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A Double Blow for Wayne Nish: First Varietal, Now Nish Closes
This will have to go down as one of the worst months a major New York chef ever had: First Wayne Nish’s revamped menu at Varietal was unable to keep the place from shutting down its kitchen operations; now comes word that Nish’s long-running flagship, Nish (formerly March), has given up the ghost. A forwarded e-mail from the restaurant’s former wine director, Joe Scalice, says it all: “After so many years we have shuttered the doors of 405 East 58th Street; NISH (formerly March) is closed.” Scalice is now the GM at Solace, a new Italian restaurant in a refurbished townhouse at 406 East 64th Street. As for what happened, we will have to get that from the man himself. More as this story develops. Earlier: ‘Speedy’ Wayne Nish Remakes Varietal in One Week Flat
Posted 06/25/07 in Grub Street : NewsFeed
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Varietal’s Kitchen Closes in Chelsea
Bronx: Italian pastry shop Egidio has a history steeped in family feuds, politics, and adultery; now a cannoli-wielding former owner has opened up shop nearby. [Lost City] Chelsea: Varietal has closed its dining room, though wine’s still being served at the bar. [Restaurant Girl] Great Small Works performing-arts group will host a Spaghetti Dinner this Sunday evening on the roof of the 14th Street Y. Besides bowls of garlicky pasta, ticket holders can look forward to “puppet theater [and] New Orleans brass band music.” [Blog Chelsea] Greenpoint: The Original Soup Man (a.k.a. the Soup Nazi) joins other chains on Manhattan Avenue and shocks customers by charging $9 for some selections. [Gothamist] Hell's Kitchen: Alex Garcia’s new restaurant, Gaucho Steak Co., at 752 Tenth Avenue, is now open for lunch and offering delivery. [Grub Street] Soho: Savoy’s Clambake Dinners start July 6 and run through the end of the month. [Restaurant Girl]
Posted 06/19/07 in Grub Street : Neighborhood Watch
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Insieme Lauded (Except for Lasagne); Landmarc Squeaks By
The Times finds Provence beautiful, romantic, and well-intentioned, but barely worthy of a single star. A major disappointment for the Marc Meyer/Vicki Freeman team, who had been on a roll with Five Points and Cookshop. [NYT] In the Post, Steve Cuozzo — judiciously taking the long-term view as usual — makes the case that Amalia, FR.OG, and Insieme, “the best new Italian restaurant since L’Impero,” have overcome weak starts to become some of the city’s strongest places. [NYP] Paul Adams gives yet another admiring review to Insieme, though he found the much-praised lasagne underflavored and disappointing. His favorite dish: a chamomile farfalle. [NYS]
Posted 06/13/07 in Grub Street : The Other Critics
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Tables Available at Anthos and Varietal; Gramercy Tavern Mostly Booked
It’s 4 p.m., and that means it’s time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don’t guarantee the results.) Today: Recently reviewed by Adam Platt.
Posted 05/22/07 in Grub Street : Two for Eight
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Tables Available at Mai House and Gordon Ramsay; Gramercy Tavern Mostly Booked
It’s 4 p.m., and that means it’s time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don’t guarantee the results.) Today: Recently reviewed by Adam Platt.Posted 05/07/07 in Grub Street : Two for Eight
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Tables Available at Anthos and Klee Brasserie; Gordon Ramsay Fully Booked
It’s 4 p.m., and that means it’s time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don’t guarantee the results.) Today: Recently reviewed by Adam Platt.Posted 04/23/07 in Grub Street : Two for Eight
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Nature Bursts From the Pages of This Week’s Issue
In this week’s issue, as befits spring, nature is bursting out of our food coverage. Snails and sea urchins take supporting roles in Adam Platt’s review of the highly rarefied Anthos; Gael Greene flutters into a restaurant called Tree; Rob and Robin talk tomatoes, spring almonds, and even more snails; and, in the spirit of growth, our food editors lay out two Short Lists of places where you can introduce young, growing gourmands to their future lifetime pursuit. Plus, four new restaurant bloom in the April sunshine, all in New York this week.
Posted 04/23/07 in Grub Street : In the Magazine
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Wayne’s World: Varietal, Version 2.0
Though Varietal looked to be in for a bumpy ride when it lost chefs Ed Witt and Jordan Kahn, the ship seems to have been righted during the week that veteran chef Wayne Nish has been aboard. That was our impression, anyway, from the placid confidence with which owner Greg Hockenberry talks wine and Nish raps rabbit, in this, the latest moving picture from Grub Street Studios. Earlier: ‘Speedy’ Wayne Nish Remakes Varietal in One Week Flat
Posted 04/13/07 in Grub Street : VideoFeed
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‘Speedy’ Wayne Nish Remakes Varietal in One Week Flat
Given that Wayne Nish transformed March into Nish just three months ago, we were surprised when we learned last week that he’d been assigned the task of creating a new menu at Varietal in the wake of chefs Ed Witt and Jordan Kahn exiting. Capable dude that he is, Nish started serving his dishes over the weekend. He even took some time to hook us up with said menu and explain where Witt and Kahn had gone wrong.
Posted 04/09/07 in Grub Street : NewsFeed
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Tables Available at Klee Brasserie and Picholine; Gordon Ramsay Fully Booked
It’s 4 p.m., and that means it’s time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don’t guarantee the results.) Today: Recently reviewed by Adam Platt.Posted 04/06/07 in Grub Street : Two for Eight
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Sam Mason on the Sexiness of Japanese Steel
Welcome to the latest installment of the Launch, where Sam Mason, former pastry chef at wd-50, relates the ups and downs of preparing to open Tailor, the swanky restaurant and lounge coming together at 525 Broome Street.
Posted 04/05/07 in Grub Street : The Launch
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Foodie Bloomie; the Starbucks Master Plan
Bloomberg holds sway over our eating habits like no mayor before him. [NYT] Wayne Nish is out to save Varietal from its folly, including a “full-of-itself wine list [that] boasted obscure, uninspired vintages masquerading as hidden treasures,” and desserts that were “scary messes.” [NYT] Behold, the Starbucks master plan for growth — which may help to explain its aggressive anti-union strategy, which has roused the ire of the National Labor Relations Board. [Business Week]
Posted 04/04/07 in Grub Street : Mediavore
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Varietal Finds Its Man: Wayne Nish
Wayne Nish, who already has a namesake venue with Nish, will now take over the kitchen at Varietal, too, replacing Ed Witt. Varietal owner Greg Hockenberry implied earlier that he’d fired Witt; Witt informs us that he left of his own accord — because the restaurant was going more “mainstream.” (Avant-garde dessert chef Jordan Kahn also quit, presumably under similar pressure. He declined to comment when we spoke with him.) Restaurant Girl, who broke news of the hire, reports that Nish will implement a $48 prix fixe menu — and serve as his own dessert maker. That sounds more mainstream to us, but the imaginative Nish no doubt has his own ambitions. Find out April 6, when he steps up to the plates. Varietal - Bruni Aftershocks [Restaurant Girl]
Posted 03/29/07 in Grub Street : Back of the House
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Varietal’s Ed Witt
Pink-slipped; Jordan Kahn Apparently on the Way OutEater reports that Ed Witt, Varietal’s head chef, is leaving. The restaurant’s critical reception has been less than absolutely stellar, with Adam Platt giving it two stars and Frank Bruni awarding it one (out of four). “I think it would be silly to say that [the reviews] didn’t play a part,” owner Greg Hockenberry tells us, confirming the departure. Was Witt fired? “We’ve been looking to make a change for a while.” Okay. What about Jordan Kahn, the postmodern dessert whiz Eater earlier claimed is on the way out? “We’ll be making an announcement about that, too,” Hockenberry says. Uh-oh. Best of luck to both of the chefs, then. EaterWire: Ed Witt Leaving Varietal [Eater] Related: Varietal’s ‘Meditation in Purple’: Need We Say More?
Posted 03/27/07 in Grub Street : NewsFeed
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Gordon Ramsay’s Dark Side Revealed; Staten Island Pizza Conquers the World in Vegas
According to a revealing new profile by Heat author Bill Buford, Gordon Ramsay isn’t a bad guy, “but he does get angry, helplessly and uncontrollably angry — not an earthly anger but something darker — and has trouble knowing how to stop.” [NYer] State legislator proposes an A through F system of grading restaurant hygiene, but the Department of Health is against it. [amNY] A Staten Island pizzeria beats out a field of 65 from six countries to win the 23rd International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. It’s Denino’s, right? Joe and Pat’s? No. It’s Goodfella’s Brick Oven Pizza. [NYDN]
Posted 03/26/07 in Grub Street : Mediavore
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Tables Available at Klee Brasserie and Russian Tea Room; Cafe Cluny Fully Booked
It’s 4 p.m., and that means it’s time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don’t guarantee the results.) Today: Recently reviewed by Adam Platt.Posted 03/23/07 in Grub Street : Two for Eight
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Village Rats Also Eat Vegetarian
Chelsea: Varietal pastry chef Jordan Kahn, famous for his abstract desserts and now a slam from Frank Bruni, may resign. [Eater] Greenpoint: Unidentified soon-to-open restaurants spotted on both Greenpoint Avenue and Franklin Street. [Gowanus Lounge] Greenwich Village: Health-food mecca Gobo contributes to the rat-video craze. [NewYorkology] Lower East Side: Chickie Pig’s will open soon, but they may never have wine. [NYO] Midwood: DiFara hopes to reopen Saturday; stop in, if only to confirm that Dom DeMarco will be wearing a hat. [NewYorkology] Murray Hill: Wild Edibles now has a restaurant arm. [Gothamist]
Posted 03/22/07 in Grub Street : Neighborhood Watch
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Dueling Views on Morandi; Varietal Taken to Task
Morandi gets absolutely slaughtered by Steve Cuozzo. Keith McNally has hardly received a bad review yet. [NYP] Meanwhile, Moira Hodgson loves the place: “You’ll want to taste everything on this menu.” She seems to have liked all of it, with the possible exception of an overpriced veal chop. Did these two even go to the same restaurant? [NYO] Bruni one-stars Varietal, calling the food creative but uneven and lambasting avant-garde dessert chef Jordan Kahn, who has enjoyed a lot of critical love. The desserts “don’t so much eschew convention as pummel and shatter it — literally, and often pointlessly.” [NYT]
Posted 03/21/07 in Grub Street : The Other Critics
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Tables Available at Mai House and Varietal; L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon Mostly Booked
It's 4 p.m., and that means it's time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don't guarantee the results.) Today: Recently reviewed by Adam Platt.Posted 03/07/07 in Grub Street : Two for Eight
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Chodorow Sure to Be Pissed Over New ‘Times’ Steakhouse Review
This one is bound to kill Chodorow. Bruni visits a steakhouse even more vulgar than Kobe Club and awards it one star: Robert’s Steakhouse, inside the Penthouse Executive Club. Adam Perry Lang, as most recognize, is one of the city’s top meat guys. [NYT] Meehan affirms that Kefi’s has terrific food at a bargain. He notes that it was strangely quiet the nights he was there, but that has changed, we’re told, since the Underground Gourmet gave the restaurant four stars. [NYT] Think of this less as a review of Gilt than an excuse for Steve Cuozzo to acknowledge Chris Lee, one of the city’s most underappreciated chefs, whose ill fortune it was to follow Paul Liebrandt and his alienating high-concept cookery. [NYP]
Posted 02/28/07 in Grub Street : The Other Critics
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