Grub Street

This week, David Lanher opened the first Stateside outpost of his beloved Parisian wine bar, Racines, on Chambers Street. He's collaborating with Chambers Street Wines owner David Lillie, Provence-born sommelier Arnaud Tronche, and Michelin-starred chef Frédéric Duca, most recently of L'Instant d'Or in Paris. The well-edited food menu includes French dishes like veal tartare with warm mayonnaise, Mangalitza pork with pig's feet croquettes and ramps, and for dessert, poached pear with buckwheat ice cream. The extensive wine list focuses specifically on natural, organic, and biodynamic wines from small-scale French producers (and, even better, glasses start at $9). Take a look, straight ahead.

In this age of bespoke cocktails, it's almost unimaginable to think that a bar could go without a staple ingredient like limes. But as prices climb ever higher — one owner told us his costs jumped almost 500 percent — that's the measure that some places have taken to combat increased costs. Other bars are resorting to slightly less drastic means, cutting lime juice with lemon, using pre-bottled juice, or simply waiting for customers to ask for lime garnishes (and charging accordingly). Here's how 11 spots are dealing with the limepocalypse right now, but this is only going to get worse in the run-up to Cinco de Mayo, so if you have your own lime-juice horror story, send an email here and let us know; we'll keep this post updated accordingly.

Most actors would use a hiatus from an Golden Globe-winning sitcom for some downtime, but Andre Braugher, who plays Captain Ray Holt on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, is instead working on his first theatrical producing effort. His play, Oni Faida Lampley's semi-autobiographical Tough Titty, premieres on April 23 at the Paradise Factory. Braugher's busy, but this week, he still found time to sit down for dinner at Esca and Saxon + Parole, find a perfect hot and crusty baguette, and eat sushi while driving. Read it all, straight ahead.

Welcome to Platt Chat, a new column where New York critic Adam Platt will talk with Grub editor Alan Sytsma to discuss the dining world's most pressing issues. This week: Eater launches its reviews.

As he suggested he might, Alex Stupak sends word that he's launching a five-course dessert tasting tonight at Empellón Cocina in the East Village. "We agree with some things we’ve read about the increasing lameness of desserts around the city and the team at Cocina wants to work in the other direction," the chef wrote in an email. He adds, "Desserts are the most fun thing to make. Flavors, colors and textures can be transmitted in a greater number of ways. It’s truly the toy department of the restaurant."