Hill Country’s Pit-Smoked Easter; Commerce Bartender No FoolEast Village: The dishes in Rhong-Tiam’s spice challenge (the prize for finishing the tasting menu is free dinner at a different Thai restaurant) aren’t as unbearably spicy as you’d expect, and the chef will give you a beer when you’re finished. [Gothamist]
Flatiron: Hill Country’s serving up a pit-smoked Easter dinner this Sunday. [Strong Buzz]
Fort Greene: A boatload of restaurants in the neighborhood are offering prix fixe dinners for $23 next week for Dine in Brooklyn, including Chez Oskar, Olea, and Scopello. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Harlem: A reader feels that Slice NY severely underrates Patsy’s. [Slice NY]
West Village: Commerce’s bartender deals adeptly with douche bags. [Bottomless Dish/Citysearch]
Neighborhood Watch
Taste a Whole Lot of Wine Tonight; Thai Red Bull Firing Up ElmhurstGreenwich Village: If you can finish a “Can you take the heat?” tasting menu (which gets spicier with each course) on March 15 at Thai restaurant Rhong-Tiam on La Guardia Place, the chef will give you dinner for two at a new restaurant he’s opening called Kurve. [Grub Street]
Elmhurst: You can find “those scary-looking little bottles of Thai Red Bull” at Sugar Club, a little Thai grocery and video store at 81-20 Broadway. (They have curry pastes, too.) [Gothamist]
Hell’s Kitchen: The city’s first Wine Expo will be open tonight and tomorrow afternoon at the Javits Center; get excited about seminars on Argentine Malbecs (oh, and 600 WINES to sample). [New York Wine Expo]
Midtown East: Construction seems under way for the Times-announced first U.S. outlet of Brussels-based chain Rouge Tomate. [Eater]
West Village: The Waverly Inn has a secret cocktail on its menu, and they won’t tell you what’s in it. But maybe that’s why LeBron really wanted to go to the bathroom. [Down by the Hipster]