All 'desserts' Posts on Grub Street - New York Magazine's Daily Food Blog

User's Guide

7/11/08

2:30 PM

Taste Test: Bethenny Frankel’s Muffins

Vegan muffins by Real Housewives of New York's Bethenny Frankel.Photo: Everett Bogue

Grub Street world headquarters was graced today with a gift from “Celebrity Natural-Food Chef” and Real Housewife Bethenny Frankel. Last month, Frankel launched a Bethenny Bakes line of vegan muffins, and today we tasted the sampler pack. What did our discerning panel of non-vegans think?

More: User's Guide »bethenny bakes, bethenny frankel, desserts, vegan

NewsFeed

6/18/08

3:30 PM

Alan Richman Does Love His Desserts

If Marcel Proust had been a New York Jew…Photo: Lauren Klain Carton

“Show me a man who believes his favorite desserts are those he has eaten as an adult, and I’ll show you a man who had an unhappy childhood.” Alan Richman gets grouchy now and again, but is there anybody working in the food media these days who flourishes so in long-essay form? His current opus for GQ, a ten-page summa on traditional desserts, should be required reading for all pastry chefs. Richman pays tribute to “The Pig’s Dinner” sundae of his youth, the perfect pairing of Pepsi and Hydrox cookies, the dreamy quality of custard, and the underwhelming flavor (but sentimental value) of Yonah Schimmel’s knishes:

More: NewsFeed »alan richman, desserts

Engines of Gastronomy

5/30/08

6:00 PM

Tailor's Liquid-Nitrogen Dispenser Is Very, Very Cold

Sam Mason in full mad-scientist mode.Photo: Melissa Hom

The Dewar liquid-nitrogen dispenser at Tailor is no simple kitchen tool. A tank filled with a substance so cold that it boils at -327 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s used by Sam Mason and the other cooks at Tailor to flash-freeze foods without changing their cell structure. “I hit grapefruit sections with it,” explains Mason, “and in a few seconds they’re broken down to their most basic structures. And it can make ice cream in two minutes!” Like a lot of molecular gastronomists, Mason uses liquid nitrogen because it can change the structure of a food without changing its flavor at all; it dissipates almost instantly, leaving no aftereffects other than a radical shift in texture. “There aren’t a lot of limits of what you can do with this,” he says. “Just don’t get it on your hands for too long.”

More: Engines of Gastronomy »desserts, liquid nitrogen, molecular gastronomy, sam mason, tailor

User's Guide

5/30/08

1:30 PM

Beyond Buttercream: Avant-garde Cupcakes

We'll show you what cupcakes are all about!Photo: Melissa Hom

New York has a cupcake problem. We like cupcakes too much. We talk about them, pay as much as $4 each for them (at the City Girl Café), and, in some cases even, stand in line for them. As a result, our bakers are impelled to greater and greater feats of cupcake-making. Here, then, is a Grub Street slideshow with some of the best and brightest of the current crop of cupcakes. Prepare for some hard-core cupcake porn.

Slideshow: Cupcake Remix

More: User's Guide »cupcakes, desserts

NewsFeed

5/20/08

2:30 PM

Josh Gripper Leaves A Voce

Joshua Gripper is headed to Daniel.Photo courtesy of A Voce

As the Andrew Carmellini era at A Voce draws to an end, some of his kitchen staff are looking elsewhere for work. Josh Gripper, the hugely talented young pastry chef whom Carmellini discovered, is on his way out. “I’m not comfortable with [the ownership’s] direction, and I don’t think it would be a smart move to stay with them,” he says. Gripper is heading to Daniel, Carmellini’s home for so many years, where he will work as a sous-chef with Dominque Ansel, the head pastry man there. “Sometimes, you need to take one step back to take two steps forward. It’ll be good for me to have a four-star restaurant under my belt,” he says. Gripper's move could be temporary, depending on where Carmellini lands.

More: NewsFeed »a voce, daniel, desserts, dominique ansel, josh gripper

NewsFeed

5/12/08

5:30 PM

Alto Loses a Pastry Chef; Brooklyn to Gain a Dessert Bar

Heather Bertinetti takes over the pastry kitchen at Alto.Photo: Melissa Hom

Heather Bertinetti has replaced Deborah Snyder at Alto. Bertinetti is the restaurant's third pastry chef in less than a year: Snyder, who came in after Tim Butler left last fall, plans to open her own place in Brooklyn. Both Snyder and chef Michael White say the parting was amicable.

Previously, Bertinetti worked the whisks at Per Se and Gramercy Tavern, and White is excited about his new hire. “We share the same vision for the use of Italian products. Heather has a great sensibility for use of sugar and great balance on acidity,” says the chef. “Her desserts are very clean and straight to the point.”

NewsFeed

5/ 6/08

9:30 AM

Brooks Headley Takes Over the Del Posto Dessert Program

Brooks Headley: progressive but Italian.Photo courtesy Insatiable Critic

When Nicole Kaplan left her post as Del Posto's pastry chef, Joe Bastianich told us that her replacement would be somebody good. And apparently that somebody is Brooks Headley, formerly of Compass. It seems on the surface like an odd choice, given the latter's reputation as an avant-garde dessert man (his signature at Compass was a “deconstructed Key-lime pie”), but Bastianich says, “He's a brilliant talent. He truly understands the tastes and sensibility of real Italian desserts.” The new dessert menu reads very Italian, admittedly: crespelle di polenta, frozen ricotta, rhubarb-and-rose-hip jam, say, or panna cotta with candied spring fennel. “He really gets it,” Bastianich swoons.

Related: Nicole Kaplan Leaves Del Posto

More: NewsFeed »brooks headley, del posto, desserts, joe bastianich, nicole kaplan

NewsFeed

4/24/08

2:30 PM

Karen DeMasco Leaves Craft; Who Will Carry the Cake Flag?

Karen DeMasco: the last defender of sweet desserts?Photo courtesy Craft

Karen DeMasco, Craft’s pastry chef, is leaving her post to work on a cookbook, she tells Restaurant Girl. This is another blow to normal desserts in New York (Nicole Kaplan’s departure from Del Posto in January was one, too), as DeMasco is a leading proponent of traditional, non-savory desserts. DeMasco was a protégé of Claudia Fleming, Gramercy Tavern’s influential dessert chef, who also carried the torch for conventionally delicious sweet tastes. (Though not cloying — in the interview, she says, “I like desserts that are not overly sweet, but, personally, I will leave the bacon to the hot line.”) Who will fill her place? If durian flan or white-pepper gel starts showing up at Craft, we’ll know that the battle for traditional high-end desserts is officially over.

Q&A With Karen DeMasco [Restaurant Girl]
Related: Nicole Kaplan Leaves Del Posto

More: NewsFeed »claudia fleming, craft, desserts, karen demasco, nicole kaplan

User's Guide

4/ 4/08

4:15 PM

Take Your Dessert With a Grain of Salt

Photo: Melissa Hom

From the Dessert Truck’s molten chocolate cake in a foil cup to Momofuku Ko’s fried apple cake, some of the best desserts in town now feature salt as a key component next to traditional flavors like chocolate, apples, and caramel. It seems paradoxical, but somehow salt seems to bring out the sweet. New York's pastry chefs are leaning on it more and more, as the following mouthwatering images in this slideshow attest.

Slideshow: Sweet Salt

More: User's Guide »dessert truck, desserts, momofuku ko

Engines of Gastronomy

3/28/08

5:00 PM

Savoy's Branding Iron Is Not Cruel to Crème Brûlée

It doesn't feel anything.Photo: Melissa Hom

In most restaurants, crème brûlée is a year-round dessert, but that's not the case with Savoy. The crème brûlée branding iron is heated in the fireplace. That's right: a crème brûlée branding iron. Savoy is defiantly old-school, and refuses to use a butane torch to brown the surface of its custard. Says owner Peter Hoffman, “It adds a nice ‘fireplace flavor’ to the dessert — a subtle taste of wood and smoke that’s infused into the sugar. With a butane torch, you can definitely caramelize the sugar; but you can’t get that fireplace flavor.” There's even a pleasant side effect to the iron's use: A sweet, marshmallowy aroma briefly wafts across the room, no doubt inspiring other diners to order the same thing. Get your branded brûlée this weekend and next. After that, the fireplace goes cold for the season.

More: Engines of Gastronomy »creme brulee, desserts, peter hoffman, savoy, soho

NewsFeed

3/21/08

12:00 PM

Tailor’s Menu Reborn, Again

Definitely better than the churros on the subway platform.Photo: Melissa Hom

There are two things that have been true about Tailor since it opened: Sam Mason and Fran Derby's food is often brilliant, and the city hasn't really warmed up to it yet. But the restaurant’s menu has evolved, first with bigger portions in December, and it is organized into course “one,” “two,” and “three.” More importantly, both the kitchen and Eben Freeman's bar downstairs have added some characteristically inventive new items.

More: NewsFeed »cocktails, desserts, eben freeman, sam mason, soho, tailor

NewsFeed

2/20/08

9:15 AM

What Can’t Pichet Ong Do With Foie Gras?

It's foie gras … it's a taco … it's a foie gras taco.Photo: Erin Gleeson

We checked in with dessertologist Pichet Ong recently and found him inordinately pleased with one of his newest creations: a foie gras Chantilly “taco,” created for the Valentine's Day tasting menu and now served every day at P*ONG. The shell is made of chocolate and hazelnut, the filling foie gras Chantilly, with a little bit of red-chile jam for heat. “It has that creamy, melt-in-your-mouth feel that people want from foie gras, with the crunch from the taco. Everyone loves it.” So says Ong. And there’s more foie in the future!

More: NewsFeed »anita lo, desserts, foie gras, pichet ong, pong

Foodievents

11/19/07

1:00 PM

Pastry Royalty Performs at Sweet

Johnny Zs plays to the cameras (the dessert was awesome).Photo: Melissa Hom

The city’s top dessert chefs, from Johnny Iuzzini on down, delighted deep-pocketed foodies with their signature confections at Sweet on Friday night. Evian and Ferro Rocher flexed their marketing muscle, dispatching well-formed young people in tight clothes to represent their not especially sexy brands. The pastry aristocracy (Goldfarb, Iuzzini, and Stupak) were all present and accounted for, standing proudly behind space-age-looking creations that tasted even better than they looked. (Only Sam Mason wasn’t around, as someone had to man the stoves at Tailor.) At first we were sort of alarmed: There were obviously many more guests than had originally been intended, for the long, narrow, space, but since cake isn’t combustible, it all seemed safe enough. A body can only take so much chocolate ganache, Champagne, and high-powered pastry cooks crammed into one hall.

More: Foodievents »alex stupak, desserts, johnny iuzzini, sam mason, sweet, tailor, tom colicchio, wichcraft

Mediavore

11/16/07

10:35 AM

Meyer and Batali Face Off; Gordo's Advice on the Closer

Meyer, Batali, Nieporent, and others compete to see who’ll serve VIPs at the new Jets/Giants stadium. Interesting! And how does this affect Meyer’s rumored plans to take Shea Stadium by ShackStorm? [NYP]

Gordo’s first-date fail-safe: Take your girl to Ducasse’s place in Monaco, then tell her what you really want is roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Wow — the guy's like something straight out of The Pick-Up Artist! [Forbes]

Naked Chef Jamie Oliver, in town to promote his book, says his feelings are hurt from being slagged by Bourdain: “You rate someone [like Mr. Bourdain] and then they think you're a bit of a pussy. It's not very inspiring.” [Globe and Mail]

More: Mediavore »anthony bourdain, danny meyer, desserts, drew nieporent, gordon ramsay, jamie oliver, mario batali, starbucks

Back of the House

11/ 9/07

9:30 AM

Need Your Fix of Johnny Iuzzini News? You're in Luck!

It's Z-man's happening, and it freaks us out!

After we had some sport with Johnny Iuzzini earlier this week, the dessert master was pretty steamed — he even asked us to take him off our list. No problem, but wouldn’t you have thought we would be off his? Not so! Yesterday brought us our long-awaited issue of “See What’s Up With Johnny,” the official Johnny Iuzzini newsletter. “As usual, Johnny has been receiving quite a lot of buzz,” it assured us, going on to quote Grub Street as calling the tattooed wunderkind “the most influential dessert chef working today.”

More: Back of the House »desserts, jean georges, johnny iuzzini

Back of the House

11/ 6/07

12:07 PM

Johnny Iuzzini's Plea: Elect Me Sexiest Chef!

Johnny Z: "Chocolate is my ace in the hole."Photo: Patrick McMullan

We were still trying to make up our mind whether the Daily News’ “New York’s Sexiest Chef” contest was for real or not, when we got an e-mail blast from nominee Johnny Iuzzini, last seen wearing a meringue body stocking on his stylish Website. It read: “Check out todays ny daily news- get a hard copy. Register to see all the chefs and pics and vote!!!!”

More: Back of the House »desserts, jean georges, johnny iuzzini, tom colicchio

Beef

10/ 1/07

3:30 PM

Michael White on His Departed Pastry Chef: “He Was a Jerk.”

It takes a lot to make Mike White mad.Photo: Patrick McMullan

Restaurant Girl reported pastry chef Tim Butler’s departure from Alto and L’Impero yesterday, not long after chef Michael White found out himself. “He just told me on Friday and only told Restaurant Girl to stick it to me,” White says. The two had sparred over what White calls Butler’s refusal to use Italian ingredients and flavors in his desserts. “I asked him over and over again — use a little hazelnut or some Gianduja chocolate — but he totally refused. Then he told me he wasn’t coming in anymore. I’m the easiest guy to work for in the world! But this guy really was a jerk.” Chef de cuisine Kevin Sippel is also leaving White but had given notice several months ago for family reasons. White expects to name a new pastry chef soon — we’ll let you know when he does.

Creative Differences at L’Impero and Alto [Restaurant Girl]

More: Beef »alto, desserts, east side, l'impero, michael white, tim butler

The Annotated Dish

8/30/07

5:30 PM

Strawberry Dessert Quartet at Jean Georges

Johnny Iuzzini of Jean Georges is one of the leading figures in the modern Dessert Revolution and arguably the most influential dessert chef working today. Typically, any meal at Jean Georges ends with one of four dessert tastings — four dishes united by a single theme. While summer strawberries last (likely another two or three weeks), this strawberry tasting will be available for both lunch and dinner. “The idea is to show how versatile strawberries are,” Iuzzini says. “There are so many ways to manipulate it and yet still maintain its integrity.” As always, mouse over the different desserts to hear them described in the chef’s own words.

More: The Annotated Dish »desserts, jean georges, johnny iuzzini, strawberries

The Orange Line

8/15/07

11:00 AM

Riding the B Line: Baklava Like You Wouldn't Believe

Somewhere in the world there may be a train line that covers more gastronomic territory than the B and V subway lines, which start in southernmost Brooklyn and end deep in Queens, but if there is, we don’t know about it. For the next twenty-odd weeks, we'll be riding the B and V from Coney Island all the way to Forest Hills, jumping off frequently to rave about our favorite restaurants and food stores near the subway.

This week: Kings Highway

More: The Orange Line »baklava, Brooklyn, desserts, gulluoglu, midwood, Turkish

NewsFeed

8/14/07

1:05 PM

Fatty Crab Chef's Mom Makes Fatty Chocolate

The summer fruit collection from Roni-Sue’s chocolates.Photo: Everett Bogue

Fatty Crab chef Corwin Kave is living our childhood fantasy: His mom owns a candy store. Roni-Sue Kave first introduced diners to her buttercrunch at Borough Food & Drink through the good offices of Zak Pelaccio, the restaurant’s consulting chef. It was first sold at the retail counter, but now demand has put it on the menu. Kave’s store at the Essex Street Market will stock her even better fruit-flavored chocolate truffles. We had a little tasting here at the Grub Street offices, and each one was better than the last. There is none of the disgusting, cloying sweetness or gag-inducing cream innards you find in most fruit-filled chocolates. These taste like actual fruit (strawberry-rhubarb, mango) with a dark-chocolate oomph. Does Corwin have a sister? With food this good running in the family, we’ll marry her sight unseen.

More: NewsFeed »borough food and drink, candy, corwin kave, desserts, essex street market, fatty crab, lower east side, roni-sue kave, zak pelaccio

NewsFeed

8/13/07

11:00 AM

The Yogurt That Started It All Is on Its Way — But Where?

The future of fro-yo in Flushing? Photo: Melissa Hom

The frozen-yogurt battle between Pinkberry and its competitors (Yolato, Öko, /eks/, et al) is pretty much a big bore by now, but the impending arrival of the grandfather of all Korean yogurt chains, Red Mango, may stir the pot a little yet. In sheer number of living germs or “cultures” as they’re called in the yogurt business, Red Mango claims to have an almost Malthusian population advantage. “To be called yogurt, a typical refrigerated supermarket product needs to have 10 million cultures. Ours has 500,” a Red Mango representative told us. But the big mystery is where Red Mango will land. A Grub Street informant noticed a sign in Flushing announcing a new store. Given the area’s large Korean population, this makes sense. But the company has spoken only of its future Manhattan store, at 723 Eighth Avenue. Just how many Red Mangos are on the way? And why are they called Red Mango when they sell yogurt? When we find out, we’ll let you know.

More: NewsFeed »/eks/, desserts, flushing, korean, oko, pinkberry, red mango, yogurt

NewsFeed

8/ 6/07

9:00 AM

Room 4 Dessert Is Dead, Long Live Room 4 Dessert

Wait, so it's not re-opening soon? What about this hastily-written note then? Photo: Melissa Hom

In what might be the least surprising news of the summer, Will Goldfarb has told Grub Street that Room 4 Dessert, at least in its current location, is kaput. (The place has been closed for months, but Goldfarb has been promising it would reopen.) “We’re officially pulling the plug on 17 Cleveland Place,” the cake whiz tells us. “But we’re going to reopen, bigger and better, six months from today.” Goldfarb, theatrical as ever, refuses to disclose the location of the new place, except to say that it’s downtown “in another high-profile restaurant row.”

The Launch

7/27/07

1:00 PM

Farewell, Sam Mason. Hello, Tailor

It’s time we finally admitted it: Our winding journey with Sam Mason has come to an end. Construction crews told a Grub Street staffer that the Tailor people plan for an August 6 opening. There might be some truth to this: The date’s not all that far off from the official “mid-August” projection we were recently given, and frankly, we’d sooner believe the laborers than publicists nervous over a massively hyped opening day. And so, we present this album of the magical moments we shared with Mason as he chased the dream of Tailor. If nothing else, we’ll have the memories.

Earlier: Sam Mason Has Maybe a Month or So to Visit Fire Island
The Launch

More: The Launch, VideoFeed »desserts, openings, sam mason, soho, tailor

NewsFeed

7/ 9/07

9:00 AM

Bill Corbett to Take His Innovative Magic West

Bill Corbett, the pastry chef at Anthos (we recently featured his Sesame in Sesame dessert in the Annotated Dish), is riding his wave of acclaim all the way out of town: The fast-rising young chef has been hired to head up the pastry kitchen at Michael Mina in San Francisco. Corbett was attracted, he says, by the chance to work with his old mentor, Lincoln Carson, currently Mina’s corporate pastry chef. Of his short, successful run at Anthos, Corbett says, “I am really proud of what we did at Anthos. It was a really good experience for me to be there.” Corbett designed all the desserts in keeping with Anthos’ haute-Greek mission; the restaurant will be keeping a number of them on the menu, including Sesame in Sesame.

More: NewsFeed »anthos, bill corbett, desserts, lincoln carson, michael mina, san francisco

The Annotated Dish

7/ 5/07

5:00 PM

Anthos’ ‘Most Innovative’ Sesame Dessert

One of the bigger upsets in recent food-award history came a couple of weeks ago: Bill Corbett of Anthos came out of nowhere to defeat Room 4 Dessert’s Will Goldfarb and wd-50’s Alex Stupak to win the Golden Scoop Award for Most Innovative Dessert. About his secret weapon, Sesame in Sesame, Corbett says, “I wanted to take a very simple ingredient and take it in as many directions as I could. It took me a long time to get it down, but I definitely feel like it's one of the ones that illustrates what I want to do on a plate.” As always, mouse over the different elements of the dish to see them described in the chef’s own words.

Related: Daniel and Anthos Hit Big at Dessert Awards

More: The Annotated Dish »anthos, bill corbett, desserts, golden scoop awards

Mediavore

7/ 2/07

10:00 AM

Le Cirque Scrambles for Relevance; P*ONG Expanding

A myriad of consultants and experts are surrounding Sirio Maccioni, giving advice on how Le Cirque can recapture its now-departed magic. [Insatiable Critic]

Dessert bars are a hot enough trend right now that some restaurants and bakeries are transforming themselves at certain hours, while others, like P*ONG, are built expressly for the genre. [NYP]
Related: Because Our Desserts Are as Good as Everyone Else’s Entire Meals

Speaking of which, Asian dessert guru Pichet Ong will open a shop devoted to ice cream, pudding, and cookies next door to P*ONG on August 17. [Strong Buzz]

More: Mediavore »chinatown, clinton street baking company, competitive eating, desserts, le cirque, p*ong, seafood, trans fat

NewsFeed

6/20/07

5:11 PM

Daniel and Anthos Hit Big at Dessert Awards

Daniel's Dominique Ansel is declared officially fabulous.Photo courtesy Pastryscoop.com

The Golden Scoop Pastry awards held last night had everything you would want from a dessert awards: a victory parade of New York chefs, a dozen world-class desserts, and a seven-foot pastry chef–slash–drag queen named Chocolatina. The ceremony was held at the French Culinary Institute and awarded prizes in five categories, the most important of which, Best Dessert Menu, was won by Dominque Ansel of Daniel. The most intense competition, though, may well have been Most Innovative Dessert, a coveted trophy in today’s go-go world of rock-star experimental dessert chefs.

Mediavore

6/20/07

10:12 AM

City Backs Down on Calorie-Info Law; Gordon Ramsay Accused of TV Fakery

The city, stared down by the adamant opposition of big restaurant chains, has pushed back implementation of its calorie-info law for three months. [NYP]

The former manager of Dillons, the midtown restaurant to be “rescued” by Gordon Ramsay on his new show, is suing the chef, claiming the program was “a prime example of fake TV” with planted customers, rotten meat put out for dramatic effect, and worse. [NYP]

The city’s best hamburgers are all the product of one great butcher, Pat LaFrieda, whose custom grinds, though secret, are geared to each restaurant’s cooking methods. [Men’s Vogue]

Openings

6/ 6/07

11:05 AM

Öko Enters the Yogurt Wars Armed With Green Power

Others may be better, but none are greener.Photo: Melissa Hom

In the heat of the current gelato-and-frozen-yogurt wars, you might not think there was room for another major frozen-dessert concept. But while Grom, Pinkberry, Yolato, and the rest compete in Manhattan, Öko, a greener-than-green business serving two flavors of Greek-style frozen yogurt in a store in which nearly everything is biodegradable, has tailored itself for Park Slope. The walls and counter are made of compressed sunflower seeds; the spoons and straws, from potato starch. Even the plates, though seemingly made of transparent plastic, are actually composed of processed corn. The toppings are also all-natural, mostly fruit — blackberries, mango, kiwi pieces, and the like — along with dry toppings like shaved coconut, sliced almonds, dark-chocolate chips, and dried Turkish apricots. “This is just our first store,” general manager Mateo Braghieri tells us. “We want to open more.” Because, you know, there aren’t enough high-powered frozen-yogurt chains around.

More: Openings »desserts, green, grom, oko, park slope, pinkberry, yolato

Openings

6/ 1/07

11:00 AM

Park Slope Gets Its Own Pastry-Chef Spinoff

It's not the Union Square Cafe — and that's the whole point.Photo: Stephanie Land

Now that star pastry chefs are spinning off their own restaurants (Sam Mason at Tailor, Pichet Ong at P*Ong), it’s high time that some of the less famous names have the chance to do the same on a smaller scale. Hence Emily Isaac’s journey from being the pastry chef at Union Square Cafe to her new place behind the counter of her own bake shop in Park Slope. Trois Pommes Patisserie, which Rob and Robin include in this week’s Openings, has twelve seats and an open kitchen where Isaacs cooks up “greenmarket-inspired fruit pies and ice cream,” not to mention a wide selection of other pastries. The iced coffee is pretty good too.

Restaurant Openings: Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, Lola, Le Barricou, and Trois Pommes Patisserie [NYM]

More: In the Magazine, Openings »desserts, emily issac, park slope, pastry chefs, trois pommes patisserie, union square cafe

NewsFeed

5/21/07

9:00 AM

Will Goldfarb Is Changing the World, One Kiosk at a Time

Behold, the kiosk of the future! Source of peace and panna cotta!

Photo courtesy the Pure Project.

The last time we checked in, Will Goldfarb, the Room 4 Dessert chef, had just begun convincing restaurants around town to outsource their dessert program to him. Now the ultracaffeinated cake whiz has colonized Battery Park, beating out some major rivals to develop and operate two lunch kiosks there. The stands won’t be open until late summer, but Goldfarb has typically high-concept plans for both. Former Thor chef Kevin Pomplun will run the kitchen, producing high-end sandwiches (a sous-vide chicken club; an oil-packed Sardinian tuna with tarragon mayo on ciabatta) and Goldfarbian desserts (pistachio panna cotta, hot chocolate mousse).

More: NewsFeed »desserts, financial district, kevin pomplun, room 4 dessert, thor, will goldfarb

Mediavore

5/ 8/07

10:00 AM

Mr. Chow Sued for $5 Million; Loans Crush Wannabe Chefs

Michael Chow of Mr. Chow is hit with a $5 million lawsuit for skimming tips, demanding “cult-like attention” from staff, and utilizing “degradation as a management technique.” [NYP]

Cooking-school graduates are being crushed by their student-loan debts: “The story is always the same. The school convinces the student they are going to be the next Julia Child or Wolfgang Puck, and the student will sign anything.” [NYT]

The Smith and Wollensky Restaurant Group finally agrees to be bought out by Patina Restaurant Group [NYT]
Related: The Secrets of Steakhouse Riches [Grub Street]

Mediavore

5/ 7/07

9:57 AM

Scott Conant Soon to Be Very Busy; the New Shake Shack

Scott Conant has lots to keep him busy until his next major restaurant project, including a book, a Home Shopping Network deal, and a pilot for a cooking show. [The Strong Buzz]
Earlier: Scott Conant Takes Leave of Alto, L’Impero [Grub Street]

A customer sues Zen Palate for serving her jagged little pieces of metal along with her meal. [NYP]

The lines at Grom have grown even beyond Shake Shack proportions, stretching a whole city block. [Serious Eats]
Related: Grom’s Gelato Conquers New York for Italy [Grub Street]

More: Mediavore »chumley's, desserts, grom,

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11:05 AM

6/ 1/07

11:00 AM

5/21/07

9:00 AM

5/ 8/07

10:00 AM

5/ 7/07

9:57 AM