As we predicted back in August, Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group has announced a deal with Aramark for a concessions contract at Citi Field. Yes, there will be a Shake Shack. Yes, there will be a Blue Smoke. But there will also be a to-be-named taqueria, a Belgian frites operation called Pop Fries, and (a necessity in today’s sports-stadium market) a Sterling Club with a range of high-priced eating options. These will include Sterling Market, “a casual café with classic artisanal comfort foods,” a beer-and-wine bar, a small-plates dining room, a bar and lounge with a view of the field, and waiter service for those moments when you just don’t feel like getting up. It’s a major undertaking, even for Danny Meyer, and we can’t wait to see how it pans out. Of course, we’ll have to get someone with Sterling Club membership to bring us upstairs. Read the complete release, below.

It's been a bad burger year for Brooklyn, what with Schnäck shuttering, Queens winning the Burger Battle of the Boroughs, and so forth — but it just got a lot better. The Daily News says a mobile Shake Shack is coming to downtown Brooklyn. “The Brooklyn truck could set up shop in the MetroTech plaza for lunch by the end of the summer. The truck is expected to hit other spots on weekends and at night,” the News reports. Borough President Marty Markowitz, as can be imagined, was beside himself with joy. “As borough president, since it's my sworn duty to ensure quality food in Brooklyn, I would be happy to offer my services and those of my staff as daily food tasters,” he tells the paper. It isn't just good news for Brooklyn, either — if the truck comes into being and is a success, why would Danny Meyer stop with one mobile Shake Shack? Could we see a future where every neighborhood had its own bewheeled burger and custard station? A new era in New York burgerdom could be dawning!

Shake Shack to Shake Up Brooklyn [NYDN]
Related: Harry's Water Taxi Beach Wins the Burger Battle of the Boroughs
It's the End of the Line for Schnäck

The Daily News marvels today at the effort that goes into the Big Apple BBQ Block Party, but it’s actually even more difficult than they believe. The piece looks at three New York pit masters: Blue Smoke’s Kenny Callaghan, Dinosaur’s John Stage, and Hill Country’s Pete Daversa. Mostly, the men talk about how much meat they have to cook — 7,000 pounds of ribs for Callaghan, 3,000 pounds of pulled pork for Dinosaur, etc. But the real hardship lies with the poor souls who have to trek all the way cross-country, set up, live in the park all weekend (with occasional bed and shower breaks), and cook all those massive amounts of meat in borrowed smokers, while fending off the impertinent inquiries of passing foodies. Since all the food money goes to the Madison Square Park Conservancy to buy tulips or whatever, they’re lucky if they make enough selling T-shirts to pay for their gas. (Organizer Danny Meyer pays a fixed travel allowance, $2,500 in recent years, which barely covers costs for most out-of-state vendors.) But the love of barbecue is a mighty thing, and Meyer will never lack for meat martyrs seeking to spread the love of their art to the big city.

Smokin' good times at the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party [NYDN]

Jill Santopietro, recipe editor and food stylist at the Times, isn’t crazy about the service at Danny Meyer’s restaurants: “I have had rushed and rude service at Union Square Cafe and the Modern. On a recent visit to Eleven Madison Park, the servers were attentive and professional but a little stiff, like dancers who aren’t quite sure of their steps.” Nevertheless, she beams about Danny Meyer because one rainy day, she was given a free Eleven Madison Park golf umbrella. It’s just one of the many little touches that make the man Mr. Hospitality — our personal favorite being the note that Michael Romano encloses with doggie bags at Union Square Cafe.

At Danny Meyer’s, an Umbrella With Dinner [Moment/NYT]
Related: Michael Romano, Equally Nice the Morning After

After almost a year of being picketed by grassroots group Brandworkers, Wild Edibles went on the offensive a few weeks ago by handing out leaflets outside of organizer Daniel Gross’s West Side apartment. The seafood distributor’s honcho, Richard Martin, says he’s merely giving Gross a taste of his own medicine — when Brandworkers protested outside of Danny Meyer’s apartment, the Union Square Hospitality Group dropped Wild Edibles. (Keith McNally cut ties to Wild Edibles, too, but Martin claims he did so only to prevent Brandworkers from picketing an SNL party at Pastis.)

The Observer comes out with a list of the city’s real-estate power players, and, not surprisingly, plenty of restaurant folk make the cut. Scary to us is that none of them rank as high as Christine Quinn — the anti-nightlife councilwoman who will, according to the piece, help determine the fate of billions of dollars of development in the next months — or Daniel Boyle, the chairman of the New York State Liquor Authority. Nevertheless, Danny Meyer clocks in at number 24, followed by Robert De Niro (26), health commissioner Thomas Frieden (82), Tom Colicchio (84), and Keith McNally (90). Steve Cuozzo, “the Andy Rooney of New York’s real estate and restaurant worlds,” has to be smarting over being ranked several notches below Frank Bruni, the man with the “ugh more feared than any other reviewer.” We're wondering where Nicholas Gray is, who, with Gray’s Papaya stands (and their imitators), is fighting back the scourge of ATM machines with hot dogs, a noble fight if ever there were one.

The 100 Most Powerful People in New York Real Estate [NYO via Eater]

A State Supreme Court judge has ordered the city not to lease out Union Square’s pavilion to a restaurateur just yet, though it can begin renovating the 1,860-square-foot space. According to Gothamist, parks advocate Geoffrey Croft believes the preliminary injunction is a sign that the city will ultimately be forced to seek approval from the State Legislature to install a private eatery (you'll recall Danny Meyer was said to be planning one there) and that the pavilion may end up being used instead for public recreation. Danny, hold off on installing those line cams.

Related: Union Square Pavilion Restaurant a No Go, Judge Rules [Gothamist]
What’s Danny Meyer Cooking in Union Square? [NYO]

When we last heard from Danny Meyer, he coyly acknowledged our report of a Shake Shack at Citi Field: “The fascination of doing something in a sports stadium jazzes me,” he said in February. In an interview today, he was more forthright, sort of. Meyer said there are no “sticking points” to set up his Hudson Yards Catering business at Citi Field. He envisions a Shake Shack and a Blue Smoke to feed Mets fans at the retro-nouveau ballpark. (Meyer slipped once and called it Shea Stadium, a mistake we encourage everyone to make.) "We've come up with a team that can create a movable feast," Meyer says. "We have two pits at Hudson Yards and as much meat-smoking capacity as we do at Blue Smoke." This time next year, your peanuts and Cracker Jacks may come with Wet-Naps. —Alec Appelbaum

Related: A Shake Shack at Citi Field?

The James Beard Award nominations are out, and the news for New York is good, though not as overwhelming as last year. Anthos is in there carrying the torch for Best New Restaurant nationally; Dan Barber of Blue Hill is a finalist for Outstanding Chef; and two of the five national nominees for Outstanding Restaurant are New York blue-chippers: Jean Georges and Gramercy Tavern. (The latter is a huge triumph for both Danny Meyer and chef Mike Anthony, given the restaurant’s long association with Tom Colicchio and its brush with being taken for granted.) As for the always-longed-for Rising Star Chef award, there’s a New Yorker in there, too: Gavin Kaysen of Café Boulud.

We are pleased to announce that New York received a few nods, too. Two articles — "My Empire of Dirt" and "Cartography" — were nominated for "Magazine Feature Writing Without Recipes," and Grub Street was nominated for "Multimedia Writing on Food."

"Page Six" drops a bombshell on us today, with the news that a new Shake Shack is coming to the Upper West Side: "Danny Meyer just signed a lease to open its first branch at 366 Columbus Ave. (at 77th Street), which formerly housed Cajun eatery Jacques-Imo's NYC." The new venue is enclosed, so you can wait in line in relative comfort. Meanwhile, also on the Shake Shack front, we hear that there will be not just one (as we reported previously) but two Shake Shacks at Citi Field. And not only those outposts, but also a more formal, Union Square Cafe–style restaurant. Danny Meyer hinted at at least one Citi Field location recently, but this is enticing news indeed.

West Side Shake [NYP]
Earlier: Danny Meyer Finds Manhattan Prohibitive, But a Shake Shack in a Sports Stadium? That He Could See

Considering that only banks can afford to rent ground-floor spaces in Manhattan these days, Danny Meyer has a bold suggestion: the waterfront! Discussing the future of public life with New Yorker architecture critic Paul Goldberger at a forum of the Design Trust for Public Space, Meyer noted that rent pressures had grown absurd in the island's heart. (Starting rent for Union Square Café in 1985: $8 per square foot. Asking rent for the Zen Palate space on Park Avenue South: $300 per square foot.) His solution? "We have all these appendages to Manhattan called piers, and if the city took the opportunity to rent those spaces only to small businesses, that would be a vigorous signal," he said. Meyer said he'd learned that restaurants must echo their surroundings, which we realize means a new Union Square operation would have to carry themes from Whole Foods and Max Brenner. "If we ever do another Shake Shack, we'd want it to look like where it is. The fascination of doing something in a sports stadium jazzes me." Oh, yeah? Citi Field is looking better and better. —Alec Appelbaum

Related: Hark! New Shake Shack to Open at Shea Stadium

The foie gras protests outside Union Square Cafe may not have put a dent in anything, but we’ve just received a press release indicating that Union Square Hospitality Group will no longer use embattled Wild Edibles as its seafood provider, joining Keith McNally's and Jean Denoyer's restaurants in the snub. The release nods to the “courage” of ten workers who were let go after they filed a suit claiming they were stiffed on over time pay.

When we checked in yesterday at Shake Shack’s winter opening, the 21-degree high had an extremely chilling effect on the burger business. Today’s balmy 35 degrees has been a veritable boon! At 2:30 this afternoon, there were at least ten people in view of the Shack Cam, most wearing long black coats and huddled over (we’re guessing) their double Shackburgers and hot chocolate. We predict a significant uptick in weekend business as temperatures leap into the upper 40s. Neither snow nor rain nor temporary lack of heaters will keep us from Danny Meyer’s summertime dream.

It seems that even on the Shake Shack’s first day of winter operation, not many have decided to risk frostbite by ordering a Concrete. (Danny: Better put disclaimers on those cups, fast.) From noon till 1:30 p.m., we didn’t see more than a couple of people in line at a time when we periodically checked in with the Shake Cam. So, yes, a measure of sanity sometimes prevails in matters Shack — which’ll make it easy for us to snag a frozen custard on our way to buy a winter jacket and some hats and gloves at H&M.

We’ve been loyal members of the Bacon of the Month Club, on and off, for almost its entire ten-year history. When it started, the Grateful Palate, which operates the club, barely had a catalog. But now, thanks to the Great Bacon Bandwagon of 2007, not only does the club produce “A Field Guide to Bacon,” it has even recruited David Chang as a “pork ranger” and Danny Meyer as a “bacon ranger” to add their celebrity mugs to its already florid copy. (A typical quote: “Sweet, salty, lovely, delicate powerful like an iron fist in a velvet glove, the kind of bacon to write odes and sonnets about. Silk, silk, silk…”)

Whether Hudson Yards is a windswept corporate outpost or a mash-up of West Chelsea and Herald Square, whoever lives and works there will need to eat. At a presentation before 1,000 architects, planners, and onlookers last night, design-team leaders described the commissary aspects of their proposals. Predictably, the Brookfield team, which reunites the High Line’s landscape architects, invoked a “café culture” with street-level seating under the trestle’s 30th Street entrance, shown above. We predict sustainable purveyors in the Alice Waters mode.

There’s no doubt that when the new Meadowlands launches two years hence, the food will be a huge upgrade from the current swill. But will it match the heavenly food court that Citi Field (a.k.a. the new Shea) has in store? No chance, a source close to the action tells us. While both venues are powered by the need to feed luxury-box owners, Citi Field is open to multiple restaurateurs. So not only will there be a Shake Shack and another TBA Danny Meyer restaurant, but Mets fans might also get a Batali-Bastianich joint and a Myriad Restaurant Group offering.

The greatest hamburger mystery of our time has been solved: We have it from a high-level source near the situation that the location of the long-awaited sequel to Shake Shack is Citi Field, better known as the new Shea Stadium. (Citi Field is currently under construction; it will be finished in April 2009, in time for opening day.) And that most definitely is not all: The Union Square Hospitality Group also plans a Danny Meyer sit-down restaurant there. (We’re waiting to hear back from Meyer on both of these reports.) As for the new Shake Shack, well, if you thought ball games resulted in long lines to the bathroom …

Update, August 10: Danny Meyer conveyed the following message to us yesterday evening: “We think it’s a great idea and would love to do it. If you can help us figure out how to make that deal happen, Shack burgers are on the house!” Awesome. Since nowhere in the statement do we see the words “the report is 100 percent untrue” or “there will not be a Shake Shack at Citi Field,” we’re looking forward to some potato-bun frolics on Opening Day.