The Gallery Aims to Bring South Beach to South BronxHip-hop artist Robert Salese and veteran D.J. Mikey Eyes will open a 6,000-square-foot lounge in Mott Haven. “We’re the first guys to come down and do something as chichi and bourgie as this,” says Falese.
Venerable Meat Purveyor Struck by FireIn a city already starved for first-class steak, there’s going to be a lot less of it to go around, at least for a little while: Master Purveyors in the Bronx, one of the city’s top meat suppliers and a little piece of its history, suffered extensive damage from a fire at its Hunts Point building last night. Masters, as it was called, was a family business that had been supplying the city’s top steakhouses for generations, and it can’t be easily replaced: It’s the meat equivalent to Russ & Daughters burning down, or the Strand being evicted and replaced with a Virgin Megastore. Along with Pat La Frieda, the Piccinini Brothers, and DeBragga and Spitler, Master Purveyors are the last of the city’s great old-guard meat purveyors. Adam Perry Lang of Daisy May and (formerly) Robert’s Steakhouse, one of Masters’ most devoted clients, says, “This is a tragedy, but I know they’ll bounce back. They’re survivors … they’re the real deal and they have so much integrity.” Whether they will bounce back is still unclear. We hope to have more information tomorrow.
Fire Damages Big Market in the Bronx [NYT]
Neighborhood Watch
Green Coke in the Bronx a Good Thing; Eat a ‘wichcraft Sandwich, Save theAstoria: New Mexican restaurant Luna de Juarez at 25-98 Steinway is ready to be sampled. [Joey in Astoria]
Bronx: Coca-Cola’s added a handful of hybrid-electric trucks to its 90-vehicle delivery fleet based in the South Bronx. [NYP]
Cobble Hill: Sahadi’s has put up a new sign, possibly in preparation for the onslaught of Trader Joe’s. [Lost City]
East Village: A sushi bar called Nori will refill the Hip-Hop-Chow space on Second Avenue in hopes that this more banal concept will survive in the space for more than a few months. [Eater]
Meatpacking District: Paparazzi aren’t the only ones not allowed to photograph the hallowed spaces of Socialista; civilians were hampered from shooting as well. [Down by the Hipster]
Rockefeller Center: An eggplant sandwich “invented by three teenagers from New York City who spent a summer learning about the food business as part of a program connected to the Fresh Air Fund” (which will also snag some of the proceeds) has been added to the menu of ’wichcraft’s newest location at 1 Rockefeller Plaza near 50th Street and will be available at ten other locations by next week. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
The New York Diet
Graffiti Goddess Claw Money Starts With a Bagel, Finishes with Champagne and
Now that she’s retired from the graffiti game, Queens-born Claw Money (whose signature claw you’ve seen all over the city and on Ecko apparel) says she has “like, 10,000 jobs.” In addition to designing her own line and finishing her second book, Shady Lady (it’s about eyewear), she’s the fashion director for Swindle magazine, a coveted brand consultant, and the wardrobe supervisor for a top-secret VH1 pilot. So how does she get into work mode? “It’s not a good day,” she says, “unless you start it out with a bagel.” As she prepped for a party launching the sneakers she designed for Nike, she told us what the rest of her days entailed.
VideoFeed
Two Chefs (and One Good Eater) Take a Trip to the Bronx
If there’s something you can think of better than going up to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx in a big white Buick, for the express purpose of eating sandwiches with your two favorite Italian chefs, then we would like to know what it is. We heeded our lust for salumi and mozzarella and recorded the results for Grub Street posterity. .
Roving Chef: Arthur Avenue [Video]
Beef
The Mets Scored Shake Shack. What Will the Yankees Do?
Now that the Mets seem to have a lock on New York’s most coveted hamburger business, we’re waiting for the other shoe to drop: What will be the Yankee response? Clearly, it won’t do for the Bronx Bombers to let their National League rival upstage them like this. We fully expect the Yankees to open the vault in hopes of attracting a major free-agent restaurateur. But who?
Mediavore
Red Hook Vendors on the Run Again; Bourdain on ‘Top Chef’With the Parks Department temporarily off their back, the Red Hook food vendors now have a new enemy: the ever-mischievous Department of Health. [Serious Eats]
Related: The Threat to Red Hook’s Street-Food Paradise Unites New York Foodies
Anthony Bourdain doesn’t have any sympathy for last night’s Top Chef loser, Sara: “I’ve worked with women cooks who could crank out a hundred fifty meals off a very busy grill station in freakin’ stilettos and still have the energy to give Howie the beating of his life — so that don’t cut it as an excuse.” Bonus: Bourdain on Rocco’s career arc. [Bravo]
Related: Joey, Latest ‘Top Chef’ Non-Winner, on Why Rocco Is a Douche Bag
The hidden food treasures of the Bronx range from an ancient candy store where you can get a classic egg cream to a Chino-Latino place with great shrimp mofungo. [NYP]
Neighborhood Watch
Varietal’s Kitchen Closes in ChelseaBronx: Italian pastry shop Egidio has a history steeped in family feuds, politics, and adultery; now a cannoli-wielding former owner has opened up shop nearby. [Lost City]
Chelsea: Varietal has closed its dining room, though wine’s still being served at the bar. [Restaurant Girl] Great Small Works performing-arts group will host a Spaghetti Dinner this Sunday evening on the roof of the 14th Street Y. Besides bowls of garlicky pasta, ticket holders can look forward to “puppet theater [and] New Orleans brass band music.” [Blog Chelsea]
Greenpoint: The Original Soup Man (a.k.a. the Soup Nazi) joins other chains on Manhattan Avenue and shocks customers by charging $9 for some selections. [Gothamist]
Hell’s Kitchen: Alex Garcia’s new restaurant, Gaucho Steak Co., at 752 Tenth Avenue, is now open for lunch and offering delivery. [Grub Street]
Soho: Savoy’s Clambake Dinners start July 6 and run through the end of the month. [Restaurant Girl]
Neighborhood Watch
Chelsea Mourns the Loss of Chinese Vegetable Burritosstrong>Bronx: Ditri Coffee Shop has sold coffee and work boots for 28 years; it’s amazing this business model doesn’t seem to have been duplicated. [Lost City]
Chelsea: There’s a makeshift memorial set outside Bright Food Shop, which has closed along with sister-restaurant Kitchen/Market thanks to high rents. [Crazy Fingers by way of Blog Chelsea] Tasty Korean takeout near FIT. [Gothamist]
Clinton Hill: A bake sale gets frisky with a Middle Eastern dance performance this Sunday at 289 Grand Avenue. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Dumbo: Chestnut, Olea, and Sweet Melissa Patisserie are all participating in Tuesday’s tasting event at powerHouse Arena to benefit the American Cancer Society. [Dumbo NYC]
East Village: Bowery Whole Foods unveils plans to start serving brunch. [Down by the Hipster]
West Village: Murray’s Cheese is hosting a sparkling-wine course that includes cheese pairings on June 5th at 6:30 p.m. [Gothamist]
User's Guide
You Can Eat on Saint Patrick’s Day, TooSaint Patrick’s Day is to drinking as Easter is to puking Peeps in church. But even the most dissipated sots need nourishment too, and it’s a shame to leave your Irish pub of choice to get it. Great food and great Irish bars rarely mix. Somehow, we know a few of the exceptions.
