Bruni Down With Lunch at Craft; Blue Ribbon to Open This Week in Columbus CircleClinton Hill: A Nigerian restaurant, EN of Africa, is opening on the corner of Cumberland and Lafayette, and there’s relief that it’s not another French spot. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Flatiron: Frank Bruni finds the newly instated lunch at Craft a good, logical fit, in that “Craft doesn’t project the kind of fussiness — on the plate or in terms of décor — that can feel more stilted and constraining at lunch than at dinner.” [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
Hell’s Kitchen: Xai Xai, a new wine bar, has opened up. [Endless Simmer]
Murray Hill/Kips Bay: From November 7 to 10, the Champagne room at Country will be transformed into a bonbon shop where you can pair pastry chef Hsing Chen’s house-made chocolates with specialty cocktails or order a chocolate tasting menu as part of a collaboration with the upcoming Chocolate Show. [Grub Street]
Park Slope: Katina’s seems to have been taken over by super Greek diner Purity and may now be called Little Purity. [Grub Street]
Upper West Side: Blue Ribbon Six Columbus is poised to open this week, and here’s a sneak peak of the interior. [Zagat]
West Village: Mary’s Dairy has closed both of its locations supposedly because the shops weren’t making enough money. Can ice-cream-only stores no longer cut it? Mary’s comes on the heels of Emack & Bolio’s Seventh Avenue closure and Ben & Jerry’s Bleecker Street failure. [Eater]
Williamsburg: Three of the ten-plus restaurants that serve sushi in the nabe made the cut in this Brooklyn raw-fish roundup. [Gridskipper]
Neighborhood Watch
Dumbo to Land Williamsburg’s GalapagosAmagansett: Pacific East has amped up its cocktail menu with such specialty additions as the Havana Mojito, which combines rum, mint, and sugar. [Hamptons.com]
Brooklyn Heights: Five Guys burger shop still working on renovations of its Montague Street space. [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
Dumbo: Twelve-year-old art bar Galapagos will move from Williamsburg to a building over 100 years old at 16 Main Street. [Dumbo NYC]
East Village: “Frozen Yorgurt” coming soon to 34½ St. Marks near newly opened Good Dog. [Grub Street]
Murray Hill: The Kitano’s roof decks are now open for catered clambakes and cookouts. [NYT]
Park Slope: Fifth Avenue has a lineup of new restaurants, including A La Turka, whose Turkish sandwiches come on home-baked sesame-dappled bread. [NYS]
neighborhood watch
Will the Knitting Factory Unravel in Two Years?Astoria: So are anti-gay comments actually homophobic or just a Borat-like hoax? [Astorians]
Dumbo: The Beacon and J condo gets a resounding mediocre rating from architecturally demanding residents. [Brownstoner]
Greenpoint: A Huron Street property is no friend of Magic Johnson’s new Green Street development. Time to go to court. [Curbed]
Kips Bay: Strong anti-U.N. sentiment is fueling local pols’ opposition to a new office tower at Robert Moses Park on 42nd Street. [NYS]
Lower Manhattan: Governor’s Island expands its access to the public this summer … but do most NYCers even know where it is or what’s on it? [NewYorkology]
Tribeca: Now that its building has just been sold, will famed music venue the Knitting Factory meet a CBGB-like demise when its lease expires in two years? [The Real Deal]
