Manhattan pork junkies rejoice: the boys over at Fatty 'Cue are set to invade your borough at Limited Time Only, an East Broadway "test-kitchen, preview restaurant, and creative think tank," from May 11th through the 15th. Dinner will be five courses and served "family style," so follow the advice of Pitmaster Robbie Richter and "use your hands." Check out the full menu below. more ›

Cue the Yelpers! After the usual hyped anticipation, chef Zak Pelaccio and his Fatty Crab crew have returned to Williamsburg's Southside, just a couple blocks from where Pelaccio opened his first joint, the now-defunct Chickenbone Cafe. (That space, for those keeping score, seems at last poised to reopen as the small-plates cocktail lounge Dram, which is also across the street from the recently opened and routinely packed Pies 'n' Thighs.) Called Fatty 'Cue, this new triple-decker restaurant "unofficially" opened last night on South Sixth Street. more ›

Starting today, the "Fatty Crew" is hiding prizes in a few of their house-made Fatty Chocolate Bars, sold at all three of Pelaccio's restaurants. According to the restaurants' publicist, a small number of the bars will contain special tickets in the wrapping redeemable for items like free cocktails, free Fatty T-Shirts, and free appetizers. The golden ticket will entitle the lucky winner (and a guest) to attend one of a handful of "exclusive" Fatty ‘Cue preview parties, and "meet NYC’s own Willy Wonka of Asian cuisine, Zak Pelaccio." Which can only mean one thing: Pelaccio is preparing to disappear into retirement and wants someone to take over his fatty empire. Don't fall into the bubbling pig fat river! more ›

Tearing a page from his own tried-and-true Southeast Asian playbook (but more literally found in Keith H. Steinkraus’ massive 776 page tome The Handbook of Indigenous Fermented Foods) chef Zak Pelaccio’s new Fatty Crab opened last night on the Upper West Side. The new location has more seats (74 total, with 20 outdoor spots coming when the weather turns). The wood tabletops are unfinished, and giant wall mural of Kuala Lumpur reminds diners that they’re not in Malaysia. On the other hand, dining room smells will no doubt forcibly remind diners of Pelaccio and chef de cuisine Corwin Kave’s unbounded love for all things belacan, a kind of fermented shrimp paste typically sold in blocks that has become the cornerstone of all things Fatty. more ›

The Insatiable Critic brings concrete news of Borough Food and Drink's imminent demise. According to Eric Lemonides and Jason Weiner, both of "much loved" Almond and Almoncello in the Hamptons, the space will transform into "an American bistro, 'totally affordable, with strong French roots.'" more ›

The area of Brooklyn’s Atlantic Avenue that stretches through the East New York/Stuyvesant Heights area isn’t exactly a culinary destination, but what it does have is the Carolina Country Store, a one of a kind grocery that has been covered here before. The tiny storefront is also favored by chefs like Zak Pelaccio, primarily because it specializes in southern style ham and cured meats that are hard to find elsewhere in the five boroughs. more ›

Once again Taste of New York lived up to its name, with a roster of restaurants serving everything from ‘cue to cevape and some well-crafted cocktails to boot. Gothamist was honored to attend this culinary blowout thrown by New York to benefit City Harvest. One of the evening’s tastiest offerings was Insieme’s tortelli di zucca, or pumpkin filled pasta. We’d love to think that this judgment was based solely on the dish’s fall theme,... more ›

We don't have the luxury of forgetting indefinitely because this is not a sustainable proposition. By the time my kids are my age, they're going to look back and say, "You did what with the last drop of fossil fuels? You pushed a watermelon from Chile to your door so that you could eat it out of season? What were you thinking?"

The last time we saw Dan "Chino" Perilla, the new chef at 5 Ninth, was about two years ago. He was gleefully cooking up sweetbreads to stuff into roulades made from pig face. Actually that's not entirely true, the last time we ran into him was at a birthday for his former boss, Zak Pelaccio. So when Gothamist heard that 4Foodies a newly launched online community for folks obsessed with all things food was holding its inaugural event at 5 Ninth last Tuesday, we rushed over to the meatpacking district. more ›

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to the new Landmarc in the Time Warner Center, awards the restaurant one star. “It’s three times the size of the original Landmarc in Tribeca,” he says, “whose menu and competent cooking it replicates but whose warmth it largely lacks.” He compares the food to what you’d find at a Midwestern Marriot, but says that perhaps it’s just what the overly self-conscious Time Warner Center needs. more ›

As we mentioned earlier this week, the vendors who set up shop at the Red Hook ballfields may be at risk for losing their permit. According to the New York Times, the vendors have operated for years under a series of temporary use permits, but now they will have to place a formal bid with the city in order to remain in the space. But the vendors are not guaranteed to win this bid, so the fans of this culinary community institution have rallied behind it. more ›

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• Has DiFara been shuttered by the DOH? A tipster saw a telltale yellow sign slapped up. Sigh. [Eater]
• Zak Pelaccio has left the building at 5 Ninth, leaving Dan Parilla at the helm. [Mouthing Off]
• More crappy news -- could it possibly be the last summer of the Red Hook ball fields vendors? Put on your community action hat and write a letter to the Parks Commissioner, stat. [Grub Street]

• Hate airport food? Well, if you're flying out of JFK, they've just opened a Balducci's in Terminal 2. We're also partial to the Cibo Express in Terminal 6, pictured at right. [New Yorkology]
• What happens when you mix chefs, booze, fire, and egos? A mess, some broken glass, and an accidental stabbing. Seems that Marco Pierre White was demonstrating a flaming Sambuca trick to Mario Batali, Tony Bourdain and others at the Spotted Pig when things went awry. [NY Post]
• Herring, herring, and more herring. 'Tis the season at The Oyster Bar and Aquavit. [Eat for Victory]

It's the Lunar New Year this weekend, the first day of 4705 being this Sunday. The Year of the Pig is a very good year - pigs are fat and round, which means a prosperous and benevolent year. Some even think it's a good year to have babies, too! Chinatown will be celebrating the Year of the Pig this weekend and for the next few weeks. There's the Flower Market at Columbus Park today and tomorrow, and on Sunday, there's a New Year’s Day Firecracker Ceremony & Cultural Festival. The big parade will be two Sunday away on February 25, so get ready. more ›

Let’s start with some birth announcements. more ›

- Look for Grub Street, the just launched New York Magazine food blog, to have an interview with newly anointed NYT Dining editor Pete Wells on Wednesday. more ›

September 3: Outstanding in the Field more ›

Bruni hits Jean Georges' "fringe players," Mercer Kitchen and Vong. Between the two, Vong emerges victorious with one star: "you keep wondering if the food they deliver is really as it should be and all that it could be, if the restaurant is receiving Mr. Vongerichten’s most considered judgments . . ." while Mercer Kitchen rates a mere "satisfactory": Bruni calls their menu an "ethnically indistinct assortment of dishes with enough pro forma salads and... more ›

To get to the 20th floor of 230 Fifth Avenue you need to walk past security, through turnstiles ready for keycards, past all the stores on the ground floor to a nearly private elevator and the cheetah in the foyer will let you know you’ve made it. And by “made it” we mean “are ready to spend $12 for a well cocktail” or $9 for a beer in a very, very narrow glass. The vitriol you are feeling may be because you’re still in the building — our gimlet didn’t get any cheaper up one flight to the roof but it did taste better with the best view of the area we’ve seen. more ›

Spring has definitely sprung. This weekend, we couldn't get enough of being outside -- we were yearning for a spot where we could have a few cocktails outdoors, high above the city. Ask and ye shall receive. Urban Daddy gives us a preview of 230 Fifth, billed as the city's largest rooftop bar. Sure, we're excited about the "14,000 square foot luxe terrace of palm trees, wooden benches, and, of course, 360-degree views (including a dead-on stunner of the Empire State building)," but we are much more interested in Zak Pelaccio's food, which will be served there (we learned this from Andrea Strong a few weeks back). His Malaysian street food will be served via dim-sum-style carts that will make their way around the rooftop. We can't wait. more ›

Considering all of the Fatty Crab craziness going on at the edge of Manhattan's Meatpacking district, one would think that Chef Zak Pelaccio is the first to introduce the city to the wonders of Malaysian cuisine. more ›

Fall is here, and you know what that means -- Fall restaurant preview time. From what we've read in New York Metro and the New York Times, it looks like we've got a lot to look forward to, including openings from not one but two Iron Chefs -- Batali's Del Posto (85 10th Avenue) and Morimoto's Morimoto (88 10th Avenue). Gothamist is pretty excited about a few others, including Bar Carrera (175 Second Avenue), from Bar Veloce's Fred Twomey, who told us about his new Spanish wine and small plates venture a few months ago at a Spanish wine event; the Fatty Crab (643 Hudson St), the latest from 5 Ninth's Zak Pelaccio, which will dabble in Asian street foods, including Jalan Alor chicken wings and chili crabs served with white bread; and Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction (34 Avenue A), serving a Jewish/Latin menu, which we have to try, if for no other reason, than to taste the Manischevitini, a cocktail made with Manischewitz wine - what would our bubbes think? Then again, any spot where chopped liver, chorizo meatballs, and crab-stuffed deviled eggs can share the same plate is worth a visit. Mo Pitkin's is open; the others are scheduled to open this month, but you know how that goes. more ›

No, that's not what we mean -- get your minds out of the gutter. A dozen of New York's chefs are joining together for "Get in Bed," a benefit for Plan USA's tsunami relief efforts. On January 31, twelve chefs including Floyd Cardoz of Tabla, Food Network host and cookbook author Tyler Florence, and Zak Pelaccio of 5 Ninth, will each cook one dish, for a total of eight savory and four sweet dishes. The benefit is being held at BED, which features, you guessed it, actual beds in which you can dine. Cost is $2,000 per bed (holds up to eight people) or $250 per single ticket. Plan USA, established in 1937 to help children in impoverished countries, has already set up makeshift camps for homeless and orphaned children in Sri Lanka and are committed to rebuilding communities impacted by the tsunami. 100% of the money raised will go to their rebuilding efforts. [via Gayot and Andrea Strong] more ›