A month ago, when news that a 79 year-old classic burger restaurant in Toledo – the last in town of a defunct chain called White Tower – was being sold for $1 (on condition the buyer moves it off the property where it sits), a reader of A Hamburger Today seized the opportunity to play matchmaker with a NY restaurateur. “Danny Meyer? Paging Danny Meyer?!” wrote the commenter. Indeed. Controversial logo design aside, Meyer's......

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? Momentarily the city’s most......

Video of "Meat and You: Partners in Freedom" from The Simpsons episode, Lisa the Vegetarian After the Humane Society revealed a tape of mistreatment of cows at the nation's "No. 2 supplier of ground beef to the National School Lunch Program," burgers and other beef products were temporarily yanked off NYC schools' menus. The U.S. Department of Agriculture had put an "administrative hold" on all products from Hallmark Meat Packing Packing in Chino, CA......

The artist Do Ho Suh is known for creating architectural installations made of translucent fabric. His latest work to be shown in New York is "Reflection," a suspended nylon replica of a gate from his childhood home in Korea. On view since last Wednesday, this is the inaugural installation at 201 Chrystie Street, the new downtown location of the Lehmann Maupin Gallery. "Reflection" continues Suh's exploration of ephemeral space and memory. "The space I'm interested......

This week in the Times, Bruni three stars Fiamma and rates it a top pick. Says that the restaurant is not, by any means, classically Italian, but “when a restaurant turns out this many dishes that make you stop mid-chew, nudge a companion and nod your head vigorously—because you’re excited; because you need to start working off the calories any way you can—it needn’t worry about fitting into a tidy box.” Also in the Times,......

We’ve been cooking a lot with bacon lately, so we’re delighted with The Bacon Cookbook by James Villas. Villas calls bacon “the greatest and most beloved food on earth,” and while we’re not sure we’d go that far, there are moments when we have to agree there’s nothing better. A few things we learned about bacon: - It’s one of the oldest meats in history; the Chinese were preserving and salting pork bellies around 1500......

There’s activity over at the old Jade Mountain space on East 12th, the restaurant with the iconic neon CHOW MEIN sign. Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York (via Eater) reports that an on-scene workman offered up this tidbit: “It’s going to be a restaurant.” Jade Mountain closed earlier this year after much-missed owner Reginald Chan was struck by a vehicle while delivering food. Here’s a photo of the restaurant’s landmark sign taken by reader Jay Jaffe: Red,......

Far from just being unhealthy for you, eating a hamburger these days just might kill you. The Health Department is asking New Yorkers to toss any ground beef burgers manufactured by the Topps company because of possible contamination with a particularly dangerous strain of E.coli. A bacteria normally found populating the guts of cows and the humans that love them, the 0157:H7 variety of E. coli is associated with more than just the nuisance of......

The New York Times looks at the Market Diner today, the Hell's Kitchen restaurant that occupies the corner lot on 43rd St. and 11th Ave. The diner closed in 2006, but has thus far avoided the wrecking ball, while grass sprouts from cracks in the parking lot where large sedans used to pull in 24 hours a day. The Times says the Market Diner opened in 1962, but the painted glass window out front......

It was reported last week that the 71 year-old Hartsdale, Westchester Carvel -- the very first outpost of the ice cream shop -- will likely be demolished at the end of next summer to make room for businesses that presumably make more money. Yes, the 68% milkfat solid, sidereal softy known as Cookie Puss is crying tiny crunchy tears as we speak; Flying Saucers are slowing down for their final approach. While the building’s current......

We're still working all the meat out of our system from Saturday's Gothamist-Serious Eats/AHT QBQ BBQ II, but we hope that those of you who made it had a good time. Thankfully, the forecasted rain held off as we served about 150 pounds of beef (600 burgers) during the event. A special thanks to Harry Hawk, the staff at Water Taxi Beach and some assistants from Gothamist, Serious Eats and A Hamburger Today, Six......

We just wanted to give you one final reminder about tomorrow's Gothamist-Serious Eats/AHT QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach. The event starts at 5 pm and it's rain or shine. If it does rain, don't worry, we'll already be stationed in the covered area of Water Taxi Beach (pictured above). Those of you who attended last year may remember that there was stormy weather last year too. On the menu are the onion burger,......

July 28: 2nd Annual QBQ BBQ Burger Bash It's burger time! This weekend is the second annual Gothamist-Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach. Your votes determined the burgers on the menu: the onion burger, the butter burger (pictured), and the pimento cheese burger. Six Apart will be sponsoring the event with a keg of Orlio and Gothamist/Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today will also be supplying an additional keg of beer. Tickets, which......

Chicago's star chef Grant Achatz is battling cancer. As reported in the Times yesterday, Achatz released a statement through his publicist: "I wanted to personally report that I have been very recently diagnosed with an advanced stage of squamous cell carcinoma of the mouth. I have consulted several prominent physicians and will likely begin aggressive treatment within the next few weeks. I remain, and will remain, actively and optimistically engaged in operations at Alinea to......

For all of you that were waiting to find out which burgers would be served at Saturday's Gothamist-Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach, the burger menu has been finalized. The winning burgers, as determined by voters, were: the onion burger, the butter burger, and the pimento cheese burger. Here are the descriptions of the winning burgers again: The Onion Burger: Popular in El Reno, Oklahoma, the Onion Burger was born of......

If you have yet to vote what burger should be on the menu at next weekend's Gothamist-Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach, today is your last chance. Since we announced the event on Monday, the leading vote getter is the onion burger, followed by the butter burger and the pimento burger. Only the top three vote-getters will make the menu for the July 28th event. Also up for contention are......

We almost did a little jig on the street when we walked by Grey Dog's new location on University last night and saw the sign that said it would be opening on 7/19 at 7 a.m. Guess where we're having coffee before work on Thursday? Eater informants snapped a photo. Indian mangoes are no longer considered contraband in the U.S., much to the joy of everyone who has been craving them for the past twenty......

After the success of our Gothamist-A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ last year (that's quality before quantity), we've decided to team up with Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today for another burger event at Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City. At last year's event, Chef Harry Hawk served up four regional burgers from around the nation. This year, you get to choose what burgers are served, with the top three vote-getters across Gothamist, Serious Eats, and......

Racked brings us the sad news of the demise of Gertel's Bakery, a Lower East Side institution. It will close up shop on Friday, after more than 90 years of challah, rugelach, and other baked goodness. And in other closing news, even bringing in Wayne Nish couldn't help Varietal. Restaurant Girl has the details. Gridskipper rounds up (pun very much intended) some of the city's best bagel shops. Why does H&H count twice and......

June 14-16: Food Film Festival, Part 1 This weekend is the official kickoff of the first annual NYC Food Film Festival at Water Taxi Beach. This weekend features regional american burgers and asparagus, with Hamburger America (for those of you who missed our QBQ Burger Bash last year), Asparagus! A Stalk-Umentary, and more, including your chance to taste the famed green chile cheeseburger. Drool. You can find the full schedule here. June 14, 19:......

June 7 - June 11: Broadway Panhandler "Yard Sale" Just because they don't technically have a yard in their new location won't stop Broadway Panhandler from having its annual Yard Sale, where you can find discounts of up to 75 percent off on select cooking supplies. 65 East 8th Street, 212-966-3434. June 8: Beard on Film Join directors whose films will be featured at the upcoming NYC Food Film Festival (June 14–16, 21–23, September 6–8):......

With yesterday’s innocuous New York Times review of Katz’s Deli and the news last week that the 2nd Avenue Deli will be "recreated" in Murray Hill, it seems that forces of pastrami have won some kind of cosmic victory over the over the forces of real estate; forces that threaten to destroy old-fashioned New York dining institutions. The outer boroughs are home to a scattering of delicatessens where the pastrami sandwiches rival, and at times......

This week Bruni visits Katz's Delicatessen, awards the LES institution one star. Calls its pastrami sandwich "one of the best in the land" and Katz’s itself "the king of New York delis." He doesn't like the potato knish, the latkes or the desserts, but overall loves the institution—don’t we all? —that is Katz’s. Also in the Times, Peter Meehan goes to Lucky Eight in Brooklyn's Chinatown for $25 and Under. He recommends the dinner menu......

After a not unpleasant hike that involved a walk in the hazy heat from Rego Park to Flushing and a 20-minute bus ride to College Point, Gothamist arrived at Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries the other day. As expected, the dreaded mantra of the D.C.-based burgermeisters hung above the counter in the cheery red-and-white dining room. It read: "We Cook All Our Meat WELL-DONE." When asked why on earth anyone would cook a......

Mouthfuls fires up the Mutton chop thread. Was lively the first time around with the spirited debate over the definitions of different lamb slaughter ages and names, we'll just drop you in now with the mostly pure adulation for the the chop and it's value - $38.50 for what sounds like 1.5 pounds. If you go it seems like a share plate or sandwiches the next day are in your future. A useful nugget on......

Landmarc is the latest restaurant to open at the Time Warner Center, thankfully providing an affordable option to TWC visitors who want to sit down for a casual meal without waiting in line at the basement Whole Foods or the neighboring Bouchon Bakery. Both breakfast and lunch are served from 7 AM to 4 PM every day of the week. Want to start off your morning with a hamburger? Do it. Our friend Tina......

NJ Governor Jon Corzine has been moved from intensive care as his condition improved to stable. The governor continues in his second week of recovery after a car crash on the Garden State Parkway which revealed his SUV (a state trooper was driving) was going 91 MPH while Corzine was not wearing a seat belt in the front passenger seat. However, the governor's chief of staff Tom Shea said that Corzine will not be getting......

Bourdain takes the food network to task yet again, this time for its Food Network Awards that aired last night. In his post on Ruhlman, he shows sympathy for the poor pimped out Food Network talent and the comments are well on their way to the century mark.We could hardly believe it when we read it over the weekend, but the FDA's “point man on E. coli” does not believe prewashed and bagged leafy greens......

- As part of his "gearing up for Morandi" mode, Bruni takes a return trip to Balthazar and was not a happy camper. - The NY Sun brings us the fantastic news that the Mercadito team are expanding their empire. Callecito, which will focus on Mexcian street food, will be across the street from their Avenue B branch and is slated to open in June. - Grub Street's Josh Ozersky (a.k.a. Mr. Cutlets) recently taunted......

Some love it to the point of being freakishly cultish. Others don't see what the big deal is. But everyone can agree on one thing: you can do plenty of productive things with the time you spend waiting on line to get a burger at Shake Shack. We checked in hamburger expert Adam Kuban of A Hamburger Today, who wrote last week, "Ai yah. It hasn't even opened yet, I'm already getting sick of......