Given the recent release of Sex and the City, we weren’t surprised when a reader sent us an e-mail with the subject line “I don't want jersey girls drinking cosmos to ruin my birthday.” Her plea for a locale:

My 21st birthday is on monday and i'm looking for the perfect place to celebrate..minus all the hoopla that usually surrounds the trashy, puke in the mouth into the entree 21st. just looking for something cozy and the ability to be as loud as i want. i checked out hecho en dumbo and it looked great, but alas, it's closed on Mondays. i was also thinking a beer garden in queens but my hopes and dreams were crushed when i was informed that a peripheral friend of ours recently had her bday there last week. bummer.

Come back in two weeks.Photo: Alexa Matson

Dear Grub Street,

I'm writing because I'm assuming the stalls are open on Saturdays and Sundays currently, but I've seen no official notice. I want to head there this weekend with my parents while they are visiting, but I don't want to trek all the way to Red Hook only to find that nothing is going on. If you could confirm that the stalls are now operating, as it seems you've reported on their happenings a bit, that would be much appreciated.

Kyle

Photo: iStockphoto

For over twenty years I’ve frequented Ess-a-Bagel, one of the best bagel shops in NY. It's got its charm, what with the "bagel facial" (the steam from the bagels being cooked) that blasts you when you enter (you’re lucky when it’s cinnamon raisin— the garlic bagels attach to your clothing all day). The same guys have worked there for years and thankfully they all know what I order (I get claustrophobic very easily, and hate waiting). However, recently something has driven me away from my beloved bagel shop.

A ton of Bun.Photo courtesy of Cocktailian's Flickr page

Earlier: Bun Gets Eaten Out of 24/7 Business (Till Next Week)

"Voilà, le pain!"Photo: nymag.com

Lately, it's been hellish to get in and take an order. Lines on the weekend--mornings I tell you! Early Sunday mornings!--have gotten out of control. It's like someone spilled a delicious secret, and tourists have taken over my favorite bread and pastry shop. And not just any tourists, French speaking tourists, a lot of them!

Reader Nicole Mancini took umbrage at our hasty dismissal of the Bronx's underdog wins in the Post's pizza and burger sweepstakes the other day. She writes,

I was born and raised in the Bronx and I'm sick and tired of its bad rep. I love Grub Street. I check it everyday; but, to open it today and read that, "somebody better find out what neighborhood Carla Spartos comes from", because she picked the Bronx for best pizza and burger is beyond disappointing to me. Perhaps Zero Otto Nove decided to open on West 10th and Bleecker, I'm sure the win would not come as such a shocker. However Zero Otto Nove is located on Arthur Avenue, the main street of the Belmont section of the Bronx, and the heart of the Real Little Italy. Coals may be located right outside a bunch of auto repair zones, but what better place to open to feed a hungry car mechanic with a delicious burger? The Bronx is also home to City Island, a mini seaside town with dozens of seafood restaurants to choose from. We have Pelham Bay Park, the biggest park in NYC. We have The Bronx Zoo and the Botanical Gardens. We have the Yankees (even though they are overpaid and seat prices are ridiculous). We have Stanley Kubrick, Calvin Klein, Billy Joel, Regis Philbin, Colin Powell, and Edgar Allen Poe for crying out loud.
We're a borough of old Italian grandmothers who are willing to feed you at any time of the day. We love our food, just as much as the next person trying to get a reservation at Momofuku Ko, but instead of writing about it on Yelp or the next food blog, we talk about it over five hour Sunday dinners with the family.I just hope you guys can give us more credit next time.
P.S. We're not all in the Mafia, either.

We take it back, Nicole!

Earlier: Bronx Does Pizza and Burgers Better, According to ‘Post’

Plenty of room for everybody.Photo: Noah Sheldon

Dear Grub Street, I have a friend in town Thursday night and want to take him out for dinner. Cuisine and/or price is not really an issue: sushi, tapas, seafood, Asian/Thai-fusion, Italian, Mexican/Spanish — any and all will do! But my friend is in a wheelchair and I am stumped about some spots that are still fun, cool, delicious, and can accommodate entry/exit as well as restrooms for him. I think Stanton Social might be accessible, but am not sure. If you could offer up any great suggestions, I would be so grateful! I'd prefer to stay somewhere below the 40's if possible.

Probably canceling his resy right about now.Getty Images

WHY IS PARK SLOPE's ELEMENTI RESTAURANT BECOMING SUCH A STAR-SIGHTING SPOT? Tomorrow night, ROBERT FUNARO, from The Sopranos (Eugene Pontecorvo, who hanged himself in the next-to-last season opener) will be going to ELEMENTI, the Pan-Italian spot in Park Slope. Next week, look for STEVE BUSCEMI, and, another Soprano-STEVE SCHIRRIPA to be on-hand. Also, Brooklyn Heights-resident PAUL GIAMMATI [sic] will be there too. Is it the location? The wonderful food by ex-Hotel Hasseler chef Camillo Bassani ... or, is it something else?

By now you might be almost as sick of hearing about Gael Greene's and Tom Dobrowski's Ko reservation debacle as you are of, say, trying to get a reservation at the place (thanks to the guy who e-mailed us today offering us his time slot, but we’ll pass) — but we thought we'd post Dobrowski's latest e-mail to us by way of a coda. Let the record show that one of his co-workers may have canceled his reservation after he forwarded it around, and an IT guy at Momofuku may have leaked the log of his reservation activity to Eater despite assurances that he wouldn’t.