All Posts Tagged: ‘union square cafe’
Tables Available at Craftsteak; Bar Room at the Modern and Gramercy Tavern Mostly Booked
Franklin Becker to Replace Gary Robins at Sheridan Square; Octopus Abounds on Menus
• Franklin Becker is replacing Gary Robins at Sheridan Square. According to the PR firm, “Franklin will change the menu slowly and keep anything that has become a signature item.” [Eater]
Related: Breaking: Gary Robins Out at Sheridan Square
• Union Square Cafe, Fleur de Sel, and Le Cirque will keep their Restaurant Week special deals in place even after the citywide promotion ends. [Zagat Buzz]
Related: Summer Restaurant Week Brings Back a Chance to Steal a Meal
• Now that chefs know how to actually cook octopus, it’s becoming more and more popular with diners. [NYP]
Tables Available at Craft and Craftbar; Gramercy Tavern Mostly Booked
Tables Available at Craft and Craftbar; Gramercy Tavern and Union Square Café Mostly Booked
Tables Available at Craftbar and the Modern; Gramercy Tavern and Union Square Cafe Mostly Booked
Danny Meyer: ‘You Can Stand Under My Umbrella’
Courtesy of The Moment
At Danny Meyer’s, an Umbrella With Dinner [Moment/NYT]
Related: Michael Romano, Equally Nice the Morning After
Dream Match: Dentons vs. Martignettis
Jason Denton, sans bro.Photo: Patrick McMullan
Tables Available at Craftbar; Gramercy Tavern and Union Square Café Mostly Booked
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Union Square Cafe Waiters Are Poets and They Know It
We’re not sure how we missed this "Talk of the Town" piece in last week’s New Yorker — obviously we were distracted by “A Man of Taste,” D.T. Max’s fascinating profile of Grant Achatz and his fight against tongue cancer — but it’s worth a read: General manager Christopher Russell is apparently the John Keating of Union Square Cafe, since he convinced his staff members to begin every day in April by sharing a favorite poem. Last year a waiter composed a rap about calamari and Billecart that eventually became the company’s video holiday card. Trust us, we’re trying to get a copy.
Word Feast [NYer]
A Man of Taste [NYer]
Tables Available at Tabla and Eleven Madison Park; Gramercy Tavern and Union Square Café Mostly Booked
Wafels & Dinges Normally Only Uses Imported Waffles; Free Guacamole Tonight at Toloache
Astoria: The Sparrow and Fatty's serve two very different takes on burgers. If you like a traditional patty, choose the latter though, as the jalapeño turkey burger at Fatty's is relatively "glitzy." [Joey in Astoria]
East Village: A cool-looking spot called Black Iron Burger Shop is opening at 5th Street between Avenues A and B. Start looking forward to grilled burgers; "How can you name a place that and not grill them?" [A Hamburger Today]
Fort Greene: Brooklyn Flea–goers on Sunday may have noticed the waffles being reheated and sold by the Wafels & Dinges stand were from Augustin's Waffles in New Jersey. But don't worry! The Jersey prepackaged waffles were just a temporary fix. Normally, they'll have Belgian prepackaged waffles. [Eater]
Midtown West: The Treats Truck, which does sell homemade goodies, will be in the area Tuesday through Thursday. [Treats Truck] A cool street vendor named Osman sells knishes and chicken shawarma on the western fringes of 42nd Street. [Cakehead]
Times Square: Chef Julian Medina is hosting a free guacamole demo and tasting at Toloache this evening to kick off a weeklong celebration of Cinco de Mayo highlighting Hass avocados in special dishes like avocado-and-jícama ravioli, fried avocado, and avocado cheesecake. [Zagat Buzz]
Union Square: The Union Square Cafe is one of a handful of restaurants that will have peanut-fed Berkshire Pork on the menu for the next two weeks. [Strong Buzz]
Clinton and Ray Team Up for Fund-raiser; What Lidia Served the Pope
• Rachael Ray and Bill Clinton are opening a pop-up restaurant Monday night in the Barbuto space to benefit her Yum-o! organization. [NYDN]
• Pinkberry’s “all natural” frozen yogurt contains a lot of ingredients that aren’t so natural. [NYT]
• Stephen Mancini produces homemade grappa, limoncello, and wine in the cellar of Union Square Café. [NYS]
Craft and Gramercy Tavern Mostly Booked
Danny Meyer Has One Last Feast at Florent
Mr. Hospitality at Molly's Pub.Photo: Meghan Petersen
Tables Available at Tabla and Craftbar; Union Square Cafe Mostly Booked
Gramercy Tavern and Craft Mostly Booked
Danny Meyer Cuts Wild Edibles Free
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.
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]
What to Expect on Your Job Interview With Gordon Ramsay
If they're not here, they don't matter!
Zagat 2008 Smiles on Daniel, Gordon Ramsay, Others
The people have spoken!Photo courtesy Zagat
Wild Edibles Gets Caught in the Net of the Law
In the latest labor-law fiasco, thirteen employees of Wild Edibles, which sells seafood to restaurants like Union Square Cafe and Pastis as well as the general public via its retail stores, have filed a lawsuit against the company for failure to pay overtime. According to the plaintiffs’ lawyer, David Rankin, and as is evident in copies of the complaint we’ve obtained, the individuals — most of them warehouse workers — worked in excess of 50 hours a week for flat wages varying from $450 to $550 (“right on the edge of minimum-wage violations,” Rankin says, though he decided not to pursue those charges). Rankin also says that four workers were unjustly fired after they requested overtime pay at the end of August, and that another worker was unfairly written up for stealing fish. A motion for a restraining order, which we’ve also obtained, will be heard in court tomorrow. Between the overfishing and underpaying, caviar is truly getting hard to swallow.
Cesar A. Barturen, et al. vs. Wild Edibles [PDF]
Memorandum in Support of Restraining Order [PDF]
Park Slope Gets Its Own Pastry-Chef Spinoff
It's not the Union Square Cafe — and that's the whole point.Photo: Stephanie Land
Restaurant Openings: Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, Lola, Le Barricou, and Trois Pommes Patisserie [NYM]
Chodorow and Tom Valenti Team Up; Rum Renaissance
Jeffrey Chodorow is opening a restaurant with Tom Valenti right next to his new restaurant with Zak Pelaccio; also, a new Rickshaw will open in the Village. [Eater]
Related: Chodorow and Pelaccio Planning a ‘Malaysian Coffeehouse’ [Grub Street]
We’re in the middle of a rum renaissance, with “heavy, thick and funky” British varieties and “smooth and sugary” Spanish-Caribbean ones. [NYDN]
Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club defends itself against charges of unfair labor practices: “Everyone makes the minimum wage at the club.” [NYDN]
Neroni Leaves Porchetta; City Hates Big Pink Cupcake
Chef Jason Neroni leaves Porchetta, citing “irreconcilable differences,” and claiming that pastry chef Mandy Brown and “most of the kitchen staff” are leaving with him. We don’t know the details (yet), but this seems pretty harsh: The restaurant gave him absolute creative license, as far as we can tell, for as long as it’s been open. [Eater]
Related: Chef's Desperate Plea: Nominate Me for an Award! [Grub Street]
New Yorkers aren’t really spooked by health violations: “If you take the subway, you know what’s down there.” [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
The city wants Burgers and Cupcakes to take down its huge, incandescent pink cupcake sign because it's too close to a hydrant, saying, "This isn't a campaign against cupcakes." [NYP]
Free Brazilian Pool Party Returns to Times Square
Clinton Hill: “Seder in a Box” prayer kit available for $1 at St. Joseph’s College. Bring it to one of the nontraditional Seder meals we recently recommended! [Clinton Hill Blog]
Lower East Side: MySpace pages offer insight into why Falai Panetteria waitresses are so bitchy. [Gawker]
Midtown East: No longer keeping their chin up: I-Chin has closed. [NYT] A Burger King on Fifth Avenue sues its landlord over rats, who were probably seeking a new food source after Hunan Fifth got shuttered. [NYS]
Red Hook The beloved El Huipil is no more, but the new owners of the space will also serve Mexican food — made by a “hot chef.” [Eat for Victory/VV]
Times Square: “Reality dining” comes to Broadway when Spotlight Live opens on April 6. [NYT] The free Brazilian pool party at Hotel QT returns this Thursday, promising live music, cachaça specials, and skinny-dipping-themed pickup lines. [NewYorkology]
Tribeca: Oh, dom: Dominic closes. [NYT]
Turtle Bay: The U.N.’s all-you-can-eat Malaysian buffet kicks off in mid-April! [NewYorkology]
Union Square: Union Square Café name sold to Tokyo group. Related: Tokyo has a Union Square? [NYT]
Upper West Side: Ollie’s Noodle Shop workers follow Saigon Grill deliverymen. [Eater]
Activists to Have It Their Way at Burger King; Classic Kitchen Pranks
Burger King swears off cage eggs and inhumanely treated pork — although it will be a while before its suppliers can catch up with the new policy. [NYT]
New York molecular-gastronomy alert: Spanish neurologist-scientist-chef Dr. Miguel Sanchez Romera is scoping out NYC locations — must have greenhouse. [NYP]
Cafe Fonduta’s ordeal with the Department of Health highlights the overall klutziness of the system. [NYO]
Tables Available at Odeon and Shun Lee Palace; Nobu Fully Booked
Tables Available at the Odeon and Periyali; Union Square Cafe Mostly Booked
Carolyn Wandell-Widdoes of Union Square Cafe Knows How You Like It
"I believe I developed a TMJ disorder as a result of jaw clenching."Photo: Melissa Hom
Tables Available at the Odeon and Periyali; Nobu Fully Booked
Rude Questions for Danny Meyer
"About that Health Department inspection ..."Photo: Patrick McMullan