Back of the House

Iron Sous-Chef Busts a Move; A Man Tells of His Meatballs, Liquor License

• Gray Kunz ditches plans to open his second restaurant, Grayz, in the Aquavit space. [NYP]

• Bruni dropped in on a restaurant wearing a fanny pack and riding a scooter? No wonder he needed some R&R.; [Eater]

davidburke & donatella gets a new chef de cuisine (Eric Hara, doing bacon-wrapped duck) and pastry chef (Monica Bellissimo, standing by her egg cream in an eggshell). [NYO]

• Some October-November openings via ZagatWire: The former Tocqueville space is turning Japanese; Anne Burrell, sous-chef to Batali on Iron Chef, takes over the kitchen at Centro Vinoteca. [Zagat]

• John LaFemina of Ápizz and the Orchard recounts the joy of applying for a liquor license in an excerpt from the forthcoming A Man and His Meatballs. [Eater]

Iron Sous-Chef Busts a Move; A Man Tells of His Meatballs, Liquor License