Anella’s New Menus; Secret Café in Clinton HillPlus: Mile End struggles with the demand for smoked meat, and how to meet the brothers Voltaggio, in our regular roundup of neighborhood food news.
Beard Diners Get No Graydon But Several Waverly-Reservation TipsGraydon Carter skipped the dinner his Waverly Inn chef John DeLucie cooked at the James Beard House last night, but that doesn’t mean Beard members won’t get a chance to rub elbows with the Falstaffian editor. After attendees were served seven wines and a five-course dinner that included the restaurant’s luscious Dover sole, Chef DeLucie informed them that they’re all now worthy of a hard-to-come-by tables at Graydon’s clubby Bank Street spot, just a few blocks west of where they were eating; they should simply stop by a day or two in advance to reserve. “Just say ‘James Beard dinner,’” advised sommelier Sammy Kebob, whose name may or may not be spelled that way, as the restaurant answered neither its public nor private phones when we called to check. “Don’t use my name,” he warned the crowd. “It won’t work.” Neither, we suspect, will the “Beard dinner” trick for much longer. —Alexandra Peers