Click through on the photos for the scoop on the fast female bartender competition, our happy discover that you don't need cash for Peter Luger, and Savoy's farewell summer feast.
Eat Cetera: Fast Women & Liquor, Luger Takes Plastic, Savoy's Last Supper
NY1 Trial Continues With Tales of Raunchy Lunch
The NY1 sexual harassment lawsuit trial continued to expose the behind-the-scenes world of NY1, with more revelations of raunchy lunches, lusty nicknames, and general newsroom shenanigans. It also gave the Post more opportunities to flash their impressive wordplay skillz.
Alan Richman on NYC's Top Five Burgers
GQ's Alan Richman gives props to his five favorite burgers in the city. As expected, the list contains several of the usual suspects -- Shake Shack ("Not a great burger, but a very good one."); the Burger Joint ("No matter how you take it, your burger will be perfect, a manifestation of caring and know-how."); and Peter Luger ("There’s only one correct way to eat meat this wonderful, and that’s unadorned.") -- but others were deliberately snubbed.
Millions in Damage After Hunts Point Market Fire
After last night's two-alarm fire, most of Hunts Point Market was open for business. However, the offices of Master Purveyors and Desola Provisions were destroyed; Desola's Bill Beskin told NY1 aside from the offices being "completely burned out, "The coolers, all the meat, everything is, we're fine." Still, inspectors are making sure the meat is still okay (Desola supplies to the Stage Deli, Master to Peter Luger's).
Mayors of NYC and Boston Make Super Bet on Super Bowl
Mayor Bloomberg and Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston are putting it all on the line for Sunday's Super Bowl. After winning the awful bet from Green Bay, Bloomberg has a lot more riding on the line when the Giants face off against the Patriots this weekend. As is the custom when the playoffs roll around, the mayors of the teams participating decided on a friendly food wager. The stakes, or should we say steaks, are upped in this bet as the Vince Lombardy Trophy are on the line.
Bloomberg and Green Bay Mayor Make a Wager on Giants/Packers Game
Ah, there's nothing like the having a local team in a championship game. That's when the mayor breaks out the big guns and bets items of food against the mayor of an opposing team's city. Mayor Bloomberg announced a friendly wager today with Green Bay Mayor James Schmitt, as the Giants and the Packers face off Sunday in the NFC Championship game.
Morton's Stakes Claim in Brooklyn
By the end of next year, downtown Brooklyn will have a new upscale steakhouse to rival Peter Luger in Williamsburg; it was recently announced that Morton’s will be occupying the ground floor of a new Marriott annex tower on Adams Street. The Chicago-based restaurant chain will dish out their beef, seafood and sandwiches in a 300 seat restaurant near the Brooklyn Bridge.
Brooklyn's Best Bust Out in Zagat Guide
Zagat's updated Best of Brooklyn 2008 guide was released yesterday, filled to the brim with all that the city's largest borough has to offer, including 216 restaurants, 141 nightspots, 355 shops, 25 tourist attractions and more. Like all Zagat guides, this one is a complilation of surveys from the public and each entry is rated on a scale of 1-30. The guide is broken up into five sections: Dining, Nightlife, Shopping, Gourmet Shopping & Entertaining,...
D.O.C. Wine Shop Open for Brooklyn
Since an army of sloppy amateurs are expected to mob New York’s bars tonight to toast the anniversary of Prohibition’s end, it might be a good night to pick up a bottle of something or other and bring the celebration home. Imbibers looking for something special in Brooklyn need look no further than the Williamsburg Bridge; the paisans behind the rustic Williamsburg restaurant PT and the romantic North 8th Street D.O.C. Wine Bar have...
Video of the Day: Attack of the Killer Rats!
Forget the new JJ Abrams film about a fictional monster attacking New York...the Mulberry Street monster is a real-life city menace: the rat! Many rats actually, like more rats than they have at Peter Luger and Da Silvano's...combined! The movie, which came out last year, is summarized as follows: "a deadly infection breaks out in Manhattan, causing humans to devolve into blood-thirsty rat creatures. Six recently evicted tenants must survive the night and protect their...
Miso Butterscotch Spare Ribs
Inspired by the miso butterscotch pork belly we had at Tailor, these ribs are meatier, heftier, and to our bellies more satisfying than Sam Mason's creation. Betcha expected a Thanksgiving recipe for us today. Well, our family traditionally goes to Peter Luger's every year on Thanksgiving, so we can't help you there. If you're willing to flout tradition, though, we can't think of a better way to express gratitude for our loved ones than...
Wednesday Food News: Early Edition
This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Peter Luger, gives the restaurant two stars—a drop from the three awarded it by Ruth Reichl previously. Says “no other restaurant serves a porterhouse so breakthtaking.” But he also says that the restaurant is inconsistent, service ranges from gruff to hostile, and the winelist needs an upgrade.
The Times Takes Another Visit to Peter Luger
The Grey Lady is paying a return visit to Peter Luger Steak House in tomorrow's dining section. This New York institution was last reviewed by Ruth Reichl, who awarded it a hefty three stars, proclaiming it "the best steak in New York City." Her description of the Luger experience is almost pornographic:
You know the steak is great before you even taste it. You know it from the fine, funky, mineral aroma that wafts across the table and announces that this is a piece of meat. When the waiter appears with the platter, he stands there spooning a mixture of butter and meat juices across the sizzling porterhouse in an exercise of pure theater. He is merely prolonging the moment, allowing the aroma to revive all your primal instincts as he stretches out the time until you can actually sink your teeth into the flesh. Finally he serves, slowly doling out slices of fillet and sirloin. As your mouth closes on the incredibly tender piece of beef, aroma and flavor come together, exploding on the palate.Has it stayed three-star worthy since 1995, over a full decade ago? Tune in tomorrow, and we'll see what Mr. Bruni has to say. We're curious - how many stars do you think Peter Luger should get?
Caught on Tape: More Rats!
Vynl, 507 Columbus AvenueOn three separate nights cameras caught the critters feasting "on scraps that were left on the dirty kitchen floor and climbing over crates of glassware" at Da Silvano's (pictured top left). The owner there said the problem was caused by nearby construction and recent renovations and claimed he will be throwing out everything edible in the restaurant and starting fresh. Ah, not even the celeb hot spots can escape the wrath of roaches and rodents.
Pencil This In
MUSIC: There's not a whole lot going on musically tonight, but the show at Cake Shop seems pretty...sweet. By The End of Tonight and Multitudes will be taking the stage -- the former is described as "the perfect marriage between the math-rockiness of Hella with the glistening, soaring guitars of Explosions in the Sky."
Wednesday Food News: Early Edition
This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Café Boulud, reaffirms its three-star status. Says that under Chef Bertrand Chemel (who replaced Andrew Carmellini after his departure in 2005), the restaurant “promises about as much pleasure in the present as it did in the past.” He likes the traditional section of the menu best, but also loves the pastas. Doesn’t love the desserts, excepting the soufflés.
New York Rocks the Restaurant Scene
This month's Bon Appetit is the restaurant issue, highlighting recipes from restaurants all across the world, but our own Little Owl made the cover photo with their delectable meatball sliders. Other hometown shout-outs went to The Good Fork, for their Korean-style steak and eggs, a spiced plum chutney from Tabla, and WD-50's music playlist (including one of our current obsessions, Hall & Oates).
Coupon Clipper - Fresh Spinach
The Coupon Clipper scours the specials for the best deals in New York's big grocery stores.
Outside DVF HQ
The sky was gray when we headed over to fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg's new headquarters at the southwest corner of Washington and 14th Streets. The 1887 landmark building, built by Jacob Astor as a home for nearby pier and market workers, most recently belonged to Gachot & Gachot, the meatpacking company that distributes steaks to Peter Luger's. After a complete overhaul (it was even joined with the building next door), it will house von Furstenberg's design and administrative offices, including a 5,000 square-foot showroom, a black-box theater and retail space.
The Hungry Cabbie Eats The Outer Boroughs: Peter Luger's Bacon
If there is one thing about which Jews and Muslims agree, it’s that pigs are filthy animals. Both religions dictate that their adherents shall not eat nothin’ that ain’t got sense enough to disregard its own feces. But, as Vincent Vega pointed out so succinctly, bacon tastes goooood.
Tidbits
- Word on the street is that Peter Luger's is going downhill. Good thing there are plenty of offshoots springing up everywhere you look.
The City's Best, According to AOL
AOL has released their Cityguide for New York with a list of "The 2006 City's Best," some of which are a surprise and others which were not so surprising. Stone Park Cafe in Park Slope took Cityguide's top restaurant honor, beating out big names like Daniel, Le Bernardin, Per Se, and Masa. The Chef and co-owner of Stone Park told the Daily News, "We're very thrilled - winning these types of contests really attests to the loyal support of our customers."
Subway Fare: Marcy Avenue
Ed. note: This new weekly column will guide you to a subways stop and its surrounding food destinations. We hope that it will inspire you to take some time over the weekend to explore some new food in a new 'hood!
NYC's Michelin Restaurants
Charlie Suisman over at Manhattan User's Guide broke the French omerta on the New York City restaurants Michelin guide and listed the restaurants receiving 1, 2 or 3 stars. Only thirty-nine restaurants were reviewed. Here's a quick analysis:
Like Other Manhattanites, the U.N. Consider Brooklyn
With the urgent need to renovate their asbestos-filled and cramped headquarters on the East River, the United Nations is considering a move to Brooklyn. Seriously. Over a year ago, the U.N. selected Fumihiko Maki to design their new temporary space on First Avenue, a "glassy, white and sheer but elegant building," but the NY State Senate rejected the plan, so the U.N. had to hunt again for space starting in 2007. There are reports that the U.N. was offered space at 7 World Trade Center, but Secretary General Kofi Annan said that various real estate analyses showed that the only available building space, in the range of 700,000 square feet, was in downtown Brooklyn. If this goes through, the implications will be wild, with more diplomatic car accidents (diplomats will need to be shuttled around).
New York Magazine's Best of NY 2005
It's that time of the year again: NY Magazine's Best of New York issue is out. This is when already fans of certain establishments must put up with the hordes of people trying to get in on the action. For instance, restaurant Ici in Fort Greene will never be under the radar again. But it is helpful knowing that G+G Cleaners on Grand Street is a great cheap place for alterations and that Simadi Salon has good $50-100 haircuts. And who knew quilting was the next big hobby? Gothamist was happy to see that the top pick for best Chinese Banquet was Shanghai Pavilion, which we visited after a NY Times rave. However, also included this year are overrated food joints, like Peter Luger and Magnolia Bakery, but we doubt this will have much effect on these Teflon places.

