No Liquor Love for Momofuku Ko and Veselka Bowery; Boulud and Keller Hit DubaiMomofuku Ko may be ready to open in a couple of weeks, but they’ll have to get by with serving only wine and beer, since David Chang’s rep neglected to bring the necessary petitions to the liquor-license hearing last night. [Eater]
Veselka Bowery was also denied a liquor license by Community Board 3 last night, but unlike Momofuku Ko, it doesn’t seem like they’ll ever be granted one, thanks to Daniel Boulud’s nearby liquored-up establishment. [Eater]
Related: Veselka II Is Coming — Let the Burger War Begin
Don’t be afraid to ask your waiter to put your leftovers in a doggie bag. After all, you did pay for that food. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
NewsFeed
Veselka II Is Coming — Let the Burger War BeginWe wished for it, we hoped for it, we reported on its coming, and now it’s for serious: A new Veselka is definitely coming to the East Village. The home of the Official Hamburger of Grub Street has just inked the lease for 9 East 1st Street, owner Tom Birchard tells us. Veselka will be in the “second stage” of the Avalon Christie development, less than a block from Daniel Boulud’s new burger restaurant. Birchard doesn’t think he’ll open for another year, but then be prepared for an epic burger Kulturkampf.
Related: Bowery Burger Battle: Veselka Looks to Open Up Next Door to Daniel
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Bowery Burger Battle: Veselka Looks to Open Up Next Door to Daniel
Watch out, Daniel Boulud! Your downtown burger barn is about to get some stiff competition. Veselka, home to our all-time favorite hamburger in the East Village, is in negotiations to lease a 5,100-square-foot space in the very same building as Daniel, but on 1st Street. Owner Tom Birchard tells us, after the obligatory caution that nothing has been signed yet, “Veselka has been working pretty well for 53 years, so it’s going to be pretty much the same, Ukrainian and American comfort food— although maybe with a little tinkering on the menu. We’re thinking of calling it Veselka Bowery, and it will take about a year to build and open.” But what about going head to head with the inventor of the DB burger? Can the lush and lavish Veselka bacon cheeseburger, with its double layer of American cheese and thick, salty-sweet bacon, compete with foie gras and short-rib stuffing? “Bring it on,” Birchard says. We’re already geared up: Happily, in any burger battle, the true victors are always the customers.
Earlier: Veselka 2: Electric Boogaloo
NewsFeed
Come Summer, a New Look for DanielDaniel, arguably the grandest of the city’s top dining rooms is planning a rehab, though it won’t be until the summer. Though neither the restaurant nor its patrons are dissatisfied with the current room (and why would they be? It looks like the gateway to the afterlife, circa 1895!), the renovation will keep the place fresh. “Upper East Side ladies get their face-lifts before they’re needed,” spokeswoman Georgette Farkas tells us. “It’s something we’ve been thinking about. But Daniel doesn’t want to do anything too revolutionary.” Farkas wouldn’t name names, but a source close to the restaurant says designer Adam Tihany, who did Le Cirque 3.0 and Osteria del Circo, is topping the short list of candidates. In the meantime, the Daniel empire has plenty to keep it busy: Bar Boulud is still slated for a December opening; Maison Boulud, in Bejing, will open in March; and Boulud’s downtown burger bar is, sadly, still unnamed.
Related: Exclusive: Feast Your Eyes on Bar Boulud, Coming in November
The In-box
Daniel’s Burger Restaurant Inspires Hundreds of Suggestions, One Jeremiad Nothing could have prepared us for the avalanche of suggestions that resulted from last Friday’s invitation to name Daniel Boulud’s new restaurant on the Bowery. The entries were overwhelmingly similar, with DBurger and Boulud Burger accounting for the majority. Come on, people! Do you think the intelligences behind the Dinex group were incapable of coming up with that on their own? Several readers suggested names invoking French burgers, with names like Juteux (“juicy”) or, as an homage to Pulp Fiction, Royale With Cheese. Multiple readers posited B3 for Boulud Bowery Burger, and reader Sarah Kimball even had a rough idea for a logo. Then there were the wild cards: Genevieve Bahrenburg’s True Boulud, which we liked, and Beza Lemma’s The Happy Patty, which we liked even more. (Our own entry, Bowery Dan’s Hamburger Hotel, was not eligible.)
Back of the House
Name Boulud’s Burger, and Win Dinner For Two The suggestions for a name for Daniel Boulud’s new burger place on the Bowery have been coming in to Grub Street, and no one quite seems to have hit on it yet. The ante has been upped, however: The prize for the best entry, awarded by us, is a free burger, beer, and ice-cream dinner for two at the place when it opens. As for the suggestions so far?
NewsFeed
Daniel Boulud’s Downtown Burger Place Finally Signs the LeaseBreaking news on the as-yet-unnamed Daniel Boulud burger restaurant (the “DBGB” moniker is gone): The lease has been signed and the restaurant is officially a go, according to Boulud’s spokeswoman Georgette Farkas. The much-ballyhooed burger place at 299 Bowery will be opening in the summer of 2008, and will be designed by Thomas Schlesser, the same intelligence behind the look of this fall’s DB entry, Bar Boulud. “The DBGB name isn’t happening,” Farkas tells us. “So in-house we’re calling it TBDB.”
NewsFeed
It’s Official: DBGB Won’t Be BYOBAll systems are go for DBGB, or whatever Daniel Boulud’s concept burger joint will be called. Community Board 2 granted the restaurateur a liquor license with hardly any hassle at all, according to spokeswoman Georgette Farkas. “Now we can go ahead and plan and design our restaurant, which will probably open in late 2008.” And the controversial DBGB name? Is that still a go? “We really don’t know yet,” Farkas tells us. “We were having a little fun with it, but we’ll have to see where it goes. Whatever the right thing ends up being, we’ll do the right thing.” And they’ll do it with a fully stocked bar.
Neighborhood Watch
East Village Face-off as CBGB Tells DBGB to Cease and DesistClinton Hill: Il Torchio, an enoteca and Italian tapas joint at 458 Myrtle Avenue, is under construction; the exposed-brick interior and outdoor space look promising. [Clinton Hill Blog]
East Village: CBGB, DBGB: We get it. [Eater]
Greenwich Village: Grey Dog Coffee’s University Place location opens Thursday. Hours: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. [Eater]
Nolita: Vig Bar’s temporary close had something to do with a change of management and a lot to do with the State Liquor Authority, but it’ll be back serving downtown bankers by Thursday. [Down by the Hipster]
Park Slope: FreshDirect messed with the wrong groups when it temporarily, and possibly accidentally, raised its delivery minimum from $50 to $100. [Gowanus Lounge]
West Village: From 4 p.m. until close tomorrow, the Blind Tiger will feature Christmas-themed beer from England’s Ridgeway Brewery including Very Bad Elf, Seriously Bad Elf, and another favorite, Santa’s Butt, all for no apparent reason. [Blog Chelsea] Maremma is cooking up purebred Chianina steaks starting this Thursday evening for one week only. [Grub Street]
Mediavore
Vongerichten Sued by Ex-Waiters; Subway Complies With Calorie LawSix former employees of V Steakhouse file a class-action suit against Jean-Georges Vongerichten for the usual reasons: sub-minimum wage and garnished tips. “We were kind of given the idea that the waitstaff is dispensable, that there were a million people who would come in and do your job.” [NYDN]
Unlike the other fast-food chains, who have adamantly resisted the calorie-posting law, Subway has already started to implement it. [Consumerist]
Healthy zombies should do their best to follow the zombie food pyramid, which calls for six to eleven servings of brains every day, and only sparing amounts of bones and gristle. [Serious Eats]
