Dom De Marco’s Hands of Steel; Smith’s Opens Tonight in the South VillageAstoria: The Sparrow’s pain perdu dessert is “basically a grilled chocolate croissant with homemade butterscotch syrup on it, with a dollop of real whipped cream on the side.” [Joey in Astoria]
Harlem: Doug E.’s Fresh Chicken and Waffles still isn’t ready to open. [Uptown Flavor]
Gramercy: Blue Smoke takes top honors in this roundup of the city’s best sweet-potato fries. [Gridskipper]
Greenwich Village: Smith’s from this week’s Openings starts serving tonight. [Eater]
Midwood: Yes, Dom De Marco’s pies at Di Fara’s are impressive, but what’s really cause for amazement is “his asbestos hands. That man can pull a square pie out of the oven, which must be about 800 degrees, with his bare hands.” [Eat for Victory/VV]
Nolita: Public’s butternut-squash soup with spiced marshmallows, crispy chickpeas, and pumpkin-seed oil is just one example in this list of fall dishes showing up all over town. [Restaurant Girl]
Prospect-Lefferts-Gardens: Meytex Lounge is now calling itself Meytex Cafe, but their tasty fried chicken hasn’t changed. [Across the Park]
Mediavore
Noise Police Harden Their Hearts for Mr. Softee; Trans-Fat-Free Fryer OilMr. Softee vendor busted for noise pollution: “I am aware of the law, but I need to play [the jingle].” [NYT]
DiFara’s Dom De Marco bows to the Health Department, but he ain’t happy about it. [TONY]
Steakhouse offers a “cut specifically for women,” but Nina Lalli ain’t having it. [VV]
Drew Nieporent tells Baird Jones, with pickle breath, that he’s lost 50 pounds in 100 days. [NYDN]
Neighborhood Watch
Ramen Rivalry About to Boil Over in the East Village?Astoria: All pints of Lagunitas beer will be $4 tonight at Sunswick on 35th Avenue at 35th Street. The bar food is supposedly pretty good, too. [Joey in Astoria]
Clinton Hill: Don’t get too excited over that fancy new organic market going up on Lexington Avenue near Grand Avenue; it’s part of a set for a Steve Martin flick. [Clinton Hill Blog]
East Village: Momofuku responds to Setagaya’s claims that its ramen is more authentic… [Eater] And the Tokyo-based chain has already lured crowds of diners — and impressed them. [Eat for Victory/VV] The Sunday Greenmarket now has a Hamptons-based fishmonger. [Gothamist]
Harlem: Fishers of Men has expanded to 125th Street, and rather than oust Papaya King from the space, the seafood restaurant has opted to share it. [Uptown Flavor]
McCarren Park: JellyNYC’s summer pool parties kicked off the series this weekend with dodgeball, Slip ‘n Slide, Brooklyn Beer, and grilled grub (and we have video). [Down by the Hipster]
Midwood: DiFara is once again up and running. [Slice]
Park Slope: Union Market will bring its fresh produce to a long-empty storefront on Seventh Avenue, but there’s concern over nearby mom-and-pop grocers. [The Brooklyn Paper]
Ridgewood: Butcher Karl Ehmer inspired such love of meat in a young girl that she now sells meat-inspired pillows to “hipsters, artists and Western Europeans.” [The Food Section]
Neighborhood Watch
Brooklyn Heights Barge to Feature a Fake Beach, With HamburgersAstoria: Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden opens at 3 p.m. today and next Friday for teacher appreciation days. The public is welcome, and the BBQ’s sure to be fired up. [Joey in Astoria]
Brooklyn Heights: A swimming pool in a floating barge off the waterfront will take its maiden voyage July 4 and feature a man-made beach and concession stands. [NYP]
Chelsea: Hotelier André Balazs may have a hand in restoring the Chelsea Hotel. [NYP]
East Village: You need to send a recent photo of yourself if you plan on applying for one of the many positions still open at Tailor. [Eat for Victory/VV]
Flatiron: Former CBS news anchor Bob Schieffer will step in as front man to country band “Honky Tonk Confidential” on June 27 at Hill Country barbecue. Songs he’s written include “Little Lulu and Sister Hot Stuff” and “TV Anchorman.” [NYP]
Lower East Side: A tipster reports that Kossar’s Bialys has unveiled plans to sell hand-cut sushi from kosher vendor Eden Wok. [Grub Street]
Midwood: Dom De Marco’s scarlet letter from the Department of Health has been covered in expressions of support in the wake of DiFara’s most recent close. [Eat for Victory/VV]
Times Square: Brighton Beach’s Ladder Co. 169 brought home victory last night at Gallagher’s Fire Department grilled-steak-off fund-raiser. [NYDN]
Neighborhood Watch
Porchetta Succumbs in Carroll GardensBedford-Stuyvesant: Heavenly Crumbs baker Shannon Pridgen demonstrates wedding-cake making in this sweet moving picture. [Eating for Brooklyn]
Carroll Gardens: Looks like Porchetta has closed. No press release from Jason Neroni. Yet. [Eater]
Ditmas Park: Connecticut Muffin coming to Cortelyou Road. [Living in Victorian Flatbush]
Gramercy: 2007 James Beard nominee for outstanding wine service Charles Scicolone pours his ten favorite wines tomorrow night for a class at Vino, Italian Wine and Spirits. [Vinosite]
Midwood: First tale of success from the Department of Health furor: DiFara’s Dom DeMarco wears a hat, and his pizza is better than ever. [Slice]
Prospect Heights: Flatbush Farm will be barbecuing Saturday and Sunday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. [A Brooklyn Life]
West Village: That’s it for mice getting in easy at the Waverly Inn. [Gothamist]
Williamsburg: Beloved gourmet-breakfast emporium Egg buys out Sparky’s. [Gawker]
A Koolman truck’s been spotted on Metropolitan Avenue. Repainting spotted after last month’s garage fire, but no word on whether anyone checked the ice cream. [Gowanus Lounge]
Neighborhood Watch
Late-Night LES Kimchee Cart Accepting ApplicationsBedford-Stuyvesant: In addition to Belgian waffles and couches for weary churchgoers, Common Grounds café will now offer homemade ice cream! [Brooklyn Record]
Brooklyn Heights: Moxie Spot, planned for 81 Atlantic Avenue, wants a liquor license, says they’ll be family-friendly. [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
Carroll Gardens: The new farmers’ market won’t launch until July 8. Meanwhile, they’ve hit the ground running in Union Square. [Brooklyn Record]
Clinton Hill: Cadmen Congregational Church will host a Good Friday fish fry fund-raiser — plates will go for a miraculous $7. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Lower East Side: Unless you’re willing to run it (seriously), the late-night kimchee cart may become a thing of the past. [Gridskipper]
Midwood: DiFara reopens today. Dom DeMarco: 1; rat excreta: 0. [Slice]
Soho: Balthazar challenger FR.OG, set to open on Spring Street Friday the 13th, brings mild ethnic slur to the fight. [Gawker]
West Village: Department of Health nabs Kobma Thai; neighborhood resident unfazed. [Eater] The battle to rename part of Greenwich Avenue “Little Britain” rests with a man named Rupert. [Englishman in New York]
Mediavore
Gordon Ramsay’s Dark Side Revealed; Staten Island Pizza Conquers the WorldAccording to a revealing new profile by Heat author Bill Buford, Gordon Ramsay isn’t a bad guy, “but he does get angry, helplessly and uncontrollably angry — not an earthly anger but something darker — and has trouble knowing how to stop.” [NYer]
State legislator proposes an A through F system of grading restaurant hygiene, but the Department of Health is against it. [amNY]
A Staten Island pizzeria beats out a field of 65 from six countries to win the 23rd International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. It’s Denino’s, right? Joe and Pat’s? No. It’s Goodfella’s Brick Oven Pizza. [NYDN]
Neighborhood Watch
Village Rats Also Eat VegetarianChelsea: Varietal pastry chef Jordan Kahn, famous for his abstract desserts and now a slam from Frank Bruni, may resign. [Eater]
Greenpoint: Unidentified soon-to-open restaurants spotted on both Greenpoint Avenue and Franklin Street. [Gowanus Lounge]
Greenwich Village: Health-food mecca Gobo contributes to the rat-video craze. [NewYorkology]
Lower East Side: Chickie Pig’s will open soon, but they may never have wine. [NYO]
Midwood: DiFara hopes to reopen Saturday; stop in, if only to confirm that Dom DeMarco will be wearing a hat. [NewYorkology]
Murray Hill: Wild Edibles now has a restaurant arm. [Gothamist]
Mediavore
De Marco’s May Close Forever; Let Them Make Foie Gras!The Department of Health rampage claims its most eminent victim yet: the venerable Brasserie LCB (formerly known as La Cote Basque). Apparently chef Jean-Jacques Rachou had a few things to say to the inspectors when they arrived. [NYP]
According to the owner’s father, DiFara legend Dom De Marco, De Marco’s Pizza may close permanently in the wake of the recent shooting. [NYP]
A more palatable way of making foie gras: Let the geese gorge themselves. [BBC via Chow]
NewsFeed
Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Crust
Like a Maxim “special breast issue” or a Cigar Aficionado report on status anxiety, the definitive NY pizza blog Slice’s “Di Fara Roundup” is a redundancy. Di Fara’s is, with a handful of other pantheon pizzerias, Slice’s reason for existence. But look past this — back, that is, to the post on Egullet co-founder Jason Perlow’s photoblog Off the Broiler, which partly inspired the roundup. In singling out Di Fara’s square pie for special praise, Perlow reveals a big blind spot shared by the faithful. Beloved pizza man Dom DeMarco — and we count ourselves among his greatest fans — actually burns over half of the square pies. His oven is a million years old, give or take, and its hot spots are hard for him to control, especially given the equally ancient cookie pans the Saint of Avenue J uses for the square pizza. We aren’t kidding when we say “burned” — even the bottom of the slice Perlow shoots from below (in what Slice likes to call a “pizza upskirt shot”) is totally blackened. That no one even mentions this is proof of the most orthodox religious fidelity. [Slice: “Di Fara Roundup”]
