Buy Wagyu Beef in the East Village | Why Bobo's Water Costs a Dollar

	April 28, 2009
Openings 99¢ Problems: 2 Bros. Opens in Hell’s Kitchen, Gains Immediate Critical Edge Midtown Lunch has gamely accepted our request for a field report from 2 Bros. Pizza, now open across from 99¢ Fresh Pizza: “The $1 slices that are now just across the street from each other are more similar than different. They both lean to the doughy side, and are smaller than the average New York slice … but from my initial tasting, I’ve got to give the edge to 2 Bros.” Read More » Menu Changes Red Mango Finally Releases Top Secret ‘Experiential Flavor’ Remember the “experiential flavor” Red Mango CEO Dan Kim told Grub Street about last November? Well, the company has finally given it a name, Tangomonium, along with a vague description (it contains “notes of fruit and citrus,” and that’s about as specific as they’ll get), and has announced it will launch this Saturday. Read More » Openings Japanese Butcher Shop Will Bring Wagyu Burgers to Your Next Cookout Kobe Club has closed, but a new Japanese butcher shop (and an old supplier of Kobe Club) is about to beef up the city’s supply of wagyu. Japan Premium Beef, Inc. was founded for the purpose of importing wagyu-style American beef (or washugyu) back to Japan, since raising the cattle on an Oregon farm and shipping it overseas is cheaper than importing the massive amount of special feed required to raise it in Nippon. Read More » Openings Jacques Torres May Open Ice-cream Parlor (and Carts!) in Time for Summer When we talked to Jacques Torres last week about his Hershey's fiasco (he has now launched an online petition and Mouthing Off reports that David Hyde Pierce has signed it in person), he hinted at progress in bringing an ice-cream parlor to the office space next to his store in Dumbo. Read More » Openings A Glimpse Inside Brooklyn Bowl, Opening Soon This week’s issue of New York offers an early look into Brooklyn Bowl, Williamsburg’s sixteen-lane bowling alley and concert venue with food by Blue Ribbon. Yup, looks pretty much like a bowling alley, but still — exciting! Hit up the venue’s Twitter or Facebook pages to be alerted of its opening date— we hear a certificate of occupancy is expected in the next few weeks. Till then, David Amsden’s profile of Andrew W.K. (also in the issue) is another convincing argument that his club, Santos Party House, is the city’s most fun place to catch bands. Read More » Openings Hidden Cocktail Bar Will Serve Heart Carpaccio to the Select Few It’s a glorious day, folks, because we’ve discovered a hidden, members-only bar that restores our flagging faith in hidden, members-only bars. Leave it to the Japanese. Since we’ve been sworn to secrecy, we can say only that Bohemian, the soon-to-open Noho sister of a bar in the Nishiazabu district of Tokyo, is tucked into the back of a building that used to belong to Andy Warhol. Read More » Mediavore BYO on the Rise; Rick Laakkonen in at Delmonico’s • BYO is on the rise, thanks to restaurateurs looking to maintain sales. [NRN] • Former River Café chef Rick Laakkonen is now in the kitchen at Delmonico's. [Feedbag] • Mexico is testing Smithfield Food hogs, but the company denies any responsibility for the swine-flu outbreak. [WSJ] • Since pork isn't kosher, Israel's deputy health minister would prefer swine flu to be called Mexican flu. [NYP] • Boxed wine is better than ever, and now even DOC-quality wines can be sold in a box. [Bloomberg] • Long-shuttered Chumley's has been hit by yet another stop-work order. [Lost City] • A city audit revealed that Jake's Steakhouse in Riverdale must pay $525,000 in back taxes. [NYP] Beef Bobo’s Carlos Suarez on Why His Water Costs a Dollar Bobo’s Carlos Suarez took some issue with the Post's classification of his tap-water auto-charge as being a slimy recessionary survival tactic. On the contrary, says Suarez, the charge has been in place since the West Village mid-size opened in 2007. Plus, it all goes to charity! Read More » Openings Griffin Opens in the Meatpacking District UrbanDaddy has your first look at Griffin, opening in the former PM space on Thursday. Design features include enormous unmarked doors, an oversize chandelier attached to a framed-mirror ceiling, blue-velvet banquettes, and a VIP balcony. A couple of Milk & Honey vets are, of course, said to be running the bar, and Guest of a Guest has more on the personnel... Read More » Foodievents New York City Wine & Food Festival Brings Back the Burger Bash Details of this year’s New York City Wine & Food Festival were released today. Here’s the release detailing what you can expect when it kicks off October 8, including a talk with Bourdain, the usual burger bash, and a southern-themed fête featuring Paula Deen, the Lee brothers, and others. Read More » Openings 8 oz. Burger Bar to Follow Table 8? A Manhattan outlet of Govind Armstrong’s artisanal burger bar, 8 oz. (teased in his New York Diet), may quickly follow the debut of Table 8, partner Josh Woodward told us at Saturday’s preview. There are two possible locations, and if the duo signs a deal on the one they want, we could be noshing 8 oz. burgers with housemade condiments in two months. Read More » TV Land Winemaker Reality Show Premieres in June; Now What About Mixologists? The Feed reports that in June, a PBS reality show, The Wine Makers, will pit would-be grape-stompers against each other in a Top Chef–like competition. Judging by the trailer, the Top Chef comparison is a bit of a stretch — the contestants (a.k.a. sommelplayers?) don’t look like the fauxhawk type (though one does sport a biker beard — what, they couldn’t get Paul Grieco and his soul patch?), and flutes of grape juice just aren’t going to be as visually stimulating as, say, “cyber eggs.” 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