Celebrity chef David Bouley just opened his new, much-delayed, Japanese restaurant Brushstroke but his neighbors could care less. In fact, one neighbor of Bouley's Duane Street mini-empire has gone and sued the chef over the rancid garbage his staff leaves on the street, claiming it has led to "an infestation of fruit flies, blood-sucking bugs, bugs that just raise welts, odors of rotting garbage, seeping black ooze through the floor and dangerous waste piled high in front of 155 Duane Street." more ›

It's been two years in the making, and now chef-owner George Mendes has finally opened Aldea, a kind of Mediterranean-modern restaurant near Union Square. Specifically, Mendes created Aldea's menu in tribute to his Portuguese heritage, and its menu features presunto, for example, a cured ham akin to Jamón Serrano. Another appetizer is a plate of sardines with raisins macerated in Madeira and served with bitter almond milk. Appetizers (see the full menu after the jump) are all priced at $9 and under, and no entrée costs more than $27, with most in the $19-$22 range. 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 ›

David Bouley, the acclaimed chef from Connecticut whose eponymous restaurant brought four star dining to Tribeca in the '80s, has a lot on the stove these days, as his big plans to expand his culinary empire in the neighborhood are finally coming to a boil. Sometime in the next month or so, Bouley expects to relocate his flagship restaurant to 161 Duane Street, where a Renaissance ambiance, replete with stone from Versailles, awaits his flock. Two of his other restaurants, Bouley Bakery and Upstairs, will be shuffled around to fill the old Bouley space, and his Viennese-inspired restaurant, Danube, will be replaced with a new French restaurant sometime next year. more ›

Restaurateur David Bouley has emerged victorious (for now) after what he described as a “witch hunt” by some Tribeca Community Board members trying to stymie his liquor license application for Brush Stroke, a planned three floor Japanese restaurant on West Broadway. The dissenting board members have fiercely opposed what would be the fourth Bouley establishment on their turf because limos double-park out front and sometimes his restaurant waste leaves stains on the sidewalk. more ›

Last night the committee that represents Tribeca for Community Board 1 voted against recommending full board approval for a liquor license for Brushstrokes, David Bouley’s planned Japanese restaurant and cooking school, which would be his fourth eatery in the neighborhood. In withholding approval for the license, the committee cited prior health code violations, a carbon monoxide leak, the glut of limos crowding the street outside his restaurants, and controversy surrounding Bouley’s attempt to claim $2.2 million for lost business income after 9/11 despite winning a $5.8 million contract with the Red Cross to feed Ground Zero recovery workers. more ›