Posts for January 25, 2013 -- Grub Street: New York Magazine's Food and Restaurant Blog

Posts for January 25, 2013

1/25/13 at 5:45 PM
Leftovers
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The Lion Launches Brunch; Live Music at the Lambs Club

• The Lion launches brunch this weekend. Starting this Sunday, get cream of wheat topped with raspberries and bruléed bananas, Greek yogurt with a citrus salad, and other light brunch items at the West Village hot spot. [Grub Street]

• George Takei will perform at the Lambs Club at 9 p.m. on Monday, January 28. He'll be performing songs from the upcoming Broadway musical Allegiance. Tickets are $25 per person. Dinner, cocktails, and snacks will be available à la carte. [Grub Street]

• The second annual "Eat, Drink & Bloody Mary" competition will go down Saturday, February 9 at L'Apicio. From 1 to 4 p.m., Booker and Dax, the Wren, Roberta's, and more will mix up their best Bloody Mary concoctions. Tickets are $40 for drink tastes and brunch snacks, and $60 for tastes, brunch snacks, and a HeritageRadioNetwork.org membership. [Grub Street]

1/25/13 at 5:20 PM
Openings
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First Look at Pho 66, Greg Hugunin’s Southeast Asian Joint Opening in Hell's Kitchen

By Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite

Few have made the journey Greg Hugunin has: from restaurant critic at SF Weekly to chef and owner of his own Hell’s Kitchen restaurant. Pho 66 was inspired by other journeys the chef made, eating and cooking throughout Southeast Asia, and its name refers both to the six aromatics that flavor his Vietnamese noodle soup (star anise, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, dried chile, and lemongrass) and the six condiments that accompany it (bean sprouts, Thai basil, fresh chile, shallot, cilantro, and lime). In addition to four varieties of phô (from “beef five ways” to vegetarian), Hugunin’s menu features lettuce wraps, salads, summer rolls, wok-fried noodles, and a smattering of Thai dishes, plus such thematic cocktails as a Bloody Mary spiked with Thai chile and fish sauce.

1/25/13 at 4:50 PM
Under the Boardwalk
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Coney Island’s Historic Childs Restaurant Is Now Occupy Sandy’s Warehouse

By Hugh Merwin

Majestic, and incredibly helpful.Photo: Jim.henderson/Wikipedia

To better expedite the ongoing relief efforts along the southern shores of Brooklyn and Queens, landlord Taconic Investment Partners is allowing the nonprofit Occupy Sandy to use the former Childs restaurant on the Coney Island boardwalk as a warehouse. The landmarked terracotta building, and the once-mighty Childs chain in general, has a storied history with the neighborhood. The disaster relief group started its residency by pumping thousands of gallons of floodwater from the building's basement before hauling in rations and other supplies, and in case you wanted to know, no, they're not open to the public. [OccupySandy/Twitter, ATZ]

1/25/13 at 4:40 PM on Grub Street SF
Funnies
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California Bakery Makes ‘Kaepernicking’ Into a Cake

By Jay Barmann

Now kiss it.Photo: TannerScholtes/Twitter

Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick's tattooed bicep provides the inspiration for a Super Bowl cake that's being made by Modesto-based Village Baking Company. Their phone is likely ringing off the hook with orders after the thing appeared on SB Nation, but anyway, fun! This dude's flexed bicep is, of course, the stuff of memes now, and trademarks. [TannerScholtes/Twitter via SB Nation]

1/25/13 at 4:20 PM
Quote of the Day
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Mario Batali Would Like You to Quit It, Please

"I just wish people would be nicer to me. Sometimes I feel like there's a big target on my back. I put a lot of love into the world and I really, truly mean well. I know scrutiny is part of the job, but we all have feelings. For some people, the more well known you are, the more vulnerable you feel. I'm a very sensitive person, what can I say?" —Alyssa Shelasky gets Mario Batali to talk about what makes him sad. [Table&Travel]

1/25/13 at 3:50 PM
Ciao Bao
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Michael ‘Bao’ Huynh Is Really, Truly Leaving New York

By Hugh Merwin

Classic Michael "Bao" Hyunh on vinyl, from his "Stern & Bao" Era.Photo-illustration: Photos: Piano Piano!'s flickr, iStockphoto, PatrickMcMullan.com

Yes, he said so last summer, and now Gael Greene confirms it: Michael “Bao” Huynh is leaving the country to go cook at restaurants in Vietnam. For the time being, his wife Thao Nguyen will stick around to continue running Baoguette, but Huynh says he's leaving on a jet plane because he's hooked up with new partners who have restaurants already open in Hanoi, "with three others imminent in Saigon." Plus, Gael Greene reports, the chef is thinking about opening a "Brooklyn Diner" in Vietnam. After numerous setbacks, Huynh has abandoned the lease for his next planned restaurant, at 26 Greenwich Street, which will become a bistro. The chef is even looking for a home for one of his Pekinese dogs because "he can only take two dogs on the plane with him."

The A-sides, B-sides, the unreleased baorritos.

1/25/13 at 3:10 PM on Grub Street SF
Caliente Combos
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There’s a Sriracha Chocolate Bar! Here Are Fifteen Other Things We Must Add Sriracha To

By Jay Barmann

Listen up, Taco Bell.

Now that you can get Creamy Sriracha Sauce at Subway, and now that there's a whole cookbook and blog devoted to the stuff, and the secret is out that this esteemed hot sauce is the best thing to spice up eggs, pizza, or whathaveyou, people are putting sriracha in/on everything. Chocolate, for instance. Someone has even made some sriracha stiletto heels (sauce not included). Allow us to suggest a few more things that would definitely benefit from a dose of rooster sauce.

1/25/13 at 2:45 PM on Grub Street Chicago
Bookshelf
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Hot Doug’s Owner Doug Sohn on His New Book and What He Could Teach the Harvard Business School

By Michael Gebert

Hot Doug's book, coming July 16.

You've got your Baylesses and your Achatzes, but if you want to talk Chicago culinary ambassadors to the world, you need to stop at a little storefront on an industrial side street that calls itself "the Sausage Superstore." "Hot Doug" Sohn's hot-dog joint stands at the nexus of everything in Chicago food — reverence for meat; the gleeful mix of high and low food culture (it was Doug, after all, who got the only ticket for serving foie gras during the mid-aughts ban); streetwise smartassery as the cornerstone of one's brand identity; and, not least, a serious commitment to doing one of Chicago's staples better than a million other guys. Now the stop on every tourist's and food-TV host's itinerary is coming to book form in July (appropriately titled Hot Doug's: The Book), combining Doug's own story, as told to Kate DeVivo, with stories from his customers about how his encased meats have changed their lives. We spoke with the great man himself about how he came to write a book, and what he thinks Hot Doug's has to tell the Harvard Business School.

1/25/13 at 1:50 PM
Beef
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Fried-Chicken Joint Starts Epic and Demented Twitter Beef With Food Blogger

By Hugh Merwin

Another beef, this time with chickens.

You probably missed the rambling, somewhat demented Twitter skirmish yesterday between the West Village restaurant Sticky's Finger Joint and writer-editor J. Kenji López-Alt. You may recall that the blogger, who also serves as chief creative officer at Serious Eats, once infuriated David Chang after the site called out Momofuku for selling bottles of Mexican Coke for $5 plus tax. This time it was about poultry, specifically the meat Sticky's uses to make its menu of avant-garde chicken fingers like the "General Sticky Tso," which the restaurant not only promises is made with "antibiotic free, hormone free, cruelty free, free range chicken," but also that it's the "GREATEST GENERAL TSO YOU HAVE EVER EATEN IN YOUR LIFE" and "YOU LOVE LONG TIME!"

That "love you long time" thing never gets old, huh?

1/25/13 at 1:10 PM
Soda War
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Pepsi Removes Brominated Vegetable Oil From Gatorade, Keeps It in Mountain Dew

By Sierra Tishgart

You've probably been up at night, worried sick about all the brominated vegetable oil you've consumed in your lifetime. No? Really? It's one of the yuckier ingredients in soft drinks, and studies have linked it to brain, fertility, and thyroid problems, as well as early onset puberty (kids are horny enough!). We'll hit you with the good news first: PepsiCo is taking the shady ingredient out of its Gatorade formula. But since soda companies are senseless, Pepsi is still using it in Mountain Dew and other soft drinks. Brominated vegetable oil is banned in Japan and the European Union, and it's actually a patented flame retardant. There's no putting out the fire on this growing war against soda. [Earlier, AP]

1/25/13 at 12:55 PM
Feed the Models
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Juice Cleanses Are Half-Off for Fashion Week Models

By Sierra Tishgart

$30 per day liquid diet: What a deal!

In an effort to promote healthy eating, the Council of Fashion Designers of America is giving models a 50 percent discount on Organic Avenue juices and "food" during New York Fashion Week. Because shots of chlorophyll and lettuce wraps are exactly what's going to keep these overworked girls, who actually faint during presentations, satiated. This is one of the most exhausting weeks of the year for them. Focus on making sure there are plentiful proteins and carbs backstage. [BuzzFeed SHIFT]

1/25/13 at 12:25 PM
Free and Cheap
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Cheap Taco Alert!

New York's sole Wahoo's Fish Taco location is running a special promotion today to coincide with the California-based chain's 25th anniversary: While supplies last, dine-in customers can get one original fish taco for 25 cents. [Wahoos, Earlier]

1/25/13 at 12:00 PM
Rising Time
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Leske’s Bakery Is Expanding to Park Slope

The new owners of Bay Ridge's beloved Leske’s Bakery, which turns 52 this year and recently reopened after extended renovations, will open a second branch in Park Slope at 588 Fifth Avenue, South Slope News reports. Just in time for the fruit and cheese Danish to reassume its rightful position atop the New York City breakfast food pyramid. [SSN, Earlier]

1/25/13 at 11:35 AM
Hospitality
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Smith & Wollensky Called the Cops on Customer Who Forgot His Wallet [Update]

By Sierra Tishgart

Prime, dry-aged drama.

It's happened to the best of us; you reach into your pocket and realize, oops, my wallet is at home. But when you're at a posh uptown steak house, that oversight can get you arrested. Italian tourist Graziano Graziussi, who's actually a regular at Smith & Wollensky, realized he left his wallet at a friend's place when the waiter handed him a $208 bill. So Graziussi offered to leave his iPhone as collateral while he went and retrieved some cash, which in this day and age, is the equivalent of leaving your firstborn.

Not so quick.

1/25/13 at 11:10 AM
Reopenings
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Candela Candela Will Reopen As Organika

Earlier this week, it seemed that the Mermaid Inn in the East Village was expanding its footprint into the home of the Italian-Cuban restaurant next door, Candela Candela, which appeared to be closed permanently. It turned out, however, that the Mermaid Inn is actually just expanding the length and general awesomeness of it happy hour, and the happiness in general continues today with the news that while Candela Candela is actually closed, its owners will replace the restaurant with a pizza parlor called Organika that will incorporate whole grains like farro and kamut into the dough and top its pies with local produce. Co-owner Shai Zvibak tells the Local East Village that the restaurant will also serve fresh-pressed juices and feature an organic wine list when it reopens in about three weeks' time. [LEV/NYT, Earlier]

1/25/13 at 10:50 AM
Gyoku
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Questlove Dreams of Jiro

By Hugh Merwin

"Hit me!"

"I was like Popeye to spinach. Member when Michael Jackson tried that tonic in the "Say Say Say" video and it made him dance? You don't? Google it. I didn't dance, but damn if I wasn't in my head doing TAMI show James Brown splits singing "Nightrain" (Sting fans feel me ... yes even my referenced references have footnote references, which makes ME not Dennis Miller the king of references Mr David Cross)." —Questlove is the latest celebrity to dream of Jiro Ono and make a pilgrimage to his ten-seat restaurant, Sukiyabashi Jiro. During his intense, Instagram-chronicled meal, the four-hour-massaged octopus sent Questlove into a referential tailspin and made him feel just as fly as the Godfather of Soul. [Questlove/Instagram, Earlier, Earlier, Earlier]

1/25/13 at 10:35 AM
Coming Soon
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Butcher Bar Owners Opening New Astoria Restaurant With Ciano Alum Ryan Byrd

By Alia Akkam

The restaurant will open in April.

Nick Neocleous, who owns Steinway Street fixture Central, is teaming up with Butcher Bar proprietor Matthew Katakis to open an as-yet-unnamed modern American restaurant on the corner of 30th Avenue and 38th Street. The chef will be St. Louis native Ryan Byrd, who worked previously as a chef de partie at Shea Gallante's Ciano and also spent time rolling and shaping dough in Del Posto's intensive pasta program. Byrd most recently immersed himself in whole animal butchery behind the counter at Butcher Bar.

Craft cocktails, sustainable meats.

1/25/13 at 10:05 AM
Celebrity Settings
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Nineties Boy Bands Unite at Sons of Essex; Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz Double Date at Crown

By Monica Burton

Lucy Liu, where you at?Photo: Donato Sardella/Getty Images

This week, the movie stars partied at Sundance, the politicians took to D.C., and New York was left with athletes, reality-TV stars, and people who were more popular a decade ago. Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz got together at Crown; Kim and Kourtney met with Ryan Seacrest at Bill's Food and Drink; and in something out of a teenage fantasy, New Kids on the Block, 98 Degrees, and Boyz II Men ate and drank at Sons of Essex. This and more ahead in our weekly roundup of celebrity dining.

1/25/13 at 09:25 AM
Coming Soon
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Stephen Starr Is Opening Up at the New York Botanical Garden

By Hugh Merwin

Orchids and small plates.

The city's 250-acre premier botanical center will soon be home to two new Stephen Starr restaurants that will open inside the Bronx property's current Garden Café and Visitor Center Café spaces. Few details are available at the moment, but it's a good bet to expect one slightly upscale, full-service concept, and a more casual dining space along the lines of the restaurateur's Italian restaurant Caffe Storico, which opened a little more than a year ago inside the New York Historical Society. Stephen Starr Events will also launch on-site catering services among the flowers and the specimen trees, with menus featuring dishes from Morimoto, Caffe Storico, and Buddakan. Best of all, however, there will also be "unique food kiosks and street carts," a press release says, "sprinkled throughout the Garden." Wild! Sitewide renovations will begin in the fall, and the new restaurants will open next spring. [Earlier]

1/25/13 at 09:00 AM
The Grub Street Diet
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Chef Michael Lomonaco Taste-Tests Macarons at Home, Eats Pig-Brain Croquettes at Atera

By Sierra Tishgart

Lomonaco at Resto, where he had an escarole and pear salad.Photo: Melissa Hom

Though Porter House's Michael Lomonaco runs one of the city's most popular steak houses, he's no carnivore. Aside from the obligatory meat tasting, he actually eats super healthily. "My wife is a pescatarian, so I tend to mirror what she eats," he says. This week, that included quinoa risotto and beet juice. Of course, it's not all vegan this, gluten-free that for a man who spends the bulk of his time in a kitchen that serves up Cowboy Rib Steaks and Lamb T-Bone chops. "January and February are restaurant catchup months for me," he says. "I go to see what new openings I missed during the later fall and December months, when I'm too busy." 2012 was particularly hectic for him with the opening of Center Bar, his small-plates-centric restaurant, but Lomonaco makes up for lost time by hitting Resto, Cascabel Taqueria, and Atera. Read all about his admiration for Matthew Lightner's vegetable dishes and what it's like to dine at your own restaurant in this week's New York Diet.

“Clean, lean, and green.”