Grayz GM Stabbed in Mob-Related AttackGrayz GM George Atterbury was stabbed by razor-wielding attackers, but is doing well. Police are still looking for the perpetrator, who is thought to be connected to the mafia.
Barbuto Saved by a Chicken; Fiamma Comes Up ShortThe wildly uneven Barbuto earns a single star from Frank Bruni, almost entirely on the strength of a well-roasted Bell & Evans chicken. To quote Winston Churchill, “Some chicken!” [NYT]
Alan Richman was appalled by how small the portions were at Grayz, how much they cost, and how shady most of them were, except for the magnificent, world-beating short rib: “In complexity and satisfaction, this dish reminded me most of the Gray Kunz of Lespinasse, the chef we miss so much.” [Bloomberg]
Randall Lane gets that Fiamma’s Fabio Trachocchi is cooking in a grand, Continental style and doesn’t hold that against him, but the food is too rich and the service too sloppy to give him the five or six stars the place would have liked And so they have to settle for four. [TONY]
The Other Critics
Cipriani Charged With ‘Highway Robbery’; Market Table Gets a BigFrank Bruni pens one of his best zero-star reviews ever in putting down Harry Cipriani, hard: “The crime that comes to mind first when I think of the Ciprianis is highway robbery. Based on my recent experience, that’s what happens almost any time Harry Cipriani on Fifth Avenue serves lunch or dinner.” Brillo-like potatoes? $23 for asparagus? Bruni makes ‘em pay. [NYT]
Market Table gets two and a half stars from Restaurant Girl, who praises the solid American cooking and buys into the overall concept. We wondered if MT wouldn’t be the restaurant that absorbed the Haute Barnyard backlash, but it seems to have dodged it so far. [NYDN]
Paul Adams hits Tailor and delivers the most intelligently rendered version of what seems to be the verdict on the place: The food is brilliant but spotty, and the drinks are great. [NYS]
The Annotated Dish
A Quartet of High-End Bar Treats at GrayzGray Kunz is one of the giants of New York gastronomy; his pioneering work in fusing global flavors made Lespinasse one of the world’s great restaurants. Today, Café Gray carries his flag in New York. His newest venture, Grayz, is a bar and lounge with a finger-food menu that emulates its Time Warner cousin in some dishes and goes its own way with others. Here are four dishes from the Grayz menu: As always, mouse over the anchor arrows to see the dish described in the chef’s own words.
Neighborhood Watch
Babbo and Le Bernardin Alums Take On the West Village; Grayz Serving LunchChelsea: Cookbook author Judith Jones hosts a reading, book signing, and wine tasting tonight at Bottlerocket. [Bottlerocket]
Harlem: Looks like a new café and bakery called La Perle Noir is coming to the corner of Lenox and West 131st Street. [Uptown Flavor]
Long Island City: Tonight’s free tasting at Vine Wine showcases wines of Spain. [Joey in Astoria]
Midtown West: Grayz is now serving lunch. [NYS]
Tribeca: Eric Ripert’s A Return to Cooking includes lovely seasonal recipes but also pictures paintings from artist Valentino Cortazar, whose originals debut at the Hal Katzen Gallery at 459 Washington Street tomorrow. [Snack]
West Village: Dell’Anima from former Le Bernardin chef Gabriel Thompson and onetime Babbo sommelier Joe Campanale opens today at 38 Eighth Avenue. [NYT]
Mediavore
It Isn’t Easy Being Green; Grayz on the Stun LineThere are a few basic steps that restaurants and bars can follow to be considered “green,” but they don’t happen automatically.[TONY]
Steve Cuozzo leads Gray Kunz’s new cash cow to the slaughter, calling Grayz a draw “for suits wanting a slicker sandbox for babe-wrangling than nearby Connolly’s.” [NYP]
Related: Gray Kunz Finds a Sweet New Business Model
The Frankies of Spuntino fame have a third restaurant planned in Brooklyn and a new cookbook on the way. [Eater]
Openings
Your First Look Inside of Grayz — Opening in Mere Dayz!
A couple of days ago, we assured you that after a year’s delay, Grayz is finally throwing open its doors on Monday. For once, that doesn’t mean “Monday as long as the construction workers pop enough Provigil,” it means Monday Monday. Don’t believe us? Take a look inside.
Openings
Exclusive: Grayz Will Open Monday, With BoozeDespite recent rumors that Gray Kunz’s new spot Grayz wouldn’t secure a liquor license until October, further delaying its much anticipated opening, the man himself told us that the license is in, and he expects to have a “very soft opening” on Monday. So soft, in fact, that Kunz won’t even give us an early look at the menu (beyond the calamari that Rob and Robin wrote about this week). “It’s evolving still almost every week,” he tells us. “The wine list or menu is something people are going to have to see when they come in.” For those of you eager to take him up on that, take note that reservations won’t be accepted for dinner (served from 5 p.m. to midnight; lunch is from noon to 2 p.m.), but here’s your number for securing a seat for lunch: 212-262-4600.
Related: Gray Kunz Finds a Sweet New Business Model
Secret Ingredient: Honey Grayz [NYM]
Best of the Rest: Food (Fall Preview 2007) [NYM]
Mediavore
DiFara Fans All at Sea; Gray Kunz Enters the Small-Plate WarsBrooklyn held hostage, day four: DiFara fans reeling from this latest, pointless blow from the Department of Health. “It hurts. It’s the best pizza in my life, ever.” [NYT]
SliceNY uses the DiFara time-out to point out that, in recent months, the Saint of Avenue J has been burning his pizzas pretty badly around the edges. [SliceNY]
Gray Kunz’s new small-plates restaurant, Grayz, joins a growing number of such restaurants run by lesser beings. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
Neighborhood Watch
Perfect Waiting Weather: Shake Shack Open Late TonightDumbo: Bubby’s owner not going down like that, fights rumors of imminent demise. [Brooklyn Record]
Flatiron: To celebrate early spring (or is it already summer?), the Shake Shack will stay open till 8 p.m. tonight. [Grub Street]
Kensington–Ditmas Park: Tongue-and-cheek torta rumored in Brooklyn. Tongue-in-cheek “Grows in Brooklyn” headline deployed. [Gothamist]
Midtown: New finger-food menu at Café Gray a harbinger of things to come at Grayz. Whenever Grayz comes. [Eater]
Williamsburg: Amazon Café opens. Rest assured: “The lighting is a little more subdued than the Smith Street branch.” [Gowanus Lounge]
NewsFeed
Café Gray Loses Its LunchHow do you usually spend your lunches? If you’re anything like us, it’s hunched over your desk, scarfing down scrapple you brought from home in a Tupperware tub. Gone, in other words, are the glory days of the leisurely workweek lunch. And so this slow change has claimed another victim: Café Gray. After March 5, you’ll no longer be able to flex your expense account during the midday hours at what Platt calls “probably the most fun” of the “self-important” food-court establishments at Time Warner Center.
Openings
Gray Kunz Finds a Sweet New Business ModelGray Kunz’s lavish dining space Grayz — at one time thought aborted — is back on again, this press release trumpets. Set in the former Rockefeller mansion, which was previously occupied by Aquavit, Grayz will be devoted to corporate catering and private dining events, but there will also be a big lounge area where the chef will be serving cocktails and “finger foods.” “The layout of the space on two different levels inspired me,” Kunz tells us. “When I thought about midtown, I realized there were too few private party spaces and even fewer great cocktail lounges.” Restaurant consultant Michael Whiteman sees a more practical advantage. “Private catering is a lot more profitable,” he tells us. “You can charge more per person than you would in a restaurant, and there’s very little waste because you know just how many people are coming.” And those finger foods? “They sell a higher proportion of alcohol, and they are a lot easier to plate and prepare than high-end composed dishes.”
