Brushstrokes May Open in JanuaryPlus: Harlem gets its own Zagat guide, and a new café at the Prospect Park Picnic House, in our regular roundup of neighborhood food news.
Jerry’s Asian Opens Today in Tribeca; Gold-Plated Twinkies in GreenpointThe owner of now-closed Jerry’s opens an Asian restaurant on Chambers Street, a new shop in Greenpoint is selling newfangled twinkies coated in gold, and there’s still non-hyped ramen to be had in the East Village in today’s neighborhood food news.
Neighborhood Watch
Bar Milano Opens, Predicts Star Rating; Bruni Dines at KoThe owners of Bar Milano have (very) high hopes for the restaurant’s success, Bruni’s cronies finally score an online seat for him at Ko, and a recipe for bread pudding from Gramercy Tavern.
Hill Country’s Pit-Smoked Easter; Commerce Bartender No FoolEast Village: The dishes in Rhong-Tiam’s spice challenge (the prize for finishing the tasting menu is free dinner at a different Thai restaurant) aren’t as unbearably spicy as you’d expect, and the chef will give you a beer when you’re finished. [Gothamist]
Flatiron: Hill Country’s serving up a pit-smoked Easter dinner this Sunday. [Strong Buzz]
Fort Greene: A boatload of restaurants in the neighborhood are offering prix fixe dinners for $23 next week for Dine in Brooklyn, including Chez Oskar, Olea, and Scopello. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Harlem: A reader feels that Slice NY severely underrates Patsy’s. [Slice NY]
West Village: Commerce’s bartender deals adeptly with douche bags. [Bottomless Dish/Citysearch]
Back of the House
Cheap Lobsters, Dancing Girls Join Gordon Ramsay As Harbingers of DoomSigns that a seafood restaurant may be in trouble, in order of severity: adding a $20 whole lobster to the menu; adding a free burlesque show; having Gordon Ramsay come into your restaurant to torment you for his reality-TV show, Kitchen Nightmares. We knew about number three, but now it turns out, via Metromix, that symptoms one and two have appeared at Black Pearl, the troubled seafood restaurant across from Hill Country. And you know what? Conditions sound pretty damn entertaining. As long as Ramsay, the burlesque show, and the lobster aren’t physically connected in any way.
Black Pearl Lobster & Burlesque Tuesdays [Metromix NY]
Related: Gordon Ramsay to Inflict ‘Kitchen Nightmare’ on Black Pearl
Neighborhood Watch
Sleek Rooftop Bar Coming to the UWS; Easter Supper Served in FlatironEast Village: Nomad on Second Avenue at 4th Street will spotlight Algerian wines and meze pairings for a month starting March 20, in honor of the restaurants third anniversary. [Grub Street]
Flatiron: Lunetta will serve a prix fixe Easter supper that offers roasted-beet salad with fennel and orange, and braised rabbit with Robiola agnolotti. [Grub Street]
Hell’s Kitchen: If the prices of your Broadway tickets get you down, a delicious, cheap meal at the new wine bar Gallo Nero is a good follow-up to a show. [Bottomless Dish/Citysearch]
Upper East Side: A new Persian restaurant called Shalizar is opening at 1420 Third Avenue between 80th and 81st streets. [Upper East Side Informer]
Upper West Side: The Empire Hotel plans to unveil a China Grill Management–renovated rooftop bar by this May. [Zagat Buzz]