Freedom Tower Seeks Restaurant Developer; Le Cirque Does Restaurant Week AllStarting today, the Port Authority is accepting early bids from developers for control of a two-story restaurant atop the Freedom Tower, with a grand opening slated for early 2013. [The Real Estate/NYO]
More bad news about the FDA: It’s “so understaffed that, at its current pace, the agency would need at least 27 years to inspect every foreign medical device plant that exports to the United States, 13 years to check every foreign drug plant and 1,900 years to examine every foreign food plant.” [NYT]
Le Cirque’s Restaurant Week menus are such a hit that the Maccioni clan is going to make them available every weekday in February. [Zagat]
Neighborhood Watch
Bruni Interviews the Bros. Bromberg; Can Diner’s Steak Compete WithEast Village: BondSt has made its West Coast debut in the new Thompson Hotel in Beverly Hills. [Snack]
Hell’s Kitchen: Sietsema doesn’t think Metro Marché feels enough like a real bistro; maybe stepping out into Port Authority to view a homeless man peeing into a Dunkin’ Donuts cup just takes away the mystique. [Eat for Victory/VV]
Lower East Side: ‘inoteca is back, with new and improved wine storage. [Eater]
Soho: Bruni uncovers the history of Blue Ribbon (which began in 1992 with a fancy French restaurant on Sullivan Street between Prince and Spring) and finds it interesting. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
Williamsburg: Diner has “begun doing Porterhouses for two, four, sometimes six, along with bone-in rib-eyes and T-Bones, cooked to order and slathered with marrow butter,” right across from Peter Luger. Has anyone been to both to compare? [Brooklyn Based]
Neighborhood Watch
‘Top Chef’ Open Call to Be Held in SohoAstoria: French-Asian restaurant Bistro 33 serves beer, wine, sake, and cocktails now that its liquor license has gone through. [Joey in Astoria]
Boerum Hill: Smith Street may be getting a McDonald’s. [Curbed]
Financial District: For $10, you can add an illegal lap dance to your lunch at Cordato’s Deli. [WCBSTV]
Hell’s Kitchen: Port Authority’s 7-Eleven has transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart for the remainder of July to promote the new Simpsons movie and is even selling Blue Woo Hoo! Vanilla Squishees and KrustyO’s cereal. [7-Eleven]
Soho: Pinkberry open at 41 Spring Street! [Eater] Open call for the next season Top Chef will be held at the French Culinary Institute on July 22 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. [Bravo]
Openings
Mandler’s Releases the Dogs Near Port AuthorityGarlicky krainerwurst, plump knockwurst, Italian sausages, classic kosher frankfurters: All these things and more (zucchini fries, corn fritters) will soon be within easy reach of the weary folks streaming through Port Authority (weary Times workers will have to wait until they’ve moved into their fancy new tower). Mandler’s, the Union Square wurst mecca, kicks off expansion plans that include the Upper West Side, Midtown East, and franchises in other states with Monday’s opening of a second location on Eighth Avenue. Besides being significantly bigger than the original, the midtown store will sell crêpes and smoothies. All in all, it’s a smart move for Mandler’s: They’re not only introducing their brand to the valuable bus-tourist demographic but the porn-DVD browsers and Siberia revelers as well.
Mandler’s, The Original Sausage Co., 601 Eighth Ave., nr. 39th St.; 212-244-4777.
