Ilan Hall to Open Tapas Truck in L.A.; Chefs Keep on BloggingTop Chef champ Ilan Hall’s rumored L.A project is now a restaurant truck that serves tapas and has a foldout bar. [MSNBC]
Related: For Ilan Hall, a Taco Shack of One’s Own
The president of Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., the California beef company responsible for the largest meat recall in American history, acknowledged yesterday the illegal slaughter of sick cows at his plant after a congressional panel forced him to watch the undercover video depicting the abuse. [WSJ]
Chefs’ blogs keep getting better and better, and there are increasingly more and more of them. At what point are they all just going to leave the kitchen and become full-time bloggers? [LAT]
Neighborhood Watch
East Village Face-off as CBGB Tells DBGB to Cease and DesistClinton Hill: Il Torchio, an enoteca and Italian tapas joint at 458 Myrtle Avenue, is under construction; the exposed-brick interior and outdoor space look promising. [Clinton Hill Blog]
East Village: CBGB, DBGB: We get it. [Eater]
Greenwich Village: Grey Dog Coffee’s University Place location opens Thursday. Hours: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. [Eater]
Nolita: Vig Bar’s temporary close had something to do with a change of management and a lot to do with the State Liquor Authority, but it’ll be back serving downtown bankers by Thursday. [Down by the Hipster]
Park Slope: FreshDirect messed with the wrong groups when it temporarily, and possibly accidentally, raised its delivery minimum from $50 to $100. [Gowanus Lounge]
West Village: From 4 p.m. until close tomorrow, the Blind Tiger will feature Christmas-themed beer from England’s Ridgeway Brewery including Very Bad Elf, Seriously Bad Elf, and another favorite, Santa’s Butt, all for no apparent reason. [Blog Chelsea] Maremma is cooking up purebred Chianina steaks starting this Thursday evening for one week only. [Grub Street]
NewsFeed
Death & Co. Comes Back From the Dead TonightThis morning brings good news from Death & Co.’s Dave Kaplan:
After a long dry spell, Death & Co. celebrates its reopening tonight!
We will open tonight at 6pm and resume normal operating hours. Please join us for a celebratory drink.
Long dry spell? Dave, tell that to Dave Brodrick, who was bone-dry for months before finally reopening the Blind Tiger last night. (We were there to hoist a celebratory Lagunitas Hairy Eyeball.) Either way, it’s a good week to be a Dave. —Daniel Maurer
Update: Don’t raise that celebratory drink too high. SLA spokesman Bill Crowley tells us Death & Co., New York’s Best Cocktail Bar for Downing the Brown, is still under investigation and has merely been granted permission to operate while the Authority decides whether to renew its license.
Previously:
Twist Your Baseball Caps Back: Blind Tiger Reopens Thursday
Blind Tiger Co-Owner Rips the Department of Health, Human Nature
Are Rumors of Death & Co.’s Death Exaggerated?
Neighbors Accuse Death & Co. of Noise, Evoking Nazism
Neighborhood Watch
Space for Even Your Butt in Williamsburg This WeekendHarlem: Eat at Dinosaur, get bowling discount. [UPTOWN flavor]
Lower East Side: Holes suspected in Schiller’s rubber glove story. That’s right, holes. [Gridskipper]
Soho: Babouche, the Moroccan restaurant and lounge brought to us by the people behind Barbes, now serves brochettes at brunch. [PDF: Babouche NYC]
Tribeca: Former Abboccato sous chef Greg Johnson is the new chef de cuisine at Dani. Sun amuses self calling the cook Dani Boy. [NYS]
Union Square: 15 East now serving lunch. But why didn’t the Eater boys “live-blog” the event? [NYS]
West Village: Blind Tiger will open at 4 p.m. today with beer on tap after an exasperating tug-of-war with the SLA. [Grub Street]
Williamsburg: Mystery Japanese restaurant on North 6th thought to open tonight. [A Test of Will] But you probably won’t get in until this weekend. [i’m not saying, I’m just saying] Thankfully new tapas joint Nita Nita has room enough for wide asses. [Bad Advice]
Openings
Twist Your Baseball Caps Back: Blind Tiger Reopens ThursdayEarlier we let you know that the venerable Blind Tiger, after trying to pass as a coffee shop and then finally shuttering, had finally been cleared for a liquor license at its new location. Now comes word that it’ll reopen in time for its eleventh anniversary this Thursday.
NewsFeed
SLA Finally Puts the Ale in Blind Tiger Ale HouseFile this one under “speak of the devil”: We just reported that there was nothing to report on the Blind Tiger Ale House’s epic quest for a liquor license at its new location. Instead, we just wanted to point you to co-owner Alan Jestice’s rant about the arrogance of the rat-story-infested media. Now we get this from Jestice: “Oddly enough, later yesterday afternoon, I received word that the Tiger had finally gotten the nod from the SLA for a beer and wine license … So there you have it, the roar heard around the world!” Was it yesterday’s post that somehow cosmically nudged the SLA into action? We’d sure like to think so. — Daniel Maurer
Earlier: Blind Tiger Co-Owner Rips the Department of Health, Human Nature
Beef
Blind Tiger Co-Owner Rips the Department of Health, Human NatureAfter being forced to open as a coffee shop and then closing, the Blind Tiger is still awaiting final word on a liquor license for its new location. It’s been a while since the Tiger addressed the issue in its newsletter (“There is no way to know when,” co-owner Alan Jestice updates us. “But we are feeling as confident as humanly possible that the Tiger will roar again”), but in the most recent installment, Jestice has taken to speaking up for another slighted local business, John’s Pizzeria, a high-profile victim of the Department of Health’s zealousness in the days following the KFC–Taco Bell debacle. Mostly, however, we were impressed by his sarcasm-drenched attack on the press, which has, of course, been gobbling up the rat story, and the Department of Health, which has been bitten by it. — Daniel Maurer
Click and Save
Real-Life Duff Man Will Bring You Beer at HomeAre you ambitious enough to try to figure out what kind of beer will go best with the your Super Bowl snacks but too lazy to attend the beer tastings at the likes of Jimmy’s and Bierkraft (or even consult this recent article)? Meet Sam Merritt, former brand manager of the Brooklyn Brewery and man behind Civilization of Beer, an organization that’s now offering private tastings. Merritt, in other words, brings the brew to you. (Thrillist, unsurprisingly, has already given him their grunt of approval.) We clamored to ask him a few questions.
Back of the House
Fake Fines, Mandatory Tanning, and $40 EntréesThe latest industry news: politicians enforcing draconian restaurant rules, restaurant requiring waitresses to tan, Rachael Ray earns backhand compliment.
Owner Dave Brodrick on the new Blind Tiger’s liquor-license battle: “It has left a bad taste in our mouths.” No, not of booze. [NYDN]
The Bulgarian bar Mehanata also fights the good fight. [Eater]
Score one for the little guys: A city worker gets busted doling out fake fines. [NYDN]
Cellies to stay in city eateries. [NYS]
Ralph Lauren looking to buy a dining and lodging club in the Hamptons? [NYP]
“Forty is the new thirty,” according to one of the many restaurants charging the big four-oh for entrées. [NYT]
Rachael Ray: “Ditzy like a fox.” [NYT]
Study shows that restaurants dish out heaping helpings. [USA Today]
Mandatory tanning? Inside the Hawaiian Tropic Zone’s waitress dorm. [NYP]
