What to Eat at Marea | Spike Mendelsohn's New York Diet

	May 1, 2009
Openings What to Eat at Marea: Finally, a Look at the Menu There’s no way you’re going to be able to try everything at Marea’s Citymeals-on-Wheels benefit tonight, which is why we invite you to contemplate the menu we’ve snagged. This one is a juggernaut, broken into multiple sections: fritti and crostini; oysters, clams, and caviar; crudo; seafood pastas; antipasti; risotto for two; composed dishes (ranging from $34 to $42); a market menu of whole fish and shellfish; and a minuscule meat menu that includes a $120 rib eye for two. Go ahead, feast your eyes! Read More » Blechtacular Two Is a Trend: Questionable Popcorn and Alcohol Mash-Ups As if the 2,473-calorie popcorn at Yankee Stadium wasn’t nauseating enough, get ready for Pub Corn, possibly the most dubiously named food marriage since the PickleSickle. So what’s Pub Corn? It’s probably not a “snack craze that’s sweeping the nation,” as its site describes. But in any case, it’s popcorn, created by University of Missouri senior Cary Silverman, that’s dusted with three flavors: beer, Irish cream, and pinã colada. Read More » What to Drink This Weekend Hear the Derby at Char No. 4; Crush Grapes at City Winery The weather is going to be more April showers than May flowers this weekend, so best chase those clouds away with alcohol. Char No. 4 doesn’t have a TV, but that won’t stop one of Platt’s favorites from having a Derby Party. “We have decided to have the race on the radio, which is the more traditional, and for purists, arguably the more enjoyable way to experience the race,” owner Sean Josephs tells us. With every mint julep you order, you’ll get to draw a $2 win ticket. Read More » Taste Tests Pâté or Dog Food? Most People Can’t Tell the Difference We’ve always thought scrapple tasted a bit like cat food (and we’re 100 percent okay with that), which is why we’re getting such a kick out of a new study mentioned in the Los Angeles Times. Eighteen volunteers were given an array of foods (duck-liver mousse, pork-liver pâté, puréed liverwurst, Spam, and Newman's Own dog food), and only three of the participants correctly I.D.’d the dog food! Read More » Openings Farmers’ Market Will Come to Former Fulton Fish Stalls Water Taxi Beach isn’t the only thing that might lure you to the South Street Seaport this summer — we’re told that starting May 22, a group of vendors will set up at the old fish stalls (on South Street between Fulton and Beekman Streets) on Fridays and Saturdays. Read More » Stunts How to Win Friends and Free Food An NYU senior set out to go an entire week without spending money while “trying to maintain an overall feeling of being well-fed.” Which means he has to hang out with the Hindu club and go to Sex and the City screenings. He scores pizza, miniature sandwiches (six of them!), Subway, Vita Coco, and even Indian and Ethiopian food. Read More » Reopenings Lobo Reopens in Time for Cinco de Mayo When Lobo closed its Cobble Hill location for renovations, we worried about the beloved margarita mill’s fate; owner Sean Patterson promptly assured us he’d be back in late April, and he is! A diner who was there for the reopening last night reports “shiny new floors and much more comfy booths upstairs,” and Patterson tells us that rather than having to go upstairs, you can now pass through the first floor, past an open kitchen, to get to the back garden, which should be open in about a week and a half. Read More » The Great Outdoors First Look at Motorino’s Pizza Patio, Opening Tonight And there she is, folks, Motorino’s back patio, opening tonight. Something to get you through this dreary little day. Not the Garden of Eden or anything, but with a $25 bottle at hand, it’ll do. Read More » The Great Outdoors Hudson Terrace Launches Happy Hour, Serves Oxymoronic Caviar Nachos The Hudson Terrace (not to be confused with the Hudson Sky Terrace) already has a buzzy brunch, but on May 5 it’ll open for happy hour for the first time, with two-for-one cocktails from 5 p.m. till 7 p.m. Will this become the next 230 Fifth? Owners Michael Sinensky and Sean McGarr have tapped their chef at Vintage Irving, Jason Bunin, to create an upscale bar menu consisting of duck-confit quesadillas and smoked-salmon nachos served with caviar. Read More » Twitterverse Don’t Get All Excited: That’s Not Frank Bruni on Twitter About a week ago, one Frank Bruni joined Twitter. Exciting, right? Especially since his latest dispatch, half an hour ago, promises that he’ll start tweeting in earnest this weekend. Well, let’s just nip this in the bud, shall we? The critic tells us it isn’t him, so keep that in mind if you get a tweet from Bruni claiming to love the prosciutto-wrapped hot pockets at 675 Bar. Could this be Adam Robb, aware that fake Restaurant Girl is on its last legs and looking for another source of amusement? Read More » Mediavore Pork-Heavy Restaurants Worry; Zutto Seized • In the face of swine flu, pork-heavy restaurants like Hill Country and Porchetta are coaching their staffs on how to assuage customers' fears. [Crain's] • Tribeca's Zutto has been seized for nonpayment of taxes. [Eater] • Some members of CB1 were concerned about granting a 3 a.m. beer-and-wine license to new pizza spot Dona Bella, lest the late hours put Chambers in the same situation as Murray, which has become "the gutter of Tribeca." [Downtown Express] • Gramercy Tavern's Michael Anthony's favorite cheap eats include Sushi Seki and 'inoteca. [Feed/TONY] • Clinton Hill chicken-and-waffle spot Little House on Clinton has shuttered. [Clinton Hill Blog] • There was a fire near Good Burger and Republic last night. [Always Eating/Twitter] • Sandra Lee's new Food Network show will focus on money-saving tips, including "eschewing lots of flavors in favor of a McCormick's all-in-one seasoning package." [Urbanite/amNY The New York Diet Spike Mendelsohn’s New York Pizza Binge Is for ‘Research’ Top Chef season-four contestant Spike Mendelsohn (the one with the funny hats) is in town to shoot his online series for Food2, the gig he got after auditioning for the Food Network. He’s also location-scouting for a Manhattan outlet of his D.C. restaurant Good Stuff Eatery, but lower rents in South Beach and L.A. could draw him there instead. For this week’s New York Diet, there was still plenty of time to eat at friends’ restaurants (Michael Bao Hunh and Paul Liebrandt), and to singe his palate as he plans an as-yet-unnamed Washington pizzeria. Read More » Booze News Paterson Moves to Replace State Liquor Authority Chair Daniel Boyle Changes are afoot at the State Liquor Authority, not yet a month after offices were raided on suspicion of bribery. A press release reprinted by the Observer indicates that Governor Paterson has moved to replace State Liquor Authority chair Daniel Boyle with Assistant Attorney General Dennis Rosen. The release doesn’t say why Boyle (one of the Observer’s most powerful real-estate players) is out of the job, but you’ll recall he previously locked horns with the governor’s office when he accused a Paterson aide of exerting pressure to renew the Cipriani liquor license. Read More » Lists Today in Asian-Sandwich Excess In case you missed New York's bánh mì roundup followed by the Times' bánh mì map, Citysearch has another bánh mì map! Such is the Asian-sandwich craze that an owner of the late Province Chinese Canteen tells Midtown Lunch that he's opening a spinoff of the restaurant at 53rd Street between Second and Third, and it'll be called Mantao Chinese Sandwiches. Read More » Food TV Next Generation of Food Shows More Indie, Less Yum-O Some of our favorite food enthusiasts have taken big steps in their careers this week. Thu Tran’s adorable, disturbing cooking show Food Party debuts on the Independent Film Channel June 9 at 11:15 p.m. IFC also picked up Sam Mason’s Dinner With the Band, which also started out as an online series. 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