Hill Country Delivers in Flatiron; Music Coffeehouse Comes to Chelsea

Astoria: “Restaurant/cafe/bar/club type establishment” Apollon has closed. [Joey in Astoria] Chelsea: Next Tuesday music production school DubSpot is opening a cafe on 14th Street at 9th Avenue that will feature La Colombe coffee. [Blog Chelsea] Flatiron: Hill Country’s now delivering from 21st to 31st Street between 8th avenue and Park, but if you order enough ’cue they’ll lug it anywhere. [Grub Street] Forest Hills: Shwarma destination On the Grill now sprinkles fried, lemony, Moroccan style jalapeños on its platters. [Gothamist] East Village: Il Buco is closed for yearly renovations, but will reopen September 5th. [Grub Street] Harlem: Canines and their humans can unite this Saturday for the first St. Nick’s Dog Park Coffee Bark of September. [Uptown Flavor]

Posted 08/28/07 in Grub Street : Neighborhood Watch

Tags: apollon, astoria, bbq, chelsea, dubspot, east village, forest hills, harlem, hill country, neighborhood watch, on the grill, shwarma

Former Roadside Wreck Home to New Hamptons BBQ

It has taken a little longer than expected, but Townline BBQ, the new Hamptons joint from the group that runs Nick & Toni’s, is nearly ready to open its doors. The restaurant occupies the space that housed Alison on the Beach, which had to be vacated because it was close to being condemned. (“The insurance company wouldn’t insure us anymore,” says Alison on the Beach owner Alison Becker-Hurt. “We had to move out.” This goes a long way to explaining why the town dragged its heels for so long before granting a certificate of occupancy for Townline.)

Posted 07/02/07 in Grub Street : Openings

Tags: alison on the beach, bbq, hamptons, nick and toni's, openings

Need a Meat-Smoking Sidecar? Call ‘American Chopper’!

The mind of Andrew Fischel, the brash young owner of RUB barbecue, never seems to rest. The last time we looked, he was opening up a giant spinoff in Vegas, and had retooled the New York branch with the loudest neon sign this side of Times Square. Now Fischel has engaged the guys at Orange County Chopper to create a customized “RUB Chopper” with a working smoker as its sidecar. “We’re creating the most kick-ass mobile barbecue vehicle ever made,” Fischel says. “It costs as much as a Bentley.”

Posted 06/28/07 in Grub Street : NewsFeed

Tags: andrew fischel, bbq, chelsea, newsfeed, rub

New York Rated Top BBQ City in the U.S.; Kobayashi Making Bookies Skittish

New York is listed as the No. 1 destination for BBQ in the U.S. (Memphis, in case you were wondering, was No. 10.) [BizJournal] World-champion competitive eater Joey Chestnut isn’t buying talk of Takeru Kobayashi being hurt: The Tsunami “could come to the Fourth of July with his jaws wired shut, and I’m sure he could still do all right; he’s that good of an eater.” [NYT] Related: Hot-Dog-Eating Champ Struck With Jaw Arthritis Determined to Gulp On The odds-makers, though, aren’t as confident about a crippled Kobayashi, and the board shows it. [McBrooklyn]

Posted 06/28/07 in Grub Street : Mediavore

Tags: bbq, competitive eating, joey chestnut, krispy kreme, mediavore, mets, michael psilakis, sparks, takeru kobayashi, top chef

John's Is Back, If Not Better Than Ever; Colors in the Red

Don't worry about Lonesome Dove’s Tim Love. He’s doing fine back in Texas. [Fort Worth Star-Telegram] John's reopens, none the worse for wear after their brief run-in with the Health Department. [amNY] Colors, the cooperative founded by former Windows on the World workers, continues to struggle with the economic realities of opening and running a Manhattan restaurant. [NYT]

Posted 03/08/07 in Grub Street : Mediavore

Tags: bbq, colors, frank bruni, gastropubs, health department, health inspection, john's of bleecker street, mediavore, pete wells, steak, taco bell

Everybody Loves Sfoglia; Meehan Loves All BBQ

Bruni two-stars Sfoglia, the latest victory in a series for the Nantucket import, including nods from Adam Platt and Gael Greene in our Best of New York issue. The food is simple and rustic (frittatas, simple pastas), but it works for Bruni. Imagination can get you two stars, as the Ssäm Bar review showed last week, but so can execution, even if it isn’t very elaborate. [NYT] Peter Meehan surveys nearly all the area’s BBQ restaurants, finding a lot to like: the pulled pork at Pies-N-Thighs and the burnt ends at RUB, to name two. Still, no revelations here. [NYT] Sietsema hits up a Senegalese restaurant in Harlem: “Predictably, the dibi is awesome.” You said it, Bob! Has Sietsema ever met a foreign lamb dish he didn’t like? [VV]

Posted 03/07/07 in Grub Street : The Other Critics

Tags: bbq, frank bruni, harlem, moira hodgson, peter meehan, randall lane, robert sietsema, rosanjin, rub, sfoglia, sugiyama, the house, the inn lw12, the monday room, The Other Critics, the waverly inn

Baron of BBQ to Hold Court Saturday

Paul Kirk, Kansas City's "Baron of Barbecue," gave New York RUB, the city's best BBQ joint. On Saturday, he'll lead a master class on his art at the Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City, covering the basics of cooking, fire management, sauce, rubs, spices, and even competition. The class is intended for professionals: The fee alone is 250 bucks, and that doesn't include all the supplies you'll need to bring, from cookers to fuel. (If you're just looking to learn the basics, you can probably get away with buying the Baron's book, available via his Website.) Contact Matt Fisher or Robert Fernandez to enroll.

Posted 10/12/06 in Grub Street : Back of the House

Tags: Back of the House, bbq, long island city, paul kirk, rub, water taxi beach