Graffiti: Pastry Chef Jehangir Mehta, who has spent time at Aix, Jean Georges, Vong, and Union Pacific, takes a stab at the world of the savory. He has opened a restaurant and bakery in the East Village with a "global bistro comfort food" menu. Offering breakfast, lunch, dinner, Graffiti serves up baked goods, coffee and tea, and a dinner menu where the dishes range in size from "nibbles" to "all mine." For the kicker, the......

This week ">Bruni goes to Anthos, Michael Psilakis and Donatella Arpaia's new Greek restaurant, and awards the restaurant two stars. "Much of the cooking is inspired," he says, "and much of it is excellent." Bruni finds the décor dreary, and the pacing of the meal a bit off, but overall thinks the restaurant is on its way to good places (and more stars in future). Also in the Times, ">Peter Meehan visits Super Taco, the......

Eric Greenspan might be the best chef you’ve never heard of. The 31 year-old Jersey born, California raised, and one-time New Yorker spent the better part of the last decade working his way through several top-rated restaurant kitchens- Bouley, Union Pacific, and Alain Ducasse to name a few- before landing his first high profile chef’s job at Patina in Los Angeles four years ago. Later, a stint at the highly-regarded but short lived Meson G......

No, that's not what we mean -- get your minds out of the gutter. A dozen of New York's chefs are joining together for "Get in Bed," a benefit for Plan USA's tsunami relief efforts. On January 31, twelve chefs including Floyd Cardoz of Tabla, Food Network host and cookbook author Tyler Florence, and Zak Pelaccio of 5 Ninth, will each cook one dish, for a total of eight savory and four sweet dishes. The......

Flavor, by Rocco DiSpirito (Hyperion, 2003) We understand that Mr. DiSpirito has been the target of much derision lately, from the apparent "trainwreck" of his reality-tv show (we never saw it) to his ouster from his kitchen at Union Pacific. But here at Gothamist Cooks (Kind Of) By the Book, we care only about one thing: recipes. Are the recipes worth their while? Do they make sense? Do they result in making suprisingly good food......

The other shoe has finally dropped for Rocco DiSpirito. The celebrity chef who sold his soul for the NBC reality series "The Restaurant" has now lost not only the restaurant that bears his name, but the restaurant that made it. The Times reports that Union Pacific, where Rocco burst onto the New York restaurant scene to great acclaim in 1997, is closing down at the end of this year, and that Rocco himself is no......

Gothamist doesn't think news of angry investors of Rocco DiSpirito's restaurant, Rocco's on 22nd, is surprising. What's surprising is that it took them so long to figure it out. Jeffrey Chodorow and his China Grill Management group filed a law suit against DiSpirito, stating, "The Restaurant, under DiSpirito's management, has not been the financial or critical success that the CG parties expected. The quality of the food and service has been widely criticized." Additionally, Rocco's......

Gothamist cannot wait to go to "Restaurant," the new restaurant/reality series from Rocco DiSpirito (Union Pacific), Mark Burnett (Survivor), and NBC (Channel 4 here in NY). There's nothing we like more than food and a little insanity. The Times Styles section looks what seems to be a hilarious casting/hiring process, as employees need to be competent but cute. But in a city of actors who work as watiers, Gothamist has to hand it to the......