. The MTA confirms that weekend L-train service between Manhattan and Brooklyn will be shut down for at least seven weekends in 2006 while the agency upgrades signals to get the L ready for the robot trains. The MTA says this signal upgrade is already a year behind schedule, so using our special MTA time-continuum calculator, seven weekends will probably mean more like twelve where people will have to take the G to the F or the G to the 7 to get into Manhattan - or they'll just play "1903 Apartment," a time when the subways didn't exist. But it won't be just the hipsters who lose out: It'll be the store owners who depends on Manhattan hipsters for their weekend sales. more ›

A trip to the market to make a tomato salad recently led Gothamist to a variety of basil that we'd never seen before. Whole Foods is currently carrying African Blue Basil, a hybrid of an East African basil and a typical garden basil called Dark Opal. The package of African Blue Basil comes with basil leaves, stems and lavender colored flower buds in full bloom. Gothamist used both the basil leaves and the flower buds in a tomato salad with excellent results. The basil leaves and purple flowers have a licorice and pepper flavor, reminding us a bit of tarragon. more ›

Who knew that Whole Foods was a den of illegal alchoolic beverage sales? Well, NY State, for one. The wine store at the Whole Foods at Columbus Circle's Time Warner Center/Mall has shuttered because it did not have a separate entrance. Wine shops are supposed to have a separate entrance, and the Whole Foods management were probably saying, "Damnit! We should have known there was something wrong with this basement setup!" to themselves. The wine shop's license will be transferred to the Whole Foods that's set to open on East Houston Street; the wine store will have its separate entrance on Chrystie Street. The NY Times reports that Whole Food "will use the space in the Time Warner store for an expanded coffee bar, a gelato counter and more checkout lines." While we love us some coffee and gelato, Gothamist votes for more checkout lines. Gothamist always forgets that when we go to the Time Warner Center Whole Foods that the lines suck. First of all, they don't move that fast. Second, they snake so long that it's all we can do to not drop our grocery baskets and run out of the store crying. more ›

People have been buzzing expectantly for months about the new 50,000 square-foot Union Square Whole Foods store, which opened this morning at 8 a.m. amid great fanfare, but without seeing the place it was hard to imagine what all the fuss was about. Sure, it's nice to have a good food store around, but there are three others within two blocks, all of which have "gourmet" and "healthy" items and a wide selection. The one in the Time Warner Center is definitely nice, but, after all, it's just a supermarket, right? more ›