Results tagged “florencefabricant”

- Outsourcing is coming to a high-end restaurant near you, and no we are not talking about phone reservationists working abroad who do not understand that a 5:45 reservation is unacceptable to you.

- Ed Levine has a short round up of the Il Buco annual pig roast; looks like it should be on the calendar next year.

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...

A Gothamist reader tipped us off and Florence Fabricant confirmed that Black Pearl, the New England style clam and lobster shack in the back of the East Village bar, Julep has closed. We will mourn quietly and head back to Pearl Oyster Bar.

Florence Fabricant reports that restauranteur Charlie Trotter and his team of developers have cancelled their plans to open a restaurant in the Time Warner Center, a.k.a. the luxury food court.

Mr. Trotter said in a telephone interview yesterday that as his restaurant's budget climbed from $6 million to $9 million to $11.5 million, the Related Companies, the center's co-developer, decided to scale back the concept and design. . . . "I didn't want to remove some of the exciting design elements to make it work," Mr. Trotter said. "And then the concept changed to something a little more casual than we originally planned."

Continue reading "Trotting Away"

New York Restaurant Cookbook: Recipes from the Dining Capital of the World, by Florence Fabricant (Rizzoli 2003).

Florence Fabricant reports that Guatemalan rambutans are now available here in the states. Gothamist had never seen this gorgeous fruit before, and are considering heading over to Whole Foods during lunch to check one out in the flesh.

A rainbow of extra-tall shot glasses, presented to diners on a tray, is a real head-turner at Django, 480 Lexington Avenue (46th Street). These eight icy dessert cocktails include tangy ones like a sake slush made with litchi; a cooler made with gin and kalamansi, an exotic citrus; and a Bellini. The sweeter ones are piña colada; blueberry lemonade with Absolut citron; strawberry ginger ale with Stolichnaya strawberry vodka; cherry with Godiva liqueur; and minted melon ball with mint, Midori and honeydew. None are heavy on the alcohol. The collection is $16.

And Katy Sparks, whose Quilty's in SoHo is sorely missed, is now running the kitchen at Compass, the acclaimed restaurant (only after it dumped its Marika trapping) at 208 West 70th Street. Gothamist remembers reading that Sparks was going to go into catering as well as look into opening a new place, but she tells the Times deals fell through. And the big front room, that alternates as a bar or extra seating, will be a wine bar. Excellent!