Food

Brooklynites may no longer have to haul across the bridge and wait in endless lines for burgers, dogs, and concretes at the Shake Shack. Or at least they won't have to cross the bridge -- the Daily News reports that Danny Meyer will be opening a Shack outpost in Brooklyn, and it's going mobile. more ›

From the ashes of the beloved Read Cafe in Williamsburg (that space is now occupied by the decidedly un-funky El Beit coffee shop) comes owner Laurence Elliott's new baby, The Rabbithole. Opening this Sunday, his latest venture is further south but still on Bedford, between South 4th and South 3rd Streets. When we spoke with Elliott back in March, he still had a long way to go turning the former apartments into a restaurant/cafe with basement bakery; now he seems just about there, though the liquor license will be a few months down the road. more ›

Nestled away on a romantic little bend of Commerce Street in the West Village is Commerce, the newish bar and restaurant from chef Harold Moore and restaurateur Tony Zazula. Operating out of a carriage house dating back to 1911, the place was formerly a Prohibition-era speakeasy, then Blue Mill Tavern for 50 years, then the neighborhood favorite Grange Hall. You might assume that its new iteration is a fussy stab at resuscitating the past, but Zazula and Moore have breathed fresh air into the space while subtly nodding to their ancestors. Antique wall sconces salvaged from municipal buildings line the walls and a 1941 art deco Brunswick bar was reconfigured to fit with the existing front bar, but the airy room hums with a forward-thinking enthusiasm. more ›

Esquire has just released a far-out video showing Momofuku chef Dave Chang and crew sitting for one hour inside a translucent ten-foot square cube. The resulting portrait, made by Chicago-based artist Lincoln Schatz, is part of an ongoing series commissioned to celebrate both Esquire’s 75th anniversary and “the most influential people of the coming decades.” Through a collage of camera feeds and permuted edits, the video installation portrait never depicts the same image sequence twice. more ›

Posthumously joining an elite circle that includes Jerry Garcia, Stephen Colbert and Phish, ex-Beatle John Lennon has now been honored with his own Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor: Imagine Whirled Peace. Guest of a Guest recites the ingredients: a caramel and sweet cream whirl with toffee and chocolate-covered peace signs. more ›

Save room for tongue! Bubby’s restaurant, the longtime Tribeca haunt of lettuce-fed models, will now be serving beef exclusively derived from grass-fed steers. Cattle raised on a grass, as opposed to the unnatural method of grain or corn, are much healthier and yield beef lower in saturated fat. While the trend is nothing new, what sets Bubby’s apart is that owner Ron Silver has committed to using every single part of the steer, from “tongue to tail.” more ›

Some West Village restaurants can’t catch a break this week; first an old water main broke and flooded them out during Memorial Day weekend, now the city has been stone cold shutting them down. Eater has it that the Department of Health ordered Diablo Royale on West 10th Street to close yesterday for “unsanitary conditions” – a tipster says the inspectors faulted the restaurant’s flooded basement. Now the swank bar/restaurant Employees Only has gotten the hammer. The DOB’s sign on the door reads:

The Department of Buildings has determined that conditions in this premises are imminently perilous to life. This premises has been vacated and reentry is prohibited until such conditions have been eliminated to the satisfaction of the department.

When we first noted this incoming Brazilian restaurant/bar back at the beginning of January, we incorrectly referred to it as Favela. Turns out it's Miss Favela to you (and us); the South Williamsburg "Brazilian Botequim" is currently in soft opening mode. Co-owner Alain Denneulin (of Soho's French Bistro Felix) tells us they're shooting for an official opening June 2nd. more ›

So much for a healthy start to the morning. The Pillsbury Doughboy will be in town come sunrise, and he's promising "a sweeter morning commute." more ›

Heads up, hipsters: Those keffiyeh scarves, long associated with Yasir Arafat and the Palestinian resistance, are officially ‘so over.’ While the choice of keffiyeh as fashion accessory – at least when sported by sweaty, coked-up white kids mincing for Cobra Snake – has about as much political heft as a neon Che Guevara thong, the trend’s death knell has been rung not by a sudden surge in good taste but by divisive food celebrity Rachael Ray. more ›

A patron of the Coney Island boardwalk bar Ruby’s got sent on a shocking detour during a trip to the men’s room over Memorial Day Weekend. It so happened that Observer reporter Chris Shott was having a beer at the bar around 5:30 Saturday when the owner abruptly pulled the plug on the jukebox and threw everyone out.

As the boozy crowd abandoned their beverages and shuffled out, a slew of firefighters, police and paramedics huddled in the back amid the eerie glow of a bright Coors Light sign near the men’s restroom… An officer in shorts and a blue polo shirt marked “Community Relations,” bluntly summed up the situation: “One guy was taking a leak, the floor partially collapsed, and he fell 10 feet.”

Is that friendly server who just recited the evening's specials an ex-con? Quite possibly, and maybe even more frequently so if the New York State Restaurant Association has anything to do with it. The trade association is rallying behind a newly proposed bill sponsored in the State legislature by Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry of Queens. more ›

Today the Times’s Frank Bruni reviews The Harrison (pictured) in Tribeca; the paper gave it two stars in 2001 and Bruni maintains status quo with two stars today. There’s a different chef in the kitchen, Amanda Freitag, and Bruni digs the restaurant’s “populist bent, its awareness that breaded or fried objects are a sure path to many a diner’s heart.” But don’t get him started on the ambiance: “The Harrison’s visual evocation of a country inn in the big city still strikes me as more stodgy than cozy. And its soundtrack, too heavy on pop rock from 15 to 25 years ago, needs help. It’s neither classic nor cool. Just odd.” more ›

Cesar Ramirez, the 36 year-old chef at Bar Blanc, doesn’t want to be called a chef. Taking a cue from his mentor David Bouley , he prefers the term craftsman, and insists that his food speaks for itself. Ramirez doesn’t waste a lot of bandwidth talking up his game, bragging about how often and how hard he hits the Greenmarket. In a time when it is not uncommon for chefs to spend their days with a battery of personal assistants riding in taxis from television appearances to book signings, Ramirez seems to spend a lot of time in his kitchen. Last week, he took a few minutes before service at the six month-old restaurant to talk about his menu and his style of cooking. more ›

Over the weekend, hungry visitors to the Red Hook ball fields were disappointed to find that the famous Latin American food vendors were nowhere to be found. Back in March the Parks Department bent to considerable public outcry and dropped its threat to evict the longstanding vendors, instead granting them a six-year permit. more ›

Hundred Acres: Marc Meyer and Vicki Freeman were fed up with the way their Macdougal Street restaurant Provence had become just “a special-occasion restaurant.” According to Eater they “want a place that people would be happy coming to all the time” – not a bad goal for a restaurateur. So they gutted the space and have reopened as Hundred Acres, a more casual iteration of the stuffier predecessor. Two back rooms filled with wooden tables and herb planters are meant to evoke a contemporary farmhouse; up front the classic white subway tiles by the bar suggest an old-timey butcher shop. Currently open for dinner only, the rustic American menu features modestly-priced entrees (the most expensive is $22, most cost much less) like walnut pesto pasta or the corned beef tongue with multigrain bread, mache and ramp relish. 38 Macdougal Street, (212) 475-7500. more ›

There are rare times when New Yorkers are jealous of their suburban bretheren; a Memorial Day weekend marked by barbecues galore may be one of those times. But New Yorker's are a resourceful bunch -- the majority of us may not have yards, but there's always a way to find a grill. more ›

Health officials say his death was caused by a hardened resin, made partly from venom collected from toads of the Bufo genus, which contains chemicals called “bufadienolides” known to disrupt heart rhythms. The aphrodisiac is supposed to be applied topically, not eaten, but authorities warn that even that use can be harmful. more ›

On West 10th Street next door to his eclectic restaurant P*ong, Pichet Ong sells takeout cupcakes, cookies, and other sweets at Batch. True to the shop’s name, desserts are made in small quantities and are featured until they run out; this gives Ong the opportunity to cook whatever he wants. The chef currently features a variation of tiramisu made with mangoes and Thai tea, and plans to offer it for the entire summer. more ›

Brooklyn Paper has it that the smaller, funkier Tea Lounge in Park Slope, on Seventh Avenue and Tenth Street, is to close at the end of July. And you’ll never in a million years guess what the reason is! Turns out an obscene rent hike is forcing the neighborhood hang-out to move along and make room for, most likely, a Corcoran real estate office. Where have we heard this tune before? more ›

Quick, what New York City neighborhood has the greatest percentage of obese residents? Wrong! It’s Williamsburg, which is confusing, because everyone knows the only people who live there are the proverbial skinny hipsters. more ›

With all the buzz (and zzzz) over Sex and the City's silver screen debut, it was inevitable that a New York establishment (conveniently located by Union Square's Regal Cinema theaters) would take advantage with an oversized novelty drink. more ›

These are dead simple, very tasty, and enjoyably audible – both the pop rocks and people's reaction to them. more ›

Fellow vendors and loyal customers are rallying to the defense of Antonios Dragonas, the 50-year-old pushcart food vendor who may soon be put out of business. For the past 25 years, Vendy runner-up Antonios Dragonas, has been serving his famous lamb shish kebab from the corner of Madison Avenue and East 62nd Street, but now the Department of Health is refusing to renew his license and permit. more ›

Mark your calendars -- National Escargot Day is rapidly approaching. Really. As a lead up to the big day, Chef Craig Hopson of One if by Land, Two if by Sea, in association with Douglas Dussault of Potironne Company, is serving a 6-course snail-laden tasting menu featuring Wild Burgundy Snails. Yes, even dessert will have a snail of some sort involved. more ›

There was a smorgasbord of inter-borough hamburger love last night at the chandelier-bedazzled Astoria World Manor in Queens for the inaugural Burger Battle of the Boroughs. Representing good taste in general at event sponsor Pat LaFrieda Meats's table, Seymour Burton chef de cuisine (and non-competitor) Josh Shuffman cooked the restaurant’s signature burger for spectators while the event was judged. more ›

On behalf of the Village Voice, critic Robert Sietsema dines at chef Anita Lo’s newish Bar Q and deems the tuna-rib appetizer “mouth-worthy.” But then things go wrong, and Anita’s mom gets caught in the crossfire: “An appetizer of baby back ribs ($11) with ‘my mother's BBQ sauce’ tastes like it's been dumped out of a white carton from the local Chinese carry-out… The spicy pork wings remain flightless because they're heavily coated with cloying Korean ketchup.” Yet Bar Q “thrilled” the Post’s Steve Cuozzo on “all visits but one when Lo happened not to be in the house.” more ›

Those retro TV dinners with the pre-formulated portions aren’t just for Eisenhower-era loners anymore; the factory-made frozen meals have been cleverly revived for big city sophisticates dining at the Regency Hotel's 540 Park restaurant. The first Swanson TV Brand Frozen Dinner sold for 98 cents in 1953; at the Regency it’s been brought up to date for $30. more ›

If you thought dropping $81 on a hamburger at The Old Homestead was enough to prove you’ve arrived, think again, hayseed – New York’s newest culinary status symbol, the “Richard Nouveau” burger at Wall Street Burger Shoppe, is going to cost you over twice that. They’re charging $175 for the experience, but money’s no object when it comes to showing the other hedge-funders you’ve completely lost touch with reality, right? more ›

New York’s Veggie Pride Parade wound through downtown Manhattan yesterday, stretching from its defiant start in the Meat Packing District to its triumphant conclusion at the Washington Square Park. The event, intended to raise awareness about the benefits of a vegetarian and vegan diet, featured participants dressed in costumes like a seven-foot-tall pea pod, a giant carrot, and, according to the Times, “a giant pink replica of a human colon, replete with polyps and a sullied colostomy bag, [bringing] up the rear.” more ›

For quite some time now, a group of East Village residents have been pressuring the local Community Board to snuff out Death & Co., the dark and sophisticated bar on East Sixth street, just down the block from that old timer who sells and repairs bicycles. Like other turbo-gentrifying neighborhoods, the local scolds are fed up with the all the noisy drunkards staggering around their neighborhood at all hours, and they’ve focused their energy on less-established newcomers like Death & Co. more ›

As the weather warms up, restaurants who keep their windows open wide maintain a serious advantage over their stuffier competitors. On a recent heated evening, this is how we stumbled upon the LES's Kampuchea, a crowded spot that riffs on Cambodian street food. more ›

Jason Denton has made his mark in the New York restaurant landscape with well loved favorites like Lupa, 'ino, and ‘inoteca. His latest endeavor, Bar Milano, opened in April, serving not only lunch and dinner, but brunch and weekday breakfast. This upscale tribute to Northern Italy is housed in a Gramercy Park space that has been described as "cursed" due to the short lifespans of former restaurant tenants. Hopefully Denton's talent, pedigree, and strong partners will make the notion of a curse laughable and succeed where others have failed. more ›

Attention competitive eating fans – hey, stop snickering; it’s a legitimate sport regulated by an International Federation! As one fan site says, "For those of you who doubt it's a sport, try making your body consume 20 pounds of food in 10 minutes." Anyway, C.E. fans will definitely want to plan for an extra-long lunch break on Tuesday, May 20th, when two of the world’s biggest "gurgitory gladiators" will lock horns in a Battle Royale for watermelon eating dominance. more ›

Crisp: This sleek new vegetarian restaurant at Third and 43rd Street is all about fresh-made tea, colorful salad and Middle-Eastern tributes, like hummus bowls and “handbag” pita sandwiches stuffed with falafel and your choice of ingredients that include eggplant, sundried tomato spread and pesto. Naturally, Midtown Lunch had a correspondent at the scene for the opening, and first impressions are favorable. Much of the ingredients are organic and delivered fresh daily, the cooking oil is changed every 24 hours, and the food comes in containers made with biodegradable corn resin plastic. 684 Third Avenue, (212) 661-0000, website. more ›

There’s been a lot of snarky ink spilled about how fast the ill-fated BarFry transformed into Cabrito. As is the case with many restaurants that fall under the scrutiny of bloggers, this new Mexican spot helmed by Dave Schuttenberg, whose pedigree includes stints at Fatty Crab and Craft, has already had the viability of its concept questioned. Blogger blathering aside, an initial visit shows Cabrito to be a high-end homage to a broad swath of Mexican food ranging from Pueblan street snacks like cemitas, tacos and huaraches, to the clearly American fish taco. more ›

Tribeca’s 15-year-old Franklin Station Café will close next month, and the Downtown Express has a nice, long goodbye (928 words!) to the neighborhood mainstay. The French and Malaysian bistro, located at the corner of West Broadway and Franklin across from the 1 train stop, was one of the few moderately-priced places left in the increasingly cost-prohibitive neighborhood, and had long been a favored hang-out for locals. more ›

Good news for metro mammals; the New York City tap water is still safe to drink, according to a report card released yesterday by Riverkeeper and the Clean Drinking Water Coalition. The longstanding environmental advocacy group gives our water system A grades for reducing fecal coliform from waterfowl, managing stormwater runoff and waterborne disease risk assessment. High-five! more ›

Today was all about the free iced coffee (and free chicken sandwiches, apparently). Tomorrow, it's free falafel. The East Village eatery formerly known as Chickpea held a contest to find a new name for its Glatt Kosher re-opening. They received hundreds of entries from crafty wordsmiths all vying for the $3000 prize. Only one winner was selected, more ›

Since opening last November, the 2,000 square foot Radegast Hall in Williamsburg has been packed with patrons enjoying the massive mugs of beer, the hearty food, and the debate about the old world dirndl peasant dresses worn by the waitresses. (Humiliating or part of the ambiance?) One group strongly opposed to the vintage Czech ensembles are the employees themselves, who say the tight bodices and short skirts are provoking come-ons from grabby drunken tools. Not cool, bros! more ›

Montreal-based food writer Taras Grescoe thinks something fishy is up with the global seafood economy. From pollutants to piracy, preservatives to Patagonian toothfish, Grescoe surveys the state of our collective waterways in his new book Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood, which combines some literal seabed muckraking with a fascinating travelogue. Each chapter follows a specific fish down the food chain from net to dinner plate; the book is a sort of aquatic The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Grescoe emerges with a clear breakdown of the issues, and a guide for sourcing seafood with an emphasis on sustainability. more ›

The city may be divided on where the first coffee of the day comes from: Starbucks? Dunkin' Donuts? Local caffeine purveyor? Everyone can agree that a free coffee is welcome, though -- especially with prices per cup running about the same as per gallon gas. more ›

Tonight, the non-profit Share Our Strength is holding its annual Taste of the Nation NYC event at the Roseland Ballroom. Share Our Strength works with community groups, activists and food programs to make sure children don't go hungry, and the NYC chapter's event will benefit City Harvest, the Food Bank for New York City, the NYC Coalition Against Hunger and many other organizations. more ›

Say goodbye to the maddening ear-poison of Kool Man’s “Pop Goes the Weasel,” and harken back to the more civilized jingle of a bygone era: the gently ringing bell of the retro Good Humor ice cream truck. On Sunday Adam Kuban got the scoop of the week when he happened upon this atavistic enabler of sweet teeth outside the Museum of Modern Art. more ›

Also for the Times, Peter Meehan highlights two of his favorite East Village haunts: Punjab and Polish G. I. Delicatessen. Punjab’s the beloved little hole in the wall on First Street near Avenue A that dishes out some the best cheap vegetarian food around; Meehan correctly asserts that the 24-hour institution is “as good at breakfast as it is after stumbling out of a show at the Mercury Lounge across the street.” more ›

How much did you spend on lunch today? $10 for a salad at Chop't? $7.50 for a sandwich at Pax? A whopping $175 on the lunch tasting menu at per se? Regardless, if you set that amount of money aside tomorrow, May 14th, and donate it to City Harvest's Skip Lunch, Fight Hunger campaign, you can make a difference in the lives of hungry New Yorkers. more ›

When Mr. Skewer & Co. Brazilian Grill began building out its space a month ago, anticipation ran high among meatheads. Could it be true? Amid visions of short ribs and other meaty treats, some wondered, “Would there really be a rodizio opening on W. 14 St.?” more ›

Barbecue fans will want to start bracing their colons for the 6th Annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, which has been announced for June 7th and 8th in Madison Square Park. Gothamist tore through the festival of regional barbecue last year, devouring everything from pork shoulder to Brunswick stew to candied ribs. more ›

Beast, on the corner of Vanderbilt and Bergen Streets in Prospect Heights, serves a wide range of tapas and brunch plates with a Spanish flare. As befits the restaurant's bristling name, the first of two dining rooms is dark – almost medieval – and dotted with appropriately colorful creatures: monsters, gargoyles, and demons. The kitchen is open and separates the front from the back room; curious diners can usually observe a small army of toast and burgers on the grill. more ›

Now that an appeals court has ruled that the city can start requiring chain restaurants to prominently display their calorie information, Nathan’s has begun tossing up their stats just in time for summer at Coney Island. Kinetic Carnival notes that the Nathan’s basic hot dog has just half the calories packed into a Big Mac from McDonald’s. more ›

State senator Carl Kruger, an outspoken critic of Mayor Bloomberg’s plans for Coney Island, is now accusing the city of “extorting” $68,000 from the owner of Tatiana Restaurant and Nightclub, a popular Russian nightspot on the Brighton Beach boardwalk. Tatiana Varzar lost her restaurant in a massive fire in 2003 that authorities believe was caused by homeless people living under the boardwalk. more ›

After undergraduate studies in French Literature at Columbia, Michigan-born chef Anita Lo found herself unable to resist the call of the kitchen, and relocated to France to study at the esteemed Ritz-Escoffier school. Graduating first in her class, Lo soon got her start in New York in the kitchen of David Bouley. Eight years ago she struck out on her own with the Greenwich Village favorite Annisa, which serves contemporary American cuisine with accents from Southeast Asia and the Mediterranean. Critical acclaim followed, Crain's named her as one of the top 100 influential women in New York business, and she schooled Mario Batali on Iron Chef. Lo's latest move is the promising West Village restaurant Bar Q, where she's focusing on creative Asian-style barbecue, as well as a raw bar. more ›

Ever since he started buying whole animals, Willis Loughhead, the new executive chef at Country, has been turning out some top-flight charcuterie, as well several dishes that incorporate offal. Loughhead gets his meat from Fleisher's Grass-fed and Organic Meats in Rhinebeck, N.Y. As you can see here, he’s wasted no time curing meats. Hanging in the wine cellar at Country’s Dining Room are, from left to right, lamb pancetta, pork pancetta, house-cured pigs’s leg prosciutto style, house-cured pig’s leg Serrano-style, Bresaola-style beef tenderloin and lastly imported Serrano with hoof. more ›

Hallo Berlin Express: A weird name and a weirder awning, but sometimes good food comes in weird packages (consider Masala Munch.) This new 30-seat joint on 9th Avenue near 50th Street is the sister of the bigger German eatery Hallo Berlin. Eating in Translation stuck his beak in when they opened this week, and walked away full of schnitzel, spaetzle, soup, and cucumber salad. more ›

Today’s wake for a beloved New York institution is being held in honor of Mei Lai Wah Coffee House in Chinatown. It seems the Times’s Eric Asimov, who usually writes about wine, doesn’t subsist on vino alone; he needs his coffee and steamed pork buns as well. And ever since Mei Lai Wah closed last week after a long, losing struggle with the Health Department, Asimov has been in mourning:

Mei Lai Wah was indeed singular because of its unusual character. It was grungy, but it had personality. I can think of other bakeries and tea houses in Chinatown, but they all seem bright, barren and sterile by comparison. Perhaps sterility is what the Health Department is after... I don’t know exactly what the issue was, and I’m not sure I want to look under the surface. I just know that I never had a bad or disappointing meal there and will miss the reassurance offered by its existence.

Society swells attending glamorous events at Cipriani Dolci may soon have to develop a taste for Shirley Temples. The State Liquor Authority [SLA] is threatening to revoke the liquor licenses at all the swank restaurants and catering halls run by the Cipriani family – including the Rainbow Room and Socialista. The SLA says operators Giuseppe Cipriani and his father, Arrigo Cipriani, have illegally let their licenses be used by unauthorized relatives and companies. more ›

The specialty beverage industry – particularly Smart Water – is now the recipient of a clever parody from Brooklyn designer/photographer Till Krautkramer, who’s rolled out an elaborate marketing campaign for a line of beverages called MeatWater. The website proudly declares that the drink uses “only the finest protein” for such “High Efficiency Survival Beverages” as Dirty Hot Dog, “an authentic taste of the Big Apple you can sip through a straw!” and Italian Sausage:

Mangia! You’ll feel like youse is at da famous San Gennaro festival in New Yawk’s Little Italy after drinkin’ dis. But widdout the annoying bridge-and-tunnel crowds askin’ “How much is doze zeppoles? Tree fuh a dollah? I’ll take tree.”

Everyone knows that ramps and bacon go well together. Everyone who knows about ramps, that is – and if you don't, get down to the Union Square greenmarket or the Park Slope Food Co-op sometime in the next few weeks before they disappear for the year! more ›

The earlier reports of the city’s sudden shutdown of Veniero’s pastry café have been followed up with some rather revolting details, sent to Eater by a tipster at the Department of Health. The beloved East Village institution, founded in 1894 by Antonio Veniero, had posted a sign on the door next to the DOH sticker blaming the shut-down on a “pest problem” caused by “a large Capital Improvement Project.” Pest problem, indeed:

Veniero’s Café was closed on Tuesday, May 6 following an inspection that found a vermin and rodent infestation. Over 300 mice droppings were found in six separate areas of the café. Two dead mice were found, live roaches were observed, and mice droppings were found in a 10 lb box of chocolate... Other conditions contributing to the closing were substantial amounts of food that were in uncovered containers, garbage accumulation, and six holes in walls that would allow rodents to enter.

For decades, residents of low-income neighborhoods under-served by supermarket chains have been getting their hands on produce the old fashioned way: By growing it in their own gardens. In recent years, outer-borough farmers have taken urban agriculture a step further by selling their mostly organic haul at well-organized community markets. more ›

As if offering a final coda (or is it?) to the suspenseful Momofuku Ko reservation saga, the Times’s Frank Bruni has officially opined on the breathlessly hyped, 12-seat restaurant from rock star chef David Chang. Bruni extols it with three stars, calling it “noteworthy beyond its addling all-computer reservation system and the intense, revelatory pleasures of its partly Asian, partly French, wholly inventive food… Ko in its early months serves a few dishes that merely intrigue along with others that utterly enrapture.” more ›

At the Ethnic Market highlights international specialty foods and ingredients you're very unlikely to find at your local Gristedes. more ›

The city's top restaurants represented in full force yesterday at D'Artagnan's Fourth Annual Duckathlon, a culinary competition where chefs tackle food-related and often wacky challenges throughout the Chelsea Market and Meatpacking District. more ›

To bring the Momofuku Ko Craigslist reservation controversy full circle, Insatiable Critic Gael Greene (pictured incognito) has finally published her side of the story. more ›

Starting tonight (Cinco de Mayo) and continuing through Friday, Crema Restaurante will be offering a special five course prix fixe menu, with tequila drink pairings, that dovetails Mexican and French cuisines. Chef Julieta Ballesteros, from Monterrey, Mexico, calls the menu a “peace offering” of sorts to the French, and most of the dishes draw heavily upon her training at New York's French Culinary Institute. Even if you're not up for dinner, you might want to swing by Crema to sip some of their specialty French-Mex cocktails at the bar, like The Au Pear: White Rioja Sangria with Poire Williams Brandy. In this interview Ballesteros tells us about her twist on Cinco de Mayo dinner, her preferred hangover remedy and her worst kitchen injury. more ›

There's no shortage of fiestas this Cinco de Mayo, so pull out the maracas and get going. more ›

Plan B: After waiting almost a year for liquor license approval, Prospect Heights bar Plan B has finally come to fruition. (Not to be confused with Greenpoint’s incorrigible Studio B or the East Village’s ever-mobbed Plan B.) This Plan B, located in the old Half wine bar space, has four flat screen TVs for sporting types, a classic bar menu, ten beers on tap, and plenty of elbow room in the back courtyard. 626 Vanderbilt Ave, no phone listed. more ›

Even though it had been open less than a week Wildwood Barbeque, the latest addition to the burgeoning New York City barbeque scene, was mobbed with merry meatheads Wednesday night. Folks were queued up at the entranceway, as they waited to taste meats from Pitmaster Big Lou Elrose. more ›

Whether you spell it Issan or E-san (as the folks at Poodam’s Thai Cuisine do), the cuisine from this Northeast region of Thailand by Cambodia and Laos is some of New York City’s most delicious and spiciest. more ›

That Momofuku Ko "resi" that hit Craigslist recently, where the poster was looking for a culinary companion, was not only filled -- but the story gets juicier than kimchi consommé with pork belly. more ›