Posts for July 19, 2012 -- Grub Street: New York Magazine's Food and Restaurant Blog

Posts for July 19, 2012

7/19/12 at 6:00 PM
Leftovers
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Perla Does Lunch; Chipotle Offers Half-Off Burritos to the NYPD

• As of this weekend, Perla will serve lunch on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The menu is an abbreviated version of the dinner menu and includes pastas, pizzas, sandwiches, and salads. [Grub Street]

• Barrio 47 is now hosting a "farm to fire" dinner that will showcase a different meat every Tuesday until August 28. Reservations are $25 a person and can be made here. [Grub Street]

• The Times reports that police officers get a 50 percent discount at the Chipotle on Montague Street in Brooklyn. If Internal Affairs gets wind of the price cut, there's a chance policemen might be barred from frequenting the spot. [NYT]

7/19/12 at 5:15 PM
A Song Of Ice And Vodka
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Minus5 Ice Bar, Which Is Exactly What It Sounds Like, Coming to Midtown

By Hugh Merwin

We need this.Photo: Courtesy Minus5 Ice Bar

New York City's bar scene has come to resemble a great big rye-soaked mustache of late, replete with dim taverns and solemn, constant nods to the classic cocktail, which is probably why the owners of Minus5 Ice Bar — inside of which everything is made with ice and one can take shots from a frozen Venus de Milo whose mammary ducts have been replaced with luges — have decided to open up in midtown. Come November, expect ladies in bikinis wearing cartoonish penguin heads who serve mixed drinks such as Holly Madison’s Holly Mad-ICE-on, Laura Croft’s Hypnoti-School Girl, and Carrot Top’s Heat Miser. Yes, those first two are made with Skyy Vodka, and yes, the Heat Miser is garnished with a carrot. That carrot, however, is not pickled with star anise by a man with tattoos in Gowanus. It's just a carrot.

Like a beautiful arctic dream, but in the Hilton!

7/19/12 at 4:45 PM
Cat Power
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Cat Cora Inducted Into ACF Hall of Fame

Things are looking a bit brighter for chef and television host Cat Cora, who was cited last month for driving under the influence in Santa Barbara after her Chevy Tahoe rear-ended a BMW at low speed. On Sunday, the 44-year-old owner of Kouzzina in Disney World was inducted into the American Culinary Federation's American Academy of Chefs Hall of Fame, as this year's Celebrated Chef. As such, she joins the likes of previous inductees Thomas Keller and Charlie Trotter. Cora is the first female to join this particular Hall of Fame. [Earlier]

7/19/12 at 4:25 PM
East Village
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Would You Like Some Water With That Water?

There is now an East Village café that specializes in water. And for $2.50 you can have a glass. The owner says, "This is like a water store 2.0." Which, coincidentally, kinda tastes like Rip-off 2.0. [DNAinfo]

7/19/12 at 4:10 PM
Clam Power
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Josh Blakely Is Extra Fancy’s New Executive Chef

By Hugh Merwin

No burgers in sight.

Yesterday, Grub Street discovered that chef Ross Florance had left his position as chef at "upscale clam shack" Extra Fancy in Williamsburg. Now we hear that former Macao Trading Co. and El Almacén chef Josh Blakely is leading the kitchen. In an e-mail, co-owner Mark Rancourt describes the decision to let Florance go as "difficult and measured," emphasizing that both he and his business partner "love [Florance] like family" but that "his vision was ultimately more in the fine dining stratosphere than we were hoping" and the split was amicable.

What to expect on the new menu.

7/19/12 at 3:30 PM
The Chain Gang
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Chick-fil-A Happy to Sell Chicken to Gay People, Still Supportive of Anti-Gay Causes

By Alan Sytsma

Will take anyone's cash.

A quick follow-up to this morning's post about Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy coming out in opposition to gay marriage. Remember: Cathy said in an interview this week that his company is "very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit," and the chicken chain donates plenty of cash to anti-gay groups. But the company released a statement earlier today that boils down to: Whoa, hey, don't everyone jump to conclusions, okay?

7/19/12 at 3:00 PM
Quote of the Day
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Danny Meyer Is Always the Boss, While Jean-Georges Is ‘One of the Boys’

By Alyssa Shelasky

"Danny has always been a close friend, but from a workers’ relationship. He was at my wedding and has always been a friend and confidant. Jean-Georges is one of the boys. We’ll go out to dinner, hang out, talk and shoot the shit." —Dan Kluger of ABC Kitchen on the differences between Danny Meyer and Jean-Georges. [Food Republic]

7/19/12 at 2:15 PM
Bon App'etit
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Enchantée, Julia Child’s First App Is Here

By Alyssa Shelasky

Just in time for her 100th birthday and shortly after the e-book launch of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Julia Child's first app is now available for download on your iPad and Nook. The app features 32 recipes, grocery lists, "rare photographs," and classic moments, with commentary by Judith Jones and photography by Marcus Nilsson. Bon app'etit indeed.

7/19/12 at 1:00 PM
Cleanup on Aisle Five
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New Program Puts Junk Food Literally Out of Reach

Mayor Bloomberg's Obesity Task Force debuted Shop Healthy NYC, a nonmandatory program that issues guidelines to bodega and grocery store owners on how to give junk food non-prominent shelf space and recommends that unhealthy foods be either on high shelves or toward the back of their businesses. Owners will be urged to arrange fruits and vegetables near the front of stores and to offer healthy sandwich specials. In the C-Town Supermarket where the press conference was held, the Times reports, the bottled water that had been displayed inside an impulse-buy refrigerator near the register were quickly restocked with twenty-ounce Cokes soon after the reporters and officials cleared out. [Daily Intel]

7/19/12 at 11:50 AM
Equality
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Art Smith Calls Chick-fil-A ‘Poison,’ John Besh Sides With ‘Christ’

By Alyssa Shelasky

Married to Jesus.

Chick-fil-A ruffled feathers again this week when president Dan Cathy balked more nonsense against gay marriage. Among many others, Ed Helms turned to Twitter in disgust, declaring that the "so lame" company "lost a loyal fan." And now Art Smith is upset.

7/19/12 at 11:15 AM
Overnights
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Around the World in 80 Plates Recap: David Rees on the Finale

By David Rees

There can be only one.Photo: Virginia Sherwood/Bravo

The dirty secret about traveling around the world is that eventually you run out of world and you’re right back where you started. And so, here I am — on the same couch I was sitting on when I first started watching Around the World in 80 Plates along with dozens of other Americans. (Let me take this opportunity to thank my tireless hosts, Tim and Mei of Artisan Wine Shop in Beacon, New York, for ceding their Wednesday evenings — and their precious television — and their wine — in the service of my writing assignment.) On to the show!

"Now you know how meat feels, guys."

7/19/12 at 10:40 AM
Makeup Ramen
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Ivan Orkin Will Return to Serve Some Makeup Ramen

The line of people waiting to get a chance to try Ivan Orkin's ramen at Momofuku Noodle Bar on Tuesday evening stretched down the block and around the corner onto 10th Street. According to the restaurant, customers started lining up at 1:30 p.m., which was apparently enough time for someone to pen an entire ramen-themed short story. Orkin's mazemen and shio inventory ran out quickly, though, and lots of customers were left with nary a julienned scallion. Momofuku reps tell us that they took the names and numbers of the noodle-deprived guests, who will be invited back for another night (or two) of Ivan Orkin's ramen. [Earlier]

7/19/12 at 10:10 AM on Grub Street Boston
Crimewatch
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Cumberland Farms to Thieves: Go Ahead, Hassle Our Hoff Ads

By Kara Baskin

Hunky, especially over ice.

It was bound to happen eventually: Cumberland Farms stores across New England and Florida have suffered a rash of burglaries involving large, flirty cutouts of a torso-baring David Hasselhoff. The 60-year-old Baywatch ~~punch line~~ star is part of Cumberland's iced-coffee ad campaign, in which the life-size stud flashes an alluring grin and asks, "Thirsty?" Apparently, people are.

7/19/12 at 10:05 AM
On a Roll
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Mile End Will Start Making Its Own Montreal-Style Bagels

By Devra Ferst

The shop's house-made bagel.

Since H&H closed last summer — and Mimi Sheraton declared the state of the New York bagel “deplorable” — there has been a void in the city’s quality bagel scene. But that may soon change, particularly for lovers of the smaller, denser, sweeter Montreal-style dough orbs. Last weekend, Mile End quietly debuted their first Brooklyn-made bagels at Paper Magazine’s Super Duper Market — and almost sold out their 900-bagel test run.

7/19/12 at 09:30 AM
Steak-Gate
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The Bourdains’ Lousy Steak Was at Charlie Palmer; Palmer Apologizes

By Alyssa Shelasky

Case closed.

Lovely lady Ottavia Bourdain clearly had no intention of shaming or defaming anybody when she told us about her mysteriously shitty steak in Vegas, but sure enough, inquiring commenter minds just had to know. Before too many punches were thrown (like, at Colicchio), Charlie Palmer has stepped up to the plate, "It was my restaurant: Charlie Palmer Steak Las Vegas. What can I tell you?" And to that, husband Bourdain (and Toy Story 3 sap) tweeted back, "Charlie Palmer, you are a gracious man and a great chef. As we all know, sometimes shit happens. Thanks." Everybody feel better now? [Eater Vegas, Earlier]

7/19/12 at 09:00 AM
Foodie Movies
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Blood, Bones, Butter, & Paltrow?

By Alyssa Shelasky

Gwyneth Paltrow as Gabrielle Hamilton.Photo: Andreas Branch/PatrickMMcullan.com, John Lamparski/WireImage

The Hollywood Reporter has the hot scoop that Gwyneth Paltrow is in negotiations to play Gabrielle Hamilton in the film adaptation of Blood, Bones & Butter. The article notes that the film will, of course, be "an indie," and that RT Features’ Rodrigo Teixeira will produce, alongside Anne Carey of Adventureland and Mindy Goldberg of Junebug; they're still looking for writers. Hope Frances McDormand gets in on the deal! [THR via Vulture]