Danny Meyer Has One Last Feast at FlorentHis restaurants range from Eleven Madison Park to Shake Shack, and his diet ranges from pâté de campagne to protein shakes.
Shake Shack Coming to Upper West Side, Plus More Shake Shack News“Page Six” drops a bombshell on us today, with the news that a new Shake Shack is coming to the Upper West Side: “Danny Meyer just signed a lease to open its first branch at 366 Columbus Ave. (at 77th Street), which formerly housed Cajun eatery Jacques-Imo’s NYC.” The new venue is enclosed, so you can wait in line in relative comfort. Meanwhile, also on the Shake Shack front, we hear that there will be not just one (as we reported previously) but two Shake Shacks at Citi Field. And not only those outposts, but also a more formal, Union Square Cafe–style restaurant. Danny Meyer hinted at at least one Citi Field location recently, but this is enticing news indeed.
West Side Shake [NYP]
Earlier: Danny Meyer Finds Manhattan Prohibitive, But a Shake Shack in a Sports Stadium? That He Could See
NewsFeed
Danny Meyer Finds Manhattan Prohibitive, But a Shake Shack in a Sports Stadium?Considering that only banks can afford to rent ground-floor spaces in Manhattan these days, Danny Meyer has a bold suggestion: the waterfront! Discussing the future of public life with New Yorker architecture critic Paul Goldberger at a forum of the Design Trust for Public Space, Meyer noted that rent pressures had grown absurd in the island’s heart. (Starting rent for Union Square Café in 1985: $8 per square foot. Asking rent for the Zen Palate space on Park Avenue South: $300 per square foot.) His solution? “We have all these appendages to Manhattan called piers, and if the city took the opportunity to rent those spaces only to small businesses, that would be a vigorous signal,” he said. Meyer said he’d learned that restaurants must echo their surroundings, which we realize means a new Union Square operation would have to carry themes from Whole Foods and Max Brenner. “If we ever do another Shake Shack, we’d want it to look like where it is. The fascination of doing something in a sports stadium jazzes me.” Oh, yeah? Citi Field is looking better and better. —Alec Appelbaum
Related: Hark! New Shake Shack to Open at Shea Stadium
NewsFeed
Esca’s Pasternack to Pitch Fish-and-Chips at Citi Field
We’re not Mets fans or anything, but Gael Greene’s (Web-only!) scoop that David Pasternack of Esca was planning a Fish Shack for Citi Field has really got us in a Flushing frame of mind. Pasternack told us the new Fish Shack would feature “simple stuff” like fish-and-chips, fried clam sandwiches, and lobster rolls. As at other Citi Field concessions, you’ll be able to see the game while you wait. So what makes Pasternack’s menu special? “I don’t know yet,” the chef told us. “But it’s going to be really good.” Pasternack also hears that there will be a Shake Shack at Citi Field, the same rumor we told you about in August. Is this going to be the greatest stadium food court ever or what?
Related: Hark! New Shake Shack to Open at Shea Stadium
Mediavore
Esca Chef to Work for Mets; Bourdain Back on Food NetworkEsca chef David Pasternack will be right at home in the new Mets stadium come 2010, running a place called the Fish Shack. [Insatiable Critic]
Related: Hark! New Shake Shack to Open at Shea Stadium
Kim Severson just ruined our breakfast with a look at PETA’s “Got Pus?” campaign and the question of whether or not milk contains pus. Let’s all share the nausea, shall we? [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
A Brooklyn pizza maker accused of gunning down a mobster was acquitted yesterday, but the case still reinforces those old mafia-in-cahoots-with-Italian-joints stereotypes. [NYDN]
Neighborhood Watch
Crispy Pig’s Ears Land at Spotted PigClinton Hill: Bittersweet has tasty coffee and Balthazar pastries, but there’s no guarantee you’ll pass Keri Russell while you’re there. [Clinton Hill Blog]
East Village: Gemma to diners: no I.D., no liquor. [Down by the Hipster]
Flushing: Aramark denies that Shake Shack is in the works for Citi Field. [Food Writer’s Diary] We stand by our story.
Upper East Side: Greek diner Gardenia Cafe has been open since 1977, but the lure of real-estate cash-money has finally led its owners to close. [NYT]
West Village: Crispy Pig’s Ears! Blueberry & Banana French Toast with Crème Fraîche! We have Spotted Pig’s new menus. [Grub Street]
Williamsburg: Kitchen Delight on North 8th Street offers the standard burgers and fries alongside a questionable menu item: “Lap Dances.” [Newyorkshitty]
NewsFeed
Hark! New Shake Shack to Open at Shea StadiumThe greatest hamburger mystery of our time has been solved: We have it from a high-level source near the situation that the location of the long-awaited sequel to Shake Shack is Citi Field, better known as the new Shea Stadium. (Citi Field is currently under construction; it will be finished in April 2009, in time for opening day.) And that most definitely is not all: The Union Square Hospitality Group also plans a Danny Meyer sit-down restaurant there. (We’re waiting to hear back from Meyer on both of these reports.) As for the new Shake Shack, well, if you thought ball games resulted in long lines to the bathroom …
Update, August 10: Danny Meyer conveyed the following message to us yesterday evening: “We think it’s a great idea and would love to do it. If you can help us figure out how to make that deal happen, Shack burgers are on the house!” Awesome. Since nowhere in the statement do we see the words “the report is 100 percent untrue” or “there will not be a Shake Shack at Citi Field,” we’re looking forward to some potato-bun frolics on Opening Day.
