Mardi GrabassLast night, some restaurants were packed, while others … not so much.
ByDaniel Maurer
The New York Diet
Tony Nominee Justin Bond Has Cucumber Cocktails With Tilda Swinton
Performance artist Justin Bond is perhaps best known for playing half of Kiki and Herb — their show, Kiki and Herb: Alive on Broadway, is up for a Tony on Sunday. What will he be prowling for during the after-party? “I’m a connoisseur of crab cakes,” says the Maryland native. “I haven’t really found one that’s completely satisfying.” He’s also a lover of oysters, prosecco, and dropping the names of his dining companions Rufus, Maggie, and Tilda — or so we discovered when we asked him about his recent meals.
Neighborhood Watch
Whole Foods Blamed for Beetle Infestation on the Lower East SideBushwick: Too hard to keep organic? Resident and Blue Hill at Stone Barns alum Kelly Geary will purchase your share of produce from Community Supported Agriculture, turn it into weekly meals (and pies), then deliver it (citywide). Just join by the first week in June. [DailyCandy]
Long Island City: New Greek restaurant Agnanti opens Memorial Day near the Astoria pool. [LICNYC]
Lower East Side: Bowery Whole Foods blamed for beetle infestation in apartments at Avalon Christie Place. [Racked] Rumor mill set a-cranking with speculation that Keith McNally might turn an empty space on Essex and Canal into a Parisian brasserie. [Eater]
Red Hook: The Added Value farm that employs South Brooklyn teenagers will be featured on a PBS series dedicated to sustainable food. [Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn]
Times Square: You know that neon sign for Virgil’s? It’s a bowl of Chinese noodles. [Lost City]
West Village: A photo ode to Blue Ribbon Bakery’s indulgent sandwiches. [Gothamist] Former fab Bungalow 8 bouncer Armin Amiri’s new club, Socialista, will have a little person named Anthony manning the door. [NYP]
The New York Diet
Actor Josh Hamilton Plays a Clam Digger, Doesn’t Eat Shellfish
Josh Hamilton has appeared in everything from indie classics such as Noah Baumbach’s Kicking and Screaming to studio flicks such as The Bourne Supremacy to TV shows such as Sex and the City. In Diggers, out today, he plays a Long Island clam harvester. Ironically, Hamilton wasn’t eating any shellfish at the premiere party, since he’s a “don’t-ask-don’t-tell vegetarian”: “I’m sure I eat chicken stock sometimes,” he says, “because I just don’t bother to ask. I know that must sound wildly hedonistic.” As it turns out, Hamilton’s latest week of eating was rather indulgent — even as he was performing in Tom Stoppard’s Coast of Utopia, he somehow found time to hit more restaurants than most of us do in a month.
At the Market
For Chef-Worthy Ingredients, Head to the Source
Chefs are always going on about the importance of raw ingredients. Get in on the action by shopping at restaurants with gourmet markets attached.