NYC Chefs: Setaro Pasta Rules!Today marks the tenth anniversary of Chelsea Market, a place we would avoid if there were anyplace else to get Setaro pasta. The supremacy of the Campagnan product, sold only in Buonitalia at the market, is something we never stop hearing about: last night, Kevin Garcia of Accademia del Vino told us, “All the top chefs I know use it — it’s the pasta of choice, the best I’ve ever been able to find.” Mark Ladner of Del Posto, Jonathan Benno at Per Se, and any number of other food luminaries swear by the stuff. But why? Buonitalia co-owner Antonio Magliulo says, “This company, Setaro, is very small. They don’t produce a lot of pasta. And when they dry it, it’s at low temperatures, so it keeps the flavor and texture. The way it cooks, the bite that it keeps — it’s something special.”
Neighborhood Watch
Spanish Harlem’s Caminito in the Path of ‘Carlito’s Way’Chelsea: The owner of now-defunct French Oven in Chelsea Market has opened a bakery that, despite its name of Madeleine, actually specializes in macarons; there will be at least eighteen flavors by next week. [NYT]
East Village: A wine bar with a garden, opening in Avalon Bowery Place, may foreshadow the successful outcome of plans to create a French-style pedestrian alley in the area. [Eater]
Flushing: The Chinese food court J&L Mall has reopened now that Con Ed has turned the electricity back on. [Eat for Victory/VV]
Harlem: The uptown outpost of Maroons is slated to open the end of September. [Uptown Flavor]
Spanish Harlem: The space now filled by Argentine steakhouse Caminito (found in this week’s Openings) once housed a barbershop featured in the film Carlito’s Way. [NYS]
Mediavore
Activists to Have It Their Way at Burger King; Classic Kitchen PranksBurger King swears off cage eggs and inhumanely treated pork — although it will be a while before its suppliers can catch up with the new policy. [NYT]
New York molecular gastronomy alert: Spanish neurologist-scientist-chef Dr. Miguel Sanchez Romera is scoping out NYC locations — must have greenhouse. [NYP]
Cafe Fonduta’s ordeal with the Department of Health highlights the overall klutziness of the system. [NYO]