D.B.A. Confronts the City's Muffuletta Curse | Broadway East's Meaty Makeover

	January 5, 2009
Two for Eight Tables Available at Anthos, Bouley, Esca, and Jean Georges 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: Certified Geniuses. Read More » How Bizarre Mascots and Puppets Take Over Monkey Town and Odessa Bar Two of our favorite weirdos are on the loose again. First, Thu Tran tells us that she’ll be premiering the new episode of her surreal, wacky-puppet cooking show, Food Party, at Monkey Town on January 11. The plot of “Baguette Drama” is vague and intriguing: “Our host goes through some drama with her beloved baguette.” Andrew W.K. does a voice-over. Sounds amazing, right? But please, no Thu Tran stalkers. Read More » Slideshow Can D.B.A. Williamsburg End the City’s Muffuletta Curse? We recently ordered a “Central Grocery” po boy at Two Boots L.E.S. and got something that had nothing to do with the famed New Orleans shop’s muffuletta. And so we continue our search for a decent local version of this cold-cut-and-tapenade juggernaut — a quest we can only hope and pray will come to an end next week when recently opened D.B.A. Williamsburg begins serving D’Artagnan charcuterie, Bobolink Farm cheese, and yes, a muffuletta, including (sacrilege!) a vegetarian version. Owner Ray Deter says that up till now, he’s been giving away test versions of the sandwich while trying to find a suitable substitute for the inimitable Portuguese-style bread deployed at... Read More » Videofeed We Can’t Wait to Watch The Ramen Girl Grub Street has already found its favorite movie of 2009: The Ramen Girl! Videogum dug up this Brittany Murphy vehicle, which is sort of like The Next Karate Kid, but with food. Murphy plays a heartbroken girl who just got dumped in Tokyo and whose spirits are restored by working for a cranky ramen chef. The trailer gives the entire plot away, but we suspect the movie is worth seeing anyway. Such unbelievable dialogue! “I want to cook ramen. I want to make people happy the way you do,” Murphy pleads. After learning the technical demands of ramen prep, Murphy stumbles because she makes it mechanically, without heart. The ramen... Read More » Chef Shuffle New Chef Gavin Mills Gives Broadway East a Meaty Makeover Broadway East has found success with its subterranean lounge (we hear the Post is about to feature BEast in its “Making the Scene” column), but especially after the departure of chef Lee Gross, the food hasn’t managed to lure crowds. That may change now that Gavin Mills, previously a sous-chef at Mas (farmhouse), has been brought on to court discerning carnivores. Although he won’t be using red meat (the veggie burger is the one thing left from the old menu), he’s been given free rein elsewhere, hence appetizers such as coq au vin ravioli similar to the ones at Mas, and entrées such as a roasted Long Island duck breast. Read More » Restaurant Week Book Now for Restaurant Week Reservations are now open for New York Restaurant Week. Three-course lunches go for $24.07 and dinners for $35. These special rates are available from January 18 through January 23, and resume January 25 through January 30. Make a reservation now through NYC & Co. at someplace you can’t normally afford or someplace you’ve never tried. Eat out! Restaurants need you. [en] Read More » Openings Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre to Open East Village Location Exciting news for the East Village — we’ve discovered that the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre has designs on the former Two Boots Pioneer Theater space at 155 East 3rd Street. Alex Sidtis, directing manager of the UCB’s current location in Chelsea, revealed to us that the troupe is hoping to open an East Village outpost, depending on whether it can secure a tavern wine license (the theater will plead its case at a January 12 meeting of Community Board 3’s licensing committee). The location will mean more stage time for its performers, who in the past have included Grub Street favorites like the insatiable Aziz Ansari, grillmaster Eugene Mirman, and... Read More » Foodie Kiddie Times Succumbs to Kid-Foodie Epidemic Pete Wells, dining editor of the Times, has taken a cue from such successful kid foodies as David Fishman, the 12-year-old critic, and Alex Goldberg, teen mozzarella assistant at DiPalo’s. Meet Dexter, Wells’s 4-year-old son. Dexter hoards baby vegetables and likes to make coffee. The family makes sorbet together and Dexter has food allergies. Wells narrowly avoids the Neal Pollack route, where the alterna-dad writer trained his toddler to be a cheese snob, but only because Dexter likes normal kid foods like cookies. But can Dexter retain his kid qualities growing up in a foodie household? Only the Times will tell. Also, look for new food features in the magazine... Read More » Top Chef Top Chef Judge Toby Young Travels Back in Restaurant Time Top Chef starts up again this week with a new mean face at the judge's table: Toby Young. The British author (How to Lose Friends and Alienate People) has also been a judge on Hell's Kitchen. In an interview with Metromix today, Young makes the obligatory awestruck comment about Padma's beauty — "It's as though she's accompanied by her own lighting system" — and lists his favorite New York restaurants. His picks are a little odd, but we'll give him a pass since he doesn't live here anymore. Of the aging Raoul's, Young says it has "the louche, slightly decadent atmosphere that’s guaranteed to get a girl in the mood... Read More » Mediavore The Rise of the West Seventies; NYC Nightclubs Step Inside the Box • Once a near culinary wasteland, the West Seventies are now a dining destination with restaurants like Dovetail and Salumeria Rosi. [en] • After the success of the Box, more nightclubs are adding live entertainment to their offerings. [en] • Mark Bittman's new book, Food Matters, can be seen as a set of concrete instructions for how to apply the principles of Michael Pollan's sustainable-food manifesto, The Omnivore's Dilemma, to real life. [en] • Ads from big food companies like Burger King, Campbell Soup, and Domino's Pizza will take shots at competitors — a common practice in a bad economy. [en] Read More » Closings Rainbow Room to Close, Midtown Tourists Keening The Cipriani family will shutter the fabled Rainbow Room on January 12, about five months after a Times article chronicled the restaurant's perseverance. Though the restaurant opened in 1934 amid the Great Depression, it could not weather this latest fiscal crisis and a projected 100 percent rent increase to $8.7 million. The space will now serve as simply a bar and banquet hall. Though real New Yorkers haven't set foot in the Rainbow Room's mirrored halls for a couple of decades, tourists love to spend their dollars there for an ersatz New York experience. Visitors can shift their attentions to other iconic New York restaurants like Gallagher's Steakhouse, Tavern on... Read More »   Québec city - L'Astral: Voted "Best Hotel Restaurant" by Quebec residents, L'Astral is uniquely accessible by a panoramic elevator. 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