Carroll Gardens: On July 26, Tall Order caterers will serve a Brownstone Dinner at their house, on the corner of President and Smith streets. [Bergen Carroll]
Harlem: Nectar Wine Bar, at 235 Frederick Douglass Boulevard, is pairing up with next-door's Harlem Vintage and the Joy of Cheese on Sunday to host a wine-and-cheese tasting, which you'll need to buy tickets for to attend. [Uptown Flavor]
Park Slope: The Brooklyn Burger Bar has been replaced by Flipsters, which looks like another burger bar. [Blondie and Brownie via Hamburger Today]
Prospect Heights: James Bistro is the latest in this line of good neighborhood eats. [NYT]
Soho: Frank Bruni may say “Fiamma is about as Italian as a poodle in a Prada scarf,” but Fabio Trabocchi's unfazed: “You don’t need a red-and-white checkered tablecloth and a bowl of spaghetti with tomato sauce to be Italian.” [Gothamist]
West Village: Lauded chef César Ramirez has left Bar Blanc, and another Bouley alum, Sebastiaan Zijp, will not only step in, he'll expand the menu and add more snack-able bar food. [Eater]
All Posts Tagged: ‘fabio trabocchi’
César Ramirez Out at Bar Blanc; Prospect Heights Eats
Maremma’s Farewell Feast

From left, Fabio Trachocchi, Anne Burrell, and Cesare Casella, around 1 a.m.Photo: Josh Ozersky
Fabio Trabocchi Plays a Mean Chitarra

You can hear him in the back room strumming... Photo: Jed Egan
‘Food & Wine’ Big-Ups New York on Best-Restaurants List
New York may have gotten short shrift on San Pallegrino’s list of the world’s best restaurants, but on Food & Wine’s just-released "Go List" of the World’s Best Places to Eat, we rank third, behind Tokyo and Paris. TAKE THAT, VANCOUVER! Curiously, no New York eateries made the lists of Best New Restaurants (these lists apply to 2007, so Ko didn’t qualify) or Best Restaurants for Carnivores (Kobe Club must be crushed), but here are the locals that did make the top-ten lists.
Rusty Knot Bringing Back Frozen Drinks; Bruce Willis Tended Bar in the East Village
East Village: Wine bar Bowery Wine Co., which opens this weekend at the Avalon, is backed by Bruce Willis, but no promises that he'll be behind the bar this Saturday as he did at his own private party last week. [Eater]
The late-night menu that made Ssäm Bar famous is now a shadow of its former self; you can't even actually get ssäm. [Down by the Hipster]
Midtown: Joel Robuchon will be in the house at Atelier for four or five days starting April 11. [Insatiable Critic]
Midwood: Di Fara pizza now has a Facebook page, thanks to Adam Kuban. [Slice]
Soho: The Women Chefs and Restaurateurs (WCR) industry group is hosting the Times' own Florence Fabricant and Kate Krader of Food & Wine magazine tonight at the French Culinary Institute as part of a panel set to discuss how restaurateurs and chefs should deal with Grub Street (well, all forms of media). [WCR]
Fabio Trabocchi has launched a series of Saturday cooking classes beginning this week at Fiamma . [The Strong Buzz]
Tribeca: The evolved Duane Park now has a New Orleans accent. [Zagat]
West Village: Will other bars catch on to Rusty Knot's move to serve frozen drinks? We hope so. [Mouthing Off/Food & Wine]
Pelaccio Focusing on Fatty ‘Cue; Bruni Gets the Fiamma Memo
Astoria: Leng Thai’s brown rice is delicious; they mix in red grains. [Joey in Astoria]
Clinton Hill: A new bakery is supposed to open around June on Fulton near the Met. Baker: "When I was young, we’d go to the bakery every Sunday after church for a fresh loaf of French bread, soft and still warm from the oven. I’d love to re-create that here.” Blogger: "OMGYAY!" [Clinton Hill Blog]
Murray Hill/Kips Bay: A former Sapa chef will head the kitchen at a new Pan-Asian restaurant called Prana, set to open in June in the old Scopa space. [Zagat]
Soho: Fabio Trabocchi has written a personal note to Bruni and has worked with B.R. Guest to lower prices across the board at Fiamma (including dropping the price of the seven-course menu from $138 to $125). Sorry to those who ate at Fiamma last week. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
Williamsburg: Zak Pelaccio’s project with Robbie Richter might be called Fatty ‘Cue. [Bottomless Dish/Citysearch]
Related: Breaking: Zak Pelaccio and Robbie Richter to Collaborate on Asian Barbecue in Williamsburg
West Village: If you want to celebrate the Irish all next week, August will be "toasting the Irish" through March 21 by serving Guinness Extra Stout and specials like house-made corned beef and cabbage. [Strong Buzz]
Fiamma Says the Luxe Ingredients Never Went Away

Fabio Trabocchi isn't exactly cooking with Spam.Photo: Patrick McMullan
Fiamma’s Menu a Fraction of Its Former Self

You can get a martini here, we're sure.Photo: Noah Sheldon
‘The New Yorker’ Hits Fiamma Hard
The New Yorker’s “Tables for Two” reviews have generally been mordant little affairs, short on criticism and long on wry descriptions of restaurant culture. Not this week. Nick Paumgarten comes down hard on Fiamma, describing “FEMA-like” service, cold food, a martini made without vermouth, and, in general, the very picture of a major ripoff operation, subsisting on “a strong euro and the proximity of the Soho Grand hotel.” It’s a wild departure from the usual “Tables for Two” mold, and though it may or may not be reflective of Fiamma (practically all of the reviews have been very positive, including Adam Platt’s two-star job), it’s certainly a lot more fun to read. Something tells us Paumgarten had a lot of fun writing it.
Tables for Two: Fiamma [NYer]
Starbucks Nixes Breakfast Sandwiches; Kenny Shopsin Ready for Mind-Altering Substances
In addition to slowing its expansion (finally), Starbucks will halt “sales of hot breakfast sandwiches because their smell interferes with the aroma of coffee.” [WSJ]
If Padma Lakshmi could eat anywhere right now, she’d head to a little taco stand in Mexico for some fish tacos on the beach. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
Chelsea hot spot Stereo, which was closed by police earlier this month, will not be reopening at its current location because the landlord bought out the lease. [NYP]
Barbuto Saved by a Chicken; Fiamma Comes Up Short
The 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]
Shake Shack Reopens Today; Fabio Trabocchi's Last Meal
Sweet glory, Shake Shack reopens today at 11:30! You can call ahead to place your order, but you won’t be enjoying the new heaters until next week. [Eater]
The British agree: Adam Platt's term “haute barnyard” defines the prevailing dining trend. [Guardian]
Related: The Haute Barnyard Hall of Fame
The manager of Sarabeth’s on Central Park South caught a 50-year-old thief taking $27 from her pocketbook over the weekend. [NYP]
Padma Lakshmi Now Refusing Food

What? You dare bring me more food?Photo: Wireimage
Tart Words From the ‘Chef’ Host [NYDN]
Related: The Salty Wit and Wisdom of Padma Lakshmi
Kate Moss Digs Le Royale; FreshDirect Fires 85 Workers
Apparently the opening-night party at Le Royale was a success, drawing the likes of Kate Moss, who made out with the D.J. [Imbible/Citysearch]
Related: Le Royale Might Just Bring Nightlife Out of the Doldrums
Frank Bruni applauds restaurants seeking out new forms of hospitality, but is wary of the WiFi availability: “Will the glow of laptop screens and the percussion of typing become pervasive visual and aural backdrops for our meals?” [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
A former Scores cocktail waitress is suing the owners for being told to act more like a stripper. [NYP]
Platt Sees Only Disaster and Peril for Out-of-Town Chefs

Charlie Trotter is coming for you, Adam Platt!Photo: AFP / Getty Images
New York to Charlie Trotter: Bring It On!

Charlie Trotter, welcome to the big time.Photo: AFP / Getty Images
Fiamma, Tailor, and Turkey Carry the Weight This Week

If you want two stars, pop a cork for Platt, and make it snappy! Photo: Noah Sheldon
Virginia Pig Farmer Is the Toast of the New York Pork World

Portrait of the Ossabaw as a young pig.Photo courtesy Colonial Williamsburg
Trabocchi Reinvents Porchetta at Fiamma

Primehouse Opening in Flatiron; Trabocchi Siphoned Former Staff to Soho
Carroll Gardens: New wine bar Black Mountain Wine House on Union Street is filled to the brim with lovely sipping ladies. [Eat for Victory/VV]
Flatiron: Diddy has closed Justin’s because it’s not big enough. [NYP] Stephen Hanson’s steakhouse, Primehouse, opens Monday. [Zagat]
Harlem: Fall registration is open for free proper-dining lessons at “New York City’s only tuition-free etiquette school for children,” the Development and Finishing Institute. [Uptown Flavor]
Soho: New Fiamma chef Fabio Trabocchi “brought with him 12 members of the staff of Maestro, in McLean, Va., his previous employer" in order to ease his New York transition. [NYT]
Upper East Side: David Burke's Hudson Valley Foie Gras ‘PB&J’ Tourchon is pushing it. [NYO]
Williamsburg: The best way to be sure your beef is prime is to eat at a top steakhouse, and lucky for you, according to “Amy Rubenstein, whose family owns Peter Luger, the shortage is over.” [NYP]
Colors Workers Rebel; Whole Foods Getting Into Craft Beer
The workers of Colors, originally envisioned as a co-op for orphaned Windows on the World employees, have sued the restaurant and the advocacy group that runs it, claiming that in fact none of them actually own any part of it. [NYP]
Related: Marxist Meals Served at Co-op Eateries
Whole Foods will be opening up a craft-beer bar with tap brews sold in carryout growlers — in September. [NYS]
Animal activism has come of age, which is good news for calves, old hogs, and other unlucky beings that might otherwise be facing unspeakable fates. [NYT]
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