Fat Tuesday in Park Slope; Dining Near the TentsPlus: a $38 eight-course meal to celebrate the Chinese New Year, and the best places to go in Park Slope for Mardi Gras, in our daily roundup of neighborhood food news.
Tapas to Settle Into Chelsea and WilliamsburgWhen a Bouley alum will bring Portuguese meals to Chelsea, and where to find an American Kobe Tomahawk rib eye, in today’s neighborhood food news.
‘Times’ Releases Ethnic Grocery List; Porter House Looking for aAstoria: McLoughlin’s on Broadway at 31st Street is featuring the German lager Spaten through February. [Joey in Astoria]
Chelsea: Morimoto’s $24.07 prix fixe lunch deal is more filling and generous than you might expect. [Bottomless Dish/Citysearch]
Clinton Hill: If you’re too “bored by the fresh produce, too cold/lazy to trek to Fairway” to cook for yourself in winter like this blogger, here are some of the nabe’s good takeout options, including Luz and Bombay Masala. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Columbus Circle: Porter House New York is looking for a new wine director now that veteran in the biz Beth Von Benz has moved on to new projects. [Grub Street]
Lower East Side: This list of ethnic groceries includes Pueblo Deli at 129-135 Ridge Street where you’ll find “brittle, tasteless cassabe (a yuca bread Dominicans find neither brittle nor tasteless)” but also “‘merengue’ flavored Country Club soda, Induveca salami, Bay Rum Constanza antiseptic, and candles dedicated to saints or those who may become them.” [NYT via Serious Eats]
Times Square: Cafe Edison has replaced its peachy-pink paint job with a nice soft tan color, and it’s “swell.” [Lost City]
Upper East Side: Bardolino at 78th Street and Second Avenue suffered interior and exterior damage caused by a fire last week, but they’ll reopen this weekend. [Upper East Side Informer]
NewsFeed
Clubland’s Toughest Door Is in, Um, Times Square?
Clubs have long vied for celeb-studded Tuesday nights, so what’s the hottest one going these days? By one account, it’s Spotlight Live??? We were tempted to dismiss the Times Square karaoke complex as “strictly for the tourists” when it first opened, but that changed when we heard hip-hop stars were in the house during the recent Monday morning when a knife fight broke out. According to MTV.com, Beyoncé, Mya, Fantasia, Ne-Yo, and others have taken the stage for Tuesday’s “R&B Live” night. This week, when Diddy hosted a Bad Boy showcase, Fat Joe, Ray J, and Missy Elliott were in the audience, and Naughty by Nature and Danity Kane performed. We called the club looking to get in on the action, but were told it was a private event put on by an entertainment group affiliated with Universal Records. In other words, that door is tight.
Related: Diddy, Beyonce, Ne-Yo Make ‘Spotlight Live’ New York’s Hot Tuesday-Night Ticket
Deadly Brawl in Times Square [NYDN]
Carrie Jennings of Spotlight Live Doesn’t Mind If You’re Horrible at Karaoke
NewsFeed
Is Chop Suey the Worst Name Ever for a Korean Restaurant?
Zak Pelaccio has been getting an earful from some Asian-Americans over Chop Suey, the name of his latest project as Consulting Chef of the Future. At least among the ones who commented on Grub Street, the prevailing feeling seemed to be that, political aspects aside, the name was just dumb: “Chop Suey is such a HORRIBLE NAME! Not only is it NOT Korean generally, the name “chop suey” or ‘za sui,’ when used in Chinese, has the meaning of cooked animal offal or entrails.” “Zak needs help picking names of his restaurants … Chicken Bone? FATTY Crab, Chop Suey?” “My GOD. chop suey is the stupidest name for any kind of restaurant Pelaccio has come up with to date.”
NewsFeed
Zak Pelaccio’s Chop Suey to Open Next MonthZak Pelaccio has somehow found time to plan a new restaurant, in between taking over Borough Food and Drink from Jeffrey Chodorow, opening a new Fatty Crab uptown, and perfecting a haute Malaysian restaurant in London. Look for a big new Korean-themed restaurant in the Renaissance called Chop Suey to open (says Pelaccio with optimism) in late January. Last summer, the bearded wonder took a trip to Korea, where he fell in love with the marinated beef belly and other meaty delights he plans to implement in his new menu as consulting chef. At this pace, we predict Ditmas Park and Inwood will be only Pelaccio-free neighborhoods in New York. But if they’re lucky, they’ll get restaurants too.
Related: Zak Pelaccio Taking Over Borough Food and Drink From Jeffrey Chodorow
