Posts for September 14, 2012 -- Grub Street: New York Magazine's Food and Restaurant Blog

Posts for September 14, 2012

9/14/12 at 5:30 PM
Leftovers
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La Promenade des Anglais Overhauls; Bi Lokima Shutters

• Bistro La Promenade, formerly La Promenade des Anglais, is running a $45 prix fixe menu from September 17 to 23 in celebration of its one-year anniversary (and its name change). The prix fixe deal gets you any appetizer, entrée, and dessert, with a wine pairing, from the new, traditional bistro-style menu. Entrées include canard roti with green lentils and root vegetables; roasted chicken with fingerling potatoes, button mushrooms, pearl onions, and applewood bacon; and skate "Grenobloise" with roasted Brussels sprouts, applewood bacon, and hazelnuts. [Grub Street]

• On September 20, fourteen restaurants will bring together the largest collection of sakes under one roof for the twelfth annual Joy of Sake, a tasting event at the Altman building. Restaurants, including wd~50, Bond St., and Hakkasan, will provide appetizers and present 360 sake labels, over 200 of which are not usually available in the U.S. Tickets are $90 in advance or $100 at the door and can be purchased at joyofsake.com or by calling 808-222-0195. [Grub Street]

• The 86th Annual Feast of San Gennaro kicked off yesterday with its annual cannoli-eating contest. Eric "Bad Lands" Booker ate a total of 21 La Bella Ferrara cannolis for the win. You can eat your fill of cannolis and all the Italian-American fried items your heart could possibly desire on Mulberry Street now through September 23. [Gothamist/Serious Eats]

• Midtown East restaurant Bi Lokima has, sadly, closed its doors. The tiny Turkish eatery was open for just more than a year and a half. [Zagat]

9/14/12 at 4:45 PM
More Pork
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Pork Slope Expanding Its Weekend Hours

By Alan Sytsma

Ribs!

At the risk of Dale Talde overload today, we'll just quickly note that reps for Pork Slope wrote in to let us know that, starting tomorrow, the very busy spot will be open starting at noon and will close at 4 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. The full menu will be served until 2 a.m. [Earlier, Related]

9/14/12 at 4:00 PM
Community Boards
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Jane Hotel’s Neighbors Hate All the Racket, Can’t Do Much to Stop It

By Mary Reinholz

At last night's meeting of CB2's SLA committee, NIMBY neighbors turned out in force to oppose the Jane's application to renew its liquor license. There was lots of talk of noise and general disturbance related to the hot spot (one person called it "a nightmare on Jane Street"), and people seemed particularly irked by the Jane's member's-only rooftop bar on the sixth floor as well as its future plans for an adjacent space facing the Hudson River. "I don't trust you, and I don't trust your plans," said one neighbor in attendance, whose comment was met with applause. But the hotel's attorney, Warren B. Pesetsky, told Grub that there's nothing the community board can do to stop the license-renewal app since there had been no violations at the venue in the last few years. The operators, he said, were required to inform CB2 when their license was up for renewal, adding,"They want to be good neighbors, but all this is just part of the show."

9/14/12 at 3:20 PM
Bibimbap-up
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Marja Vongerichten Launches BiBiFresh, a Roving Bibimbap-up

By Hugh Merwin

Try some, won't you?Photo: Melissa Hom

Even more bibambap is headed our way: BiBiFresh, the newest rice-bowl player in town, is a collaboration between chef and author (and wife of Jean-Georges) Marja Vongerichten and Tavalon Tea founder John-Paul Lee and, from the looks of it, a serious fast-casual restaurant chain in the making. Customers build their bibimbap from the bowl up with a choice of grains (including quinoa), vegetables, meat, and sauce, and the concept also includes salads and lettuce wraps. Right now, this bibimbap-up is testing the waters — it'll be at the ENK Show next week, then at NYU in early October — Vongerichten, however, says BiBiFresh will open a brick and mortar "in the near future." [Earlier, Related]

9/14/12 at 2:45 PM
Foodievents
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Food Film Festival Tickets Now on Sale

By Jenny Miller

Ramen Dreams indeed.

If you're excited to get geeky over pastrami, ramen, maple sugar, and more of the topics covered in this year's Food Film Festival, know that tickets for the special event are now on sale. The fest runs October 17 through 21, and special film and food extravaganzas include I <3 Japan, a film and chance to eat ramen from Keizo Shimamoto, who's preparing it in New York for the first time ever, and The Mud and the Blood with an all-you-can-eat oyster roast. Scope the full event lineup below.

9/14/12 at 2:00 PM
Dairy King
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Chobani Founder Is a ‘Hidden’ Billionaire

By Hugh Merwin

Fermented gold.

And he's lactose intolerant. All right, so that part probably isn't true, but here's the fascinating story of 40-year-old Turkish immigrant Hamdi Ulukaya, who studied business at SUNY Albany and started making Greek yogurt at a former Kraft factory in Utica, which he purchased with the help of a small-business loan in 2005. Chobani now processes 3 million pounds of milk every day, and revenue has doubled each year since 2009, giving Ulukaya, as the company's sole owner, an estimated worth of $1.1 billion, reports Bloomberg. And now, as the company moves into the retail sector, Ulukaya's ex-wife is suing for 53 percent of the acidophilus. [Bloomberg, Earlier]

9/14/12 at 1:25 PM
Quote Of The Day
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Marcus Samuelsson, Pitchman With Purpose

“I’m passionate about teas. I’m passionate about vodka." —Newly announced Skyy vodka "culinary ambassador" and Earl of Harlem steeper Marcus Samuelsson on his endorsement deals, in a post where the chef tells the interviewer "he rejects 95 percent of the opportunities that come his way." [Speakeasy/WSJ]

9/14/12 at 12:50 PM on Grub Street LA
Lawsuits
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Pink Slime Makers Suing ABC News for Defamation

By Hadley Tomicki

It's baa-aack!

Back in April, it looked like the final nail was being pounded into the coffin of the beef product known as "pink slime" after the company responsible for unleashing the stuff on the country closed 75 percent of its plants amid shriveling sales. But it sounds as though pink slime is back — with a vengeance! South Dakota's Beef Products, Inc. is suing ABC News for defamation, claiming the network's repeated exposés on the product were part of a smear campaign leading to epidemic media and social network coverage that zapped demand for an ingredient once widely purchased by public schools, supermarkets, and restaurants.

9/14/12 at 12:30 PM
Openings
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What to Eat at the Wallace, Bringing Seasonal Cooking to Lower Clinton Hill

By Jenny Miller

Until recently, the best thing to eat on Fulton Avenue near Clinton, in Clinton Hill, has been the killer spicy chicken wings from the unlikely fowl artistes at Yafa Deli. But that could change with the opening of the Wallace, which bowed last night with an eclectic, seasonal American menu. A project of chef Jon Wallace (formerly of Thistle Hill Tavern and Buttermilk Channel) and his fiancée Jessica Soule, the restaurant focuses on simple fare like steamed cockles with Benton's ham, seasonal flatbreads, and braised oxtails over polenta. See the spare, homey space and some of the food straight ahead in our slideshow.

And this way for the menu.

9/14/12 at 11:50 AM
Coming Soon,
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Ay, There’s the Rub: Downtown Brooklyn BBQ Closer to Opening

By Hugh Merwin

The Brooklyn Paper has some more details on American BBQ and Beer Co., an ambitious new restaurant slated to open next April at the corner of Adams and Willoughby in Downtown Brooklyn, a major part of the neighborhood's DoBroRestoBoo. Last week, the restaurant's owners got the green light from Community Board 2 for their liquor license. Part of the second floor has been demolished to make room for the build-out, which, in addition to smokers, will include a wood-burning oven, lobster tanks, an on-premise bakery, a growler station, and perhaps most saliently, a deep-fried turkey station. “We’re hoping it becomes a Brooklyn institution,” says owner Mark Advent, “It’s barbecue without the shtick.” [Brooklyn Paper, Earlier]

9/14/12 at 11:10 AM
The Golden Swirls
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Big Gay Ice Cream Wants to Thank You for Being a Friend

Today is Golden Girls Day at the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop: All proceeds from sales of the shop's signature Bea Arthur cone will be donated to the Ali Forney Center, a nonprofit that is in the process of converting an East Village building into what will be called the Bea Arthur Residence for Homeless LGBT Youth. Arthur, who died in 2009, was a supporter of the nonprofit; Doug Quint and Bryan Petroff also report that Melt Bakery will donate the proceeds from its Rue McClanahan ice-cream sandwich to the center today as well. [Big Gay Ice Cream]

9/14/12 at 10:35 AM
Smoke and Mirrors
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In the Weeds: Lawsuit Alleges Philippe Allowed Celebs to Toke in Secret

By Hugh Merwin

High on wontons.

It seems to be a job requirement for Philippe employees to sue or be sued at some point during their tenure, and true to form, TMZ says that four employees at the swank dumpling den have filed a lawsuit — Maimon Kirschenbaum is involved, obv. — alleging they were forced to serve VIPs in the restaurant's basement amid the "smoke from a harmful and illegal substance."

9/14/12 at 10:00 AM
Celebrity Settings
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The Beckhams Brunch at Balthazar; Nicole Richie Chows Down at Old Homestead Steakhouse

By Monica Burton

Nicole Richie: We're not sure where she puts it.Photo: Joe Kohen/2012 Getty Images

While the movie stars were away at the Toronto International Film Festival, the fashionable set played at New York restaurants and bars. This week, designers, actors, and actors turned designers headed to New York's finest dining and partying establishments from their front-row seats at NYFW shows. Michael Kors and Andy Murray dined separately at Hakkasan, Victoria Beckham brunched at Balthazar, and Nicole Richie chowed down on multiple steaks at Old Homestead Steakhouse. This and more, in our weekly roundup of celebrity dining.

9/14/12 at 09:20 AM
Soda Ban
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New Nets Arena Will Play Along With Soda Ban

By Alan Sytsma

Yesterday, after the city's Board of Health officially approved the Bloomberg administration's soda ban, Bruce Ratner announced that the new Barclays Center would get an early start, selling sugary drinks in vessels no larger than the now-famous sixteen-ounce cutoff. Granted, when the ban goes into effect in March, they'd have no choice but to comply, so doing so when they open later this month is almost entirely a gesture of goodwill. But don't worry, thirsty fans of basketball and/or Jay-Z concerts: We're sure you'll still be able to get big pours of beer or "Brooklynized" water. [NYO, Earlier]

9/14/12 at 09:00 AM
The Grub Street Diet
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Chef Dale Talde Offsets Poutine With Bike Rides, Cures Everything With Fernet

By Alan Sytsma

"I looked closer and realized it was hot dogs."Photo: Melissa Hom

Even though Dale Talde's brand-new restaurant Pork Slope is, by all accounts, a hit, the chef says he can't rest easy just yet. "I get paranoid," he says. "If people say the food is good, then I'm like, They didn't think the food was great. Something's wrong." So, he says, he's constantly conducting tastings at both his new restaurant and Talde. "It gets a little gross," he admits before reconsidering: "It gets really gross." Not the food itself, just "the combinations of shit that you end up eating." But don't think he's reconsidering his position or won't open another restaurant. "It's hard work, and it's incredibly rewarding," he says. "But man, after you open a restaurant, you realize you're two full pant sizes up and you look like you got stung by a hive of bees." So he tries to temper the professional glutton with impromptu juice cleansing, egg-white wraps, and lots and lots of bike riding. Read it all straight ahead in this week's New York Diet.