David Waltuck on Cooking in Tribeca for 30 Years; Clover Club Coming to CarrollCarroll Gardens: The Clover Club — the Smith Street cocktail spot from the Flatiron Lounge people have a sign up. Getting close! [Off the Presses]
Gramercy: Shockingly, for some cooked-food enthusiasts, “some of Pure’s dishes, and not just obvious things like salad, are downright delicious.” [Mouthing Off/Food & Wine]
Greenwich Village: Somebody told somebody that a bartender at a new bar told him that Keith McNally may have put a $1 million bid on Minetta Tavern. [Eater]
Hell’s Kitchen: Video of Dave Martin concocting a special Valentine’s Day gelato to serve at Crave. [Snack]
Tribeca: David Waltuck “first got behind the stove [at Chanterelle] — and set the restaurant on its path to becoming one of the city’s most cherished — before he was 25 years old. He’s now 53.” And ready for a Q&A with Frank Bruni. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
West Village: Grom is totally coming to Bleecker Street, and they’re accepting applications now for a March opening. [Eat for Victory/VV] Was Beatrice Inn raided and shut down last night? [Down by the Hipster]
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Balducci’s Ruins Hanukkah; Dave Martin Can Paint, TooBalducci’s made a big mistake by advertising boneless spiral ham as “Delicious for Chaunkah.” [NYDN]
Contradicting his colleague, Frank Bruni defends the entrée, arguing that a “too-long sequence or too-broad collection of too-small plates is like being tickled and tickled and never flat-out hugged.” [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
Le Bernardin’s James Beard–award–winning pastry chef enjoys a nice Snickers bar with almonds at the end of the day. [Restaurant Girl]
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Gordo Blog Better Than the Real Thing; Water Trend More RidiculousA true innovator has started a mock Gordon Ramsay blog with such posts as “What? Emeril’s boobs aren’t nice enough?” But when will someone step in to fill in the gaps at Chodoblog? [News Groper via Serious Eats]
Related: Food Network, Emeril No Longer Feeling the Love
No holiday parties at Chumley’s this year; according to the owner Steve Shlopak, the space has no ceiling and no floor. [NYO]
Even after a top-chef shuffle and “showdown between Fiamma, L’Impero and Alto … all three places have come through recent turmoil, and the good news is that they’re better than they were before,” says Steve Cuozzo. [NYP]
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‘Top Chef’ Bitch Opens Restaurant; Gordo Looking for VictimsFormer Top Chef contestant Dave “don’t call me a bitch, bitch” Martin (Season One) has opened his own restaurant on West 42nd Street called Crave, and he’s serving comfort food. [Zagat]
Hakata Tonton is bringing its love of pig’s feet to the West Village — even dessert has the collagen-packed delicacy. [Eat for Victory/VV]
Alain Ducasse’s wine bar Adour at the St. Regis Hotel is set to open in January. [Decanter]
Related: Essex House and St. Regis Restaurants: Maybe Next Year!
Grape Nuts [NYM]
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Marco Pierre White Sets Himself on Fire With Flaming CocktailJust another night at the Spotted Pig: Marco Pierre White, trying to demonstrate a flaming cocktail to Mario Batali, Tony Bourdain, and friends, sets himself on fire, gets doused with wine and Champagne, and stabbed in the hand. [NYP]
Related: Batali, Bourdain, and Ramsay Mentor to Finally Take on America? [Grub Street]
There are so many high-end restaurants looking for good ingredients that the world will literally run out of them, a world-famous Australian chef claims. [Australian News]
Utterly dependent as it is on illegal workers, the restaurant industry is lobbying hard against the new immigration bill in Congress. [Nation’s Restaurant News]
NewsFeed
Lola Scores Liquor License, Teary-Eyed ‘Top Chef’The path to serving booze downtown is especially tricky these days — even for a restaurant, like Lola, with a long, respected track record. The haute southern favorite was sitting pretty for almost two decades on 22nd Street, with two stars from the Times and a loyal clientele, but the usual cadre of community activists opposed granting the place a liquor license when the owners found a new space in Soho. Two years later, they’ve won the right to pour freely. The new Lola will open in early February with emotional Top Chef season-one finalist (and breakout star) Dave Martin as its chef. It remains to be seen whether Martin will collapse into one of his trademark breakdowns; perhaps Top Chef fans can request one when they make reservations.
Lola, 15 Watts St., nr. Thompson St.; 212-675-6700.
