Jennifer Garner Likes the Food at Fiamma More than Padma Did

The week’s most exciting celebrity sighting was that of beer-sippin’ McLovin at Diner. No other celebs were busted getting their underage drink on, but there were other surprises: Rachael Ray rolled into the Orchard with a posse bigger than Diddy’s, and Jennifer Garner liked the food at Fiamma so much she slipped into the kitchen to beg Fabio Trabocchi for recipes. We figure that makes up for supposedly getting dissed by Padma Lakshmi a couple weeks ago. (And yes, there a Padma sighting this week, too…)

Posted 01/10/08 in Grub Street : Celebrity Settings

Tags: 55 wall street cipriani club, bone lick park, bowery hotel, cafe el portal, cafe luxemburg, Celebrity Settings, coffee shop, da silvano, da tommaso, extra virgin, fiamma, gansevoort hotel, gemma, headquarters, jane, kobe club, liquiteria, mandoo, michael's, nizza, pastis, pink elephant, schiller's, scores east, second avenue deli, the orchard, the plumm, veselka

Bourdain Showing ‘Iron Chef’ Some Love; Dévi Back in Action

The worst thing Tony Bourdain can say about the new Top Iron Chef is “that Ruhlman’s hair is the scariest and most offensive aspect of the show … In every other respect, the damn thing is pretty impeccable.” [Ruhlman] Related: Who Will Be Cut Next on ‘The Next Iron Chef’? Enterprising chefs Suvir Saran and Hemant Mathur will have their recently acquired restaurant Dévi reopen by Monday. [Eater] Related: Debriefing Dévi: Suvir Saran’s Suspected Side Projects Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious cookbook is uncomfortably similar to another cookbook published a few months before it, which also encourages moms to put spinach in brownies. [NYT] Related: Hey Jessica Seinfeld! What Up? [Daily Intel]

Posted 10/19/07 in Grub Street : Mediavore

Tags: anthony bourdain, balthazar, devi, diddy, hemant mathur, iron chef, jessica seinfeld, kiosk, mediavore, schiller's, suvir saran, top chef, upstairs

Squid Guts, Massage Parlors, and Discounted Wine

Dumbo: Superfine is hosting a Brazilian cocktail and dance party on Sunday night to benefit a “baptism ceremony for new students” of Capoeira Brooklyn. [Dumbo NYC] East Village: Squid guts at Menkui-tei in Cooper Square are not as delicious as they sound. [Eat for Victory/VV] Fort Greene: A bakery called Krumbs will open in the old Frosted Moon Emporium on Vanderbilt just near Myrtle. [Clinton Hill Blog] Lower East Side: Schiller’s wants you to know that it’s not a massage parlor. Oh, and delivery is discounted. [Eater] Midtown East: Crush Wine is taking 20 percent off all white bottles under $55 through this Friday. [Grub Street] West Village: Scott Bryan expects to have his kitchen at 10 Downing Street up and running by November. [Mouthing Off]

Posted 08/21/07 in Grub Street : Neighborhood Watch

Tags: 10 downing street, crush wine & spirits, dumbo, east village, fort greene, krumbs, lower east side, menkui-tei, midtown east, neighborhood watch, schiller's, superfine, west village

Writer-Rocker Darcey Steinke Downs Jell-O With Nuns

In her new memoir Easter Everywhere novelist Darcey Steinke recounts her life as a minister’s daughter, traveling the country and picking up tastes for regional dishes like fried okra. “When you get it right,” she says, “It’s like crack.” Though her Prospect Park neighborhood has yet to yield the perfect fix, she’s fond of the jerk chicken, and as a survey of her most recent week of eating reveals, she also knows where to find exceptional sauerbraten, redemptive sticky-toffee pudding, and a classic Waldorf salad with marshmallows — which she enjoyed with an order of nuns.

Posted 04/06/07 in Grub Street : The New York Diet

Tags: cafe asean, darcey steinke, fairway, frankies 457 spuntino, french roast, hope & anchor, schiller's, the new york diet, thomas beisl

Do Morandi’s Restrooms Live Up to the Rest of McNally’s?

As far as restrooms go, Keith McNally’s are the gold standard. The man has pissed away a great deal of money importing gigantic urinals and sinks (as Schiller’s barkeep Corey Lima told us, boozed-up patrons often mistake one for the other), and his restroom lounges are bigger (and have nicer furniture) than certain apartments we’ve lived in. When he built the bathrooms at his new venture Morandi, he must’ve known everyone was watching. Did he suffer from performance anxiety?

Posted 03/02/07 in Grub Street : Restroom Report

Tags: keith mcnally, morandi, restroom report, schiller's