Neighborhood Watch

Matsuri Celebrates the Phallus; Empire Room Debuts

Bedford-Stuyvesant: Twofiftyeight Café closed after a two-and-a-half-year run. [Bed-Stuy Blog]
Chelsea: Matsuri will celebrate the Penis Festival on April 1 with a special menu of cocktails and dishes with names like Ginseng Up Cocktail, Get It Up Hot Pot, and Hard Banana Cream Pie. [Grub Street]
Greenpoint: A new Italian spot, Carmine’s II, is set to open at 436 Union Avenue. [Brownstoner]
Flatiron: Stop by any ’wichcraft location between 3 and 6 p.m. and score a free creamwich. The offer is good until Sunday, and teas are half price, too. [Midtown Lunch]
Midtown/West Village: Otarian, an Australian vegetarian chain claiming to be “the planet’s first low carbon restaurant,” will open two Manhattan eateries (one in midtown, one on Bleecker Street) on April 19. [Fork in the Road/VV, Midtown Lunch]
Murray Hill: The Empire Room, an Art Deco–style cocktail lounge in the Empire State Building, opens today. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]

Matsuri Celebrates the Phallus; Empire Room Debuts