Posts for November 9, 2012 -- Grub Street: New York Magazine's Food and Restaurant Blog

Posts for November 9, 2012

11/9/12 at 6:00 PM
Leftovers
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Peck Slip Pickle Fest Fund-raises for Sandy Relief; Truffle Season at Maialino and Sauce

• Maialino has launched a winter truffle pasta tasting menu this week. Available during dinner every night, the menu is $200 per person and includes four pasta courses accompanied by shaved winter truffles and dessert. [Grub Street]

• Frank, Supper, and Sauce are also getting in on truffle season. Chef Frank Prisinzano has created a few dishes to pair with the seasonal delicacy, including risotto mantecato made with seven-year-aged carnaroli rice and carne cruda. Truffle shavings at Sauce and Supper are priced $20 for "a few," $50 for "a bunch," and $75 for "a shower;" at Frank, those same three levels will cost $39.95, $49.95 and $59.95, respectively. [Grub Street]

• New Amsterdam Market's second annual Peck Slip Pickle Fest will take place Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m with dill pickles, lacto-fermented pickles, sauerkraut, lots of kimchee, and a Bialy Talk with Mimi Sheraton. A voluntary suggested donation of $3 will go towards Sandy relief via the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City. [Grub Street]

Lobsterpalooza, help for veterans and more in today's leftovers.

11/9/12 at 5:35 PM
The Chain Gang
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Ex-Employee Accuses Waffle House Chairman of Sexual Shenanigans

By Alan Sytsma

Greasy.Photo: Eli Hodapp/Flickr

Here's some news to mull over breakfast this weekend: ABC News says a woman who worked for Waffle House chairman Joseph Rogers Jr. is accusing Rogers of sexual harassment.

11/9/12 at 4:50 PM
Word Is Bond
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Invest in Fort Defiance’s Future With These Famous Bartender Bonds

By Hugh Merwin

It's all about the DeGroffs, baby.

These "junk bonds" emblazoned with the likenesses of famous bartenders and booze writers are actually a novel strategy on the part of Fort Defiance designed to expedite the Red Hook bar and restaurant's post-Sandy recovery. St. John Frizell's neighborhood establishment is one many food businesses on Van Brunt Street that was damaged heavily during the storm. For a limited time, the Fort is selling these nifty gift certificates at twice their face value. For $200, you can get piece of paper emblazoned with the image of Charles H. Baker Jr., the restaurant's patron saint, which will get you $100 worth of Manhattans and deviled eggs once the place reopens. [Fort Defiance, Earlier]

11/9/12 at 4:00 PM on Grub Street Boston
Cerealism
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Cereal Art Is Happening

By Kara Baskin

"Shredded Wheat at Dusk."Photo: Ernie Button

Meet Ernie Button, the photographic love child of Georgia O'Keeffe and a bowl of Trix. The Arizona-based shutterbug has a new series called Cerealism, in which he captures ordinary grains of breakfast cereal set against extraordinary, even surrealistic backdrops, including a shot of an Apple Jack that looks like an aerodynamic tumor.

11/9/12 at 3:40 PM
Magnums
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There’s Going to Be a $3,000, ‘All-Magnum’ Wine Dinner at Brooklyn Fare in January

By Hugh Merwin

Ramirez: Ready for Brooklyn Fare en Magnum

Grape ape! Daniel Boulud's wine director Daniel Johnnes is once again teaming up with The Little Nell in Aspen for La Paulée des Neiges, a take on the traditional Paulée de Meursault that pairs chefs and celebrated Burgundian winemakers. Before the party bus gets to Aspen in January, a special "all-magnum dinner" for twelve guests and six winemakers will go down at the Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare. Chef César Ramirez will cook for the group, and, bonus — "all participating winemakers will provide wine directly from their cellars for this dinner." According to the organizers, "guests are also invited to bring a magnum (or two) from their cellars to share." But not three. Never bring three magnums to a wine dinner for eighteen people. Tickets to Brooklyn Fare en Magnum are $3,000, and more details are available here. [La Paulée]

11/9/12 at 2:50 PM on Grub Street SF
The Chain Gang
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McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s Struggling — Here’s Why

By Jay Barmann

They never should have fired the King.

Third-quarter sales recently came in for the big three in the fast-food world, and things aren't looking too good for any of them. Last week Burger King announced a dramatic drop in net income of 83 percent compared to the same quarter last year; McDonald's admitted this week that a key sales figure (global revenue at restaurants open at least thirteen months) had dropped for the first time in a decade; and Wendy's, which deposed Burger King for the first time this year to take the No. 2 burger spot in the nation, is operating at a widening loss, though their revenues seem to be on the rise. So why is all this happening to the fast-food giants? Allow us to posit a few major reasons.

11/9/12 at 2:10 PM
Video Feed
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How the Small-Batch Sriracha Gets Made

By Alan Sytsma

Last year, we first heard about Jojo's Sriracha, small-batch rooster sauce from Brooklyn. And now, Food Curated heads over there to get a look at the operation's inner workings. It's equal parts chili peppers and can-do Brooklyn artisanalism. (Is there any other kind these days?). Watch the video, straight ahead.

11/9/12 at 1:15 PM
Truckin'
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Food Trucks Are the Heroes, Not Villians, in Post-Sandy N.Y.

They've caused explosions and have been drawn into nasty squabbles. They've been chased out of neighborhoods and have even been accused of abetting terrorists, but now food trucks are being hailed as heroes of the post-Sandy relief efforts. With the help of partners like Jet Blue, the New York City Food Truck Association was able to rally and mobilize food and supplies into some of the worst-hit neighborhoods, Diner's Journal reports. More than 100,000 free meals have been served since last week. [Diner's Journal/NYT]

11/9/12 at 12:35 PM
Video Feed
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Watch Aziz Ansari Eat Wilensky’s in The Mind of a Chef

By Hugh Merwin

On the next Mind of a Chef episode, Aziz Ansari joins David Chang and Joe Beef's chefs for a round of house sandwiches at the 80-year-old Montreal deli/institution Wilensky's Light Lunch. As the bologna warms up and the cheese begins to turn down, Ansari is mistaken for another Indian comedian, which apparently happens a lot, and Sharon Wilensky, whose mother Ruth is the inspiration and namesake for another bologna sandwich at Mile End, seems vaguely amused that the Wilensky name has traveled so far from the modest old lunch counter.

11/9/12 at 11:50 AM
Openings
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Pizza Party: Krescendo Is Open in Brooklyn

By Hugh Merwin

Fired up.Photo: Elizabeth Falkner/Twitter

We've been looking forward to the opening of Elizabeth Falkner and Nancy Puglisi's Krescendo, and it appears the restaurant, at 364 Atlantic Avenue, is now open for business. "It's not R2D2 and C3PO," Falkner tweeted a first look at her pizza oven and oil can last week. "It's Acunto & Oliera at Krescendo." When Sandy delayed the restaurant's opening last week, the chef, who decamped from San Francisco earlier this year, made sandwiches for Red Hook evacuees. Early reports suggest the two-day-old restaurant is already busy, and the kitchen even ran out of dough last night by 8:30. [Earlier]

11/9/12 at 11:10 AM
Freed Radicals
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No More Fakeberries: ‘Antioxidant’ 7-Up Pulled From the Market

By Hugh Merwin

It's been fun.

Hey there, 7-Up with antioxidants: While many of us may love to watch you leave, we certainly hate to see you go. It's just that your Mixed Berry and Pomegranate Antioxidant flavors, despite having their pretty labels festooned with sporty pomegranate and dew-droppy cherries, do not contain any real fruit. You do have added Vitamin E, we know that, we understand, but it's the world that won't listen. And now you're being taken off the market, they say for the sake of regular and diet 7-Up, so there can be "consistency across its brands." Does this mean boarding school? Blame your parent company, the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group. Life is unfair. [AP]

11/9/12 at 10:30 AM
First Look
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First Look at Aamanns-Copenhagen, Now Serving Up Smørrebrød in Tribeca

By Alan Sytsma

After a year of delays, and an opening that got pushed back even further by Sandy, Aamanns-Copenhagen finally opened its doors yesterday. This is the U.S. offshoot of Adam Aamann's very popular smørrebrød shop in Denmark, and you can expect intricate open-faced sandwiches with toppings like braised pork breast, beef tartare with homemade potato crisps, and pork paté with aquavit and pickled lignonberries. Add to that more homemade aquavit, seafood specials such as "sugar-salted salmon," and lots of herring preparations. (Scope the full food and drink menus below.) The spot is open for breakfast Monday through Friday, lunch Tuesday through Sunday, brunch on the weekends, and dinner every day, meaning you'll have lots of chances to give it a try.

11/9/12 at 10:10 AM
Foodievents
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Check Out the Lineup for Momofuku’s Benefit to Rebuild Governor

By Hugh Merwin

All-stars.

David Chang and several star players from the Momofuku family of restaurants has put together a six-course lunch to benefit the Brooklyn restaurant Governor, which was damaged heavily during last week's storm. The all-inclusive $325 ticket price includes courses from Momofuku Ko's Sean Gray, Ssäm Bar's Matt Rudofker, Governor's Brad McDonald, pairings from Ko's Beth Lieberman, and a cocktail made by Booker and Dax's Tristan Willey. The event takes place on Saturday, November 17 at Booker and Dax, and all proceeds will help the restaurant's efforts to reopen as quickly as possible. Tickets are going very fast; get yours here.

11/9/12 at 10:05 AM
Celebrity Settings
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Katie Holmes Hits the Lambs Club; Louis CK Juices at Peacefood Café

By Monica Burton

Holmes.Photo: Josiah Kamau/BuzzFoto

This week, as the meatpacking district continues to work its way back from Sandy, New York's uptown neighborhoods became uncharacteristic celebrity settings. Bono joined other big names at Bemelmans, Louis CK went the healthy route at Peacefood Café, and Katie Holmes celebrated her latest stint on Broadway at the Lambs Club. This and more straight ahead in our weekly roundup of celebrity dining.

11/9/12 at 09:40 AM
Bookshelf
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Stanley Tucci Is Writing Another Cookbook

Former elementary school food snob, actor, and accomplished cook Stanley Tucci has sold another cookbook. This one will be all about "family-style cooking," reports Publishers Marketplace (subscription required). It was sold to Gallery by an agent on behalf of Tucci's wife Felicity Blunt, also a literary agent. Here's hoping a Tucci restaurant is also in the works, with a timpano for every table. [PM, Earlier]

11/9/12 at 09:00 AM
The New York Diet
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Dorie Greenspan Eats Election Day ‘World Peace’ Cookies, Preps for the Nor’easter With Mission Chinese Dreams

By Alyssa Shelasky

"Cappuccino from Porto Rico Coffee, a fresh-squeezed apple-celery-ginger juice from Tra La La."Photo: Melissa Hom

Pastry authority and owner of the new, celebrated Beurre & Sel Dorie Greenspan knows what's on the city's collective mind right now: "the importance of comfort" and the strength of New Yorkers. That's why the multiple James Beard–winning cookbook author spent most of the week feeding her own soul, then lending support to her friends in downtown New York, where a dinner at ABC Kitchen was "miraculous" and porridge from Mission Chinese was "like a hug." She also baked mountains of her incredible cookies — like the streusel-topped Jammers and her World Peace Cookies (also sold at La Marqueta and at Essex Street Market) — and recipe-tested holiday cookies and a caramel-nut tart for her next book, "the one with the looming deadline." Read all about her "Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good" and "triumphant" squash toast in this week's New York Diet.