New York Magazine

This morning brings good news from Death & Co.’s Dave Kaplan:

After a long dry spell, Death & Co. celebrates its reopening tonight! We will open tonight at 6pm and resume normal operating hours. Please join us for a celebratory drink.

Update: Don’t raise that celebratory drink too high. SLA spokesman Bill Crowley tells us Death & Co., New York’s Best Cocktail Bar for Downing the Brown, is still under investigation and has merely been granted permission to operate while the Authority decides whether or not to renew its license.

Previously:
Twist Your Baseball Caps Back: Blind Tiger Reopens Thursday
Blind Tiger Co-Owner Rips the Department of Health, Human Nature
Are Rumors of Death & Co.’s Death Exaggerated?
Neighbors Accuse Death & Co. of Noise, Evoking Nazism

David Bouley earned his four stars cooking fattening French cuisine for the overclass. But now that that same set is obsessed with health, he’s teaming up with celebrity nutritionist Oz Garcia (who has revised the diets of Hilary Swank, Donna Karan, and Russell Simmons, but has never been in the restaurant business). "David first came to me because he wanted to learn about my approach to health and nutrution," says Garcia. Now the pair is planning to open health-oriented restaurants around the world; the first one is set to debut this winter at the St. Regis in Anguilla. Bouley has a "bio-yogurt" pro-biotic sauce formerly found only in health-food stores, as well as a detox drink from rice protein, pomegranate juice, and gogi berries. Even olive oil is not acceptable—it is being subbed for by wheat-germ oil. —Beth Landman

Or you could just have a liquid lunch.Photo: RJ Mickelson/Veras

Related: Restaurant Openings [NYM]

Eric Lind, the chef who opened Flatbush Farm, has left the Haute Barnyard hit. You may be disappointed to learn that neither of the two projects he’s consulting on center around seasonal foods: Stella Maris, a recently opened restaurant on Front Street, specializes in modern Irish cooking; Nelson Blue is a New Zealand–themed gastropub also on Front Street set to open in mid- to late April. Once he’s done downtown, Lind plans on another eatery of his own, likely in the “rustic, organic, country style” he established at Flatbush Farm. “This is the food that really appeals to me,” he tells us, “and the food that I like to eat.” He’s not the only one.

Related:
Haute Barnyard Take on a Classic SoCal Sandwich
Flatbush Farm Takes Haute Barnyard to the Next Level

PM owners (and brothers) Kyky and Unik are poised to increase their footprint on the meatpacking district: They’ve acquired the space that formerly housed Sascha and plan to reopen it in June as an as-yet-unnamed three-part venue that’ll include a 24-hour sandwich spot with bakery, a casual Italian bistro, and an exclusive lounge with black-on-black décor that will host D.J.’s and live music.

Gordon Ramsay at the London chef de cuisine Neil Ferguson — basically, the guy running the kitchen — has apparently been canned. According to our source, as well as Eater, the staff was informed last night.

Ramsay Dismisses Neil Ferguson [Eater]

Update: Representatives confirm the move, saying that Ramsay veteran Josh Emett has taken over, with Ferguson returning to London to “focus on upcoming projects for Gordon Ramsay Holdings.”

It’s not just Daniel Boulud with labor troubles these days: The humble Saigon Grill on the Upper West Side faced 75 demonstrators earlier today after the owner locked out 22 deliverymen Friday night. (The workers had refused to sign away their right to sue for wages they claim they’re owed.) Get the details — and the cold, hungry customer’s perspective — on Daily Intel.

Labor Troubles at Saigon Grill Mean No Delivery for You [Daily Intel]

File this one under “speak of the devil”: We just reported that there was nothing to report on the Blind Tiger Ale House’s epic quest for a liquor license at its new location. Instead, we just wanted to point you to co-owner Alan Jestice’s rant about the arrogance of the rat-story-infested media. Now we get this from Jestice: “Oddly enough, later yesterday afternoon, I received word that the Tiger had finally gotten the nod from the SLA for a beer and wine license … So there you have it, the roar heard around the world!” Was it yesterday’s post that somehow cosmically nudged the SLA into action? We’d sure like to think so. — Daniel Maurer

Earlier: Blind Tiger Co-Owner Rips the Department of Health, Human Nature

Ride on, cowboy. Ride on.Photo courtesy Lonesome Dove Western Bistro

Deathwatching: Lonesome Dove SHUTTERED [Eater]

Death & Co. is having its share of problems — Sasha Petraske, too — but don’t pour one out for the $12 cocktail just yet. Shin Ikeda, a bartender and manager at perennial first-date spot Angel’s Share, is teaming up with a Japanese club and bar owner to open what will likely be a cocktail lounge called B Flat with Angel’s Share–style drinks. Broker James Famularo has just secured a bi-level space with fourteen-foot ceilings (now occupied by I Bar) at 277 Church Street, across from the Tribeca Grand Hotel. Expect a new design scheme and Negroni-fueled PDA there about a month from now. — Daniel Maurer

Here's looking at you: Patricia Yeo.Photo: Associated Press

Update: Yeo tells us that she will not be leaving Sapa as executive chef or partner (at least for now; our source believes it’s a matter of months): “I will probably be spending more time at Monkey Bar, at least pre-reviews. The main concept will be to resurrect old ideas, like ribs, with an Asian spin.”

Rinella: I eat squirrels. Got a problem with that?Photo: Robert Ascroft

Steven Rinella [Official site]

Soon, the sun will never set on Daniel Boulud’s empire: The chef is opening a restaurant in China. Although it hasn’t been officially announced, someone from high up within his organization confirms that construction is about to start and that the opening is slated for the end of this year or the beginning of next. The restaurant, currently unnamed, will be in the style of Café Boulud and located in an area of Beijing called the Legation, a quarter of former embassy buildings. Just don’t expect any Chinese touches — Boulud’s not turning into a fusion chef just because he’s headed out of town. “It will be primarily French-influenced cooking,” our source confirms.

7Square, a “modern chophouse” we’re fond of, has suddenly and unexpectedly gone under. The restaurant will close after lunch today, we’re told by a source from within the restaurant, owing more to financial complications than the restaurant’s ability to lure customers. The close might be billed as temporary, but our source insists the doors will be shut for good. If only we hadn’t made plans to scarf lunch at our desk.

Earlier:
A Modern Chophouse's Roman Excess [Grub Street]
Adam Platt's review [NYM]

The era of Ditmas Park boasting two good New American restaurants may be coming to a close. According to a Craigslist ad posted today, picket fence, the neighborhood’s pioneering New American restaurant, is for sale. (The other favorite is the Farm on Adderley.) It was with great sadness that we read the following line: “Visit picketfencebrooklyn.com and see for yourself what a great opportunity this is.” (We’re easily moved.) The restaurant helped spark the Ditmas Park revival; we’re sorry to see it go, but curious as to what will come in its place.

Cozy Restaurant for Sale [Craigslist]

Morandi's drinks will get you lai'd: DeGroff.Photo: Getty Images

Related: Fall Preview: Keith McNally and Jody Williams

After thirteen years at the helm of the Sea Grill, Ed Brown appears to have found his own restaurant. The chef is close to a deal on a space in the Excelsior Hotel, across the street from the Planetarium. “I'm not denying it, but I haven't gotten the papers back,” says Brown, who hopes to open a 130-seat American restaurant there this fall. (He will not handle the hotel's room service.) “It will be upscale, but not precious,” he promises. “I am so ready to go and do my own thing and be a free man.” — Beth Landman

Friday is the last day for Dante Bucozzi, the Aureole chef whose Italian cooking kept the restaurant popular after its New American heyday under Charlie Palmer and then Gerry Hayden. Bucozzi will be opening an eatery in Cleveland, his hometown. "It was a situation I couldn't say no to," he tells us. "The restaurant [I'm taking over] was an institution. We're going to call it Dante and reopen after Labor Day." Aureole's corporate chef Tony Aiazzi will be promoted to Bucozzi's spot.

It seems that Justin Timberlake’s restaurant Destino won’t be the only joint owned by one of last night’s Grammy performers. Broker James Famularo of New York Commercial Real Estate Services says he has inked a deal to bring one of the ceremony’s marquee names into a 3,000-square-foot Upper East Side space that will open as a loungy restaurant as early as mid-April. We’re thinking it’s the sole Upper East Side location advertised in the broker’s online listings, the former home of Il Monello. Famularo himself isn’t spilling specifics beyond saying a major interior designer is aboard and construction under way. NYC-rooted songsters besides Timberlake (a possibility) include Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige, Wyclef Jean, and (long shots) Danger Mouse of Gnarls Barkley and John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Or maybe the Dixie Chicks are partnering in Tim Love’s next one? —Daniel Maurer

You would think that Drew Nieporent, as one of the most famous and influential of New York restaurateurs (not to mention one of the most recognizable) would be able to get decent service at a good Manhattan restaurant. You can see where we’re headed with this: Yesterday at the Cafe at Country, the jolly mogul was made to wait … and wait … and wait for his meal. “This is my worst nightmare, that this would happen in one of my own restaurants,” Nieporent said. Find out the full story at Daily Intel.

Celebrity Restaurateurs: They Get Slow Service Just Like Us! [Daily Intel]

Sasha Petraske of Milk and Honey recently put his stamp on the drinks menu at the Carlyle Hotel’s Bemelmans Bar, but let’s face it, the place still isn’t what it was when it was helmed by legends Dale DeGroff and, later, Audrey Saunders. Brian Van Flandern, former head mixologist at Per Se, hopes to change that. Within six weeks, the star stirrer, known for making his own ginger beer and tonic water at Per Se’s stand-up bar, will unveil a revamped menu. Along with holdovers like DeGroff’s Whiskey Smash and Saunders’s Gin Gin Mule, it will include cocktails like a variation of his Flaming Dutchman — a concoction of cognac, sherry, gin, lemon juice, and bitters (finished off with a spectacular shower of lemon juice over an open flame). It's the same drink that prompted a Dutch company to rank him the No. 2 bartender in the world. And rest assured, the murals by Ludwig Bemelmans aren’t going anywhere, nor are the bartenders who’ve been there for years — some of the drinks may actually be named after them. —Daniel Maurer

Craving Balthazar at 5 a.m.? Come spring, all that will be required to get your late-night Cobb on is a room at the Gramercy Park Hotel. Once the beleaguered Park Chinois restaurant is up and running (in April or May, we’re told; Alan Yau’s still on board), a new 24-hour room-service menu will feature renditions of signature dishes from celebrated NYC restaurants and chefs.

Looks like his status as (an admittedly lower-tier) gay icon isn’t all the embattled Gordon Ramsay has to be thankful for these days. Ramsay’s Petrus was awarded two stars in the 2007 Michelin Guide to Britain, and his new London restaurant, La Noisette, got its first star. (None of his already-starred outposts were demoted, either.) Good going, Gordo. Just don’t get a big head over it, okay?

Chef Ramsay Still on Top in New Guide [Yahoo News]
Earlier:
Gordon Ramsay, Gay Icon [Grub Street]
Gordon Ramsay Would Like the Honor of Humiliating You [Grub Street]
We Spot-Check Gordon Ramsay's Stink [Grub Street]

Oh my god -- where have we seen that before?Still: Everett Bogue

Food Network Running Subliminal McDonalds Ads [thatsfit.com]

The Whole Foods soup bar has really gone downhill.Photo: Corbis

Market in Gowanus OK, says agency [NYDN]
Related: Indulge Your Paranoia

The plot grows thicker in the curious case of Little Italy hot-spot-to-be GoldBar: A tipster says the owners of Cain (who are joined in the secretive opening by David Tetens, former operator of Lotus) have been tracking that bar's biggest spenders so they can give them VIP cards for the new place. (“As for Cain tracking top clients, of course they do …” e-mails a publicist. “But are Cain clients getting VIP cards to GoldBar? NO.”) So what can we expect when it opens on February 1?

Yes, I'll have a 300 pounder with cheese ...Photo: David Greg Harth; George Motz

Free Burger! [Neatorama]
Hamburger America: The Meers Store [Serious Eats]

Last week, the Wellfed Network gave out some food-blog awards. When we saw that we weren't among the nominees, our immediate response was rancor. But then we got that it was an award for individual bloggers, and we found a lot of pleasure in discovering some good ones. Among the winners we liked:

Best Food Blog - New: Pinch My Salt. By a housewife in Sicily, this plain, recipe-centric blog has some of the most dazzling images around and is written in a totally simple and direct style that we wish we saw more of.

Best Food Blog - Rural: Farmgirl Fare. Here at Grub Street, we hear a lot of talk about local cooking and seasonal ingredients, but this blog that is actually about life on a farm. Sometimes Farmgirl lays it on a little thick, but you do feel at times as if you're actually involved with her baby animals and various hay-related chores.

If the “Sunday Styles” piece on “secret bars” seems familiar, right down to the obligatory scene in trenddaddy of them all Milk and Honey, maybe it’s because you read “Buzz Off: Secret Bars That Spurn Hype” in 2000 or “Don’t Look for a Sign; Hot Spots Don’t Want Just Anyone to Find Them” in 2004. Strangely, the latest trend piece chose to single out tired examples like East Side Company Bar (um, didn’t this open more than a year and a half ago?) over, say, Gold Bar, the top-secret Bungalow-in-the-making we recently exposed. Which makes this a good time to let you in on a lil' something else about GoldBar: According to a well-placed source, they’ve enlisted bartenders Brian Miller of Pegu Club and Jim Kerns of Pegu and Freemans (both of whom are also putting in shifts at Death & Co.). But don’t tell anyone; it’s a “secret.” —Daniel Maurer

Mary Ellen Heavner: girl power!

Earlier: Dream Hotel's Restaurant Still a Dream, But Opening in January

Anthony, in his frisbee-playing days.Photo courtesy Gramercy Tavern

A to Z List: Online Menus

We’ve learned that Chris Albrecht, executive chef at Craftsteak, has left the kitchen — apparently as part of owner Tom Colicchio’s effort to improve the restaurant’s disappointing performance. “Overall the restaurant wasn’t going in the direction we wanted,” Colicchio tells us. “It was time for him to go.” Though their Las Vegas location is a big hit, higher standards prevail in New York. “We need to break out of the steakhouse mind-set,” Colicchio says, “and start thinking about this as a Craft restaurant that happens to be a celebration of meat — all meat.” Damon Wise, chef de cuisine at Colicchio’s flagship Craft, will take over until Albrecht’s replacement is found.

They like me! They really like me!Photo: Shanna Ravindra

Gordon Ramsay 50th Most Popular Gay Icon [Pink News]

Kaplan: Hypnotized into taking the job?Photo courtesy Nicole Kaplan

Earlier: Nicole Kaplan Ditching Eleven Madison Park [Grub Street]

Earlier we reported that Sasha Petraske has his eye on the vacant Blue Mill space, which is begging for a Waverly Inn–style revival. Turns out he’s not the only one: We noticed, in the agenda for tonight’s Community Board 4 meeting, that Geoffrey Zakarian of Town and Country has applied for a liquor license at 50 Commerce Street. Zakarian concedes that he and some unnamed partners are looking at several spaces in the West Village and Lower East Side with a small bistro in mind, but he hasn’t signed a lease and needs to crunch more numbers before he’s ready for the community board. “I spoke to the landlord and evidently there’s someone else she’s interested in,” he tells us. The plot thickens … —Daniel Maurer

Earlier: Sasha Petraske to Take on Fine Dining, Too

Here I come, to save the day...Photo: Patrick McMullan

Fox TV-New Gordon Ramsay Show-Looking 4 Restaurants That Need Help! [Craigslist]

"Wait, what am I promoting today?"Photo: Getty

Earlier: Two More on the Burger Bandwagon; Hardly Any Space for Buns

Courtesy of our man in Tokyo.Photo: Ko Fujimura

I was in Shinjuku last week. I was there just to hang out and found huge crowds of people … then I look up and there is a huge sign … Krispy Kream [sic]!! People are lined up for an hour just to get these!!!

We hear they go great with cod sperm. — Daniel Maurer

Krispy Kreme Japan

Earlier this week a broker revealed to us that GoldBar, the new project from Cain's Robert McKinley and Jamie Mulholland, would resemble Pangea, prompting a PR rep to vehemently disagree. "Whoever said anything about bottle service?" the rep writes. "Couldn't be farther from what this project is about." (No word, of course, on what it is about.) Meanwhile, Mulholland himself refuted industry rumors that Cain is considering a move from West 27th Street, saying business is stronger than ever and he looks at three or four spaces a week only because "it's good to have your ears to the ground." One move we can tell you to expect: If all goes as planned, a Cain Beach Club will be opening in the new Cove luxury hotel complex on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Now we know where Bobby Flay, who's opening a Mesa Grill on the island, will be throwing down. —Daniel Maurer

Earlier: Cain's Secret Project to Bring a Whole Lotta Bling to Little Italy

Hill Country BBQ, we've learned from owner Mark Glosserman, has officially signed its lease and begun construction at 30 West 26th Street, just a few blocks from Blue Smoke and RUB . Isn’t it bad medicine to open so close to a pair of established, busy barbecues? Says Glosserman: “It's a great spot, and the price was right, and we're in a big office building, so there will be a lot of traffic even though it's a side street. We have a lot of faith in our product.” No doubt. But we actually like Hill Country's chances. New Yorkers have shown a willingness to go the extra mile to eat great barbecue: Daisy May's BBQ sat on a desolate stretch of Eleventh Avenue and didn't even have tables; RUB ran out of meat every night; Blue Smoke barely had any smoke flavor during its first year, as a result of chimney malfunction. Glosserman hired the best barbecue cooker in the city, Robert Richter. If Hill Country delivers the goods, New Yorkers will support it … right?

We got an e-mail today, and not a happy one at that, from Jason Neroni, the young chef outed by Gawker as the author of an e-mail urgently soliciting Beard Award nominations. We released the missive last week, under the headline "Chef's Desperate Plea: Nominate Me for an Award!"

What did he have to say?

L-O-L-A, Lola: How could neighbors not love a place with a sign like that?Photo courtesy Lola

Lola, 15 Watts St., nr. Thompson St.; 212-675-6700.

HUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.Photo: Jed Egan

Earlier: Gordon Ramsay Finally Pissing Someone Off

"Mom and Dad's Christmas gift? Yeah, I'm getting them the steak."Photo: Lynn Goldsmith/CORBIS

Steer Heaven [NYP]

The mythical mixologist does his thing.Photo: Robert Hess; drinkboy.com.

Earlier:
Milk and Honey Owner to Do Beer and Wine — and Queens!
Zagat Fails to Number-Close Milk and Honey

Sasha Petraske, owner of Milk and Honey and Little Branch, not to mention one of the city's most revered mixologists, plans on expanding his mini-empire. Shockingly — for those who aren't aware that Petraske worked at Von before conquering the cocktail world — the new venture will be a wine-and-Belgian-beer bar; he's calling it the Mighty Ocelot ("I really like cats," he tells us). Petraske first applied for a beer-and-wine license at 226 Broome Street, around the corner from Milk and Honey, but the rent would've busted his "shoe-string budget." So in January he'll taking over the former Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar space in the East Village; come March, he'll be offering cheese plates and light food. Not only this, but a project in Long Island City is also in the works. —Daniel Maurer

Mind the spikes.Photo courtesy Jimmy's

Jimmy's, 43 E. 7th St., nr. Second Ave.; 212-982-3006.

OH, that kind of BeardImage courtesy James Beard Foundation

James Beard Foundation Awards Nomination Form [James Beard Foundation]

Photo so nice, we used it twice.Photo courtesy Swich

Swich, 104 Eighth Ave., nr. 15th St.; 212-488-4800.

Perhaps it is easy being green.Photo courtesy Swich

Swich, 104 Eighth Ave., nr. 15th St.; 212-488-4800.

Yo quiero renal failure!Photo: Mel Evans/AP

From Iguanas to Armadillos, New York State Cracking Down on Mystery Meats [AP via Boston Herald]
E. Coli Sickens 39 in New Jersey and New York [NYT]
600 Sickened After Eating at N.Y. Bar [AP via Island Packet]

Backward golf cap not required.Photo: Shannon Greer

Chez, Lola, 387 Myrtle Ave., nr. Clermont Ave.; 718-858-1484.

There has been a jolt forward in the ongoing saga of Del Posto's battle with its landlord, William J. Robbins: Although the larger case between the restaurant and Robbins's firm has yet to be resolved in State Supreme Court, a separate case was just decided in Del Posto's favor in Manhattan civil court over the restaurant's use of the basement vault, where they keep their refrigerator compressors and water heaters. Without the basement, Del Posto most likely would've had to move out; Judge Barbara Jaffe declared that the use of the vault is "necessary to the full beneficial use and enjoyment of its business." Now, on to the Supreme Court.

Just in case you weren't tuned in to WOR this morning, we thought we'd let you know that "Food Talk" host Mike Colameco had us on his show and that you can hear our conversation by going here (click on "Food Talk November 28" in the lower-left corner of the page). We covered classic Grub Street topics like Bar-B-Jews, Cesare Casella's zoological experiments, and plans for a bollito misto debauch. So rest your eyes and give it a listen.

This morning we wrote that Artisanal owner Terrance Brennan may go prospecting for a new restaurant opportunity in Las Vegas. Looks like he might not be the only New Yorker with that idea. The real-estate broker who originally tipped us off says Jeffrey Chodorow, who already helms five spots in Sin City, is apparently looking for a place in which to install another branch of Asia de Cuba. Chodorow's spokesperson would not comment. François Payard of Payard Patisserie & Bistro, meanwhile, openly tells us of his Vegas ambitions: "Yes, I'm working on a project in Las Vegas with Caesar's Palace. It will be a small chocolate pastry shop called Payard. Most likely it'll be open next year."

— Daniel Maurer

Earlier: Terrance Brennan to Make Vegas Just a Little Bit Cheesier?

Jeffrey Chodorow: food costs are as nothing.Photo courtesy KB Network News

Earlier: Josh DeChellis, Kobe Club Break Up But Are Still Friends

We were misled by last week's heart-quickening "Meet the Soup Nazi" ad, which led to this post. Al Yeganeh, the man who inspired the Seinfeld character (and who detests the "Soup Nazi" tag, preferring to call himself the "Soup Man"), was not actually present. Actor Larry Thomas, who played the character, was the one promoting the show's new DVD. (Apparently, they didn't want Michael Richards.) Also, contrary to what we wrote, Yeganeh doesn't hate being called "the Soup Nazi" because he's Jewish. He is not a member of the tribe. Evidently, he simply resents his television image. "Al truly feels like Seinfeld ruined his life," his rep tells us. "He was doing very well before the show came along."

Earlier: Soup Nazi to Boil Over at Appearance?

Tim "Eater X" Janus, bird in hand.Photo: Melissa Hom

But forget the breakdown. Check out the pics!

Old, old, old school.Photo: Abby Lauterbach

— Alexandra Vallis

Hey, little guy … get in my belly!Photo: A Hamburger Today

Blue Smoke on the Cheap [A Hamburger Today]

The fuel required to come up with those nifty holiday logo variations.Photo: Everett Bogue

So what do you serve hungry programmers? Our mole slipped us an excerpt from Wednesday's inaugural menu.

Just 8,000 more pieces of bread to go ...Photo: iStockphoto.com/chris beddoe

Suit Bids to Ban N.Y. Foie Gras [NYP]
Earlier: Renewed Foie Gras Controversy Has a Rich, Buttery History [Grub Street]

We've learned that George Mendes, the very visible chef de cuisine at Tocqueville, is finalizing the lease on a restaurant space. Mendes tell us that his new place will be "gastronomically serious" but "modern, casual, and hip." No other details yet, but the guy is an imaginative young chef — one to keep an eye on.

Tocqueville, meanwhile, is still going strong in its new space at 1 East 15th Street; executive chef Marco Moreira will be converting the old room at 15 East 15th Street into a modern Japanese restaurant.

There has been a blizzard of charitable food events lately, many of them exercises in full-out sybaritism, blowouts marked by the craziest kind of Roman excess. (Or at least decent eats.) But it's okay, because they benefit charities like City Harvest, which collects leftover food and distributes it to the hungry. That organization, which feeds 260,000 New Yorkers each week, is now releasing Great Food, Good Hearts, a guide listing all the restaurants that partner with them, from H&H Bagels to Le Bernardin. So do your part: Eat out more!

To get a copy of Great Food, Good Hearts, send a self-addressed envelope with a 87-cent stamp to City Harvest Restaurant Guide, 575 Eighth Avenue, Fourth Floor, New York, N.Y. 10018, or call 917-351-8700.

Earlier: Cans of Food Made Into Art? Impossible! [Grub Street]

The First Avenue location, with cookies.Photo: Carina Salvi

— Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

Mystery Muffins [NYM]

Zak Pelaccio: International male.Photo: 5 Ninth Restaurant

EaterWire: Ramsay Lands, Drops Two-Hour Time Limit, Boxer's Loses Their Lease, Fatty Crab Goes National! [Eater]

You too can live like a financial-district office drone.Photo: iStock

To see a list of participating restaurants, visit the Downtown Alliance's Website.

David Burke, empire builder.

Davids Chang, Burke Now in Convenient Video Form [Grub Street]
The Go-Go Gourmet [Grub Street]

Sure, you can always pay $10,000 for AM to D.J. your store opening (that's what a publicist who worked with him told us he pulled), but for true atmosphere, why not hire an Iron Chef to put on a promotional robe and cut up toro all night? We're not sure how many $99.99 cashmere sweaters the new Uniqlo outpost will have to sell to make back Morimoto's appearance fee, but we can tell you this much: While sipping sake from wooden Uniqlo boxes, we heard secondhand that one of the party's organizers said the fish cost $50,000. (Morimoto's people said the number was off but wouldn't say by how much, or whether it included the charge for his actual appearance.) Whatever the store paid, it was worth seeing Morimoto wielding his sword (possibly the $30,000 one?) and mugging for the Japanese girls who must've popped off 100 photos of him while perched at his elbow. The Iron man's sous-chef also hammed it up: When one attendee demanded the very last cut of toro, the chef grinned facetiously and, instead of rolling up rice, served it to him on a ball of wasabi.

Update: A publicist for Uniqlo informs us that the fish, a specially imported, 100-pound whole loin of bluefin tuna, only cost $4,000, though one ordering an equal amount of the fish from a sushi restaurant might spend $25,000. She would not say whether Morimoto's appearance fee accounted for the remainder of the $50,000, if that figure was accurate at all.

— Daniel Maurer

Babouche Lounge and Restaurant, a much-needed addition to the stale Soho dining scene, opens its doors on Wednesday. It's a sister to Barbes, one of the city's better Moroccan places (not that there are very many of them), but given the ritzier environs and its expanded menu, Babouche is clearly the more ambitious eatery. Still, they'll be serving traditional North African dishes like couscous and various tajines, the slow-cooked clay-pot dishes most associated with Morocco. The room, many of whose features (a large brass door, mosaic atrium walls, a water fountain) were made in Morocco specifically for the restaurant, sounds pretty classy, too. We trust that there won't be any hookahs present.

Babouche Lounge and Restaurant, 92 Prince St., nr. Mercer St.; 212-219-8155.

A friend of Porchetta chef Jason Neroni has alerted us to the fact that, despite having taken over for Wylie Dufresne at 71 Clinton Fresh Foods before starting his new gig, Neroni does not consider Dufresne his mentor. "Because Wylie made such a name for 71 Clinton Fresh Food, I think people tend to compare our styles a lot," Neroni tells us. "But Smith Street isn't the Lower East Side, and I'm in this business to do what I love, and to be myself." The chef credits Alice Waters and Dan Hill for teaching him about ingredients, Floyd Cardoz for teaching him about "multidimensionality," and Alain Ducasse for teaching him to "slow down, combine all the elements, and create a cuisine that I could, for the first time, truly consider to be mine."

A Restaurant Revolution on Smith Street? [Grub Street]

Team Tripe prepares for the marathonPhotographs by Melissa Hom

A few highlights from the lunch at Nougatine:

When we were told that Italian Wine Merchants had a new chef, our first thought was, Why would a wine store need a chef? In fact, the Batali-owned specialty shop does a huge banquet business and is booked for private events nearly year-round. The new chef is Liz Chapman, a veteran of Craft, Casa Mono, and Babbo, and a big part of her mandate is to create the cured meats that Mario & Co. so adore. Chapman, whose fiancé is Per Se chef de cuisine Jonathan Benno, tells us, "I'm really here for the salumi. I wake up in the morning, and they're all I think about." We know how you feel, Liz. Just don't tell Benno!

Left, well-groomed Johnnie.Photo: YunCee Ng

No doubt. But watching the parade of aged grandees walking in between the Scylla and Charybdis of a ROC representative and De La Rosa was a spectacle we wouldn't have missed.

The Ghetto Gourmet: pirate gastronomyPhotograph by Lauren Hoernlein

The Ghetto Gourmet (scroll down for event links)

Vendy laureate Rolf Babiel.Photo: courtesy the Street Vendor Project

Our heartiest congratulations go out to Samiul Haque Noor, the winner of the 2006 Vendy Award for New York's best street vendor. Noor won a cook-off against three other finalists, including the legendary "Arepa Lady," to take the top honors Sunday night. We contacted last year's winner, Rolf Babiel of Hallo Berlin, who was ineligible for this year's contest, at his home in Binghamton, to ask him what's in store for Noor. "I got a lot of new customers," Babiel said. "And my lines got longer. Too long! I lost some of the old customers. We had visits from Oprah and Rachael Ray and journalists from Germany and Japan." Babiel appreciates the attention the Vendys earned him, but one thing made him a little uneasy. "I got a big trophy," he said. "But they called me up and said they need to take it back. I thought, It should be like Miss Universe, and I could give the trophy to the new winner. It would have been a little more professional. You know, I think the Vendys are a little bit disorganized. But I don't get carried away."

Grub Street's favorite carts

Allen and Delancey, the much-awaited restaurant from former Craftbar chef Akhtar Nawab, had been set to open in less than two weeks. But things change quickly in the restaurant world, and now we hear, from the man himself, that the opening has been delayed — possibly permanently. An investor pulled out at the eleventh hour, leaving Nawab $200,000 short of his opening costs. The downcast chef told us: "Out of the blue, the investor said, 'I'm not spending this kind of money!' He called everybody and fired them yesterday. The chairs just arrived two days ago!" Our guess is that Allen and Delancey will find an investor between here and the finish line, but in the meantime, the restaurant is in serious peril. "This situation is very sensitive, and something needs to happen very quickly," Nawab told us.

Gertel's Bakery: passing into history?Photo by Lauren Klain Carton

Gertel's Bakery, one of the last of the old-time Jewish bakeries on the Lower East Side, may be shutting down, another victim of the condo-ing of New York. "We haven't finalized anything yet," owner Abe Stern told us, without denying the possible closing, widely discussed in the neighborhood. If that bakery's classic hamantaschen and rugalach are on the way out, we wondered, Can Yonah Shimmel's knishes and Kossar's bialys, other pillars of Jewish baked goods, be far behind?

Goodbye, Night and Day; Hello, Biscuit.Photograph courtesy Night and Day restaurant

It was a sad day a couple of years back when Sample chef and co-owner Josh Cohen closed Biscuit, his Park Slope barbecue restaurant. By now, you may have gotten over it. Which makes this an extra-special surprise: Biscuit is coming back. On Monday, Cohen finalized plans to convert Night and Day, at 230 Fifth Avenue (not to be confused with 230 Fifth Avenue, the Manhattan restaurant), into a bigger and better version of Biscuit, scheduled to open on October 30. His slow-smoked pork, spareribs, point-cut brisket, and chicken, along with other southern standards like fried chicken and u-peel-'em shrimp, will all be making a triumphant return. There will also be a full bar and blues and bluegrass music. "I think we have a chance to really do Biscuit right this time," Cohen told us. Hey, we liked it the last time.

The most admired chef in the world doesn't have a restaurant in New York, Paris, or Las Vegas. He doesn't appear on TV. His name is little known among the general public, but chefs speak it with awe, in low whispers. He is Ferran Adrià, and he is coming to New York on Saturday.

We kid you not: Adrià, who heads up the kitchen at Spain's El Bulli, probably rates as the most influential cook in the world. As Rob and Robin explain, New Yorkers will finally have a chance to see him at work when he and nine other leading Spanish cooks demonstrate their "molecular gastronomy" techniques for Spain's 10: Cocina de Vanguardia, at Guastivino's, in the magazine. At $300 per person, the event, which includes food and wine samplings throughout the day and a tapas lunch, ain't cheap. But neither is a Manhattan tablecloth meal. Nor round-trip airfare to Spain.

Buy tickets here.

Spain's Ten: The Summit

Diners at 5 Ninth, heavy-handed visual allusions to Mardi Gras.Photos: Kenneth Chen; istockphoto.com/Zog/Zog Dwight Smith

And, oh, did we mention that it's free? (Other than in the headline?)

Correction: the event is Thursday, not Friday. It is also now fully booked.

Tim Love: "Add a million, carry the nine, and ... dang!"Photo courtesy Lonesome Dove Western Bistro

"Can Love Conquer All?" [Fort Worth Star-Telegram] (registration required)

Laura Cunningham, the longtime general manager of Thomas Keller's fabled French Laundry restaurant in Northern California, who also oversaw the operations of Per Se in New York, is leaving her post, as first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. Her announcement was made yesterday via an e-mail to employees.

"They came to the decision that she wants to pursue other endeavors," said Keller's New York spokesperson. What other endeavors? "She doesn't know at this time,'' said the spokesperson.

Cunningham and Keller, known as a fine-dining power couple, opened the Laundry together ten years ago.

"It's been an amazing job, but personally I just need a change and some time off," said Cunningham, whom the Chronicle once called "one of the most influential women in the restaurant business." "I am reevaluating. I have no job, but there are definitely things I've missed on a personal level that I just want to concentrate on."

— Beth Landman

Frankly, we're not always flattered to be part of that great, wide, amateurish group of people known as food bloggers. But some blogs we very much admire — like Augieland, based in our own fair city (though sometimes Augie, as the man called himself when we got in touch, does write from the road, too). It's easy to say whether you love or hate a restaurant. But on this particular site, there's always a wealth of physical detail: "The starchy thickness of the tartares made the thin chips useless for scooping them, leaving the three of us to use chopsticks to scoop bits onto the chips," reads a copiously illustrated review of Japonais. But all that work doesn't mean no play: Augieland doles out ratings using stars seemingly from another galaxy (A Voce earns 211 lewinskibillion stars) and supplements reviews with random, highly enjoyable rants and wonky features, like this one on the quest to make a perfect baguette.

"Ah, my own Margaux! How veddy, veddy ... cheap!"Photo: iStockphoto.com/Helene Canada

The rich keep getting richer: Word from one of our cognac-swilling, ascot-wearing friends is that caviar capital Petrossian, among the city's most opulent spots, is waiving its corkage fees. This is actually quite a concession; most restaurants make their money from wine and liquor, of course, and a lot of top tables don't let you bring your own wine in at all. "We don't accept that, no," a reservationist at Cru tells us helpfully, adding, "We do have an excellent wine selection." Per Se, meanwhile, allows diners to bring their own — if they're willing to shell out $90 a bottle to have it uncorked. In honor of their tax-breaks-for-the-rich generosity, we raise a glass to Petrossian — a glass of two-buck chuck, poured directly from a Trader Joe's bag.

"So ... hungry ... for power!"Photo: iStockphoto.com/Melking

After creating an account with our credit card — this took about an hour to dope out — we found a participating nearby eatery, Two Boots at Rockefeller Center. (Mobo's 25 participating restaurants all cluster in office areas.) We then ordered a small "Newman" pizza on our phone, via text message, while walking over that way. And sure enough, the food was waiting for us at pickup, already paid for. Mobo had actually worked, lending the smallest bit of convenience to the chaos that is our lunch hour. Of course, it would've been even easier if we'd just had something delivered.

Meanwhile, we await the day when someone figures out a way for us to digest lunch electronically. Then we'll finally have a paperless office.

Pawpaw: Opening near youPhotos: iStockphoto.com/Sigler; iStockphoto.com/Melbedggood

In honor of the pawpaw, here's our list of five of the most delicious southern foods you'll find in New York.

We've heard of people having it out with management, but this is ridiculous. Around midnight on Wednesday, an exchange of words between three men who had just had an hours-long dinner at Chinatown Brasserie and maître d' Robert Banat devolved into the trio yelling at Banat and shoving him. Executive chef Tyson Wong Ophaso tells us that when he stepped in to separate the men from his maître d', the biggest and youngest of the three threw Ophaso on his back. (Ophaso is five foot, six inches, 130 pounds.) Cursing loudly, the man then dragged the hapless chef by his feet onto the sidewalk and proceeded to beat him up, despite the best efforts of Brasserie staff — but no other onlookers — to protect him.

The men fled before police arrived, but one of them left behind his credit-card information, and all three were captured on the restaurant's cameras. They've all been identified, and Ophaso is pressing charges. Meanwhile, what kind of town is this that a chef is beaten by three goons, and no strangers come to his aid? Any man that cooks orange beef like Ophaso deserves the utmost protection against bruisers.

Cesare Casella has always been a hands-on kind of guy. The Maremma chef, a leading light of Tuscan cookery in America, imports his own beans and makes his own sausages. It only follows, then, that sooner or later he'd invent his own pig. Casella is breeding the Large Black, the tastiest breed of swine we've ever eaten, with a Yorkshire-Duroc crossbreed, the most durable and healthy. Their offspring are being mated with Large Blacks, creating a pig that grows fast, lives long, causes little trouble, and tastes better than you can imagine — or at least, that's the idea. The pigs will appear first at Maremma — after the current generation, which is still young, begins producing offspring at the end of this year or in early '07 — and later at other restaurants around town.

Lots of chefs create new pork dishes, but how many create new pigs? (It's almost like Pygmalion. Except Higgins never ate Eliza.)

Ro

Mike Colameco in shirt loud enough to be heard over the radio.Photo courtesy PBS

Kulfi pop: the shape of things to come?Photo: Everett Bogue

Let's hope so — for Mumbai's sake.

A sexual-harassment lawsuit filed today by a former waitress for Megu, the Tribeca outpost of the high-end Japanese restaurant empire, is hot enough to melt the place's trademark Buddha ice sculpture. The ex-waitress, Satomi Southward, a 31-year-old single mother described by her lawyer as "demure, pretty, with long hair," is seeking $20 million in compensatory and punitive damages from the restaurant (which earned two stars from the Times) and its parent company, Food Scope America. Her complaint lists a variety of unappetizing behaviors, some of which involved the kitchen utensils, one of which led to felony sexual-abuse charges being filed, and all of which were, she alleges, tolerated by the owners of the restaurant, whom she accuses of having a yen for keeping more than the sushi fresh around there. Food Scope president Hiro Nishida did not immediately return calls for comment, and efforts to reach the company's lawyers were unsuccessful.

Our friends at Eater have been on fire this week. First, they broke the story of Alain Ducasse's closing, a plum scoop if ever there was one. And yesterday, they posted a first-person account, written by William Tigertt of Freemans, of what a restaurant owner goes through when the Sultan of Bruni visits. (Tigertt's a real asset: His booze-markup piece gave drinkers plenty to fume about last week.)

For some time, readers have been calling for an overhaul of the New York Times "Dining & Wine" pages. Pete Wells, who was recently hired as the section's new editor, might, in fact, be the guy to do it. (Disclosure: He's a friend of ours.) Wells, a James Beard–award-winning writer who is currently the food editor at Details, begins in October. We asked him how things will look after the regime change.

Popeye, in happier days.Photo: Golden Collection

And so we turn to "At the Greenmarket" writer Zoe Singer, who suggests the following replacements:

The vendor gets his due.Photograph courtesy of Filmsphilos

Rob and Robin give special attention to street carts in today's "Underground Gourmet," but they're not the only ones showing love to the humble vendors. Ramin Bahrani's Man Push Cart, currently doing boffo business at the Angelika Film Center, has done for Pakistani street vendors what The Bicycle Thief did for poster hangers. The drama, which centers around a roll-and-coffee seller with a mysterious past, comes on the heels of the Vendy Awards and increasing attention to legendary New York street vendors like midtown's Muhammed Rahman or Jackson Heights' "Arepa Lady."

TV's Masaharu Morimoto.Photo courtesy Morimoto

Iron Chef Morimoto, with his stern visage and poetic imagination, is utterly compelling, as television owners from Kyoto to Kentucky now know. But how closely does the menu of his vast West Side restaurant, Morimoto, hew to his work on the small screen? Sometimes, rather closely.

Photo: Mary Altaffer (AP Photos)

There's a full list of participating eateries here, but there are only five nights to take advantage of the deal. Our choices are as follows.