City Backs Down on Calorie-Info Law; Gordon Ramsay Accused of TV FakeryThe city, stared down by the adamant opposition of big restaurant chains, has pushed back implementation of its calorie-info law for three months. [NYP]
The former manager of Dillons, the midtown restaurant to be “rescued” by Gordon Ramsay on his new show, is suing the chef, claiming the program was “a prime example of fake TV” with planted customers, rotten meat put out for dramatic effect, and worse. [NYP]
The city’s best hamburgers are all the product of one great butcher, Pat LaFrieda, whose custom grinds, though secret, are geared to each restaurant’s cooking methods. [Men’s Vogue]
Back of the House
Unspeakable Images of Bottino’s Kitchen Are Now Burned in Our BrainsThere are few sites that entertain us more than Shameless Restaurants, where anonymous industry toilers rant about their current or former employers. However when we ran across this post on Bottino, a restaurant we like, we weren’t so much entertained as grossed out and skeptical. If you have a good appetite right now, you may want to hold off reading this screed from a former waiter.
Openings
Bivio, Bottino, and Now Bovino: A Wine Bar to Make the West Village GladThe recent closing of Bivio, the laid-back West Village Italian spot, seemed that much more unjust with all the gaudy new clubs opening in the area. But now comes word that Bivio and Bottino impresario Danny Emerman and Glass owner Anthony Briatico are opening a new wine bar — confusingly, or perhaps conveniently, named Bovino. Construction starts in two weeks at 306 West 13th Street, a block and a half from the old Bivio space. This will be a simple wine bar, with Bottino chef Alessandro Prosperi overseeing a menu of cold antipasti and salumi as well as a selection of Italian, Spanish, and Argentine wines. They expect to open at the end of this year or the beginning of next.
