It’s Pancake Month — Where to Celebrate; New Fresco FinancialAstoria: Igloo, at 22-26 31st Street, serves brunch, and the fries are “hot and crisp, not soggy at all.” That would describe the ideal fry, no? [Joey in Astoria]
Financial District: A second Fresco on the Go is set to open in May at 10 Hanover Square, only this version will be 8,000 square feet and “combine elements of a retail store, restaurant, and party space.” [Zagat]
Morningside Heights: It’s Pancake Month! And it’s no surprise that some of the best hot cakes in town can be found at Clinton Street’s sister restaurant, Community Food & Juice. [Gridskipper]
Tribeca: The new sommelier at Cercle Rouge, Jorge Riera, comes from the late 360 in Red Hook, and he’s hosting a biodynamic-wine dinner on Monday with Loire Valley winemakers Chateau Tour Grise. [Grub Street]
West Village: Le Gamin has been rechristened the New French now that one of the owners is out and there’s a new chef and a reworked menu. [Bottomless Dish/Citysearch]
Openings
Clinton Street Baking Co.’s Brunch Comes to Columbia: More Exciting ThanUptowners will no longer need to hustle down to the Lower East Side to compete for Clinton St. Baking Co.’s coveted pancakes and waffles — owners DeDe Lahman and her hubby (and exec chef) Neil Kleinberg will be serving them at their new spot, Community Food and Juice, when it opens November 1. The waffles, we warn you, will be seven-grain instead of buttermilk, in keeping with a focus on healthy, organic, locally sourced seasonal ingredients. Kleinberg is training chef de cuisine Manuel Perez, a former sous-chef at Le Bernardin, to turn out homemade matzo-ball soup and scallops with turnip carbonara. There’s also a juice bar so Columbia students hung-over from last night’s party at John Jay can restore vitality at one of the 30 sidewalk seats. Will this shorten the lines on Clinton Street? It might — Community delivers.
Community Food & Juice, 2893 Broadway, nr. 112th St.; 212-665-2800.
Menu: Community Food and Juice
Neighborhood Watch
Duck! It’s a Bay Area Culinary Invasion!Clinton Hill: The old guy who sharpens knives out of a truck is still news to some residents. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Dumbo: Almondine Bakery is now serving crêpes and ice-cream sundaes. [Dumbo NYC]
East Village: A San Francisco chef has moved east and opened a café called Abraco on 7th Street at First Avenue with a pastry chef formerly of Babycakes. [Eater]
Morningside Heights: Night Cafe’s nightly rounds of trivia will be missed when the hangout closes in the next month. [NYT via Uptown Flavor]
Upper West Side: Bodrum, a Mediterranean restaurant that serves Turkish meze, has just opened on Amsterdam Avenue near 88th Street. [Grub Street]
West Village: Paris Commune gets no love from former diners, who want the place to give up already and close. [Eater]
Neighborhood Watch
Goldfarb’s Kiosks to Invade Battery Park in SeptemberAstoria: Hellgate Community Supported Agriculture is distributing some very fine cherries, chives, and beets today. [Joey in Astoria]
Battery Park: Will Goldfarb’s high-concept kiosks should open around Labor Day. [NYS]
Greenwich Village: Lassi now sells packets of their freshly ground spices, including musky mango powder and tandoori masala. [NYT]
Harlem: Sample exotic desserts and wine this evening at Make My Cake; beats provided by 90.3 WHCR. [Uptown Flavor]
Morningside Heights: The owners of Clinton St. Baking Company plan to open a green restaurant on Broadway near 112th Street by the end of August. [NYT]
Shelter Island: The Pridwin Beach Hotel & Cottages hosts all-you-can-eat cookouts every Wednesday night beginning July 4. [Hamptons.com]
Upper East Side: Food historian and cookbook author Francine Segan will discuss the aphrodisiacal history of various foods from ginseng to rhinoceros horns at the 92nd Street Y tonight at 6:30 p.m. Samples will be notably more tame and will probably involve chocolate. [92nd Street Y]
Williamsburg: U.K.-based TMI Food Group, whose packaged products include cooked sandwich bacon, opened its new food-manufacturing facility today at 7 Bushwick Place. [Bridal Blog/NYO]
Neighborhood Watch
Carroll Gardens Has Its Own Empanada LadyCarroll Gardens: The nabe has an Empanada Lady. [A Brooklyn Life]
Clinton Hill: Pillow Cafe, known for its peanut-butter smoothies, is serving alcohol, but, let’s hope, not PB shooters. [Eat for Victory/VV]
Harlem: Twenty blocks is an unheard-of trek for a Venti Caramel Macchiato; residents near the impending Starbucks at 145th Street wait with bated breath for the opening. [Uptown Flavor]
Morningside Heights: Columbia students have gained a Chipotle at 110th and Broadway, and it will kick off its opening on Wednesday, June 27, with a fund-raiser for the university’s athletics. [Grub Street]
Nolita: Protest notices have been posted in response to the opening of burlesque club Forty Deuce in the former Little Charlie’s Clam Bar space. [Eater]
Williamsburg: Monkey Town’s new chef Ryan Jaronik, from three-star restaurant Masa in Boston, debuts his menu next week. [Grub Street]
Three Blocks
Ph.D.’s, M.D.’s Get Casual Eats, Tons of Takeout Around AmsterdamIn the micro-micro neighborhood centered around Amsterdam Avenue and 113th Street, Columbia students cram for exams at coffee shops and bistros while St. Luke’s Hospital workers grab quick bites from specialty delis.
