Jerry’s Asian Opens Today in Tribeca; Gold-Plated Twinkies in GreenpointThe owner of now-closed Jerry’s opens an Asian restaurant on Chambers Street, a new shop in Greenpoint is selling newfangled twinkies coated in gold, and there’s still non-hyped ramen to be had in the East Village in today’s neighborhood food news.
Back of the House
Huzzah! More Ramen for the East Village!On the theory that you can never have enough ramen bars in the East Village, Ippudo, yet another Japanese import, will open on March 31. According to Andrea Strong, Ippudo will be in “an urban-styled log cabin hut” (um, okay…) and will serve five kinds of ramen, “including their signature Shiromaru Moto-Aji (white-pork-based broth ramen) and Akamaru Shin-Aji (a bolder-flavored red broth seasoned with garlic olive oil and their secret sauce).” Will Ippudo succeed where Momofuku, Setagaya, Minca, and others have also succeeded? Why not? The liquor license and specialty sake cocktails certainly won’t hurt.
This Just In: Ippudo to Open March 31st! [Strong Buzz]
Related: Best of New York: Best Ramen [NYM]
User’s Guide
Reika Yo on Where (and What) to Eat During Japanese Restaurant WeekSharpen your chopsticks: Many of the city’s best Japanese eateries are offering prix fixe meals and signature dishes for Japanese Restaurant Week, which starts Sunday and runs through March 10. (Get the details here.) We asked Reika Yo, the owner of EN Japanese Brasserie, to give a primer, in her own words, for those who think Japanese cuisine begins and ends with sushi (and what’s sashimi again?) and provide picks to go along with it. (The excellent EN Japanese Brasserie, by the way, is an elevated version of an izayaka, where you find many small, rustic dishes.)
The New York Diet
Comedian David Cross Likes His Peanut Butter and Pretzels With a Glass of Wine
When David Cross, whose comedic musings on the senselessness of electric kitchen knives are legendary, gave New York his advice on approaching a celebrity, he admitted, “I’ve always been (and always will be, until I need an operation) a big fan of the free beer.” This week we caught him shortly after a dalliance with the South Beach Diet, which meant (operation be damned) he was free to consume succulent pork fat, three helpings of ramen, what he says is one of the best three pots of chili you’ll ever have, and more than a few pints of beer. Whether or not the latter was purchased for him by one of his fans is unclear.
