Where to Eat on Black Friday; Last-Minute Turkey DinnersMichael Psilakis plans to open his “Dona redux,” at 58th Street between Second and Third, by early January. [Mouthing Off/Food & Wine]
Related: Psilakis Seeks Site for a Late-Night Downtown Restaurant — and a New Dona
Satisfying post-shopping eats are invaluable because “when you no longer feel loaded is the perfect time to get loaded.” This comprehensive list covers midtown, Herald Square, the meatpacking district, and Soho. [NYP]
New tip for turkey: Carve it like a butcher, not like a chef. [NYT]
Neighborhood Watch
Jody Williams’s Wine Bar Serving in the West VillageGreenwich Village: Send off truffle fever with a wine-sodden bang at Babbo’s December 3 Vintage series, which includes a white-truffle tasting menu with wine pairings discussed by Peter Jamros. [Grub Street]
Hell’s Kitchen: Kyotofu is hosting a seven-course dinner-and-dessert sake pairing tonight at 7 p.m. [Grub Street]
Midtown West: The Frederick’s space on West 58th Street will be transformed into Jour et Nuit, a French-American bistro offering, you guessed it, brasserie classics like croque monsieurs and moules frites. [Restaurant Girl]
Soho: Fiamma is a little too liberal with its “Napkins of Shame,” which according to Bruni are a “bit of patchwork that makes the table look clean again” to the embarrassment of the messy diner. The critic was subjected to one himself while on a date. [Diner’s Journal/NYT] The Vosges bacon-chocolate bar is accused of not reaching its potential and tasting “more like the barnyard than the pig and more like the rubber tree than the cocoa pod.” [Chop Talk/Epicurious]
West Village: Jody Williams is previewing her new enoteca and salumeria Gottino at Greenwich Avenue near Perry Street. [Eater] The chef’s main stage, Morandi, is also serving a Thanksgiving dinner of rosemary roasted turkey with fennel and bruschetta stuffing. Those looking for turkey alternatives can arrive early for regular breakfast. [Grub Street]
Mediavore
Chef Cliques Revealed; More T-Day Dining OptionsFrank Bruni tries to put the chef network together and finds that Jimmy Bradley hangs out with Joey Campanaro of little owl and Jonathan Waxman of Barbuto. David Chang opts to stick with the “WD-50 gang.” [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
Theater-district restaurants, including Barbetta and Kyotofu , are offering 15 percent off their menus this week (except on Thanksgiving) in light of the Broadway-strike breakdown. [NYC Visit via Bottomless Dish/Citysearch]
Related: Theater Strike Could Drop Curtain on Midtown Restaurants
Masa may be one of the most expensive restaurants in New York, but it’s almost chump change in the rest of the world, considering Tokyo’s Aragawa “an eight-ounce piece of Kobe steak from a sake-fed Wagyu cow” for $400. [Forbes]