Nate Appleman Tastes His Way Through Pulino’s Menu“I had handmade mozzarella, braised broccoli rabe, beans and bacon, potatoes and pepperoni, spicy egg sandwich with roasted peppers and provolone, and lasagna.”
Vongerichten’s Soba Plans Back On; Japanese Food Superstore Coming Too?
Though a deal is not yet signed, we can report that Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s partnership with Japanese restaurateurs the Matsushita brothers is back on. The building that used to house 66will become a long-awaited soba restaurant and maybe something even better: a three-story Japanese megamarket. The soba restaurant, Matsu Gen, is envisioned as the anchor to what one source familiar with the project described as a “Japanese Zabar’s.” (A similar Japanese megamart, the Mitsuwa Marketplace, exists in Edgewater, New Jersey, and is a mecca for Japanese cooks and aficianados from all over the greater New York area.) It’s not definite that the full three-floor bazaar will come to pass, but the restaurant, at any rate, seems to be coming into focus.
Earlier: Vongerichten’s Soba Plans May Be in the Soup
Vongerichten May Deep-Six 66, Serve Sushi and Soba Instead
Mediavore
Pret a Manger Set for Huge Expansion Here; Ramsay Bans BluefinBritish sandwich chain Pret a Manger is launching an expansion of Starbucks-like proportions, announcing plans to open 33 more locations in New York — four times the current number. “If New York could support one on every corner, we’d love that,” the company’s head says. [NYS]
Related: Out to Lunch [NYM]
Urged by the Marine Conservation Society, Gordon Ramsay pulls endangered bluefin tuna from all his restaurants. [NRN]
The Department of Health’s current closure rampage continues with Union Picnic in Williamsburg, Café Angelique, and J’adore in Manhattan. [Eater]