Spotted Pig Owner Sick of PigsKen Friedman was none too pleased that a top Batali-Bastianich executive let the cat out of the bag about he and co-owner Mario Batali’s plans for a sister place to the Spotted Pig. Initially, he wasn’t ready to confirm or deny anything, but once we got him talking, he did tell us that the new place, a seafood-centric gastropub, would not in fact be a twin operation. (Actually, we had wondered why a seafood place would be called the Spotted Pig.) “It won’t be a carbon copy. [Chef] April Bloomfield and I could have made a lot of money just cloning the place and having one in Vegas or elsewhere, but that’s not interesting to us. We haven’t signed the lease yet, and I don’t want to jinx things. But I’ve already thrown all my pig paraphernalia out of my apartment.” Does that mean he’s buying fish paraphernalia?
Earlier: Wish There Were Another Spotted Pig and Another Casa Mono? Guess What.
The In-box
My Edgy, Broke Cousin Wants to Hit the Hot Spots!
Dear Grub Street,My cousin is coming in next week from Indiana and wants to see the “hottest” NYC restaurants that he has read about on your Weblog and in New York Magazine. Where do you think I should take him? He likes “edgy” places and doesn’t have a lot of money to spend (nor do I). Should we go to the Spotted Pig or Casa Mono? Momofuku Ssäm Bar? Where? Any advice would be great.Gloria
NewsFeed
Wish There Were Another Spotted Pig and Another Casa Mono? Guess What.
Don’t envy Las Vegas for having the very newest Batali-Bastianich restaurant, B&B Ristorante: We are about to get two more. A source high inside the restaurant organization tells us that a second Spotted Pig is on the way, this one a seafood concept helmed by newly minted Food & Wine Best New Chef April Bloomfield of the West Village original. Moreover, Casa Mono is also set to get a spinoff somewhere in NYC. The locations will be revealed when the deal is closed within a few days; in the meantime, this is good news for anyone who ever fought in vain to get into either place.
Neighborhood Watch
Three Words: Chelsea Cupcake ControversyBedford-Stuyvesant: Next Thursday’s cocktail fund-raiser at Carver Savings bank benefits Fulton-Nostrand United Merchants Association, Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, and if you’re still reading this, congratulations. [Bed-Stuy Gateway]
Chelsea: The pink cupcake — you know the one — inspires reactions from diabolical blogger rants to posters defending the pretty cake. [Blog Chelsea] Ronnybrook Dairy will be converted into a milk bar serving breakfast, lunch and dinner — with special lactose twists. [Eater]
Clinton Hill: Olivino is hosting an Italian wine tasting tonight starting at 6:30 p.m.; you’ve got three hours to “taste” as much as your liver can stand. [Clinton Hill Blog]
East Village: The Bowery Hotel lobby may be getting a tepid response, but the 10,000-square-foot bar space on the second floor should impress, assuming the weather warms up sometime. [Down by the Hipster]
Tribeca: Patsy’s Pizza coming to the former Dominic spot; booze a sure thing. [Eater]
West Village: Chumley’s won’t be torn down — not yet, anyway. [Gawker] The Spotted Pig has updated their menu. [Grub Street]
Mediavore
‘Food & Wine’ Parties Rock; Yuppies Heart Joe Jr.’sThe Food & Wine Best New Chef parties were pretty good — especially the after-party at the Spotted Pig. We wonder who that unnamed chef doing shots all night could possibly be. Are his initials M.B.? [Mouthing Off/Food & Wine]
Joe Jr.’s coffee shop is becoming a cult favorite among well-heeled Manhattanites – one even rented it out for a party and put up a disco ball. [Mouthing Off/Food & Wine]
Top Chef runner-up Sam Talbot to open an already trendy eatery on the Lower East Side, but his liquor-license papers seem not to be in order yet. [Eater]
Back of the House
Pies-N-Thighs Co-founder Flies Coop; Menu Stretches OutIf you’ve visited Pies-N-Thighs in the last six or seven weeks, you may have noticed Steven Tanner, the restaurant’s resident chicken and barbecue man, missing in action. The laconic chef exited the business in early February, leaving the “thighs” half of the business in the capable hands of Diner and Spotted Pig alum Carolyn Bane, who bought out his interest. (“Steven loves to cook,” Bane tells us, “but he didn’t want to own a restaurant.”)
Mediavore
Give a Fast-Food Receipt, Get a MetroCardThe city, seeking to find out just how badly New Yorkers eat prior to implementing its new calorie-info law, is trading MetroCards for meal receipts. [Nation’s Restaurant News]
Akthar Nawab of E.U., Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern, and Chris Lee of Gilt all talk about the challenges of taking over an established restaurant (getting reviewed too soon, finding the fuse box, etc.). [NYP]
The Spotted Pig’s April Bloomfield is being named Food & Wine’s Best New Chef. [NYP]
Back of the House
Time to Fill Out Our James Beard BracketsThe nominations for the James Beard Foundation Awards, the Oscars of the restaurant industry, will be announced Monday morning. We’ll report on that as it happens, but for now, here are picks for the main categories from Adam Platt, Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld, and Josh Ozersky. Our choices are admittedly New York–centric (the awards go to restaurants across the country), but the ceremony is held here, and the city always looms large in the proceedings.
What to Eat Tonight
A Very Special All-Pork ProgramWelcome to a Very Special Episode of Grub Street. In honor of National Pork Day, we’re going to turn back the clock and look at some of the most memorable pork moments from our first six and a half months. We remember them as if they were yesterday …
The New York Diet
Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand Dines at Sony’s Private RestaurantFor the past month, Franz Ferdinand front man Alex Kapranos has been spending long hours in a Chelsea studio producing a record by tourmates the Cribs; staying at the Greenpoint apartment of his girlfriend of four years Eleanor Friedberger, lead singer of the Fiery Furnaces; and celebrating the publication of Sound Bites: Eating on Tour With Franz Ferdinand, in which the culinary adventurer and former chef recounts everything from buffets in Singapore to bull’s testicles in Argentina. Before he returns to Glasgow next week to start work on a new record (and to tuck into his favorite curry), we thought we’d ask him where he’s been finding nourishment in his adopted city.
Ask a Waiter
The Spotted Pig’s Anna Vanderzee Tells Mario Batali to Keep His Voice DownAfter cutting her teeth as a bartender at Paris Commune and Mary Anne’s, Anna Vanderzee started work at the Spotted Pig two and a half years ago; she now splits her time between slinging drinks and serving up the ever-popular Roquefort burger (sorry, no cheese substitutions allowed). Being a dancer has helped her survive relentless seven-hour shifts: We asked her what coping mechanisms she deploys against Jäger cravers, Jay-Z groupies, a salt-shy Times reviewer, and a certain scooter-stealing celebrity.
Back of the House
All We Want For Christmas …In case you’re wondering what we want for Christmas here on Grub Street, we’ve actually gone to the trouble of making a list.
• A Grub Street outpost in Las Vegas. Possibly built in conjunction with Hawaiian Tropic Zone, with David Burke as consulting chef.
• A James Beard Rising Star Chef award. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!!!
• A bar stool alongside Mario Batali and Courtney Love at the Spotted Pig. Then a hot ice pick with which to blind ourselves.
• A new restaurant which brags about “year-round” ingredients grown “all over the place, and bought from SysCo.”
• A menu that eschews subtitles, credits, translations, geography, or recipes in favor of big, detailed full-color pictures of every dish — just like at Denny’s.
• The permanent destruction of the Cookshack smoker, the last refuge of mediocre urban barbecue cooks. (The Cookshack, a refrigerator-size device that “smokes” with the aid of a handful of electrically warmed chips, is a sad replacement for a real wood smoker, like the ones used at RUB and other major barbecue establishments.)
• An end to “soft openings.” When you’re ready to open, open. Come hard or don’t come at all!
• Three good new Jewish delis, five good new non-gourmet pizzerias, ten good new local Chinese restaurants, and no more gourmet-burger operations.
• Unless, of course, it’s the White Castle on Avenue B we’ve always wished for.
NewsFeed
Spotted Pig to Finally Live Up to Its NameLike everyone else, we enjoy the food at the Spotted Pig, but we’ve wondered why there isn’t more pork on the menu — there’s the name, after all, and the fact that there are probably about 3,000 images of pigs crammed inside the restaurant. But someone from the kitchen tells us we’ll soon be able to satisfy all of our porky urges, with none other than Red Wattle suckling pigs, deboned, stuffed porchetta style with garlic and fried sage, and roasted. Our source tells us the dish may be available as soon as this month, weekends only. We’ll keep you updated — we’ve spent some time checking out elite hogs with Spotted Pig chef April Bloomfield, as chronicled here, and we know this is a story worth following.
What to Eat This Week
Heritage Pigs: So Much Tasty History
After our recent pilgrimage to upstate New York for a first look at the next stage in pig evolution, courtesy of Cesare Casella, we started thinking about the places serving breeds that have been around for centuries — the so-called “heritage” pigs whose noble lineage makes them extra-tasty.
NewsFeed
Cesare Casella Invents a New Pig!A lot of chefs — particularly of the Haute Barnyard breed — advertise their love of farms. But how many actually mastermind a breeding program, and then invite other chefs to the country to see the results? Cesare Casella, the Tuscan cook behind Maremma, has been breeding two types of pigs (and snow-white Chianina cattle) at Stonewall Preserve upstate. On Monday, he invited Mark Ladner of Del Posto, April Bloomfield of the Spotted Pig, Zak Pelaccio of Fatty Crab, Kevin Garcia of ‘Cesca, and Mary Ellen Heavner of 5 Ninth to come up and sample the Stonewall pig.
The Other Critics
Michelin’s Explosive New Red BookMichelin dropped its ratings bomb today, and it’s safe to say that the New York restaurant world is, as usual, reeling. Though not as consequential as a Zagat snub, business-wise, the Michelin ratings are closer to the hearts of top chefs. (French chef Bernard Loiseau was widely believed to have killed himself over a Michelin downgrade.) The book is supposed to be in stores tomorrow (though our local Barnes & Noble says it’s not even at the distributor yet). We do, however, know of some surprises. Messrs. Boulud, Bouley, and Takahama are no doubt having lousy afternoons.
The Gobbler
Best Seats in the House: Where to Eat at the Bar
Even before the arrival of Joël Robuchon and his bar-centric L’Atelier, the ancient urban tradition of bar dining was undergoing a great renaissance. And why not? Eating while seated on a stool is a uniquely New York experience. It’s convivial, expedient, and communal, but in a solitary way. The Gobbler has met Wall Street kingpins, ex–CIA agents, and loquacious bookies from Queens at restaurant bars. You don’t have to deal with sniveling waiters or go overboard on tips, and it’s often a convenient excuse for getting really, really drunk. Here are a few of the Gobbler’s favorite barfly destinations.
Back of the House
Most Influential Young Chefs Named, Presented With Tchotchkes
Move over, Bouley! Step aside, Jojo! You’re so over. There’s a new generation of “emerging tastemakers,” at least according to Food Arts magazine and their friends at Sterling Meats. Sunday night, meat purveyor and magazine jointly fêted ten young chefs who, they predict, “will be influencing what, where and how we dine out on a national level.” The chefs were presented with framed, diploma-like certificates and envy-inducing Masamoto cobalt-steel knifes.
