A student-made skate dish.Photo: Phil Mansfield

Chef Paul Bocuse has a lot to celebrate this week: On Monday, he turned 87, and today, a restaurant opened in his honor. The Bocuse Restaurant, in the space that formally housed the Escoffier Restaurant, will serve French cuisine prepared by students, and it's notably more casual than its predecessor. There will be no tablecloths at lunch or dinner, and even better, no dress code. But just because it's less formal doesn't mean these students are skimping on service — expect tableside spirit tastings, cheese and wine pairings, and frozen desserts prepared instantaneously via a liquid-nitrogen ice-cream machine (wow!). And if you have a few too many "Crêpes Suzette" cocktails, chef Bocuse will keep a watchful eye on you: Photographs of him line the entryway, there's a portrait of his face in the private dining room, and wall sconces are topped with small porcelain figurines of Bocuse. The students have to look at "numerous" photographs of him in the kitchen, too. It's a little much, but if the food lives up to Bocuse's standards, you're in for a great meal.

The Bocuse Restaurant, 1946 Campus Drive Hyde Park, NY, (845) 471-6608

2/15/13 at 1:55 PM
Openings
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Num Pang Nomad Opens Next Wednesday, Cambodian Sangria and All

By Hugh Merwin

We first caught wind of the new Nomad Num Pang last summer, and reps today send word the sandwich shop's third location will open on February 20, at 1129 Broadway and 26th Street. The newest Num Pang has 30 seats and a beer and wine license, so that means plenty of Asian beers on tap and by the bottle, as well as what Ben Daitz and Ratha Chaupoly are calling Cambodian Sangria, a concoction of wine and macerated tropical fruit dressed up with lemongrass and ginger. The shop's regular lineup of sandwiches will be available, as well as a line of brown rice bowls meant to be customized with options like grilled pork or fish, and also cold vermicelli noodles with peanuts, egg, herbs, and a choice of shrimp, pork, or grilled steak. [Earlier]

2/15/13 at 1:20 PM
Community
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CB5 Manhattan Shoots Down Lionel Ohayon’s Behemoth Restaurant Complex

By Mary Reinholz

Planning 113,150-square-feet of spectacle.

Manhattan's Community Board 5 wasn't giving out any valentines last night to "Dark Magician" of restaurant design Lionel Ohayon, who'd applied for a new, on-premises liquor license plus a catering and cabaret license for his forthcoming, as yet unnamed 113,150-square-foot juggernaut at 1133 Broadway between 26th and 27th Streets. Plans include a ground-floor bistro, an adjoining food market, two jumbo dining rooms, and a sidewalk café, along with a cellar-level restaurant and several lounges. (One of those has a D.J. booth.)

Where do we sign up?

2/15/13 at 12:55 PM
Remember the Maine
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Sandy-Damaged Luke’s Lobster Reopening Next Week

Lingering structural issues prevented the South William Street Luke's Lobster shop from reopening after Hurricane Sandy, but now the Mainers send word they'll finally reopen next week, on February 21. To commemorate, Luke's will sell select Maine beers for $3 a pop, and because Thursday night's reopening party also marks the start of NYC Beer Week, the guys add they'll have a bunch of special brews on hand in addition to the triumphant return of the lobster, crab, and shrimp rolls.

2/15/13 at 12:20 PM
Video Feed
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Here Are 17 of the Internet’s Best Food-Themed Harlem Shake Videos

By Hugh Merwin

While there actually is a hamburger joint called Harlem Shake opening up — in Harlem, naturally — any day now, there's also this viral video phenomenon to contend with, which combines a sort of third cousin to the uptown dance and a Bauuer song, that was released last year. Everyone and their mother has been uploading their own Harlem Shake videos in the last few weeks, recorded in offices, parking lots, dorm rooms, and elevators, so it was only a matter of time before a few restaurants got into the act. Check out a whole MenuPages-worthy multiverse of tabletop dancers and demented dishwashers, just ahead.

Spider-Man, Abusive Santas, drunk Gumby.

2/15/13 at 11:55 AM
Celebrity Settings
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Derek Jeter and Sports Illustrated Model Hannah Davis Dine at the Spotted Pig; Bono Feasts With Celebrity Friends at Quality Meats

By Neha Sharma

He's dating a 22-year-old.Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

In the week leading up to Valentine's Day, love was in the air at New York restaurants. While new couple Derek Jeter and Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Hannah Davis picked the Spotted Pig for date night, married lovers seemed to get by with a little help from their friends and family. Ed Burns and Christy Turlington were spotted with friends Colin Farrell and Bono at Quality Meats, and designer Michael Kors dined with his mother and husband at Strip House.

Where else did celebrities dine?

2/15/13 at 11:25 AM on Grub Street Chicago
Chefs
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The Startling True Life Story Behind Chef Curtis Duffy of Grace

By Michael Gebert

Curtis Duffy's Grace in Chicago has earned, in two months of being open, national acclaim as one of America's most ambitious restaurants, Duffy's eyes set on every prize to be had. What few have known, and only rarely came out in the press about Duffy, was that his ambition and drive as a chef — which led him from a Colorado country club to Charlie Trotter's, Alinea, and two Michelin stars at Avenues before opening his own restaurant — was rooted in a troubled childhood, which climaxed horrifically with the murder-suicide of his parents in 1994, when Duffy was 19.

2/15/13 at 11:10 AM
Food Crises
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Horsemeat News Keeps Getting Worse

By Sierra Tishgart

Horsemeat was in cottage pies delivered to 47 schools.

Throughout this scandal, food-manufacturing companies have protested that hidden horsemeat is an issue of mislabeling, not food safety. News broke today that adulterated meat ended up in school meals, hospital food, and restaurant dishes in Britain, which is particularly alarming because yesterday, public authorities announced that small amounts of the meat contained a powerful equine painkiller. The phenylbutazone drug is potentially harmful to humans, but the chances of getting sick are low: Out of 206 horse carcasses, eight tested positive for phenylbutazone, and only six of those carcasses were exported to France (French meat wholesaler Spanghero is the current culprit). Horsemeat isn't typically harmful; the issue here is that these horses weren't sourced responsibly and raised to become part of the food chain. [AP, NYT, Earlier]

2/15/13 at 10:30 AM
Fig and Loathing
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The Purple Fig’s Conrad Gallagher Resurfaces in Vegas

By Hugh Merwin

The Irish chef Conrad Gallagher — who gained accolades and fame in his mid-twenties for his cooking in New York and Ireland, and was last seen trying to make the bordelaise-y Purple Fig bistro work on the Upper West Side — is opening a new restaurant called PoshBurger Bistro in Las Vegas next month, reports Eater. Apart from his cooking, Gallagher has been accused of operating his restaurants illegally, as well as of not paying staff and purveyors. The Purple Fig closed in September after it was hit with a string of bad reviews and Health Department citations. [Eater Las Vegas, Earlier]

2/15/13 at 10:05 AM
Sexy Soda
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Introducing the Marc Jacobs-Designed Diet Coke Cans

By Sierra Tishgart

Women wore houndstooth bikini bottoms with striped pants underneath in the aughts? Really?Photo: Coca-Cola

Recently appointed Diet Coke creative director Marc Jacobs designed these limited-edition cans of Coca-Cola Light in honor of the company's anniversary in Europe, and, surprisingly, he illustrated someone other than himself. Each can celebrates a recent fashion decade (the eighties, nineties, and aughts), and is inspired by Broadway and Radio City Music Hall, where Diet Coke made its debut in 1982. In all likelihood, the corresponding ad campaigns will showcase Jacobs's abs, or at least a topless model. [Earlier, NYDN, Cut]

2/15/13 at 09:25 AM
Video Feed
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Bruce Willis Recalls His Days As a (Flair?) Bartender

By Caroline Shin

On a promotional tour for his new Die Hard movie — the title of which could have been so much better — Bruce Willis hit Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. One topic of conversation: Willis's days as a New York bartender. Per Fallon, people would actually travel to see Willis, who apparently dabbled in some flair. Willis won't confirm or deny — he'll only say that the secret to being a well-liked bartender is just giving drinks away (especially if the customer is John Goodman). Watch the clip, straight ahead.

2/15/13 at 09:00 AM
The Grub Street Diet
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Model Chrissy Teigen Loves Airplane Food and Ina Garten’s Salmon

By Alan Sytsma

"I realized that cooking was my calming source."Photo: Dave Kotinsky/Stringer

Models aren't known for their appetites, but Chrissy Teigen is different. "I wasn’t a model that loved food," she says. "I was someone that loved food that started modeling." Teigen — who maintains her own food blog and has a special airing on the Cooking Channel — says it stems from her parents. "My dad's a big white guy ... always making meat and potatoes," and, she adds, "my mom's full Thai, so I had two totally different cuisines happening in the home, and it was very cool to see, so I started getting excited." Granted, the last month has made it hard to find time: It went from inauguration to Super Bowl to Grammys," she says. And this week she's been busy promoting the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Even with all that, she managed to find time to cook in L.A., smuggle wine into the Grammys, and find some pho in New York. Read it all in this week's Grub Street Diet.

"Thai people, we make the dirtiest noodles."