Sun Sets on LunettaThe Manhattan outpost of Adam Shephard’s La Lunetta was hopping at first, but apparently couldn’t hack it.
ByDaniel Maurer
Neighborhood Watch
Reubens Are Totally Like Corned Beef and Cabbage, and You Can Find Them at LotsAstoria: Martha’s Country Bakery on Ditmars frosts its cupcakes wedding-cake-style (with fondant icing), and they’re open until 1 a.m. on weekends. [NewYorkology]
A restaurant called Cellar 34 has opened at 34-02 Broadway, and the New Orleans–bred chef is adding Cajun and creole accents to some of the basic dishes. [Joey in Astoria]
Boerum Hill: Lunetta is just one restaurant participating in Dine-In Brooklyn (March 24–31), when restaurants will offer three-course meals for $23. [Zagat Buzz]
Brooklyn Heights: Seventy-two-year-old restaurant Armando’s will close after Sunday dinner. [Eater]
Midtown East: If a Reuben is as close as you want to get to corned beef and cabbage on Monday, you can find a good one at Patrick Conway’s on East 43rd Street. [Gridskipper]
Midwood: This photomontage follows the making of a Di Fara pie; though Domenico’s secret weapon might be revealed by the article’s last line: “And then he’s off to the back room for a shot of grappa (I think that’s what it was), and it’s back to making pies.” [Epi-Log/Epicurious]
Neighborhood Watch
Litchi Brownies Turn Up in Gramercy; Cassoulet and Cornmeal Cake in TribecaBoerum Hill: The ricotta that Lunetta sous-chef Betsy Devine makes with help from Rachel Mark from Hudson Valley Fresh milk would make for a great locavore cannoli. [Gothamist]
Gramercy: Amai Tea and Bakehouse (and its dessert blogger owner, Kelli Bernard) makes a mean litchi brownie. [NewYorkology]
Midtown West: Pure Food and Wine’s Matthew Kenney has transcended “‘tastes good for healthy food’ expectations” at his fast-food organic restaurant, Free Foods NYC, which is “like a Vermont country store” on West 45th Street. [Restaurant Girl]
Tribeca: Cercle Rouge is adding cassoulet, potatoes cooked in duck fat with garlic and porcini mushrooms, cornmeal-orange blossom cake, and other dishes from their chef’s native Toulouse from March 3 to 9. [Grub Street]
Spot Check
Full Houses at Gottino and El Quinto Pino, Room to Spare at Bar BlancLast time we ran a Spot Check, we dropped in on several newly opened East Village restaurants between the hours of 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. to take head counts (though in the case of Cantina, there were no heads to be counted). This Saturday we threw some love to the West Side and repeated the procedure with six new establishments in the West Village and Chelsea.
Neighborhood Watch
A Sausage-Fest Welcome in Chelsea; Gramercy Tavern RecipesChelsea: On January 15–20, Trestle on Tenth will begin its own yearly tradition of Metzgete, a Swiss winter celebration of sausage, choucroute, and wine. [Trestle on Tenth]
Flatiron: Adam Shepard hasn’t yet been able to clone the success of his Boerum Hill original at Lunetta, in the old Mayrose space, but Frank Bruni thinks he’s capable of making the necessary adjustments. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
Gramercy: Gramercy Tavern’s Michael Anthony provided this recipe for East Coast blackfish over spaghetti squash, but we have his recipe for fork-crushed purple majesty potatoes in our database. [Restaurant Girl]
Hells Kitchen: How is this world going to stop mispronouncing chipotle as “chi-POLE-tay” if restaurants like Kevin St. James on Eighth Avenue can’t even spell it right? [East Village Idiot]
Midtown West: Our In-box submission claiming there are prostitutes at Maze has inspired a call for the best restaurants that attract good ol’ traditional gold diggers. [Bottomless Dish/Citysearch]
Upper East Side: Agata & Valentina Ristorante has permanently closed, but the original gourmet shop is still lively. [Eater]
The Other Critics
Barbuto Saved by a Chicken; Fiamma Comes Up ShortThe wildly uneven Barbuto earns a single star from Frank Bruni, almost entirely on the strength of a well-roasted Bell & Evans chicken. To quote Winston Churchill, “Some chicken!” [NYT]
Alan Richman was appalled by how small the portions were at Grayz, how much they cost, and how shady most of them were, except for the magnificent, world-beating short rib: “In complexity and satisfaction, this dish reminded me most of the Gray Kunz of Lespinasse, the chef we miss so much.” [Bloomberg]
Randall Lane gets that Fiamma’s Fabio Trachocchi is cooking in a grand, Continental style and doesn’t hold that against him, but the food is too rich and the service too sloppy to give him the five or six stars the place would have liked And so they have to settle for four. [TONY]
Back of the House
Chefs Aren’t Giving One Another Any Holiday ComplimentsWith Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, there’s no shortage of holiday-related content out there (and yes, we’re guilty as charged). Over on Metromix, there’s an interesting little survey of local chefs on all matters Thanksgiving, complete with tales of turkey disasters and tips for your leftovers. But we couldn’t help but notice that when the culinary talents were asked what chef they would hire to prepare their Thanksgiving dinner, there was a distinct air of self-preservation among some:
Adam Shepard, Lunetta: “I suppose this would be a good place to talk about someone I admire, but I don’t think I would hire anybody. You cook Thanksgiving dinner yourself.”
Andy D’Amico, Nice Matin and Mizza: “You want me to out somebody? I can’t do that.”
David Shea, Applewood: “Myself.”
To be fair, not all the chefs had a turkey-superiority complex. John Schaefer of Irving Mill would give the honors to his father-in-law, and if Park Avenue Autumn’s Alex Kaketsu had to pick someone, he’d opt for Pierre Gagnaire. But your father-in-law or a Parisian legend aren’t really local competition, either.
Thankful Thoughts [Metromix NY]
Mediavore
New Momofuku(s) Opening Next Week; Meryl Streep to Play Julia ChildMomofuku Noodle Bar 2.0 is set to open Tuesday, which by David Chang’s accounts should mean Ko will be raised in one night and ready by Wednesday in the original’s former space. [Eater]
Related: Keeping Up With the Momofukus
Food & Wine questions whether Meryl Streep can carry the role of their “Patron Saint” Julia Child, though they have hope from a scene in The Hours in which the actress “deftly separated egg whites from egg yolks by letting the whites run through her fingers.” [Mouthing Off/Food&Wine]
Hudson Valley is the largest foie gras producer in the country so even though 15,000 breeding ducks were killed in a fire this week, it “shouldn’t seriously affect production,” says Frank Bruni. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
In the Magazine
It’s a Haute Barnyard Type of Week in New York
“The doctrine of seasonal correctness is as ingrained in the collective restaurant psyche, these day, as linen napkins, pre-dinner cocktails, and superfluous baskets of bread,” Adam Platt writes in his review of Park Avenue Autumn, and who are we to argue? The combined efforts of Platt, the Robs, and Gael Greene all point to the triumph of the seasonal aesthetic. But that’s not to say they aren’t fun. Platt gives two stars to Park Avenue Autumn, Gael seems fairly pleased with Irving Mill, and the Robs introduce three restaurants (Lunetta, Bacaro, and Smith’s) that are all about fresh ingredients, as well as a recipe for Bosc pears that is, of course, in season. Meanwhile, back at the Greenmarket, a long-overdue crusade against plastic bags is at work. And, though not an expression of the Haute Barnyard mystique, it’s very much a sign of the times: PDT has named a hot dog for David Chang — proof that the Original Soupman has made it to the big time at last.
The Other Critics
Raves for Picholine and Porter House New York; Everybody Else Damned With FaintBruni has his birthday party at “reinvigorated” Picholine and, to the tune of three stars, declares it “arguably the nicest restaurant surprise of this disappointing season.” [NYT]
Meehan has mixed feelings about Lunetta but concedes: “Mr. Shepard can cook.” [NYT]
Alan Richman goes slumming at the Port Authority Bus Terminal and finds signs of promise at best. “Metro Marche is not a great restaurant. Unless Escoffier takes over the kitchen, it will never be a fashionable one. It could become quite respectable, though.” [Bloomberg]
