People Apparently Really Like Chocolate
Today’s New York Diet, model Catherine McNeil, told us her one weakness is chocolate. No sign of her outside the Chocolate Show this Sunday, but there were plenty of others in line — over 150 down the block, by our count. Did the massive hype behind this operation pay off? Uh, yes.
Related: Zac Young’s Chocolate Cookie Dress Is Red-Carpet Ready
Foodievents
Zac Young’s Chocolate Cookie Dress Is Red-Carpet Ready
Pastry chef Zac Young of Butter has teamed up with designer Nicole Romano to showcase what they consider their masterpiece: “Bakewear,” a tempting — and totally edible — dress. The fashion statement will make its debut at the 10th Anniversary Chocolate Show tonight, where, among the various demonstrations and tastings, designers will unveil their chocolate-inspired looks. During last night’s pre-show fitting, Young talked about how model Ashley Moss would be sporting the frock — which is made of 600 cookies — on the CBS Early Show come Friday morning: “She’s gonna be outside in the freezing cold with her ta-tas getting all hard, breaking my cookies!”
Neighborhood Watch
Bruni Down With Lunch at Craft; Blue Ribbon to Open This Week in Columbus CircleClinton Hill: A Nigerian restaurant, EN of Africa, is opening on the corner of Cumberland and Lafayette, and there’s relief that it’s not another French spot. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Flatiron: Frank Bruni finds the newly instated lunch at Craft a good, logical fit, in that “Craft doesn’t project the kind of fussiness — on the plate or in terms of décor — that can feel more stilted and constraining at lunch than at dinner.” [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
Hell’s Kitchen: Xai Xai, a new wine bar, has opened up. [Endless Simmer]
Murray Hill/Kips Bay: From November 7 to 10, the Champagne room at Country will be transformed into a bonbon shop where you can pair pastry chef Hsing Chen’s house-made chocolates with specialty cocktails or order a chocolate tasting menu as part of a collaboration with the upcoming Chocolate Show. [Grub Street]
Park Slope: Katina’s seems to have been taken over by super Greek diner Purity and may now be called Little Purity. [Grub Street]
Upper West Side: Blue Ribbon Six Columbus is poised to open this week, and here’s a sneak peak of the interior. [Zagat]
West Village: Mary’s Dairy has closed both of its locations supposedly because the shops weren’t making enough money. Can ice-cream-only stores no longer cut it? Mary’s comes on the heels of Emack & Bolio’s Seventh Avenue closure and Ben & Jerry’s Bleecker Street failure. [Eater]
Williamsburg: Three of the ten-plus restaurants that serve sushi in the nabe made the cut in this Brooklyn raw-fish roundup. [Gridskipper]
Foodievents
Calling All Augustus GloopsChocolate, of course, inspires in some people a kind of cultish devotion: They argue the merits of rival chocolatiers, debate the proper percentage of cocoa in candy, and would rather go dumpster diving than eat a Hershey bar. This is the weekend for them: The ninth annual Chocolate Show begins today at the Metropolitan Pavilion and extends through the weekend; $25 bucks will earn one adult and two tykes admission. Nearly every chocolate-maker worth his golden ticket present, many of whom, such as Francois Payard, Will Goldfarb of Room 4 Dessert, and many others, will be giving culinary demonstrations. And then there are the chocolate cocktails, the “KidZone” with chocolate painting, the spa treatments …
The Ninth Annual Chocolate Show New York 2006
