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| Tables Available at BLT Prime, Craftsteak, Pera Mediterranean Brasserie; Allen & Delancey Mostly Booked |
 It’s 4 p.m., and that means it’s time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don’t guarantee the results.) Today: Refined Meathead. Read More » |
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| Will Cru’s Shea Gallante Be Doing His Own Thing in the East Village? |
 It looks like Bastianich and Bouley protégé Shea Gallante might be opening his own place in the East Village. Gallante is still the chef at Cru, where he won praise as a Food & Wine Best New Chef in 2005, but a Community Board 3 agenda has him going for a full liquor license at 99 Second Avenue, the long-vacant Sea Salt space. Orhan Yegen had trouble clinching a full liquor license before he ejected from the space earlier this year, and the CB has been no-nonsense about the Sin Sin zone (think Mercury Dime), but if anyone can charm them at the November 12 meeting, it’s a Michelin-starred chef... Read More » |
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| Go Joe! |
 We're now told that Joe Bastianich was able to finish the marathon in three hours, 45 minutes: He's pictured here with running mate Dani Zylberberg, sommelier at Becco. Neither managed to beat Daniel Humm, but bravo nonetheless. Read More » |
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| McDonald’s Double Cheeseburger Will Be Raised to the Price of Vastly Superior Wendy's Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger |
 In what is certainly a sign of the times, McDonald’s is making a move to replace the Double Cheeseburger on its $1 menu with a “McDouble,” an imposter that will have one less slice of cheese and will surely be the Sammy Hagar to the original's David Lee Roth (i.e. they’re both kind of pathetic, but the new one kind of makes you miss the old one). Actually, the Double Cheeseburger will still be available for $1.19, which happens to be the price of a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger at Wendy’s, another dollar-menu casualty that, we really must insist, is the very best burger at this price range. Are we wrong... Read More » |
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| Di Palo’s Is Set to Unveil Wine Shop This Weekend |
 The folks at Di Palo’s have just put up the window stenciling for their adjacent wine shop, which was slated to open mid-August, and they tell us it should be up and running this weekend. We peeked in and it looks gorgeous — handsome dark woods, lovely wine racks, and twinkling lights. The other part of the store’s expansion, which entails busting through a wall, will be unveiled later this month. Know this: We’re in good hands if the Di Palos’ taste in wine is as good as their taste in coffee soda (none of that syrupy Manhattan Special stuff that Alleva sells down the street — only Frizz Coffee... Read More » |
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| With Liquor Strike on, Who Will Pass the Courvoisier? |
| The labor strife that Steve Lewis foresaw came to fruition today. The outgoing message at Empire Merchants, one of the area’s larger liquor distributors, says, “Due to a union strike, we are working on a modified basis and are unable to take orders at this time.” An employee at another top distributor, Southern Wine & Spirits, refused to tell us whether it had been affected by the strike (which seems to involve sales reps as well as truckers), but a source says that it’s “industry-wide.” Not only might this affect supply at your local pub, but — listen up, socialities — it may also put a damper on the season’s... Read More » |
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| Cheap Eats: Economic Meltdown Edition |
 As a special service to readers who are suffering in this economy, New York created a guide to living cheap in the city while still having a life. We got cheap drinking tips from Bob Cenedella, a fixture at Nancy Whiskey Pub (who also did the mural at Le Cirque), and a list of dives you’ll feel comfortable drinking in. Adam Platt blind-taste-tested seven different coffees and ranked Starbucks last. But if you’re still loyal to the mighty 'bucks, brew it at home and save more than $1,200. And just because your retirement got canceled doesn’t mean you can’t eat out anymore — just do it smarter. Rob Patronite and... Read More » |
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| Greene Machine at Center Cut |
 Gael Greene likes Chodorow's newly opened steakhouse, though she doesn't see Frank Bruni falling in love with it: "Naturally raised meats, free-range birds and sustainable seafood as a theme may not disarm bomb throwers whom Chodorow rubs the wrong way — he’s too rich, too successful, even with his periodic stumbles, too undiscourageable, in this case, too behind the times. But if you’re simply hungry and not worried about maxing out multiple credit cards, this is a place to luxuriate…" Just beware the frustrated comic at the flambé station. [Insatiable Critic] Read More » |
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| ‘Top Chef’ Intel |
 Metromix chats up some former and current colleagues of the current Top Chef crop and gets Centro honcho George Elkins to give a scouting report on hometown favorite Leah Cohen: “She’s very even-tempered … She actually shows tremendous leadership. She doesn’t fly off the handle, but she’s very opinionated. She has the bar raised very high and she mentors some of the younger cooks, so she’s very tough. But she doesn’t lose her temper.” [en] Read More » |
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| Daniel Humm Cracks the Top 500 in the New York City Marathon |
 Congrats to Eleven Madison Park’s Daniel Humm for placing an admirable 445th in the New York City Marathon — he completed the race in two hours, 51 minutes, and fourteen seconds. Finishing 6,171st was Café Boulud pastry chef Raphael Haasz — and placing 12,389th, Dominique Ansel, pastry chef at Daniel. We’re still waiting on Joe Bastianich’s results. Earlier: Joe Bastianich Won’t Give Up Running or Face Bacon Read More » |
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| And the Winner of the Cupcake Contest Is… |
 To defend cupcakes and not have to wait in line for a Magnolia Bakery T-shirt, Grub Street readers employed everything from haiku to syllogisms to photos of “Obamacakes.” The great majority of you lauded cupcakes because they “are to cake as sliders are to burgers,” meaning they’re easier to split, tote around, and clean up — and there’s usually a wider variety to choose from. (By the way, cupcakes and burgers? Not a good business model.) Of course there was no shortage of nostalgia — on the happy side, memories of grade-school parties; on the sad side, commenter Aaron’s touching tale of Nana passing away with frosting on her lip... Read More » |
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| Farm Weddings Are on the Rise; Learn to Hunt Like Palin |
| • Farms are the new hot location for weddings, thanks to the locavore craze. [en] • A lesson for New Yorkers itching to shoot their own meat, à la Sarah Palin: Deer is plentiful. [en] • When creating politically themed cocktails, some bartenders strive to give candidates equal time, while others are proudly partisan. [en] • Bay Ridge residents’ excitement about their new farmers' market may prove to be short-lived, as construction of a Walgreens is slated for the very same site. [en] • Five bartenders put their own spin on the Dark and Stormy. [en] • Feeling pinched? Check out this guide to ten of the best $10 meals... Read More » |
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| John Dory Taking Reservations Tomorrow; Fake and Real Fish in Place |
 Despite earlier reports of November 1, the John Dory is, according to its answering machine, “opening soon,” with reservations accepted starting tomorrow. Per last Friday’s posts to the restaurant’s blog, it's “getting there,” and photos show that the 900-gallon fish tank has been installed, along with a bartop of fake fish. Meanwhile, there’s news from the Ace Hotel: It turns out that not only are Ken Friedman and April Bloomfield doing the room-service menu (which will be available 24 hours), but there will be an in-house restaurant when the hotel opens this winter. Amid all this preparation, Bloomfield was cooking with Fergus Henderson this weekend — New York Journal has... Read More » |
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| A Hyper-Homemade Holiday Meal |
 In the magazine this week, culinary editor Gillian Duffy consulted with several local chefs and purveyors to create a locavore Thanksgiving dinner. Replicate dishes from Dan Barber of Blue Hill, Bill Telepan of Telepan, Alex Guarnaschelli of Butter, and several others. If cooking at home doesn't make you feel festive, there are still restaurant options this week. Jean-Georges Vongerichten has plans to open a new green eatery in the former Lucy space in ABC Carpet & Home. And if you think fish fries ended with your summer vacation, Rob and Robin bring good news: Mermaid Inn is hosting a fish fry every Wednesday beginning November 5. Read More » |
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| Eight Mile Creek Lends a Hand to Neighbor Lovely Day |
 This Wednesday from 7 p.m. to midnight, Eight Mile Creek hosts a benefit for its fire-shuttered neighbor, Lovely Day. Says a Facebook invite, “Please help us to help them cover what insurance won't and their staff by joining this one night benefit. Enjoy Aussie finger food and drink specials. Live performance and DJ's. An auction and a raffle with ton of prizes donated by local business and friends.” The Beatrice’s D.J. Creed will be manning the decks, and $20 donations will be accepted at the door. Earlier: Lovely Day Still Down Read More » |
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