Food

Yesterday we reported the sad news that with little fanfare, respected Carroll Gardens West African/French restaurant Korhogo 126 had quietly closed its doors. Today it seems some consolation comes in the form of recent activity reports in the old Schnäck space, along the same swath of Union Street. It's long been known that Vendy victors Calexico will bring their particular brand of Mexican street food to the storefront sometime soon; last week Eater speculated Calexico's target opening is early May. More details will hopefully be revealed when the Calexico brothers appear on Martha Stewart May 13. In the meantime, for those missing Schnäck's famed beer milkshakes (and who isn't?), take solace that on weekends, elsewhere in the borough (but mostly at the Bushwick Country Club) free milkshakes made with Maker's Mark await you, along with free BBQ and free ice cream. The calories come courtesy hip-hop artists Kats and Domer; the whole schedule can be found on the Free Ice Cream site. more ›

The tiny, well-regarded French West African restaurant Korhogo 126 in Carroll Gardens apparently closed its doors for good a couple of weeks ago. Calls to the restaurant are answered with a full mailbox message, and a yellow sign tacked to the front door reads “thank you for all your support,” reports The Word on Columbia Street. You may recall that Korhogo 126 was once called Bouillabaisse 126 back in the day when chef/owner Neil Ganic was on board; Ganic left the business in 2007 (allegedly after “screaming bizarre obscenities in the middle of the sidewalk, muttering to himself incoherently”) then opened La Bouillabaisse in Red Hook and Annabelle’s last year. Both of those establishments have apparenty closed. In the meantime, Korhogo 126’s Abdhul Traore, formerly of Les Enfants Terribles, has presumably moved on to a new restaurant. more ›

This week Frank Bruni at the Times keeps his stars to himself and goes trendspotting, opining on four haute restaurants doing alternative, recession-minded menus. He raves about a couple dishes at Anthos Upstairs, located in "the second-floor room previously dedicated to large private parties — you know, those suddenly anachronistic events at which corporate generals larded their bonus-primed lieutenants," but has "better luck and a better time" at DFF, the re-appropriation of the private-party room adjacent to Craft, in the Flatiron district. "Semantically cuter but otherwise less appealing than DFF" is Halfsteak, where Bruni "got half service." And the à la carte Per Se lounge is "superb — and yet utterly ridiculous." GQ's Alan Richman also visits Per Se lounge twice, spending $454 on dinner for two, and is "unimpressed." more ›

Campbell Terrace: Summer's here (in spirit) and the time is right to relax outside in mahogany rocking chairs and drink. Campbell Terrace, run by the same folks who operate the clubby Campbell Apartment in Grand Central Terminal, have just re-opened for the season in the Vanderbilt Avenue portico between 42nd and 43rd Streets. Boasting 1,500 square feet of shady, open-air imbibing, the terrace's myriad rocking chairs are a homage to the furniture provided in the ladies' waiting rooms in the early days of Grand Central Terminal. This year Campbell Terrace reopens with a new and expanded spirits menu, featuring vintage cocktails such as the Strawberry Southside (Gin, fresh muddled strawberries and mint topped with Champagne), and signature cocktail The Terrace Punch (Cane rum, orange liqueur, ginger liqueur, mango nectar, fresh lemon juice and a pinch of allspice). The food menu is the same as the inside bar, and includes club sandwiches, quesadillas, and cheese plates. Open Monday through Friday from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m. 15 Vanderbilt Avenue, (212) 980-9476. more ›

The Post set their fine-print gumshoes loose on the city’s restaurant menus and uncovered numerous crimes against the dining public, like restaurants charging for normally free items like bread, butter, and tap water. Times dining critic Frank Bruni thinks that charging extra for nice bread and butter is perfectly acceptable, but for the most part, everyone’s like holy crap, this is totally outrageous. Apparently there’s “A 20 percent mandatory tip on all checks at the Little Italy tourist spot Grotta Azzurra,” and bobo in Greenwich Village charges $1 per-person for filtered tap water. more ›

Undeterred by their Kafkaesque struggles with the local community board over the stellar cocktail lounge Death & Co., two of that bar's owners have boldly branched out with a second establishment on the very same street. Named Mayahuel after the Aztec goddess of fertility, this cozy, bi-level temple to tequila and mezcal is unofficially open now. The menu by cocktail craftsman Phil Ward consists of almost two dozen mezcal and tequila cocktails ($13 each), plus a few beer cocktails, some punch, and sangria. more ›

In addition to sorting out the emerging swine flu crisis, the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control are today warning the public not to eat raw alfalfa sprouts (and sprout blends containing alfalfa), after determining that 31 incidents of illness across six states were linked to sprouts contaminated with Salmonella Saintpaul. This is the same kind of salmonella related to some 1300 cases of fresh produce-related foodborne illness last year. So far New York is not among the mostly Midwestern states reporting salmonella infection; the FDA and CDC have issued a general advisory, however, “because suspect lots of seeds may be sold around the country and may account for a large proportion of the alfalfa seeds currently being used by sprout growers.” More information can be found in the FDA’s news release. In the meantime, cook your sprouts thoroughly. more ›

The final two Balducci's locations in Manhattan closed on Sunday after a heart-wrenching week of discounts, with customers reportedly bursting into tears and even yelling at the staff. One employee tells the Times, "The customers kept asking, 'Where are we going for lunch?' But what I want to know is, where are we going for jobs?" See, that's not Chelsea Pepper's problem; the 24-year-old customer was so totally distraught to find the Chelsea location picked clean on Sunday: "It’s saddest thing ever!" Others like Barbara Colasanti think the expensive gourmet chain—started by Italian immigrant Louis Balducci in 1946—only has itself to blame: "They priced themselves out of the market, it was hubris... Do you really need chipotle raspberry finishing sauce? What is finishing sauce? People don’t need all this stuff. It’s a lesson." It's unclear what fate awaits the spaces formerly occupied by Balducci's, but the Voice reports that stores in other locations have been sold to an investor group, and D.C.'s lone Balducci's will close at the end of June. more ›

Slice has an update about legendary Coney Island pizzeria Totonno's. The establishment, whose coal oven and excellent pies make pizza aficionados swoon, had to close its doors in mid-March after a fire broke out in the coal storage area. Owner Lawrence Ciminieri originally thought the restaurant would be back open by now but now he tells Slice's Adam Kuban, "It took four weeks just to get the permit to start work. We'll start May 1, and hopefully it'll take four weeks to rebuild. So early June" may be a reopening date (Ciminieri suggests that people call first, just to make sure it is open; 718-372-8606). more ›

One longtime Starbucks in Astor Place (well, one of them—the one with a garden on the corner of Third and Astor) is closing tomorrow night. While the eulogies are pouring in from in the comments sections (Eater is even assembling an “insta oral history” of the location in order to virtually bronze all the macchiato memories), no one seems to be sure what will happen to the building tomorrow after the last pitcher of milk is steamed. Some say the Starbucks, which has at least three other perfectly viable locations within a short walking distance, is simply "being moved, and the building re-purposed.” Others are declaring a belated victory for Reverend Billy. Others still are saying that, as promised, Stumptown Coffee’s Duane Sorenson “has come to save you (and the rest of New York) from inferior house brew,” and may be thinking of setting up shop in the location. Okay, so that’s just wishful thinking. For many, the Astor Place Starbucks (on the corner of Third Avenue, not the other one) was the scene for many double tall rites of passage-y precious moments, and will always be remembered for its always shorter bathroom line. more ›

Over the past 25 years City Harvest has rescued vast quantities of excess food that the food industry would have otherwise discarded; they then deliver it free of charge to more than 600 community food programs. With the faltering economy leading to even greater demand, nearly 350,000 children and their families in NYC don’t have enough to eat. To raise money, City Harvest is holding its annual Skip Lunch Fight Hunger initiative on May 6th, asking individuals to donate their lunch money. Here's how it works: Participants sign up as a team captain for their company, organization, or school. By May 6, team captains receive brown paper lunch bags, posters, and facts about childhood hunger to help publicize the event, and the captains collect donations. Last year's initiative was a big success, with some 15,000 New Yorkers raising over $500,000 in a single day to help feed over 30,000 children and their families for the entire summer. The top 25 fundraising teams will have a chance to win one of five prize packages, including tickets to the U.S. Open, where the food is so expensive you may want to skip lunch yet again. Details here. more ›

A Long Island man who purchased a Burger King Mac N' Cheese meal for his 6-year-old daughter yesterday says there was "something disgusting in there." (Besides the macaroni and the cheese.) Phil Collura of Rockville Centre tells CBS 2 that after buying the food product for his child at the drive-through, she told him it "tasted funny." And at the bottom of the mac n' cheese cup was what looked like a crushed pill! The girl was taken to a hospital for observation, and Nassau County police say the forensic evidence bureau is analyzing the substance. A police source tells Newsday, "It is unknown at this time if the child ingested any part of the substance." Coming as this does on the heels of the Domino's employees' gross-out video, it's unsurprising the King went into crisis management mode quickly, issuing this statement last night: "Burger King Corp. and its franchisee is aware of this situation and is investigating the matter. As a precaution, the restaurant has removed the product," which is produced by Kraft. more ›

A Queens Councilman has taken a brave stand on an urgent issue: New York City's official apple. Councilman James Gennaro wants a resolution declaring the Newtown Pippin as the Big Apple's apple. This light green apple originated in the early 18th century in the Elmhurst section of Queens, formerly the village of Newtown. It was grown by both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who once wrote from Paris, "They have no apples here to compare with our Newtown pippin." But when the Post fanned out around Union Square to gauge public reaction, reporters found some people "offended to the core." Man on the street Robert Matysiewski worried, "People are used to the Big Apple being red, and choosing a green apple might confuse people." And one Emily Martin opined that "the Newtown apple doesn't sound promising. It sounds tasteless, sour and mealy." But Gennaro won't be deterred, and even sees a trendy green angle: "We've been working for years on the Environmental Protection Committee to turn this into the Big Green Apple, and little did I know we are a Big Green Apple." Developing! more ›

Looks like Stumptown Coffee is not the only fresh off the bus, piece of straw-chewing newcomer to the city’s artisanal food scene: as of yesterday, pints of the acclaimed Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream are available at Foragers Market in DUMBO. Introductory flavors include Dark Cocoa Gelato, Salty Caramel, Pistachio (with Ohio honey), Bourbon Buttered Pecan, and Black Currant Yogurt. Owner Jeni Britton Bauer was the subject of a Food & Wine article last year that named her of the country’s best ice cream producers; following the seasons, pints contain fresh fruit and are made in small batches. Also, Jeni’s ice creams do not contain eggs—Britton Bauer adheres to the belief that “I love the taste of cream so much that I hate to cover it up with anything.” Pints are a steep $10 each at DUMBO's Forager’s Market; Columbus-based blog Restaurant Widow assures that each (roughly 20-cent) spoonful is “worth every bite.” Board up your windows and shove towels under your door now so the ice cream cannot get in. more ›

For two years now, gourmet chocolate maker Jacque Torres has been selling a pink Champagne bon bon called the "Champagne Kiss." But the Hershey Corporation is worried that customers shopping for cheap, proletariat candy might get confused and buy his Kiss instead, which costs $1.50 each, instead of their waxy sugar pellets. So earlier this month their lawyers sent him a C&D, demanding he immediately retire his Champagne Kiss. But Torres won't pucker up! His lawyers have fired back, and in a letter obtained by Grub Street, they argue that the comparing the two products is analogous to "Chevrolet complaining that Rolls Royce is infringing on the Chevrolet trademark." Furthermore! "This is yet another example of a giant, monolithic corporation attempting to take advantage of 'the little guy,' in this case, a world-renowned artisan from France." An irate Torres tells Grub Street, "They don’t own the world! No way am I going to give up on [the kiss]—it’s completely unfair!" Oh merde, it is on! more ›

The acclaimed and iconoclastic 32-year-old chef Paul Liebrandt is today the subject of a New York Times profile. The news: after years of working in restaurants all around the world, it seems as though the Zimbabwe-born, French and English-trained chef at Corton now considers New York City home. In its way, the article all but assures the dining public that because Liebrandt ♥ NY, his days of restless culinary experimentation are over (we certainly hope not). The article even ineluctably evokes the madcap memory of Papillon, a short-lived radical dining experience where Liebrandt once played Pinky and the Brain with pastry chef Will Goldfarb. That restaurant was all about courses like the one where guests were fuzzy handcuffed to their chairs while the dinner plates got all animated and Battlebots-like and fought each other to the death with whirring chainsaw forks. You were supposed to eat the victor. more ›

The new issue of all things meat, all the time magazine Meatpaper has just been published, and it’s called The Pig Issue. Features include a story on an obscure medical treatment for the ailment called furuncular myiasis that uses rendered bacon fat. The treatment is named— what else— Bacon Therapy. This newest Meatpaper is sort of like Prevention magazine, but with pig products instead of cardio tips. There’s also a profile on Tennessee ham maker Allan Benton, whose hams are considered the best by chefs like David Chang and the folks at PDT, who use his products to make a drink called the “Benton’s Old-Fashioned.” Craft chef Damon Wise is also a big fan of Benton’s bacon— visit his damonfrugalfridayeverydayexcepttuesdaywebsite.com to see what the Colicchio protégée is doing with the stuff this week. The new pork-themed Meatpaper also features a spread on pork-themed tattoos, including a photo from Brooklyn-based photographer Michael Harlan Turkell. For vegetarians there’s a comparison piece on vegan bacon. Issue #7 of Meatpaper is available at St. Marks Bookshop, Barnes & Noble locations, Project No. 8, and at The Brooklyn Kitchen. more ›

Jerry Greenfield (of Ben & Jerry) and Julius Walls (CEO of Greyston Bakery) are in town doing a campus tour of NYU and Columbia to talk to tomorrow's business leaders about social entrepreneurship. The Greyston Foundation donates all profits to local charities, including community gardens, affordable housing, job training and childcare programs. Which is all terrific! But let's talk about the sundaes: The idealistic duo will be serving free ice cream and brownie sundaes at the Whole Foods Tribeca TODAY from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m., and then from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Whole Foods Bowery. Later they'll visit the campuses to inspire business students to start socially responsible companies that, hopefully, also give out free ice cream. more ›

This week Frank Bruni at the Times has nice things to say about two new Spanish restaurants: La Fonda del Sol (photos) in the Met Life building, and Chelsea's Txikito (pronounced cheek-ee-toe). Upon the former, Bruni bestows two stars, a crucial break the restaurant and for chef Jay DeChellis, as reviews have been mixed: "Although the menu has weak spots, with a few too many dishes not from the heart but from a marketing plan, [DeChellis's] cooking here feels less forced and more exuberant." The diminutive Txikito is a mixed bag: "Across many meals here I had wonderfully memorable food (suckling pig as fine as any in New York beyond Eleven Madison Park’s); ridiculous food (a rib-eye so excessively fatty and undercooked it was almost inedible); food that fell somewhere in between... and food that never tasted the same twice." more ›

Clerkenwell: Named for a London district that was once that city's Little Italy, this new 40-seat homage to the "English" gastropub opened last week on the Lower East Side. The menu, obtained by Grub Street, emphasizes traditional fare like Slow-roasted belly of pork; IPA ale and beef pie; and Yorkshire toad in the hole with English sausages, cream mashed potato and gravy. Brunch began last weekend too, and includes items like eggs and soldiers; fish n’ chips; and walnut crusted chicken served with classic Waldorf salad of celery leaves, Sweet Granny smith Apples and mixed baby lettuce. Eater has photos and notes that Clerkenwell is doing a weekend late-night menu as well, with just the libations you'd expect: Boddingtons, Guiness, and Bass (and more imports on the way). 49 Clinton Street, (212) 614-3234 more ›

Times are tough even for the lowly hot dog man. Vendors who operate at some of the most expensive locations in Brooklyn are reporting a precipitous drop in earnings, which they blame on the brown-baggers trying to save lunch money during the recession. Timothaos Ayad, who pays $48,000 a year in rent to the city set up his cart outside Brooklyn Supreme Court, says he's suffered a 50% drop in business since August, mainly because potential customers like Jenny Guerra are tightening the belt. Spotted by the Daily News refusing to buy her son a $1.75 pretzel, Guerra explains, "I feel bad [Ayad] still has to pay the same rent... But not bad enough." Over in Park Slope, where Tarek Elhashash pays $47,250 to operate two hot dog carts at Prospect Park, business is down 30%. He tells the News, "The same customer who used to come to me and spend $10 on two hot dogs and two drinks and an ice cream, now they get one ice cream and they split it." Guys like Joey Chestnut really need to start patronize these vendors before New Yorkers' convenient access to offal is history. more ›

We've gleefully chronicled such gilded age menu items as the $25,000 dessert and the $81 hamburger, but former NY Mag dining critic Gael Greene is reporting what may be the most hubristic example of restaurant chicanery yet. She has it that Morton's The Steakhouse recently tried to charge financial columnist Dan Dorfman $2.50 extra for ordering a cocktail on the rocks. His beverage was served with five of the sublime little frozen delicacies, translating to 50 cents per ice cube. He objected after noticing the charge on his bill, and Greene writes, "If you know Dorfman you know his protest was not pretty." Morton's ultimately waived the fee, but Dorfman says, "I bet they get away with it more often than not since that's a place that attracts a fair-sized Wall Street crowd and I'm sure many of them say nothing." Though in this economy, one might anticipate plenty of Wall Street whining over this kind of over-charging. Then again, the beguiling frozen ambrosia that is the Morton's ice cube has never graced our vulgar, provincial lips, so maybe it's actually a bargain. more ›

Brooklyn Fare, a new non-chain Downtown Brooklyn grocery store, will open tomorrow. The man behind the refrigerated counter is Cesar Ramirez, a Bouley/Bar Blanc vet who’ll create and maintain Brooklyn Fare’s line of hot and cold prepared foods. Next month, Brooklyn Fare will also introduce a small restaurant inside the store’s standalone commissary kitchen, located a few doors down on Schermerhorn Street. Its single dining table is actually one seamless, stainless steel table in the center of the kitchen. Here, Ramirez says, he will serve five-course meals for a “super reasonable price.” more ›

Click on the images for details on the other dishes, which are each $10 or less. more ›

With all of the hubbub surrounding the controversial naming of Obama Fried Chicken eateries as well as the Obama Chia, we wondered why no one had called Ray's Candy Store on Avenue A for one of its Obama-inspired offers. The East Village institution sells a number of "Obama" products, none more prominently displayed than their Obama Coffee (coffee with a dollop of ice cream). Will possible racial undertones of Obama Coffee be enough to draw the ire of City Councilman Charles Barron, who has led protests outside Obama Fried Chicken pressuring the eatery to change its name? more ›

Times have certainly changed since the gritty and unsentimental 1971 film The Panic in Needle Park chronicled the downward spiral of Bobby and Helen, two crazy-in-love smack addicts. "Needle Park" is the film’s nom de parc for Sherman Square, which just isn’t the heroin hub it used to be. Though Sherman Square and the adjacent Verdi Square were once filled with anxious dealers, now it’s mostly fluffy dogs in neoprene cardigans. Furthermore, young Al Pacino (who starred as Bobby) is now one of the greatest actors in all of film history. more ›

The case for locally produced and consumed food will once again be discussed next Tuesday at a Museum of the City of New York forum that includes Blue Hill chef/owner Dan Barber and Greenmarket director Michael Hurwitz. Another speaker is Ian Marvy of Red Hook’s Added Value, whose farm will be just one of many volunteer sites comprising tomorrow's massive Earth Day initiative called the Green Apple Festival. The forum, an affordable $12, will be moderated by Gabrielle Langholtz, editor-in-chief of Edible Manhattan and Edible Brooklyn (the new Brooklyn issue features a behind the scenes look at Williamsburg biscuit lair Egg, and a tour of Brooklyn’s many tortillerias). Looking ahead, one more tidbit of locavore news— New Amsterdam Market announced today that June 28 will be the date of the first Monthly Market for 2009; details, including a location, are forthcoming. more ›

Passover ended last night at sundown, so it's party time for observant Jews; that means plenty of pizza, pasta, and bagels, among other yeasty items they've denied themselves for the past eight days, in remembrance of the exodus from Egypt. According to the Times, today's the biggest day of the year for many local bagel makers, some of whom simply close shop during Passover, when leavened products are eschewed by Jews. But the article oddly spotlights Terrace Bagels, which the paper of record misidentifies as a "Park Slope" eatery. Terrace Bagels is in Windsor Terrace, a neighborhood not exactly known as a big Jewish community. So it's no wonder the manager there only observed a "slight drop" in sales during Passover, which he attributes "more to people going away for vacation because school is out." On the Upper West Side, of course, it's a different story; the 72nd Street Bagel shop owner says he usually does "one and a half times" the usual business today. His staff has been up since 4:30 a.m., and by the time you read this, they're probably already out of everything bagels. more ›

Red Hook, the Brooklyn neighborhood on the brink of perpetual change, is about to see some lobsters move into the neighborhood. Pardon Me For Asking has the scoop on the soon-to-open Red Hook Lobster Pound, a new business at 284 Van Brunt Street that will deal in retail sales of live Maine lobster at around $10-11 a pound. more ›

Pork and bacon, of all things, are decidedly the new engines of charity events: First off, Tom Mylan and Brooklyn Kitchen have decided to auction off 10 upcoming seats at Mylan’s immensely popular pig butchering class to benefit Just Food and the Greenpoint Interfaith Food Team, according to Serious Eats. Secondly, the “Park Slope Pork Off” next month at Loki Lounge will garner the winner $100 and bragging rights; moreover, all proceeds benefit survivors of toxic waste in the Philippines. “Fakin’ bacon,” the organizers advise, is also acceptable, however “you best fool us but good.” We hear that Jonathan Proville, winner of last month’s epic Bacon Takedown, is angling for a second victory at next month’s event. More information on the “Pork Off” here. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, the New York Times has an excellent piece this week on vegan advocate and author Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, and across the pond, BBC correspondent Richard da Costa has spent four days eating, cavorting, and sleeping 24/7 in a sty with pigs. The resulting documentary called My Life as an Animal plays tonight; more information here. more ›

As if to prove a point that LES vegan bakery Babycakes is both a little bit rock and roll and a little bit frosting, chef/owner Erin McKenna and team Babycakes have released a high-def trailer for their upcoming cookbook, wherein the shop becomes a de facto, Joan Jettified site of a girl power and gluten-free frolic. Badass. The four-year-old spot is not only kosher vegan, but most of its recipes substitute agave for refined sugar and are (of course) gluten-free. Coconut oil is used in placed of butter, and Jason Schwartzman apparently approves, as do others. Babycakes the book is blurbed by Natalie Portman and Zooey Deschanel; its foreword was written by none other than Tom Colicchio. Babycakes also supplied the starch-modified blueberry pie eaten by Norah Jones in Wong Kar Wai’s little-seen My Blueberry Nights (recipe here). The Telegraph has an interview and more recipes from McKenna, and includes this nugget about the shop’s sugar-dairy-frosting: “Some people just come in for a $1.50 frosting shot that they can knock back like a tequila, or a 12oz take-out tub to devour at home.” Babycakes will be published May 5; Babycakes' Twitter, for fresh-baked updates, here. more ›

Gaudy Central Park restaurant Tavern on the Green may be an overpriced tourist trap, but it's still the #2 top earning restaurant in America, grossing $34,221,691 last year alone. But plenty of restaurateurs think they can do better, and when the LeRoy family's 25 year operating license expires December 31st, the former sheepfold may fall under new ownership. The city, which owns the property, also thinks it can do better; as it stands now, the LeRoys are only required to pay 3.5% of their gross receipts to the city, while licensees at other Parks Department properties like the Central Park Boathouse pay up to 16.5%. City Room tagged along during a recent tour of Tavern for potential bidders, and learned that should the LeRoys lose the bidding war, they'll be stripping the place of every last bit of its "fantasyland décor." They'll even be keeping the rights to the restaurant's name, which they've had appraised at a value of $19 million. Given Tavern's notoriously mediocre reputation, you'd think the new owners would be paying the LeRoys to take the name with them on their way out. more ›

Charles, the clandestine West Village restaurant that Village Voice critic Robert Sietsema recently skewered for its affected, still-under-construction front, gets eviscerated by Frank Bruni at the Times today. He goes meta with this one, once again writing in the voice of a vapid, trend-spotting socialite pecking out an email to Graydon Carter, whose Waverly Inn inspired Charles's game of hard-to-get: "[The windows] are covered in old newspapers and blue tape, as if the space is under construction or even condemned, and they’ve been that way for so long that when I paused on the sidewalk the other night to read the fine print, I learned that Sarah Palin had resuscitated the McCain candidacy. The newspapers are at first funny, then odd, then just sort of sad, maybe because Charles doesn’t have enough else going for it. In the end I couldn’t get around that. I suppose it’s pretty inside, though it’s so dark you can’t tell, so dark that Bitsy and I never could decide if that was Maggie Gyllenhaal two tables away." For further reading, here's Charles's most recent DOH inspection results: a whopping 36 violation points...but maybe that's just they're way of dissuading you from dining there? more ›

Rye: If there's a softer mode than "soft opening," a more friendly and familial "friends and family," it's embodied by this new Williamsburg restaurant from chef Cal Elliott (Dressler, Dumont). Though word of the new establishment, located in a former bodega, began trickling out several weeks ago, it is still very much a work in progress, albeit a gorgeous one. During a visit to Rye yesterday, an admittedly exhausted Elliott declined to reveal anything about his menu, which he would only describe as "contemporary American." He told us that a recent photo spread on Grub Street and menu reveal on Eater were done without his approval, and he may soon close the kitchen for a week to reevaluate. more ›

Part of the floor plan devoted to a new, 400-seat restaurant inside the historic Lundy’s space in Sheepshead Bay is what developers are calling an “ancillary use” gourmet foods market. The controversial Cherry Hill Market, the Buildings Department contends, is actually just a grocery store by another name. more ›

New York City schoolchildren had better develop a taste for apple juice; the Department of Education has just set strict guidelines for drinks and snacks sold in schools. Starting next fall, beverages sold in elementary and middle schools will be limited to a maximum of 10 calories per ounce in 8-ounce beverages, while high school students will be permitted 25 calories per ounce. As Snapple's controversial $40 million vending contract comes to an end, the DOE plans to ban juices and other beverages with artificial colors or flavors, the Post reports. It's all part of a crusade to combat what many deem a childhood "obesity epidemic," and the city is now seeking proposals from new vendors who must limit their snack selection to items under 200 calories, with less than 200 mg. of sodium and less than 10 percent saturated fat. And since the Snapple deal came with a $28 million sweetener for the city's fitness and sports programs, the DOE is also hoping the new vendor will be willing to make a similar donation for vending rights to the city's 865 schools, which contain some 2,235 vending machines. more ›

None other than New York’s original three-term mayor Fiorello LaGuardia is poised to make a comeback (of sorts), and in turn influence the way New York eats. Last week, contents of the former Caffé on the Green—one-time Queens home of “the Little Flower” mayor—were auctioned off in order to make room for a new Italian restaurant operated by vets of restaurants Aureole and Tribeca Grill. Caffé on the Green’s owners were evicted by the city January 1; the new restaurant will be called Valentino’s on the Green (after another famous tenant) and will serve “classic Italian cuisine elevated to meet today’s tastes.” Elsewhere, the LaGuardia-founded La Marqueta in East Harlem, a longtime destination for fresh food, is once again angling for redesign and a reopening. Founded in 1932 (La Marqueta’s Brooklyn sister opened in 1941), the five-parcel Harlem spot spans two buildings and 50,000 sq. feet of land from 111th Street to 116th Street. NYC EDC is currently looking for food-related ideas for La Marqueta; its Brooklyn counterpart, also founded by LaGuardia, was given a reprieve in January. more ›

Crosby Connection, the longtime sandwich haven operated by an ex-cop from Jersey named Joey Cramarossa, has found a yet another new retail space: the Bleecker Street Theater will now sell its famous $6 subs. Cramarossa famously instituted a Wimpy-esque, pay-you-Tuesday-for-a-sandwich-today policy at Crosby Connection and even helped the homeless; nonetheless Crosby Connection has been a lonely NoHo wanderer in the past year. After an untimely eviction from a 45-square-foot space last year, Crosby Connection moved to Parisi Bakery on Elizabeth Street, where it began selling pizza in addition to its sandwiches. Then, late last year the shop "divorced" from Parisi and became “homeless” itself. Eater reports today that Crosby Connection is now operating M-F out of Bleecker Street Theater, and instead of pizzas, will offer coffee drinks “once owner Joey Cramarossa figures out how to work the machine.” Attention all Peace Corps baristas: head over to 45 Bleecker and give the guy a hand. more ›

After a few hiccups, Anselmo’s opened in Red Hook on Friday afternoon. Keeping it simple, the pizza place will serve only pies and calzones baked in its brick oven. more ›

Here's the latest installment in our ongoing quest to find a good, cheap meal that won't kill us or our budget. more ›

Jim Lahey— the effervescent, no-knead dough guru and chef/owner of Sullivan Street Bakery and pizza joint Co.— has some advice for Frank Bruni following the single star Times review of Co. earlier this week. "If you want your cheese and sauce, you can get it [at Ray's]," he told the Observer’s Daily Transom. "They'll actually put extra shit on for ya!" Lahey’s working pizza philosophy at Co. (megawatt chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten is an investor) adheres to a principle that pizza should not be laden with toppings and it is best cooked in a 900 degree oven. “The driving force was to change this genre of food-making so it's not falling into the same stupid cliches,” Lahey told the Observer, “like, the thick crust on the edge and lots of tomato sauce and cheese.” Lahey conspicuously sports a “Consume Less” t-shirt on the Sullivan Street website; Bruni’s admonishment that Lahey “needs to sweat the cheese and the rest of it a little more” seems to have specifically irked the chef. The Observer article, with more expletives, is here. Expect a Diner’s Journal rebuttal to Lahey’s rebuttal, which veers sharply into self-deprecating territory, sometime today. (photo courtesy Adam Kuban/Slice) more ›

Yelp, the influential San Fransisco-based website that gives every Tom, Dick and Harry a forum to criticize everything from plastic surgeons to restaurants, has agreed to let small businesses publish their responses to criticisms on the site. Previously, businesses owners could only contact their haters directly or—more controversially—pay Yelp to bury negative reviews. But starting next week, businesses like this SF pizza restaurant will no longer be reduced to ironically printing quotes from bad reviews on their T-shirts. Come Monday, according to the Times, they'll be able to tell their side of the story of restaurants such as Otto Pizzeria, about which one Yelper opines: "The best part of the meal was when we walked outside and realized that we had just escaped HELL!" more ›

Some kind of food and beverage renaissance is once again happening in Prospect Heights: for starters, Brownstoner reported last week that a new bar is slated to open in the neighborhood sometime this summer. The 1500-square-foot space will be called Flying Monkey and is located at 706 Washington Avenue. The word from the Brooklynian boards is that the same people behind Bushwick’s whiskey-friendly Kings County are behind Flying Monkey. more ›

Brooklyn Fare, a new, independent grocery store located in downtown Brooklyn, will open April 22nd at 200 Schermerhorn Street. Owner Moe Issa, a borough native, is working with chef Cesar Ramirez to outfit the 6,000-square-foot space with a deluge of pret-a-manger goods to be available alongside the regular groceries: sandwiches, meatballs, soups, terrines, and so on. The store will sell such a vast amount of cheese and beer it will likely blow your mind. Ramirez has snagged a real sushi chef to make sushi throughout the day (as in, not just some dude to oversee each morning's epic batch of outsourced California rolls that are left to hang out all day in a refrigerated display). The idea here seems to be real food, not boutique food. more ›

Fans of the Aururo Italian restaurants in Soho and Williamsburg may also enjoy Emporio, the new venture from chef/restaurateur Riccardo Buitoni, originally from Piedmont, Italy. Soft-opening tonight in Nolita, the "rustic Roman" restaurant is named after the Italian word for "local grocery store." Buitoni's seasonal menu hews toward a slightly lower price point than Aurora, and features Italian and local cheese, artisanal and house cured charcuterie, a raw bar, fritti, wood-fired pizzas, home made pasta and other traditional Roman entrees. more ›

As you know, Passover, one of the holiest days in Judaism, starts tonight at sundown. For non-Jews out there, BeliefNet explains it commemorates "The miraculous Exodus of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt." (As for why it's called Passover, it refers to when Jews marked their doors with lambs' blood so God would know to spare their babies as he slaughtered the offspring of their Egyptian oppressors.) Police Commissioner Ray Kelly recently reassured Jewish leaders earlier this month that the NYPD knows of "no plan to target Jewish sites" in the city, but the police are continuing their tradition of dedicating "additional resources to precincts with large Jewish communities." more ›

The new, third retail spot for the Red Hook Ball Field Vendors—hinted by executive director Cesar Fuentes to be a “historic Brooklyn location that will soon promise to be one of the most talked about events in NYC” —is looking more and more to be Dreamland on Coney Island, a two-dozen rides strong amusement park hoisted on the burial grounds of former Astroland site. Dreamland, named for a Tammany-era Coney Island attraction that burned down in 1911, will also feature wide variety of food stalls. UPDATE: A press release from Thor Equities confirms that some Red Hook Ball Field Vendors will be part of a large "Foodie Tent" (cringe) at Dreamland this summer. Per the release: "Hundreds of vendors from across the City and State, ranging from some of the City’s best artisans and designers...will be setting up shop," as part of a summer-long "Festival by the Sea." more ›

Co., the Chelsea pizza restaurant from Sullivan Street Bakery genius Jim Lahey that's been feverishly hyped and crowded since it opened in January, gets a mixed review from Frank Bruni at the Times this week. He notes that Co. "was born of a worship of dough. That’s why the pizzas at the center of its menu are as good as they are... Although the best of them are outstanding and all pack the pleasures of a serious crust with serious blisters — Mr. Lahey uses an oven that generates heat in excess of 900 degrees — he hasn’t yet nailed the toppings. It’s as if he’s too focused on, and maybe too confident about, what lies beneath. A pizzaiolo-come-lately, he needs to sweat the cheese and the rest of it a little more." (The New Yorker chimes in on Co. this week, too.) more ›

Will this site be home to the next wave of cheap outer borough eats? All will be answered later this month when a new flea market debuts in the 25,000 square foot space behind the Al-Noor School on 20th Street in Brooklyn. more ›

The IACP Awards, or more informally—the “cookbook awards”—were given out somewhere in Denver over the weekend. A few Gothamist interviewees from the past year were honored: The big Chanterelle book, by David Waltuck, Andrew Friedman, and photography by Maria Robledo, won for Food Photography & Styling. Bottomfeeder, a first person chronicle of the sustainable seafood movement by essayist Taras Grescoe, won the Literary Food Writing award, and Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, by Jennifer McLagan won in the Single Subject category. Eat Me Daily’s Helen Rosner offers some smart criticism of the judges’ choices and how they'll inform the future of cookbooks; here’s a decent-sized preview of the award-winning Chanterelle. Meanwhile, we’d be remiss if we failed to mention another Gothamist interviewee’s ascendancy to some kind of specially selected, niche list: Food Party host Thu Tran has just been named one of Paper magazine’s Beautiful People 2009. more ›

Ha, remember how last spring that poor guy fell through Ruby's floor into a filthy, rat-infested basement? If this photo is any indication, patrons at the quintessential Coney Island dive should also use caution when stepping out of the bar. Or, at least they would if the place was actually open; after ongoing negotiations with controversial landlord Joe Sitt, the owners of Ruby's still do not have a lease. more ›

Good World, the Orchard Street bar and grill with the cozy back patio, closed last week after more than a decade of Swedish meatballs and Gaffel Koelsch. The cause of death here wasn't the recession, but that other NYC restaurant Paraquat: the mustache-twirling landlord. Owner Annika Sundvick previously told Grub Street that she was being forced out to make way for some desperately needed condos; an elegiac note taped to the shuttered establishment elaborates further: "It was built with love and a warm light brightened the tip of Orchard Street like a beacon of hope. Sadly, a greedy landlord who has never stepped in America, and doesn't speak a word of English bought this building, evicted the tenants in order to flip it. In place of a thriving business that brought life to this corner, he has left us with an empty hole." But don't despair, brothers and sisters; that flickering flame of hope was heroically sheltered before it guttered completely, and the convivial blaze has been rekindled by Sundvick at her new restaurant/bar White Slab Palace. Excelsior! more ›

It’s beginning to look a lot like Umi Nom: moving along, right on schedule, is the Pratt-area Brooklyn outpost of the popular LES restaurant Kuma Inn, at 433 DeKalb Avenue. Chef/owner King Phojanakong gave us another tour of the space last week; the rubble has gone and the drywall is up. Phojanakong also recently received some special sake pouring equipment to install at what will become a wood paneled bar where twenty sakes by the glass will be available. The chef is in process of refining the new restaurant’s menu, which will follow Kuma Inn’s small-plate format, including the ever popular Chinese sausage and sticky rice dish. more ›

Well, it didn't take long for the Obama Fried Chicken in Brownsville to cave to pressure from politicians and community leaders in dropping the president's name from its title. Manager Mohammad Jabar, a lawyer and university instructor in Bangladesh before moving here in January, announced that the restaurant will now be known as "Popular Fried Chicken." A manager for the Crown Fried Chicken across the street (where they simply have a photograph of the president on their plexiglass divide) said to the Times, "He used the name. He used black people.” There's no word on if the original Obama Fried Chicken will follow suit, but the Times did find an Obama Beauty Salon where they sell Michelle Obama wigs for fifty dollars. An eighteen-year-old woman enjoying a last meal before the name change saw no reason to get rid of the name and said, "Why not? It’s history. All these stereotypes. People got to relax.” more ›

The trend of "secret," no-name, no-sign lounges has finally come to this: a West Village restaurant is operating with papered-over windows to affect a still-under-construction aesthetic and confuse the rubes. When gossip about the place, called Charles, started trickling in last year, many assumed consulting chef John DeLucie (Waverly Inn) was just letting "friends and family" try the menu while permit issues were resolved. Noting the crowd of smokers perpetually yapping outside, Village Voice critic Robert Sietsema believed "the place was being operated semi-legally as a sort of speakeasy." But now he's rightfully sick of it all, having learned that it's actually "been operating as a fully licensed restaurant all along...This is presumably done to discourage the likes of you and me from trying to eat there. Fine with me, assholes! I promise never to eat in your restaurant. Meanwhile, the boarded up place is a neighborhood eyesore." It's a righteous attitude, but there's really no stopping the whole "clandestine" lounge fad, is there? It's only a matter of time before you pass a line Escalades idling outside an exclusive construction site where diners pay big bucks to huddle under a tarp. more ›

A routine inspection by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets turned up 30 rodent droppings, nearly two dozen dead cockroaches, and two live ones at a Long Island plant that produces a range of chocolate-coated items, including almonds, pistachios, raisins and peanuts. But the company, Setton Foods International, was permitted to continue shipping its products through March because the live roaches were successfully killed during the inspection, Newsday reports. more ›

This is Plated, a feature that delivers the origin story of a dish as told by the people in the kitchen. Today’s plate comes from Resto’s executive chef, Bobby Hellen. more ›

Should a restaurant indulge a diner's request for utensils so he can eat dessert he brought with him? Movie blogger Jeffrey Wells thinks so, and he's unleashed one of his signature, off-topic rants on Hollywood Elsewhere to slam West Village restaurant Sant Ambreous. Wells says he sensed something off about the place immediately, in part because "the waiters wore pink shirts with black ties. Village restaurants should always use waitresses who look like Sylvia Plath and who wear black leotard tops or somewhat tight sweaters." And after dropping $62 on dinner for two, the manager refused to let him eat a piece of Dean & Deluca cake he'd brought. Wells says, "I saw red. I told him I would never return to his place, and that I would do what I can to dissuade others from visiting." His diatribe's sparking a heated debate, dividing those who think "it is the absolute height of low-thread count when you try to eat your own food in a fucking restaurant," and others who think it's outrageous for a restaurant to impose a fee on outside desserts—such as a "cake cutting" fee during birthday parties. Who's right? more ›

The former Caffé Carciofo space on the corner of Court and Kane Streets in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn will soon open as new restaurant Watty and Meg. Court Street residents have noted a flurry of construction, and a Craigslist call for line cooks went out over the weekend. What we know: The restaurant will have 60 seats and feature an open kitchen; it also seems that its name comes from a ballad generally attributed to 18th century Scottish-American ornithologist Alexander Wilson, for whom The Wilson Journal of Ornithology is named. Ah, mystery. Thus Watty and Meg joins the roster of new Court Street restaurants with archaic names, like Buttermilk Channel and Café Pedlar, both of which have started strong. More details to follow as they become available. more ›

Earlier this month, following the Meal O'Bama food cart reveal, our own Joe Schumacher spotted a recently re-branded fried chicken place on St. Nicholas just south of 116th Street, now called Obama Fried Chicken. Is number 44 following in the footsteps of JFK and Lincoln—both of whom have had their names plastered on many a fried chicken joint? Looks like it. The Smoking Gun now points out another Obama Fried Chicken outpost in Brooklyn (previously known as Royal Fried Chicken). Has the President's name found its way onto an awning near you yet? more ›

The revamped, newly exclusive Monkey Bar has gone the route of the blue-plate special, featuring menu nuggets like iceberg lettuce wedge salad and home-style meatloaf. At the upscale Oak Room, now reopened after a restaurant critic meltdown, new chef Eric Hara is serving fancy versions of grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup, and ye olde potluck favorite Stuffed Shells (Hara’s shells are stuffed, however, with veal cheeks, chanterelles, and cherries). In the midst of all the retro-food it would seem fitting that Lil' Smokies, the hot dog shorties of somebody's campfire memories, have also made a return; they’re now being served at 5 Ninth, where Kevin Pomplun is chef. The good news is that you don’t have to have a publicist or know someone to get into the place. In fact, the Lil Smokies are only available at the bar, are free (with purchase of drink), and are available all day. more ›

This week Frank Bruni at the Times opines on really, really, ridiculously good looking Tribeca restaurant Macao Trading Co., which serves fancy Employees Only cocktails and two versions (Portuguese and Chinese) of every dish. It's a fun read, replete with descriptions of phalluses in locked cages and the waitress who's "trying not to think about what working here is doing to my psyche." In his generous one star review, Bruni says one of his companions "put it best. 'This... is a deeply silly restaurant.' more ›