The very popular East River Ferry announced today an expanded food and beverage menu that will be available seven days a week to commuters and tourists. They've already been pouring Brooklyn Roasting Company coffee on morning boats and the additional concessions will come predominantly from—where else?—local Brooklyn establishments. Nosh on a cupcake from Butter Lane and wash it down with "retro-style" chocolate and vanilla egg creams using U-bet syrups. These offerings come through a collaboration with celebrity chef Marc Murphy, whose events company will also supply additional as-yet-to-be-named snacks. more ›

Snow or no, one way to tell that warmer weather is on the way is the slow rollout of our city's park concessions. To that end the chef Marc Murphy's Ditch Plains Drop-in is set top open again for business tomorrow in Brooklyn Bridge Park! For the month of April it will only be open weekends from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., but starting in May it'll be open every day. Meanwhile, the park itself is still struggling to figure out how it will pay for itself. more ›

• Looking for some of the best coffee in the city? Ed Levine has a few suggestions, including some of our favorites, like Joe, the Art of Coffee and the Mud Spot.
• The Omnivore's Dilemma's Michael Pollan puts in his two cents about recent activity surrounding the Farm Bill, "However many worthwhile programs get tacked onto the farm bill to buy off its critics, they won’t bring meaningful reform to the American food system until the subsidies are addressed — until the underlying rules of the food game are rewritten."
• Congrats to Alain Ducasse, who is marrying his long term girlfriend Gwénaëlle Guéguen at the at the Hotel du Palais in Biarritz

Got a tidbit for us? Send it to the feedbag. more ›

Yesterday at the Time Warner Center, Chef Marc Murphy somewhat stealthily opened the doors to the uptown outpost of Landmarc, his 3 year-old, well-regarded Tribeca restaurant. Murphy began to look northward last year when he opened Ditch Plains in the West Village. With Landmarc firmly established as a neighborhood bright spot with serious food (like the $12 roasted marrow bones with onion marmalade and grilled bread, pictured), and with Ditch Plains going strong with its clam bar/set count aesthetic (the only thing better than its all-day breakfast is its bric-a-brac seafood add-on options- you can order Anson Mills grits with oysters and lobster if you want), many have wondered if the new version of Landmarc can possibly retain the charm of the original inside the glass and steel canyons of a giant mall. With the same Brasserie/New American menu and a big emphasis on straightforward kids' meals (from carrot sticks & peanut butter to orecchiette with plain butter sauce, and toothache-inducing cotton candy), as well as a thoughtful wine list, the new Landmarc stands to remedy the fine dining fatigue suffered by diners who aren’t really feeling another array of microscopic quail egg custards, or truffled whatever du jour (you know who you are). Additionally, Chef Murphy and crew seem to have a fully formed battle plan that includes delivery from Fifth to West End Avenue, from 55th to 66th, and 300 seats to work their magic. more ›

While others are writing year end lists about their favorite restaurant openings (yeah, we know, A Voce, Little Owl, Boqueria), we thought we'd do something a bit different and highlight some of your favorite posts of the year. These are the food posts that either got you so riled up that you felt the need to put in your two cents in the comments or that, for whatever reason, you wanted to recommend to others. more ›

October 26: The Caffeine Question more ›

- An Eater reader spotted a sign on the window of the space that was briefly Yumcha from Marc Murphy, the chef and owner of Landmarc, announcing his intention to open a new oyster bar after minimal renovation. Andrea Strong now reports that it will be named Watermarc. more ›

"In Europe we thought of wine as something as healthy and normal as food and also a great giver of happiness and well being and delight. Drinking wine was not a snobbism nor a sign of sophistication nor a cult; it was as natural as eating and to me as necessary." more ›