Results tagged “fabiotrabocchi”

With the nation’s dining scene facing an uncertain future because of the recession, Eater has broken the news that the high-profile Fiamma on Spring Street has closed its doors, making it the first shuttering of a New York Times 3-star rated restaurant this year. B.R. Guest Restaurants, the group that owns Fiamma, has also closed the uptown Ruby Foo’s and another property in Chicago.

In September, the bar Apothéke opened in an unmarked space on Doyers Street, a tiny alley in Chinatown that sort of plays hangnail to Worth Street's cuticle. Apothéke is one of those semi-private venues, a bar you can't get into; that it's close to a secret tunnel makes it all the more baroque. You half expect to find a minotaur preening in the bathroom mirror with a bottle of Binaca and a comb. The name Apothéke refers to the pharmaceutical-themed nature of its mixed drink menu. The idea is that the place raises the bar for bars, and that head chef (or lead apothéker, as it were) Albert Trummer is half-and-half supertaster and chef, and one part sage. His specially concocted, spiced-tinctures-botanical-elixirs might cure your woes, homesick blues, lovelorn heart, or gnostic turpitude, if you're into that kind of thing.

The fleet of undercover, handlebar mustache-twirling French restaurant “inspectors” have made their rounds through New York’s dining scene, and the results are in. Only four restaurants have been deemed worthy of the Michelin Guide’s top rating (3 stars) this year: Jean Georges, Le Bernadin, Masa, and Per Se.

20 years ago this summer, Fabio Trabocchi started his culinary career in the Marche region of Italy. The chef-to-be was fourteen at the time, and found himself occupied with odd jobs such as shucking mussels, cutting vegetables, and even serving as ad hoc valet at a small restaurant close to the beach. Next month marks Trabocchi’s one-year anniversary at SoHo restaurant Fiamma, where, with a kitchen staff of 12, he serves plates like Burrata di Andria with olive oil and radish salad, and black mission figs with pea tendrils and sautéed porcini mushrooms. Fabio Trabocchi won a Best Chef award from the James Beard Foundation in 2006 for his work at the McLean, Virginia restaurant Maestro, and also won a Best New Chef award from Food & Wine in 2002. The chef spoke with Gothamist last Friday morning at Fiamma, on Spring Street.

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Alto and L’Impero, both now run by chef Michael White (formerly of Fiamma Osteria). He finds Alto “better than ever” and bumps it up from two stars to three. “Alto is now a full throttle dining experience, no matter where on the menu you turn,” he says. L’Impero doesn’t fare so well, and receives two stars (down from the three it received from Eric Asimov in 2002). “Its menu harbors more disappointments than Alto’s, and its kitchen is less polished,” says Bruni.