Essex Street Market Welcomes New Truffles, Old ButtercrunchButtercrunch goddess Roni-Sue Kave, whom you may also remember as Fatty Crab chef Corwin Kave’s mom, is about to open her own candy store on the Lower East Side. And, as you might expect from a woman of Kave’s caliber, the candy she is fixing to sell there sounds beyond your standard sweet shop. “I made basic candy first, but then I think of ways to make it more interesting — more complex, more levels, more going on.”
NewsFeed
Fatty Crab Chef’s Mom Makes Fatty Chocolate
Fatty Crab chef Corwin Kave is living our childhood fantasy: His mom owns a candy store. Roni-Sue Kave first introduced diners to her buttercrunch at Borough Food & Drink through the good offices of Zak Pelaccio, the restaurant’s consulting chef. It was first sold at the retail counter, but now demand has put it on the menu. Kave’s store at the Essex Street Market will stock her even better fruit-flavored chocolate truffles. We had a little tasting here at the Grub Street offices, and each one was better than the last. There is none of the disgusting, cloying sweetness or gag-inducing cream innards you find in most fruit-filled chocolates. These taste like actual fruit (strawberry-rhubarb, mango) with a dark-chocolate oomph. Does Corwin have a sister? With food this good running in the family, we’ll marry her sight unseen.
In the Magazine
Slipping Into Summer via Beer, Barbecue, and Gardens
With July 4 behind us and a heat wave upon us, the magazine kicks into full summer mode this week. Adam Platt sips rosé in the garden room of the retooled Provence, the Insatiable Critic goes for gazpacho julienne at Park Avenue Summer, and the Robs introduce us to a trio of brand-new summer spots — a barbecue joint, a fish restaurant, and a beer bar — along with the offerings of the new Essex Street Market. Also, there’s news of a pizza boomlet — because some food is season-proof.
Neighborhood Watch
Shopsin’s Arrives At Last in Its New Lower East Side BerthChelsea: Richie Akiva and Scott Sartiano will not utilize the old Plaid space for their next club; 1OAK (One of a Kind) is now set for 17th between Ninth and Tenth. [Down by the Hipster] Klee Brasserie will give out its new peach sangria for free this Sunday to mark Gay Pride Day. [NYS]
Lower East Side: Shopsin’s finally open in the Essex Street Market. [Eater]
Midwood: DiFara open tomorrow? No, but “maybe Friday.” [Lost City]
Upper East Side: Owners of recently departed Jovia will give the townhouse space a more casual feel with a name and menu reminiscent of the owners’ Soho restaurant, Zoë. [NYT]
West Village: Jefferson Market has the single-origin-chocolate ice creams from Choctál newly imported from California. [NYT]
NewsFeed
Shopsin’s Opening Announced (Kind Of)Kenny Shopsin sent us one of his typically terse missives last night, consisting entirely of the email subject line: “2-3 weeks.” For those not following the endless Shopsin saga, the gray-locked, foul-mouthed grill man has been readying his stall in the Essex Street Market for months and teasing the media with visual messages. This is the best one yet.
In the Magazine
What Do Paradou Marché and Kenny Shopsin Have in Common?
Paradou Marché, the Lower East Side spinoff of meatpacking standby Paradou, is up and running at the Essex Street Market, Rob and Robin report in this week’s Openings. Given how small a space they have to work with, it’s impressive that they are able to carry over not only the pressed sandwiches the original is so well known for, but also some heavy-duty French standards, like cassoulet and short ribs bourguignonne. Between these sandwiches and the ones that will be rolling out of Kenny Shopsin’s stall when it finally opens, the Essex Street Market is going to be one of our go-to destinations for fast food.
Openings: FR.OG, Suba, Móle, and Paradou Marché. [NYM]
Paradou Marché Menu
Neighborhood Watch
Aquavit Releases New Menus in Midtown EastEast Village: Stand offers ice cream and liquor? Yes, please. [NYP]
Flatiron: A ‘wichcraft has popped up on 20th Street and Broadway. [Grub Street]
Fort Greene: June has been closed by the Department of Health; the presence of mice less surprising than the low turnouts for their tasty enough fare. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Kensington: Newbie residents get scolded for desiring cafés and restaurants, which disturb the peace and wreak havoc, as in Park Slope. [Brooklyn Record]
Lower East Side: Tonic is closed; you may have missed Friday’s last gig. [NewYorkology] But Shopsin’s is about to open in the Essex Street Market. [Eater]
Midtown East: Aquavit has new menus, lots of new menus. [Grub Street]
Nolita: InTent has closed after only ten months. Remember? That was Payard’s downtown sibling? No? [Eater]
NewsFeed
A Taste of Kenny ShopsinKenny Shopsin, the profane prince of the New York short-order world, is back cooking again. As Eater reported yesterday, Anne Saxelby of Saxelby Cheesemonger is collaborating with the gray-maned curmudgeon on egg-and-cheese sandwiches at Essex Street Market, and we just had to try one. Kenny’s stand — which will, like his online novelty business, be called Shopsin’s General Store — isn’t open yet. You order the sandwich from Saxelby, and Anne disappears behind a red door, where Kenny is cooking away. We got a few mouthfuls of sandwich, and then earfuls of curses from the man himself.
Lohan’s Mom Defiles Kobe Club; Brooklyn Goat Escapes SlaughterhouseKenny Shopsin still a long way from opening at Essex Market. [Eater]
Lindsay Lohan’s mom gets tableside service, of a very special kind, at Kobe Club. [Page Six]
Goat found wandering around Brooklyn, apparently after escaping a slaughterhouse. [Brooklyn Vegan]
Crobar and Sol are back in business. [WINS]
Soy making kids gay, Christian pundit claims. [WorldNet]
Back of the House
Epicurean Gentrification; New Orleans Fights Back; Kids Equal Liquor LicenseEssex Street Market not just for obscure South American root vegetables anymore: “Epicurean gentrification” under way. [NYT]
Fire-struck Medina reopening after a year and a half; London sushi chain to land in financial district. [NYT]
$4.25 mil gets you Hamptons hot spot Star Room. [NYP]
Alan Richman now No. 1 on New Orleans shit list: “I’d like to throw him in the back room at Tipitina’s with all the Neville brothers and see if he still thinks Creoles don’t exist.” [NYT]
Related: Richman Kicks New Orleans While It’s Down
Grey Dog Coffee plays the kid card to clinch liquor license for new location. [Gothamist]
Caterer Marcey Brownstein opens up a place in Chelsea; possibly the only time you’ll see muffulettas and edamame on the same menu. [Strong Buzz]
The Underground Gourmet
Outrageously Simple, Extravagantly Expensive, and Totally Worth-It Sandwich
Although the Underground Gourmet makes it a practice never to go grocery shopping when beset by a ravenous, goatlike hunger — lest he return home with a king-size bag of Screaming Yellow Zonkers and some Geno’s pizza rolls — whenever he’s starved for a good sandwich, he ambles over to his friendly neighborhood imported-foods or cheese shop. Some of the best places to get a good sandwich in this town, after all, are where you wouldn’t necessarily expect to find one.
