Fresh-Killed Turkeys Coming to Union Square; Last Chance for Dumbo PiesAstoria: A new Venezuelan spot called the Arepas Cafe has opened at 33-07 36th Avenue. [Joey in Astoria]
Boerum Hill: Canteen, a new deli-café aspiring to unite cappuccino with pastrami, opens today on Fourth Avenue and Bergen Street. [Brownstoner]
Chelsea: The name Potluck may conjure “the image of weird recipes like lentils with nutmeg or noodles drenched in canned soup served up in a covered dish” for some, but this new eatery on West 26th Street between Seventh and Eighth is actually an Asian restaurant with Japanese and Thai influences. [Blog Chelsea]
Dumbo: Today is the deadline for ordering pies from Jacques Torres’s Almondine and Bubby’s. [Dumbo NYC]
East Village: Starting this Sunday, Una Pizza Napoletana will start serving pies at noon on weekends. [Slice]
Union Square: DiPaola Turkey Farms will bring extra birds to the Greenmarket Wednesday, but if you don’t want to abandon Thanksgiving’s main course to chance, you may still be able to order a size in advance. [Eat for Victory/VV]
Mediavore
End of the Line for the First Carvel; The Blue Seats Opening DelayedThe original Carvel store in Westchester is giving up the ghost and will be demolished next summer. [NYP]
Mega sports bar the Blue Seats isn’t open yet, and the reason has something to do with one of their 8,000 TVs being stolen. [TONY]
Related: Seriously Bromantic Restaurant Ready for Its Close-up
Tom Colicchio takes the “last meal” quiz very seriously, designing a world tour that would include lasagne at the Fat Duck, lamb’s brain in Florence, and dessert at the North Fork Table & Inn. [Eat for Victory/VV]
Cherries and Raspberries Are Coming, But Strawberries Are Going, and Fast
Most farms will bring in the last of their strawberries in the next week or two, and prices are at their lowest now, so this is a great time to gorge on the tiny red gems. Lucky for us, a parade of other fruit awaits, from the already-appearing cherries to high-summer glories like apricots. And tri-star strawberries, a unique variety that lasts all summer, have only just begun.
At the Greenmarket
Medieval Zucchini and Bloomsday Cheese Compete for Your Greenmarket Attention
If you find yourself a little cowed by the impenetrable wall of leafy greens and swarms of rabid-looking guys in chef’s jackets in Union Square every Saturday, reach out to your local farmers. They’ll point you to what’s new, at peak, or just plain easy to cook, and they’re happy to brag about which restaurants are buying their stuff. This week that means zucchini, spinach, and carrots of a kind we haven’t seen yet this season.
At the Greenmarket
Peas Roll In, and Tomatoes Are Better Than They Have a Right to Be
It feels like the first week of camp at the market, as we check out which of our friends from last summer are back and how they look this year. A few weeks later than usual, some of the most popular warm-weather farmers, like Keith’s Organics and Eckerton Hill, have returned, with tables already full and lots more to come. It’s going to be a good summer, we can just feel it.
VideoFeed
Inside the Greenmarket With Produce Master Bill Telepan
Few chefs are better known for their devotion to seasonal vegetables than Bill Telepan; his eponymous Upper West Side restaurant is one of the city’s foremost temples of Haute Barnyard. Here Telepan guides us through the springtime Greenmarket while offering up tips and opinions.
Related: Manhattan Gets Fresh [NYM]
The Launch
Sam Mason Puts Together His Crew, Decides How He Likes Them ApplesWelcome to the latest installment of the Launch, where Sam Mason, former pastry chef at wd-50, relates the ups and downs of preparing to open Tailor, the swanky restaurant and lounge coming together at 525 Broome Street.
At the Market
Spring Forward With Daffodils, Branch Out with Different BananasNow that we’ve set the clocks ahead, our minds turn to tender dandelion greens and slender ramps, but until the local growing season gets under way, we’ll have to bide time with forced bulbs and unusual bananas.
The Launch
Sam Mason: “It’s Like the Special Olympics”Sam Mason, the former star pastry chef at wd-50, will be launching his own restaurant and lounge, Tailor, at the beginning of March. In the weeks leading up to then, he’ll take us behind the scenes of a hot restaurant opening.
At the Market
Big California Freeze Means Shoppers Will Have to Think CreativelyAs a result of temperatures that plummeted below freezing across California last week, citrus prices will skyrocket and there will be fewer strawberries and greens. We recommend that you visit ethnic markets for unusual treats and look out for local produce, which has benefited from the mild weather we’ve experienced. There’s also an abundance of tropical fruits.
Back of the House
Foodies Fear Not Death; No Drinking and Riding?Number of E. coli victims doubles; Cali green onions probably to blame. [NYT]
Long Island Railroad to curb bar-car pre-parties. [NYP]
After deadly mêlée at the Greenmarket, foodies continue seeking out Fuji apples. [NYDN]
At the Greenmarket
Foul-Weather Friends: What to Get at the Greenmarket This WinterHoliday tents full of “unique gifts” have sprouted once more in Union Square, crowding the produce, and beginning later today, we’ll be updating you on what’s new at the gourmet shops, not the Greenmarket. But although some farmers take off for the season after Thanksgiving and others come only through Christmas, there’s still plenty to shop for at the market this winter. Look for the following hardy offerings when the weather is above freezing.
At the Greenmarket
The Freshest Thanksgiving Fixings
From pumpkin bisque to pecan pie, you can stock up on provisions for Thursday’s feast at the Greenmarket. The farmers take Friday off, but more than usual will show up for the Thanksgiving Eve rush.
The Underground Gourmet
Sandwich of the Week: Philly Slim’s Cheesesteak Widowmaker
It’s hard enough for the Underground Gourmet to maintain his svelte and soigné figure given the gluttonous nature of the profession. When devious restaurateurs clearly in defiance of the proposed trans-fat ban tempt him with subtle and sophisticated marketing ploys, the challenge becomes immeasurably greater. Such was the case the other day, as the UG gamboled along University Place on his way to the Union Square Greenmarket for some healthful burdock root and lamb’s quarters when a chalkboard sign outside Philly Slim’s Cheesesteak shop froze him in his tracks. “Come in and try a Widowmaker — steak, Whiz, bacon, onion rings, BBQ sauce” it read in a Helter-Skelterlike scrawl. “Why would someone want to eat a sandwich that claimed that it would kill him?” wondered the UG, his mouth beginning to drool and his limbs starting to twitch, as if he’d accidentally stepped on an electric Con Edison plate. Within seconds, having regained his composure, he entered the brightly lit shack and decided to find out. A few minutes later, the sandwich in question — a kind of saucy supersized cross between a Manwich and a traditional cheesesteak — appeared before him. Although the foot-long monstrosity did not kill the UG, it might have scratched a year or two off his life. At the very least, it is the type of sandwich that should you finish it in a single sitting, the management, in deference to your stamina, should offer it free of charge. Either that or commemorate the event with an engraved bronze plaque mounted prominently on the wall.
Philly Slim’s Cheesesteak, 106 University Pl., nr. 12th St.; 212-989-8281
— Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld
Beets Get Deep; Catch Leeks and Radicchio at Their Peak
Fashion writers may be buzzing about the spacebots and froth of spring, as this trend feature attests, but the look at the Greenmarket is all earmuffs and fingerless gloves. This season’s curvaceous pears, potatoes, and cabbages continue to turn heads.
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
With Halloween around the corner, pumpkins are everywhere — on stoops, in soups, and, of course, at the Greenmarket. (Zoe Singer tells us which ones to buy this week in At the Greenmarket.) Some of the better restaurants around town are getting into the spirit and serving up pumpkin in its many forms. Here are a few we can get behind.
At the Greenmarket
The Silkiest Pumpkin, P.C. Pâté, and Summer in Jars
Take a hint from the squirrels gathering acorns in Union Square and drag home bags of heavy storage foods like apples, onions, and potatoes. That way you’ll be stocked for hearty cold-weather meals.
At the Greenmarket
Calmer Cows Giving Better Milk; Reserve Thanksgiving Turkeys Now
When the ground grows cold, root vegetables, winter squash and hardy greens start storing sugar to help keep from freezing. Why not stock up on some sugar of your own, in the form of cider doughnuts or molasses cookies?
Three Blocks
Haute Fast Food and International Fare for East Chelsea GearheadsIt’s a challenge for the young designers and Silicon Alley gearheads who work their magic around here to find something beyond pizza or deli-food for lunch — particularly in the environs near the Fashion Institute of Technology and the flower district, practically a culinary wasteland. Still, in the micro-micro-neighborhood surrounding Seventh Avenue and 22nd Street, there’s options running the gamut from Japanese and European street food to regional Italian and Persian fare.
