Posts for February 22, 2013

Brass Monkey’s Beefsteak Dinner; Taste of Tribeca Tickets

• On February 27, Brass Monkey brings meat back to the Meatpacking District and revives the old New York tradition known as the beefsteak dinner. For $35, Chef Daniel Parilla of Minetta Tavern will prepare whiskey-marinated cuts and sides for your table. First beer's free, along with a Brass Monkey apron you can take home. Parties of five or less get seated at a communal table. For reservations, e-mail. [Grub Street]

• Outdoor culinary festival Taste of Tribeca returns to Duane Street on May 18, serving up the area’s top bites and booze. Get fed by nabe favorites like Kutsher's Tribeca and Bubby's, as well as newcomers like Aamanns-Copenhagen. Advanced tickets ($45) are sold on March 1 and are available here. The event's proceeds benefit arts programs at PS 150 and PS 234. [Grub Street]

• Get a taste of reality fame when competitors on ABC's The Taste host a pop-up dinner series at The Old Bowery Station. For three nights beginning on February 28, chef-contestants Gregg Drusinsky and Sarah Ashley Schiear whip up a five-course meal that includes fluke poke and cumin-spiced lamb. $85 a seat. Buy your tickets here. [Grub Street]

• On March 24, the James Beard Foundation brings nineteen of the nation's top chefs together for the 5th Annual Sunday Supper at Chelsea Market. World-class toques like Top Chef's Stephanie Izard and James Beard winner Jacques Torres will prepare a family-style feast for 250 people, raising funds for the Fulton Youth of the Future Scholarship and Wellness in the Schools Organization. Tickets are $240 and can be bought online. [Grub Street]

Andy Ricker Planning All-Noodles-All-the-Time Restaurant

Over on the West Coast, Pok Pok chef and owner Andy Ricker is back from his annual Thailand sabbatical, and tells Portland Monthly that he had a moment in clarity back in Chiang Mai: Citing an insane amount of curry paste that would need pounding and a comparable amount of coconuts that'd have to be turned into milk, Ricker is no longer planning to open Pok Pok Lat Khao in the city. Instead, he'll open Pok Pok Sen Yai, a full-service noodle house offering "15 to 18 noodles at any given time," he says, serving "noodles not typically found in Thai restaurants in America." When asked if he'd export the concept to New York, Ricker explains he's doing it for Portland, but also that the future is unwritten. "We'll see how it works," he says. Meanwhile, the chef's Whiskey Soda Lounge in Brooklyn is scheduled to open on Columbia Street in late spring. [PM, Earlier]

Here’s the Cover For the Franny’s Cookbook, Plus a Vital Update

By Hugh Merwin

Baked sausage and polenta here we come.Photo: Artisan Books

There's a lot going down on Flatbush Avenue, where Franny's is preparing to move down the street from its home of nine years. "Though we can’t give you a specific date yet," Francine Stevens writes on the restaurant's website, "we can announce that the days of dining at the original franny’s space are numbered. We expect to be closing at 295 Flatbush within 3-4 weeks, so come enjoy a final meal at the original franny’s while you still can!" So, get to it, and in case you cannot, just remember Franny's 2.0 should be up and running at 348 Flatbush shortly thereafter, while the old space will become the regional Italian restaurant Marco's. If you can't wait for that, consider the imminent arrival of the very first Franny's cookbook, which carries a foreword by Alice Waters and also includes the stellar clam pizza recipe. Franny's: Simple Seasonal Italian will be released June 4. [Franny's, Workman, Earlier]

Couple Who Found Dead Bird in Their Salad Really Just Need to Learn How to Make Salad

By Hugh Merwin

They seem to have bad luck with dead birds in foodstuffs in the U.K., what with that whole "Sing a Song of Sixpence" thing and now this, the tale of a Gloucestershire couple who were just sitting down to a nice steak dinner under dimmed lights when one of them discovered a large, stanky, and dead Blackcap European warbler on his plate. "My first reaction," says James Watson, "was why have I got a soggy fishcake on my plate?" But that was no soggy fishcake, and so the couple complained to retailer Tesco and were compensated with a £200 gift card, which is much better than the simple apology another British couple received the last time this exact same thing happened. Which, in a way, says something about the sorry state of cooking skills — why aren't these people washing their greens before use? That's still the best way to beat salmonella, after all. Also, why wouldn't they dress greens the old-fashioned way, by evenly distributing vinaigrette to all the leafy things inside a bowl? It's much easier to spot a dead, five-inch bird that way. Also, eating under mood-lighting, we get it, but was this salad made in the dark, too? Only the warbler knows for sure, and he isn't singing anymore. [Daily Mail, Earlier]

Here’s the New St. Ann’s Warehouse Concessions Menu, Brought to You by Vinegar Hill House

By Hugh Merwin

Roast turkey, kumquat, mayo, mustard, and muenster cheese on a baguette.Photo: Vinegar Hill House

Just in time for this weekend's opening of The Wild Bride at St. Ann's Warehouse in Dumbo is the equally thrilling news that the team from Vinegar Hill House and Hillside are now operating the concessions stand at the arts space. The menu of snacks available during pre-show and intermission will change, but includes roast beef sandwich with smoked butter and alfalfa, a beet sandwich with pistachios and goat cheese on whole grain bread, and lentil soup. Salads, North Fork chips, desserts, wine, and beer are also available. Take a better look at the food and the menu, straight ahead.

Camembert with lemon preserves. »

Brooklyn Flea’s Crown Heights Food and Beer Hall to Open at the End of the Year

By Sierra Tishgart

Thanks, Goldman Sachs!

A hefty $25.6 million investment from Goldman Sachs is going to bring lots of pleasure to hipsters who hate "The Man." Brooklyn Flea co-founder Eric Demby and business partner Jonathan Butler (the founder of Brownstoner) convinced Goldman over an e-mail pitch to finance their latest expansion of Smorgasburg. Their new food-and-beer hall, which is inside a 150,000-square-foot space, will house only five small businesses, and competition is stiff. “We’re not looking for the pitch, ‘I make great cookies,’” Butler tells Bloomberg Businessweek. “We want, ‘I found a market for these cookies, and this is what my logo looks like, and this is what my brand is.’" Expect to eat these local, farm-to-table, foraged cookies toward the end of the year, when the food hall's scheduled to open.

Update: Jonathan Butler writes in to clarify the involvement of Goldman Sachs in the project. Goldman is an investor along with Butler and BFC Partners in the 150,000-square-foot real estate project known as 1000 Dean Street. The Brooklyn Flea has a lease for 9,000 square feet on the Bergen Street side of the building where it plans to build a beer hall and artisanal food court featuring 5 of its most popular food vendors.

[Earlier, Bloomberg Businessweek]

Man Crashes Car Into 7-Eleven, Pours Himself Some Coffee

By Hugh Merwin
Watch Video

Not to be outdone by a Seattle man who was hit by a city bus but quickly bounced back to go fetch some French roast down the street or the Nebraska senior who plowed through the façade of Valentino's Pizza and ordered a pie from inside the wrecked dining room, an intrepid 56-year-old Californian named Dennis Cortopassi intentionally crashed his car through the window of a 7-Eleven outside Sacramento on Wednesday morning, then got out of his car and poured himself a coffee. Cortopassi threw a hissy fit and knocked things off the store's shelves after clerks called the cops. He was later arrested and taken to the Yolo County jail. YOLO indeed, Cortopassi.

Get me hazelnut! »

Plastic Found in Packaged Sausage

For all you readers out there who are fans of Smithfield Packing Co.'s "Gwaltney mild pork sausage roll" — beware! The Virginia company's recalling 38,000 pounds of pork sausage after finding it mixed with small pieces of plastic, which likely came from gloves. No one's reported any injuries, but two unlucky consumers filed complaints. How appetizing. [AP]

Peter Serpico Previews New Philly Restaurant, Reveals (a Few) More Details

By Collin Keefe

Serpico

Looks like Peter Serpico has finally broken his silence about his forthcoming collaboration with Philadelphia’s “King of Restaurants,” Stephen Starr. Bon Appetit’s Matt Duckor caught up with the former mastermind behind David Chang’s empire while checking out a dinner Tuesday that he and Starr’s former menu development whiz Chris Painter co-hosted at Il Pittore. In a quick Q&A, Serpico covers a lot of ground, including his take on life in Philly (It’s more laid back and conducive to raising a family than New York); why his restaurant will be “American” rather than “Asian”; and why at the end of the day he prefers the company of electricians over that of chefs. Right now the restaurant is still under construction, but is reportedly still on track to open this spring. [BA]

City Cracking Down on Food Delivery Bicyclists

By Sierra Tishgart

Though it's delightful when your dinner's delivered to you in fifteen minutes flat, it probably means that the cyclist drove the wrong way down a street, bumped a stroller when riding on a sidewalk, and sped through red lights. City inspectors are instituting even more laws to protect drivers and pedestrians; starting in April, delivery staffers will have to wear high-visibility reflective vests that clearly display the name of their restaurant on the back. (Like a jersey, but uglier.) Violations could cost restaurants anywhere from $100 to $300 in fines. The city's been telling businesses not to promise New Yorkers they'll get their food quickly, as it creates pressure for delivery cyclists. So when you start to get hangry, and inevitably, feisty, resist making the annoying "where's my food?" call. No sandwich is worth pedestrian casualties. [Earlier, NBC]

Overheated and Loopy Paula Deen Dances on Today

By Hugh Merwin
Watch Video

In town for the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, Paula Deen stopped by Today this morning to make some low-cal Buffalo chicken bites, but also some Oscar picks. As TMZ notes, Paula was given a sugar-free and nonalcoholic "morning mojito" to sip, but the Food Network star was nonetheless moved to get up and do a little salsa dancing on live national TV, even outshining the professionals. Seriously, Bobby Flay may be signed up, but it's really Deen who should be next up on Dancing With the Stars. Her Today appearance got a little bit strange, however, after the cha-cha, when she sat back down and told everyone how she'd been sprayed by a skunk. Then she asked Al Roker if he wanted to smell her hand.

"Balls, y'all!" »

Desperately Seeking Kitchen: Phillip Kirschen-Clark Wants a Permanent Home — and Hopes It’s Café Cluny

By Alyssa Shelasky

Kirschen-Clark, at Cafe Cluny.Photo: Melissa Hom

Phillip Kirschen-Clark is a tough chef to pin down, not only because he's bounced through several high-profile kitchens in a relatively short amount of time, but because unlike other roving chefs, there's little scandal surrounding the level-headed Kirschen-Clark — just general confusion about why nothing has stuck. In fact, it's a question that concerns Kirschen-Clark, too. Grub Street sat down with him to talk about his training, what went wrong at Vandaag and Demi Monde, and plans for his latest gig at Café Cluny — a job that he plans to keep for a while.

"I want people to understand that I hate looking for a new job." »

Bobby Flay Reportedly Headed to Dancing With the Stars [Updated]

By Hugh Merwin

He already runs marathons.Photo: Rob Kim/WireImage

While no one's yet spotted him stocking up on tights at Capezio, word is this morning that the Food Network and Mesa Grill chef Bobby Flay has been cast on season 16 of Dancing With The Stars, alongside Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman and Sean Lowe from The Bachelor. Hollywood Life notes that while the official announcement won't be made until next week, they've shaken down a "source close to the show" who adds that 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is on the fence, but may also suit up. Cue the music. Update: Zagat finds out Flay is open to the idea, but hasn't signed on for the show. "My wife told me that she would divorce me if I did it," he says. [HL, Earlier]

Is Tabasco Launching Its Own Version of Sriracha?

By Hugh Merwin

You know he ain't gonna die.Photo: Amazon

Is Huy Fong's rooster sauce, better know to the world (Bart Simpson included) as Sriracha sauce, flying too close to the sun? Consider the advent of Sriracha chocolate bars, potato chips, and the sauce's role in a not-so-secret Subway sandwich condiment. Businessweek takes a look at the company's modest 68-year-old founder David Tran, a Vietnam native who, back in 1979, hopped on a Boston-bound freighter named the Huy Fong, and within a year had launched one of the unlikeliest, not to mention coolest food success stories ever.

Under development. »

Watch Elon Musk Recount Sending Cheese to Outer Space

By Caroline Shin
Watch Video

The inventor of SpaceX and co-founder of Tesla Motors and PayPal stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live last night and chatted about how he and his Dragon spacecraft crew sent a wheel of cheese to space as a test. It was the largest wheel of Gruyère cheese he could find at a Beverley Hills cheese shop. And no, he didn't taste-test it when it came back. So much for a $100 million pasteurization process.

Funky. »

First Look at Willow Road’s Lunchtime Sandwiches

By Sierra Tishgart

Grilled chicken breast sandwich with avocado, romaine, and ginger-apricot aioli.Photo: Melissa Hom

Today, the Chelsea restaurant's opening for daytime meals, offering a good alternative to the nearby meatpacking district's all-you-can-puke brunch parties. Willow Road's serving lunch from Monday to Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and brunch from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m on weekends. The lunch menu includes healthy fare like the Twenty Greens salads, in which you can add gourmet "toss-ins" such as comté cheese and puffed wild rice (optional extras for any soup or salad). Over in the sandwich section, you'll find exotic varieties like a sea bass po' boy, French dip, and spiced lamb burger. For brunch, Willow's focusing on hangover-numbing classics: brioche French toast and cast-iron-baked eggs with chorizo. Check out the menus and some more sandwiches, straight ahead.

Be prepared to crave roast beef. »

Lindsay Lohan Flirts at Goldbar; Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon Hit Cipriani

By Lauren Duca

Lindsay got her freak on at Goldbar.Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

Actresses, athletes, and pseudo-celebrities alike visited familiar hot spots this week; the star-studded Cipriani Downtown and Del Posto both sat relevant clientele. Lindsay Lohan stumbled out and graced Goldbar with delightful PDA, while Katie Holmes and Suri frolicked through the Upper West once again, stopping for ice cream at Sugar and Plumm. This, and more, in our weekly roundup of celebrity dining.

Read more »

Here’s the Long Island Iced Tea’s High-Proof Origin Story

By Hugh Merwin
Watch Video

Though some Islanders dispute the official account, Bob "Rosebud" Butt invented the Long Island Iced Tea — that mysterious farrago of high-proof spirits, triple sec, and a splash of Coke — back at the Oak Beach Inn East in the early seventies. (If you want to delve into the freighted mythology of the O.B.I. in general, pull up a chair and pore through some recollections here.) In any case, the cocktail is now poured with gusto at bars from Phuket to Reykjavik and has bombed hundreds of thousands of people out of their minds for almost a half-century. Here's Rosebud, who even has a "LI ICE T" vanity license plate, to tell the story himself. For PBS, no less.

"Some vodka, some gin, some tequila ... " »

NY1’s Jamie Shupak Survives Her (Very) Early Mornings With No Caffeine and Lots of Shakes

By Sierra Tishgart

"As soon as I got home, I put carrots in the oven to roast."Photo: Melissa Hom

Before you've even rolled out of bed, NY1 traffic reporter Jamie Shupak has already completed the bulk of her work for the day. Her morning news job calls for a 3:26 a.m. wake-up time, and by noon, it's a wrap. So how does one maintain a sense of normalcy with such a crazy work schedule? Jamie finds time to spin, cook for her boyfriend (the Times' Brian Stelter), throw dinner parties, and, of course, power nap. She's recently started her own food blog, too. "I never want to come off like I’m a professional or I have any real idea what I’m doing," she says. "But I can follow a recipe and I like good, healthy food." Health is important to Jamie; both her rheumatoid arthritis and her regimented schedule pose food limitations, but that doesn't stop her from enjoying meals at Marea and Red Rooster. Read on for Il Buco Alimentari octopus, Goop-endorsed shakes, and Trader Joe's salsa in this week's New York Diet.

"If I spill something, I'm screwed." »

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