Momofuku Ko Hoping to Open in Two Weeks; No Malice Palace PrevailsDuring last night’s CB3 meeting, partner Andrew Salmon would reveal only that Momofuku Ko will hit capacity at fourteen, with no waiters and with fixed menus changing daily. “You sit directly across from the cook,” Salmon told the board. He kept the “vaguely Asian” food quiet, conceding only that it would include “all local ingredients … all sustainable development.” Unfortunately, he didn’t take the time to make sure a petition was including in the application, so no motion could be passed. Projected opening date: two weeks’ time!
Celebrity Settings
Kobe Dines on Kobe at Kobe; Nobu Gives Manning a Standing OFashion Week brought the usual celebrity infestation to town last week for glitzy after-parties, but we’ve already covered those. The real question is, where did the “normals” catch a bite? And of course by normals we mean billionaires, Nobel Prize winners, and Super Bowl champs, all of whom made the scene this week.
NewsFeed
What a Difference a DOH Closing Makes: Bubby’s and Serendipity AreWith the rat-infested Taco Bell on Sixth Avenue becoming a T-Mobile store, it’s only right to remind ourselves that a high-profile DOH closing isn’t necessarily the kiss of death. The department recently returned to Bubby’s and gave it a respectable score of six and gave Serendipity 3 an even closer to perfect score of four. Apparently the only thing infesting the places at present is celebrities — we’ve heard that Hilary Swank, Robert De Niro, Susan Sarandon, James Gandolfini, Lou Reed, and Val Kilmer have all stopped into Bubby’s in the past couple of days. Hey, if it’s good enough for them…
Update: The Box, at one point the city’s most demerited restaurant, has also cleaned up its act with a recent score of just seven. How very conformist!
Restaurant Inspection Information: Bubby’s
Restaurant Inspection Information: Serendipity
Earlier: Bubby’s DOH Report: Closed Due to Biblical Swarm of Rats and Roaches
Serendipity 3 to Bounce Back by The Weekend
Celebrity Settings
Tom and Gisele Lock Lips at Nobu, ‘Full House’ Cast and the B-52sEarlier this week we linked to a Daily News item claiming Padma Lakshmi rudely refused complimentary dishes from Fiamma’s chef. A commenter wrote, “I was at Fiamma the night Padma was dining there and it absolutely did NOT go down that way. When the dishes arrived at the table, she thanked them profusely and apologized for being too full to eat any of them!” Whatever happened, Padma was just one of many celebs to chow down (or at least show up) at local restaurants this week, and here’s our gossip-column compendium of just who went where.
NewsFeed
Bubby’s in the Hands of Mystery Blogger Gwen ButlerGwen Butler, the anonymous blogger we unmasked as the creator of Sympathy for the Restaurant Industry, never officially confirmed that she was the Boston bartender who got $2.75 million from a random patron to open (unsuccessfully, it turned out) her own restaurant. And she would never tell us exactly what she was doing in New York, either. (It was obviously something, since she stopped updating the blog back in September.) But now we know she’s the director of operations for Ron Silver’s restaurant group, including Bubby’s, recently reopened after a DOH closure. Will Butler be able to turn the place around and fight off all those roaches? It’s a cliffhanger worthy of an Internet roman à clef!
Related: Is Our Mystery Roman à Clef Writer the $2.45 Million Boston Bartender?
Bubby’s DOH Report: Closed Thanks to Biblical Swarm of Roaches
NewsFeed
Bubby’s DOH Report: Closed Thanks to Biblical Swarm of RoachesWhat is it with cockroaches that DOH inspectors always seem to spot them in multiples of 100? First Serendipity is shuttered partially for hosting over 100 live cockroaches, and now we get the official word about Bubby’s: Inspectors spotted no less than 200 live cockroaches in four areas, fly infestations in four areas, bare hand contact with ready-to-eat food (does the place serve Corona?), and a multitude of infestation-causing conditions like standing water. Well! We’re not even going to get into how inspectors can accurately count “over 200 live cockroaches,” but if your restaurant is going to go out infested, you might as well go hard.
The DOH’s official statement follows:
NewsFeed
Bubby’s Closed: Rats and Roaches Just Weeks AgoWhile we’re still waiting to hear the final vermin count on Bubby’s, the beloved Tribeca joint that the DOH unceremoniously shut down this morning, owner Ron Silver has appeared in Eater’s comments, revealing that the final, fatal inspection was due to a neighborhood complaint; he also calls bullshit on something regarding an open-can count. Right, right — there are always these nitpicky problems. But was there something more? We decided to take a look at their last inspection, which was October 25, wherein they racked up an impressive 43 violation points. We can’t say how many of the previous wrongs have since been righted, but we hope they had at least cleaned up that roach problem in the past few weeks.
NewsFeed
Breaking: Bubby’s Closed by DOHTribeca’s comfort-food haven Bubby’s has been closed by the Department of Health, or so sayeth Eater. No additional intel yet, but let’s take a moment of silence so that we might pray that the details aren’t half as disturbing as those behind yesterday’s Serendipity 3 closure. In related news, all of your favorite restaurants are vermin-laden cesspools, and you’ll never be able to eat anywhere good again.
Earlier: Breaking: Serendipity 3 Closed by DOH
Mediavore
Goldfarb Will Make Your Saturday; 1OAK Might Open SomedaySome desserts you’ll be able to try when Will Goldfarb starts serving at the new Dessert Studio at Michel Cluizel this Saturday include “white chocolate gelato drizzled with olive oil; Indonesian vanilla ice cream with American caviar; and chocolate-hazelnut cake with apricots and brown sugar ice.” Okay, we need to take a cold shower. [NYT]
Related: Cluizel, Goldfarb to Join Forces in Dessert Pact
1OAK really is close to opening, maybe two or three weeks according to one random construction worker — or is that four to six weeks? [Imbible/Citysearch]
Related: Until 1OAK Opens, Look for Richie Akiva at Scores
New French wine bar Solex is shaping up to be in competition with Momofuku 2.0 for late-night chef hangout. [Mouthing Off/Food&Wine]
Neighborhood Watch
Calling All Casseroles; Jonathan Waxman to Cook Southern on the UWSGreenpoint: Casserole fanatic turned cookbook author Emily Farris is hosting a cook-off at Brooklyn Label on October 16. Register now! [Brooklyn Based]
Midtown East: The Tao formula should fit right in on Lincoln Road in South Beach. [Down by the Hipster]
Tribeca: Bubby’s owner Ron Silver is finally giving up his pie recipes in a cookbook out this month. [NYS]
Upper West Side: Barbuto chef-partner Jonathan Waxman turns to southern fare this fall when he opens Madaleine Mae on Columbus Avenue at 82nd Street. [NYT]
West Village: In comparing Bay Area restaurant trends to those in New York, critic Michael Bauer concedes: Blue Hill chef Dan Barber “does Chez Panisse one better by growing most of the food at his farm in Hudson Valley.” [Between Meals/San Francisco Chronicle]
Neighborhood Watch
So Much for Eating Year-Round in Union SquareClinton Hill: A brewery on Waverly Avenue hopes to start bottling Kelso beer. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Coney Island: The Slice pizza club convenes on April 15 at Totonno’s. Catch: You have to ride the Cyclone before you chow. [Slice]
Lower East Side: A sneak preview inspires Whole Foods envy: The new one on Houston puts the original Chelsea location in the shade. [Snack]
Prospect Lefferts Gardens: The deli on Washington Avenue is getting renovated; neighbors hope that more than just sugar and water will be for sale. [across the park]
Sheepshead Bay: Grillin’ by the Bay, the city’s only Kansas City Barbecue Society–sanctioned BBQ contest, to be held Saturday. And this year, you’ll actually be able to eat the stuff. [NYDN]
Tribeca: Brunch plans rocked as the Department of Health shutters Kitchenette; also, Bubby’s on its way out. [Eater] Jacques Torres making dark-chocolate-covered peeps for those who didn’t already find them conducive to throwing up in church. [DailyCandy]
Union Square: Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe says there’s no chance of a year-round restaurant when the park’s north end gets overhauled. [Daily Intel]
Upper West Side: Ollie’s Noodle Shop workers take their protest to the next level with a hot-shot lawyer. [Daily Intel]
Williamsburg: A sign spotted earlier this week in the window of Brick Oven Gallery said they would reopen today after renovations — but a disconnected phone seems to tell a different story. [Grub Street]
Neighborhood Watch
Morandi Breaks Out the Breakfast Menu in the West VillageChelsea: Markt your calendars: New location set to open ahead of previous expectations — early this week, in fact. [Eater]
Dumbo: Things not looking so good for Bubby’s Brooklyn: “kids overran the joint.” [Brooklyn Record]
Gramercy: Yow! Gramercy Hotel’s rooftop bar opening soon? [Down by the Hipster]
Tribeca: Robert De Niro’s hotel, which will house an outpost of L.A. hot spot Ago, now has a name. Take note: “It will make the Bowery Hotel look like a Red Roof Inn.” [Down by the Hipster]
West Village: Perhaps trying to deflect attention away from that Times review of Balthazar, Morandi tells us it will roll out breakfast in a couple of weeks. [Grub Street]
