nightlife
Eating & Drinking: Tuesday Edition
cityfile · 03/31/09 03:03PM• The Mets put on a "showcase" today of the "award-winning roster of dining options" available at Citi Field, one which "scintillated the senses" and "is sure to be one of the biggest hits of the year." Had enough yet? [Mets]
• Rumor has it that David Graziano and David Cabo, two of the dudes behind Pink Elephant and Bagatelle, are taking over the old R&L/Florent space. [GS]
• What's the appropriate tip on a drink, $1 or 20? Frank Bruni explains. [NYT]
• If you walk by Monkey Bar tonight, you may find it open for business. [Eater]
• Terrance Brennan's Artisanal is hosting a grilled cheese contest. [TFB]
• A roundup of some Easter and Passover dining options. [Zagat]
• '21' is extending its Restaurant Week prix fixe through Labor Day. [Eater]
• What does every product claim it contains antioxidants these days? Because gullible people buy them based solely on the label, of course. [Atlantic]
• A Brooklyn fast food joint has renamed itself "Obama Fried Chicken." [TSG]
Sean Avery to Be Owner of Club, Not Bouncer or Interior Designer
Hamilton Nolan · 03/30/09 12:41PMCokey Coeds Corralled by Creepy Club Cops
Hamilton Nolan · 03/30/09 08:32AMEating & Drinking: Friday Edition
cityfile · 03/27/09 03:30PM• Daniel Boulud's upcoming venue on the Bowery now has a name (DBGB), theme ("downtown beer hall"), and port-o-potty on the premises. [GS, Eater]
• Wine on grocery store shelves? Not gonna happen, sorry. [Crains]
• It appears Justin Timberlake and his partners have given up on plans to open a club in the former Manor space on Eighth Avenue. [Chelsea Now via Eater]
• Where in the world in Sirio Maccioni? In Abu Dhabi for an Andrea Botticelli concert as a guest of the crown prince. In case you were wondering. [GS]
• The strip club Sapphire now has a steakhouse attached to its bosom. [TFB]
• No need to order wine at dinner; a warm body suffices in a recession. [NYT]
Eating & Drinking: Wednesday Edition
cityfile · 03/25/09 03:33PM• Bouley was on every critic's menu today: Frank Bruni handed it three stars ("only Daniel and Per Se give you quite the same feeling of giddy privilege"); the Post's Steve Cuozzo was extremely pleased ("heartstoppingly beautiful"); and TONY's Jay Cheshes was perfectly happy with the food, although he thought the service could have been a bit better. [NYT, NYP, TONY]
• Word has it that the new exec chef at Graydon Carter's Monkey Bar is Elliot Ketley, formerly of Soho House. Also: Not surprisingly, people who collect a paycheck from Carter think it's absolutely marvelous. [Gothamist, NYO]
• Per Se's new à la carte menu—revealed! [Eater]
• The best dive bar in NYC per Details? Jimmy's Corner on West 44th. [Details]
• A visit to Dutch Kills, the buzzed-about bar opening in Long Island City. [BB]
• Red wine increases the female libido, for your information. [Decanter]
• Rachael Ray will be at the 92Y tomorrow if you've got $27 to spare. [92Y]
Eating & Drinking: Tuesday Edition
cityfile · 03/24/09 03:31PM• It's like Kozmo.com all over again: A site called Wakozi will now deliver booze to your door in Manhattan. Bklyn and Qns coming soon! [Wakozi via TT]
• If you shelled out big bucks for premium seating at the new Yankee Stadium, at least your taste buds will reap the rewards: Both Masaharu Morimoto and April Bloomfield of the Spotted Pig will be putting in appearances. [NYT]
• Tonda opens in the space formerly occupied by E.U. tonight. [Eater]
• Pierre Schaedelin talks about the biz and his bistro Benoit. [Gothamist]
• Good World will serve up its last drink on Saturday night. [GS]
• Will the restaurant industry "be blown away by the current economic storms"? Tim Zagat, not surprisingly, says the answer is "no." [Atlantic]
• Greenhouse has "hands-down rudest doormen in the five boroughs." [MM]
• Alain Ducasse and his wife Gwénaëlle just had a baby boy named Arzhel. And he now has a wax figure of himself in Paris, too, which can't hurt. [P6]
Eating & Drinking: Wednesday Edition
cityfile · 03/18/09 03:43PM• The Smile, Carlos Quirarte and Matt Kliegman's café/boutique on Bond Street, officially opened its doors today. One rare luxury: Regulars get their own custom-made, engraved Laguiole cutlery to use whenever they visit. [GS]
• Donatella Arpaia and Michael Psilakis's Kefi doesn't get much love from Frank Bruni: A case of "palate mononucleosis" leaves it with one star. [NYT]
• Dovetail is looking to open a café and food cart in Central Park. [Eater]
• Both Bloomberg's Ryan Sutton and Time Out's Jay Cheshes visit La Fonda Del Sol and leave with mixed feelings. [Bloomberg, TONY]
• Poll: New Yorkers prefer BLT Steak to Peter Luger by 53% to 47%. [TFB]
• Not surprisingly, the job market for chefs isn't exactly booming. [NYT]
• Also not surprising: Low-end liquor is really popular right now. [NYP]
• Amy Ruth's in Harlem has filed for bankruptcy protection. [Crain's]
• JGV's Spice Market in Doha, Qatar is now open, just so you know. [Luxist]
Eating & Drinking: Monday Edition
cityfile · 03/16/09 03:15PM• Sneakers at Bouley? Not acceptable. You can wear them to Per Se, though, provided you also bring along a doctor's note. [TONY]
• A list of 75 outdoor cafés that have opened, in case you're feelin' brave. [GS]
• The Times would like to remind you that people are still spending big bucks to hit up brunch at Bagatelle and Merkato 55, recession or not. [NYT]
• Braeburn gets a middling, one-star review of in this week's New York. [NYM]
• A fire did serious damage to Coney Island's famed Totonno's pizzeria over the weekend, but the owners say they plan to reopen in six weeks or so. [NY1]
• Speaking of pizza, the highly-anticipated Kesté opens next week. [GS]
• Looking to open a restaurant? Cool! Here are some availabilities. [Eater]
• More trouble for Gordon Ramsay: A week after selling his LA eatery, he's been forced to sell off flagship in Paris because of the credit crunch. [NYP]
• Eric Ripert will tack one more honor to his resume tonight when he's awarded the Legion d'Honneur, France's highest award, at the French Consulate. [TFB]
Eating & Drinking: Thursday Edition
cityfile · 03/12/09 02:40PM• Rumor has it Iacopo Falai is in "early talks" to open up a space inside Andre Balazs's new Standard Hotel in the meatpacking district. [Eater]
• Chocolate Bar will reopen in a new West Village location on April 28. [NYO]
• The price of certain French cheeses quadruples on March 22. Ouch! [TONY]
• Tim and Nina Zagat are launching a new food website. And The Atlantic is launching a new food "channel" tomorrow. [GS, AdAge]
• Korean food is taking over America, apparently. [WSJ]
• Sign 'o the times: Arby's first Brooklyn outpost is opening in the landmarked space formerly occupied by steakhouse Gage & Tollner. [NYDN]
• Chefs Daniel Boulud, Floyd Cardoz, and Marco Canora discuss the biz. [GS]
• Matt Oliver, doorman at M2 and brunch at Merkato 55, chats nightlife. [BB]
• Bourdain on Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares: "It's a circus of cruelty, like shooting fish in a barrel with a cut-down 12-gauge shotgun. There's no cooking. It's just a bunch of dimwits—the lame, the halt and the delusional." [EMD]
Love These Days
Hamilton Nolan · 03/12/09 11:56AMEating & Drinking: Monday Edition
cityfile · 03/09/09 02:17PM• Keith McNally's Minetta Tavern opens tomorrow. And just in case you were holding your breath, he says his pizzeria won't open for a year. [NYT, Zagat]
• Scuderia, Silvano Marchetto's new trattoria located across the street from Da Silvano on Sixth Avenue, opens this evening. [Eater]
• Ramen Setagaya, the Japanese chain with two locations in New York City, opened a third one on University Place last night. [GS]
• What you missed at the $1,000-a-person Citymeals-on-Wheels charity dinner last night, which honored Sirio Maccioni (and was sold out). [TFB]
• Bamn!, the theme-y fast food spot on St. Mark's has gone out of business. But it may be replaced by Michael Huynh's Baoguette. [Eater]
• Starbucks's new menu sucks, according to Time Out. [TONY]
• Believe it or not, there are a few neighborhood pubs that are TV-less. [NYT]
Eating & Drinking: Friday Edition
cityfile · 03/06/09 03:48PM• Diddy prefers the fried chicken at Popeye's over KFC, just so you know. [YouTube]
• The guys from Frankies 457 Spuntino are opening a new spot on Court Street. [NYT]
• A look at Raines Law Room, the "underground cocktail lounge" that opened in the Flatiron District recently. [TFB]
• A list of spots that closed today. [Eater]
• Yelpers list their 100 favorite dishes from 2008. [Yelp]
• Eater gets to the bottom of those totally annoying "mandatory service charges" that have been showing up on diners' checks recently. [Eater]
• Robert Sietsema gets to the bottom of those totally annoying tip jars that have been around forever but are still as annoying as ever. [VV]
Eating & Drinking: Thursday Edition
cityfile · 02/26/09 04:58PM• Eric Hara is leaving David Burke's Townhouse and Fishtail. He'll be replacing Joël Antunes as executive chef at the Plaza's Oak Room. [TFB, GS, DJ]
• Inakaya opens tonight. And the bathrooms totally rock. [GS, Zagat]
• Burger expert Josh Ozersky comes up with a revised list of NYC's top 10. [CS]
• Padma Lakshmi is "putting her passion for meat into a new commercial for Hardee's Bacon Western Thickburger." No comment. [People]
• Megu may take over the Merkato 55/Bijoux space on Gansevoort St. [DBTH]
• Dock's Oyster Bar on Broadway has closed its doors. [Eater]
• Your obsession with healthy food is killing your kids, just so you know. [NYT]
• According to a new poll, 41% of people in NYC describe themselves as "overweight" or "very overweight." The actual number? More like 56%. [NYP]
Eating & Drinking: Wednesday Edition
cityfile · 02/25/09 04:05PM• Starting in 2010, all restaurants will have an inspection grade—a blue A, a green B or a yellow C—posted in the window. It's official: NYC is now LA! [NYT]
• The UWS branch of Fatty Crab opens next week. [GS]
• The John Dory begins brunch service this weekend. [TONY]
• A peek at Julian Schnabel's private dining room at the Old Homestead. [GS]
• Brooklyn's Buttermilk Channel gets a one-star in this week's Times. [NYT]
• Inakaya opens in Midtown tomorrow. [Eater]
• Chef Joël Antunes has "parted ways" with the god-awful Oak Room. [GS]
• Limelight may reopen as a store. (And, no, not a drugstore.) [NYO]
• Please excuse the Post's Steve Cuozzo. He's in a bad mood today. [NYP]
Eating & Drinking: Friday Edition
cityfile · 02/20/09 05:00PM• The renovation of the Old Homestead steakhouse is almost complete. The private party space will be filled with works by Julian Schnabel. [Eater, TONY]
• Via Quadronno may be opening a Tribeca location. [Zagat]
• Tenjune owners Mark Birnbaum and Eugene Remm, along with real estate developer mogul Michael Hirtenstein, are taking over the old Lotus space. [P6]
• at65 cafe, the new restaurant in Alice Tully Hall, opens on Sunday. [Eater]
• Suba's last day in business is February 28th. [GS]
• Some advice on how to buy decent wine on a budget. [WSJ]
Eating & Drinking: Thursday Edition
cityfile · 02/19/09 03:30PM• Keith McNally's revamped Minetta Tavern will open in March. [Eater]
• Le Cirque will extend its Restaurant Week menu till the end of the year. [GS]
• The South Beach Wine & Food Festival starts tonight, in case you happen to be in Miami or you're looking for something to do the next few days. [Eater]
• Some say NYC nightlife has been a bit bleak this Fashion Week. [Zagat]
• Pink Elephant was the top grossing club in NYC in 2008. [GoaG]
• A blogger is trying to go a week without buying any food. Related: eGullet is hosting a challenge called "A Week Without Shopping." [ABroadrview, NYT]
• More on what Danny Meyer has planned for Citi Field. [TFB]
• Starbucks' new line of instant coffee? Not that bad, reportedly. [AdAge]
Eating & Drinking: Friday Edition
cityfile · 02/13/09 03:54PM• A list of V-Day meals and deals, in case you need some inspiration. [Eater]
• The good news/bad news about the newly-opened Trigo in Tribeca. [Eater]
• Frank Bruni gives Corner Bistro's burger a try; he isn't impressed. [NYT]
• Cocoa prices are up, which means chocolate is about to get pricier. [WSJ]
• A list of this year's James Beard Awards semifinalists. [GS]
• Bobo's Patrick Connelly will be on Nightline tonight. [Feedbag]
• Don't read this piece about "natural contaminants" if you're squeamish. [NYT]
Eating & Drinking: Thursday Edition
cityfile · 02/12/09 03:00PM• Momofuku Ssäm is opening a new private dining room. [GS]
• Add Le Gamin to the list of spots tacking service charges to the bill. [Eater]
• A report on Craftsteak's new recession-friendly menu. [Feedbag]
• One upside to a bad economy: free restaurant equipment! [Eater]
• A list of restaurants where you can still find peanut butter desserts. [GS]
• Daisy May's has the 5th best chili in America, according to Bon Appétit. [BA]
• It's the end of the world: Starbucks is introducing instant coffee. [AdAge]
Eating & Drinking: Wednesday Edition
cityfile · 02/11/09 03:26PM• Fat Hippo has opened in the space that used to house 71 Clinton. [GS]
• The Times's Frank Bruni gives out two stars today to April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman's "putatively British" John Dory. [NYT]
• A number of struggling restaurants are planning to stay open until just after they "make their nut" on Valentine's Day. [NYO]
• There was an electrical fire at 10 Downing last night. [Eater]
• Some genius is trying to open a "ping pong social club." Todd Oldham is designing it and it will be sponsored by Fred Perry. [NYO]
• Please refrain from calling Gordon Ramsay a "cook." He's a chef. [EMD]