NYC Waterfall Gets Turned On!Late last night, a tipster spotted a test run of the waterfall on Pier 35 and snapped a picture. Our intial thoughts: So wet! So artsy!
Mediavore
Bye-bye, Bottled Water; Cheyenne Diner ClosedBottled water is becoming a faux pas, Cindy Adams takes the stand in the Patsy’s-vs.-Patsy’s trial, and the patrons of the Cheyenne Diner have one last meal there.
NewsFeed
A Water That Promises More Than Mere Hydration
If you’re a female bloated, constipated, uncreative, agitated, insomniac who isn’t coping well with change, then we’ve got the water for you. Or maybe you’re an uneasy traveler, afraid of flying, wary of new environments, and sunburned. There’s water for you, too! Perhaps your work is costing you sleep, focus, regular bowel movements, and a shiny coat. Drink the water! Grub Street received three such cure-alls in bullet-shaped bottles all the way from Australia. (Sadly, they sent us no remedy for our dull, backed-up, out-of-focus children.) Balance water uses “infused flower essences” (colorless! Tasteless!) to transmit the power of remote Australian flowers into pedestrian American water. And all for a suggested retail price of $2.29 a liter! That kind of pricing might play Down Under, but here we pay premium for such promises. —Aileen Gallagher
Balance Water [Official site]
Related: Quenching an Eco-Friendly Thirst [NYM]
Back of the House
The Tap Project Needs Your Restaurant
The Tap Project, a UNICEF charity we’ve supported in the past, has a simple and elegant premise: If people paid one dollar for tap water in restaurants for a week, it would pay for a lot of clean drinking water in Third World countries. You can’t complain about the price — in New York, our tap water tastes better than a lot of brands that cost more. But UNICEF is looking for more participants to join the effort during World Water Week, March 16 to March 22. If you own or operate a restaurant, contact the Tap Project. You’ll be in good company: Participating establishments include Esca, Le Bernardin, and Gramercy Tavern.
In the Magazine
This Week: New Fusion, New Coffee, Repurposed Water
The city’s newest food-fusion trend is Latin American and Italian cuisines, says the Underground Gourmet in this week’s magazine. Miranda in Williamsburg and Matilda in the East Village are leading the charge, and Rob and Robin alternate between calling it “Mex-Italian” and “Tusc-Mex.” (Our pick: “Mexcellente.”) Outside of our regular reading route, Intel has a dishy item about David Bouley — apparently, his Tribeca neighbors aren’t so thrilled about his proposed Brushstrokes restaurant. Back in the food section, it’s a difficult time of year for the Greenmarket, but that doesn’t deter Damon Wise at Craft for offering up this week’s “In Season” recipe: pan-roasted salsify. Gael Greene visits Smokin’ Q on the Upper East Side this week and enjoys the ribs and the thin-cut fries, though she could do without the owner’s jokes. Rob and Robin introduce us to three new restaurants this week, and we can’t wait to visit Terroir, the latest from Marco Canora and Paul Grieco. Also in “Openings”: an East Village coffee bar co-owned by Sasha Petraske and a new burger spot in the financial district. If a recession breeds good $4 burgers, it can’t be that bad. Finally, if you want to reduce bottled-water waste, we found four restaurants with a DIY approach to filtration and carbonation.
The New York Diet
Kristina Klebe of ‘Halloween’ Likes Her Yogurt With Pumpkin Seeds
If you’re one of the many who saw Rob Zombie’s Halloween during its record-setting opening weekend, you last saw Kristina Klebe playing trash-talking cheerleader Lynda. You’ll probably next see her alongside Uma Thurman in Griffin Dunne’s comedy The Accidental Husband, in which she plays Isabelle Rossellini’s (fully dressed and much more conservative) daughter. In the meantime, she’s jetting between her hometown, New York (she used to bartend at Serafina), and her adopted city, L.A.“I love that I can walk back to a place after dinner,” she says of New York. “If you go out in L.A., you’re full and you just go out to your car and go home.” So where did she dine and dash during this week of auditions and director meetings?
NewsFeed
Perrier Wants to Get You DrunkWhen’s the last time you ordered a Vodka Perrier? Gin and Perrier? That overwhelming chorus of “never”s is deafening to Perrier executives, and they’ve taken their crack marketing team to the Lower East Side to remedy this situation. Last night at Fontana’s we received a bottle of “Crazier,” and a free drink made of pineapple juice, coconut vodka, and Perrier. And yes, it was as disgusting as it sounds.
Mediavore
End of the Line for the First Carvel; The Blue Seats Opening DelayedThe original Carvel store in Westchester is giving up the ghost and will be demolished next summer. [NYP]
Mega sports bar the Blue Seats isn’t open yet, and the reason has something to do with one of their 8,000 TVs being stolen. [TONY]
Related: Seriously Bromantic Restaurant Ready for Its Close-up
Tom Colicchio takes the “last meal” quiz very seriously, designing a world tour that would include lasagne at the Fat Duck, lamb’s brain in Florence, and dessert at the North Fork Table & Inn. [Eat for Victory/VV]
photo op
Oil and Water
One advantage of that flooding that’s bound to overtake New York? Deeper waters will presumably make it all the more difficult for oil tankers to run aground off Coney Island, as this one, the White Sea, did this morning. (Reportedly no oil was spilled.) See, a benefit to global warming: It’ll make it easier to import oil. Perfect!
Oil Tanker Runs Aground Off Coney Island [AP via Crain’s]
photo op
When Days Are Hot, When Days Are Cold…
The Floating Pool, the four-foot-deep pool-on-a-barge that’ll be anchored off Brooklyn Heights for the summer, welcomes the public tomorrow. But opening-day celebrations were held today, as notables including Parks Commish Adrian Benepe, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and — of course — Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz all took dips, as did 9-year-old Nayhira Baird. The barge also features a beach, volleyball courts, and space for sunbathing — plus, we must say, a pretty awesome view.
Related: Floating Pool’s Opening Signals Start of Brooklyn Bridge Park [Brooklyn Daily Eagle]
Mediavore
Chicken Fingers Clutch at America’s Youth; Eco-Rebels Reject Bottled WaterUnited States of Arugula author (and friend of Grub Street) David Kamp worries for the next generation: “America is in the grips of a nefarious chicken-finger pandemic, in which a blandly tasty foodstuff has somehow become the de facto official nibble of our young.” [NYT]
Doing their part for Mother Earth, more restaurants are eschewing bottled water and the profits it brings. But only Del Posto is on board in New York. [NYT]
Other restaurants are looking to inflate water prices even more: “When paired correctly with fine wines, particular waters enhance subtle flavors and fragrances, allowing for the ultimate dining experience.” [Chef Magazine]
party lines
Sarah Jessica Parker Wants You to Hydrate
New York City, as we all know, has the best tap water in the world — it does, dammit! — so it should be no problem for you to drink a big ole glass or two when you eat out today. As Sarah Jessica Parker pointed out by downing the clear stuff in front of photographers at the Hearst Tower last night, today is World Water Day. When you order a glass at participating restaurants around the city, you’ll be asked to donate a buck to UNICEF’s TAP Project, which provides clean drinking water to the 21 percent of developing-world children who have none. So go ahead. Chug. —Jada Yuan
The TAP Project [Official site]
in other news
One Solution to the City’s Water-Bill ProblemsToday’s Times brings the news that the city’s water bills are so profoundly screwed up that it’s impossible to collect on millions and millions of dollars worth of overdue fees. We’ve uncovered a memo recently sent by the Public Works Department in an attempt to rectify things:
To: Alan G. Lafley, Chairman, President, and CEO, Proctor & Gamble
From: Public Works Department, The City of New York
Date: December 12, 2006
Re: Water bills
Dear Mr. Lafley:
No less than the great American humorist Mark Twain once quipped, “Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody.” In light of our recent troubles, the City of New York could not agree more. And, as recent initiatives have made Charmin one of the premier users of our most precious resource, we hope you feel the same way.
