Atria Shutters | Mario Batali Goes to Therapy

	April 30, 2009
Two for Eight Tables Available at Bar Boulud, Café des Artistes, and Benoit 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: Gourmet French. Read More » Closings Atria Is Latest to Close in Former Aquavit and Grayz Space Atria, the post–Gray Kunz redo of Grayz, has closed, according to an e-mail blast sent to us by general manager Adam Landsman. You could’ve seen it coming if you were following Landsman’s Facebook updates: On April 25 he was “trying to find great people great jobs,” and yesterday he was “looking for people that need to rent a kitchen for catering.” Sad. Read More » The Great Outdoors It’s Finally Happening: Motorino Will Open Boozy Back Patio Tomorrow Huzzah! Motorino has just sent word that it’s opening its 24-seat back patio tomorrow. We’ll give you a first look soon enough, but in the meantime, here’s a glimpse of something possibly even more exciting. You bet your sweet gazebo it’s the wine and beer list we told you about earlier. (Cockails are also in the works.) Read More » Food Politics Dan Barber Makes Time 100 Dan Barber made it onto the Time 100 list after all, and no less than Ferran Adrià wrote the induction essay. Barber is part of the “Scientists and Thinkers” category, but Adrià is most inspired by his food, which he sampled last fall during a visit to Blue Hill at Stone Barns. “At my restaurant elBulli, we are dedicated to creating avant-garde cuisine, and some people think Barber and I are from opposing worlds. But it is not that way at all,” Adrià writes. Read More » Contests Some Dude’s Grilled Cheese Sandwich Added to Artisanal’s Menu Artisanal recently held a grilled-cheese-sandwich contest, and though some of the contenders seem to have been lacking (one judge tweeted: “Last Meal: The most wretched grilled cheese sandwich ever built by the hand of man”), a winner has been crowned. Read More » Openings Okay, Okay, Marea’s Food Looks Great, But When Do We Get to Eat It? The Wall Street Journal has a slideshow of the dishes at Marea (a preview of an article about Michael White in the May 2 issue of their magazine) — gorgeous, but you gotta laugh at the “first look” headline. It was almost two months ago that we got our “first look” at the food! Anyway, your first chance to actually eat the stuff will be this Friday, at a preview party benefiting Citymeals-on-Wheels. Read More » Booze News Public’s Demand for Bacon Vodka Will Soon Be Satisfied Used to be that to experience bacon vodka, you’d have to persevere endless rounds of punk rock at Double Down (we’ll never forget the night the bottle ran out and we got to suck on the bacon — way nastier than a mescal worm). But now you can sip the stuff in your own home, to the dulcet sounds of Ella Fitzgerald. A Seattle company, Black Rock Spirits, has finally concluded two years of recipe testing based on the concept of “meat and potatoes” (bacon and Idaho russets, that is), and they’ve officially launched Bakon Vodka: “Pure. Refreshing. Bacon.” Read More » Fire Damage Becerra’s Paloma Is Toast Top Chef’s Camille Becerra tells Steve Lewis that she has no choice but to “give up the dream” of reopening fire-damaged Paloma in Greenpoint (and she won’t give the name Paloma to the farm-to-table restaurant she’s planning to open at 146 Orchard, either). The details are messy, but she says her sneaky landlord has terminated the lease. Read More » Mediavore Root Beer Is Back; Starbucks Cuts Prices • America's comfort-food cravings are good news for root beer, which is suddenly trendy again. [WSJ] • Starbucks (whose profits dropped 77 percent last quarter) is sick of its rivals talking about how expensive the chain's drinks are, so they're lowering prices on some of the most popular drinks. [WSJ] • David Bouley allegedly owes over $18K in unpaid common charges on his Tribeca condo. [NYP] • Former La Grenouille chef Stephane Becht is now in charge of food at the Pierre Hotel. [Urbanite/amNY] Lawsuits Steakhouse Follies: Server Who Sued Ruth’s Chris Now Sues Strip House The Strip House and its owner, the Glazier Group, are the latest to be sued for overtime and minimum-wage violations. Ian Matheson, who worked at the restaurant from March 2007 to November 2009, has hired Outten & Golden LLP (which has also brought cases against Bobby Flay’s restaurants, Craftbar, and others) to bring a class-action lawsuit against the restaurant. Read More » Mario World Mario Batali Goes to Therapy Mario Batali and his clogs take a guest turn Friday on Head Case, a Starz comedy series featuring improv comedian Alexandra Wentworth as a self-absorbed therapist to the stars. Watch the clip to hear Mr. Molto himself say the words “booty call.” Read More » Openings Sing Sing Opens New Bar: Summer of ’09 Will Be All About ‘Summer of ’69’ Karaokeheads, you probably thought it couldn’t get any better than the opening of Baby Grand, the Lilliputian bar where a husband-and-wife team lead the sing-alongs and occasionally buy everyone a round of “Liquid Courage.” But boy, do we have news: Ever-popular Sing Sing is aiming to open a West Village spinoff, called Karaoke Boho, sometime this summer. Read More » Taste Tests First Taste: Red Mango’s Mysterious New Tangomonium Flavor Two days before its launch date, we’ve gotten our greedy little hands on a sample of Red Mango’s new Tangomonium flavor. The verdict: While it delivers a bit of Creamsicle-esque refreshment, it also has a powdery undertaste (sort of like mashed potatoes made from mix) and a lingering aftertaste reminiscent of chugging a zero-calorie vitamin-water drink. Alexandra Vallis, a Pinkberry devotee, offered this first reaction: “Ew, no.” Read More » You're invited to attend Continental International Restaurant Week, May 1-10. Savor signature dishes from top NYC restaurants representing destinations served by Continental Airlines. New for 2009 is the Signature Dish Contest judged by Bravo's Top Chef, Tom Colicchio, where you can help determine the winner. To register, go to continentalrestaurantweek.com