Eric and Donald Trump Jr. Dine Everywhere From McDonald’s to DubaiAs partners in their father’s business, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. do a lot of dining together — whether they’re talking to clients Stateside about Quattro, their upcoming restaurant in the Trump Soho building, or cutting ribbons in the Middle East as they did this week.
Mediavore
Oak Room Gets New Operators; Illegal Fish Trade GrowsNight Sky Holdings, which formerly operated Windows on the World at the World Trade Center as well as the Rainbow Room, has signed a contract to run the Oak Room and the Oak Bar at the Plaza Hotel. Also, Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s former sous-chef Didier Virot will be helming the kitchen at the hotel’s other eatery, the Palm Court. [NYP]
Sushi chef Hiroshi Nakahara has left New York’s BondSt to run the kitchen at a new outpost in Beverly Hills. [PR Newswire]
Chipotle will be serving 200 million meals using naturally raised meat this year, a 40 percent increase from 2007. [The Grinder/Chow]
NewsFeed
Meatpacking Moguls Remm, Birnbaum, and Rabin on How to Be CoolOur fave waitress Courtney Yates isn’t the only face Belvedere Vodka is using to try to look cool — the company, in association with UrbanDaddy, is running Web interviews with David Rabin, owner of Los Dados and Lotus, and Eugene Remm and Mark Birnbaum, owners of Tenjune. Remm and Birnbaum don’t exactly steer toward the underexposed when asked for their favorite restaurants: BondSt, Nobu, Bar Pitti, Los Dados, Mr. Chow, the Spotted Pig, Pastis, Buddakan, Dos Caminos Soho, Cipriani, Butter, Rose Bar, and Waverly Inn.
Foodievents
Drink Japan Without Leaving Little Italy
Sake has been the next big trend for so long that we’ve been loathe to recognize it now that it’s actually arriving. If, like us, you’re utterly mystified by the stuff (not being able to read the bottle is part of it), check out the Joy of Sake next week. The city’s biggest sake event will hit the Puck Building on Thursday featuring 300 different sakes, at least a third of which aren’t available outside of Japan. The restaurant lineup looks good too: Seventeen restaurants are creating dishes meant to be paired with sake, including wd-50, Sakagura, and 15 East. Tickets are $75 in advance, $90 at the door.
Joy of Sake [Official Site]
Neighborhood Watch
Attention Nolita: BondSt Reopens This MondayChelsea: Cain will settle on 17th Street at Ninth Avenue. [Down by the Hipster]
Dumbo: Bubby’s owner has fired the chef at his Brooklyn outlet and plans to take over the kitchen himself, all in response to blogger dissatisfaction. [Brooklyn Record]
East Village: Avenue B sporting a new awning for Solo Pizza, details not yet known. [Slice]
Long Island City: Court Square wine shop now open, and a café is coming to Vernon at 50th Street, both welcomed gentrification. [LIC NYC]
Midtown East: Chikubu closed; owners back in Japan. [Eater]
Nolita: Bopping back from the burn ward sooner than expected, BondSt will be up and running this coming Monday, we’re told. It’s just in time for the ten-year birthday the sushi restaurant has been planning for the end of the month. [Grub Street]
Prospect Heights: Deli Cup guy beaten so badly last week by customers upset over a lottery loss that his teeth were falling out. Good news: Not only may police have suspects, but Cup is still selling beer. [Daily Heights]
Soho: New York’s oldest diner, Moondance, facing wrecking ball in May, despite pleas for preservation. [Eater]
Upper East Side: The prize for winning Tuesday Trivia night at the Gael Pub is a $50 bar tab, but you have stay all night to finish the game. [The Upper East Side Scene]
Neighborhood Watch
Jim Leff Maps Out Culinary Touchstones in Jackson HeightsBrooklyn Heights: National chain Five Guys Burgers and Fries in construction on Montague Street. [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
Fort Greene: Next Wednesday, Stonehome Wine Bar will host a four-course wine-tasting dinner as a toast to spring. [Brooklyn Record]
Hell’s Kitchen: Grand Sichuan is closed while the outlet tries to regain its lost lease; loyal diners missing the “We would be two—love birds flying wing to wing on high” dish are distraught. [Mouthing Off/Food & Wine]
Jackson Heights: Chowhound founder Jim Leff finally provides a map of the neighborhood’s culinary touchstones. [Chowhound via Gothamist]
Park Slope: An employee spills that D’Agostino will close at the end of April. [Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn] Whole Foods set to open summer 2008 not giving much relief to neighbors still fearing the property is toxic. [Gowanus Lounge]
Prospect-Lefferts-Gardens: New deli on Washington Avenue opens; wide selection of do-rags already turning heads. [across the park]
Mediavore
Restaurant High Trains Chefs of the Future; Les Halles Takes a BeatingWelcome to Food and Finance High, which trains New York’s future chefs and restaurateurs. They diligently study the work of Dave Thomas, the origins of pizza, and read Fast Food Nation in preparation for the job market. [NYT]
Les Halles is taking a beating: They’ve got a Department of Health closure uptown and construction troubles downtown . [NYP]
The Red Hook ball fields, home to one of the city’s greatest gatherings of Central and South American food vendors, may finally see the trucks roll in this Sunday. [Eat for Victory/VV]
Neighborhood Watch
BondSt Sushi Burns; Coffee Shop Closing Averts Bad DateConey Island: Surf Avenue LLC has just purchased nearly 16,000 square feet across from the Cyclone, possibly on which to build a chain restaurant, maintain a parking lot, or create another “Shoot the Freak.” [Gowanus Lounge]
East Elmhurst: La Guardia gets fancy with Michael Navarro’s Deluge. Getting drunk before a flight finally gets a classy gloss. [Gayot]
East Village: Photos of the electrical fire that scorched BondSt sushi at dawn. [Eater] $500,000 in damages predicted. [Gothamist]
Midtown West: Italian, Asian, French, and Latin cuisine coming together at 4Fusion on West 58th Street. We suggest the burger. [Gayot]
Park Slope: Former Oceana chef Jared King no longer involved with Alchemy, but the menu’s holding steady. [Gothamist]
Tribeca: Will a fancy new bus stop at the entrance of Bouley spur the rich people’s interest in public transportation? [Curbed]
Union Square: Coffee Shop’s closing saves pretty waitress from a date with sleazy customer. [NYS]
