Subject: Food and Cooking

• Cafe des Artists May Be Resurrected

  ​Like Gourmet, Cafe des Artistes may have a shot at a new life: According to Crain's, numerous investors and restaurateurs have expressed interest in re-opening the restaurant, which closed in August after a 92-year run. The restaurant's future is complicated by the union representing its workers, which may have rights to retain its contract with the future owners. Nothing will be decided until the restaurant's bankruptcy proceedings are completed, but at least one thing is no longer in do

  October 16, 2009

• Update: Fort Defiance's New Dinner Menu

  ​Since the Fort Defiance review ran, owner St. John Frizell has added a proper dinner menu, so we headed to Red Hook to check it out this weekend. Frizell is a master of coziness and simplicity--he knows what would hit the spot, and serves it without fuss. When the weather was hot, he slung plates like blue fish rillettes and deviled eggs, along with refreshing cocktails like a cucumber-infused Tom Collins in a huge frosted glass. It was just exactly what you wanted--but it was difficult t

  October 19, 2009

• A Church Bake Sale with Ouzo and Octopus

  A good sign​ Grilled octopus with oregano and lemon, plus ouzo​ If our childhood church had jettisoned the brownies in favor of cephalopods and booze, we might have stayed in the fold. The good people at Kimisis Theotokou Greek Orthodox Church on 18th Avenue in Brooklyn know how to throw a benefit--this weekend, the church's parking lot hosted a lively Greek food festival. There was a stand where an older woman fried batches of loukoumades--Greek doughnuts--and then doused them in ho

  October 19, 2009

• Recipe: Make Pork Chops Two Ways By Sonoma Chefs Jeff Mall & Josh Silvers

  ​Sonoma chefs Josh Silvers and Jeff Mall of Syrah Bistro and Zin Restaurant, respectively, have teamed up on a cookbook for Rodney Strong Vineyards that highlights Sonoma-style cuisine, entitled Down Home: Downtown. Silvers provides the downtown, while Mall contributes the down home recipes. The two will be showing their stuff at a special wine-pairing dinner at the James Beard House this Wednesday. Tickets are available on the James Beard website. The two share their takes on pork chops,

  October 19, 2009

• What's Happening This Week: Wine-Pairing Dinners A-Go-Go

  As many of you know, our weekly dining and drinking newsletter features all the coolest epicurean events in the city. Sign up for it here! Cafe Noir 15th Anniversary Party Cafe Noir October 19 Cafe Noir is celebrating its 15th anniversary and the signing of its lease extension at 32 Grand Street with a party tonight featuring a two-hour open bar and free tapas. From 6-8 p.m., drink for free, then enjoy two-for-one drink specials till closing. If you miss it, it certainly won't be your last chan

  October 19, 2009

• Some Highlights From Last Night's CB3 SLA Meeting

  Last night's Community Board 3 SLA & DCA Licensing Committee Meeting was a whopper, a six-hour endurance test of complaints, cat fights, and unintentional comic relief. Here are a few things that stood out: 1. Le Souk, the controversial restaurant/club/bar on Avenue B that had already lost its liquor license on more than one occasion, was up for a license renewal with complaint history. The neighbors who showed up to protest the renewal amply demonstrated that those complaints -- of endless noi

  October 20, 2009

• A Sneak Peak of What'll be Cooking at No. 7's Sub Shop

  The towering Tyler Kord​Although his new sub shop is at least three months away from opening, No. 7's chef, Tyler Kord, was able to offer FiTR a few savory tidbits about the place, which will be located cheek by jowl with Stumptown and the Breslin at the Ace Hotel. The take-out only shop "is all boarded up right now," says Kord. "They're doing the plumbing and electrical work," which he expects to take two months. After that, it'll take another month to open the shop, which he's hoping wil

  October 20, 2009

• This Week in Dear God, Why? A Cupcake Lounge for the LES

  papertrailsleaver.blogspot.com​What's the only thing less necessary than another cupcake shop? A cupcake lounge serving booze-laced cupcakes to be paired with more booze. Per Eater, that's what the Lower East Side is in for, courtesy of two of the dudes responsible for bringing the neighborhood the Eldridge, the bar whose owner last year set new records in the Douchebag Olympics. The new place, to be called Red Velvet, will have a door policy to go along with the buttercream, suggesting th

  October 20, 2009

• At the Greenmarket: Kohlrabi

  ​Kohlrabi is in season right now--we like it because it's cheap, healthy, delicious, and looks like a disembodied heart, or maybe a UFO. The name is German for "cabbage turnip," because of its bulbous appearance, although it is not related to the turnip. The vegetable is in the cabbage family, and comes in both purple and green varieties, although both are white inside. Kohlrabi can be roasted with root vegetables, but it's also good in raw preparations, where its crisp texture and sweet

  October 20, 2009

• Fork in the Road on the Road: Rioja's Only Official Single-Estate Wine

  ​It's Rioja Restaurant Week in New York, which means that some 100 restaurants around the city are offering special dining deals, like $25-50 prix-fixe menus plus a glass of Rioja wine, or a 20 percent discount on a bottle. Coincidentally, Fork in the Road just happens to be on the road in Rioja this week. We're up to our eyeballs in Tempranillo and Garnacha, and loving every minute of it. One of the more interesting wineries visited in the region has been Finca Valpiedra, an 80-acre opera

  October 20, 2009

• A Good Month for New York Food History

  ​In the last three weeks or so, the publishing world has bestowed upon us no less than three books dedicated exclusively or in large part to the cultural history of food and dining in New York. William Grimes's Appetite City: A Culinary History of New York, David Sax's Save the Deli, and Andrew Coe's Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States offer a three-course feast of sorts to anybody armed with an appetite and an interest in things like the 1835 fire that demol

  October 21, 2009

• Vegetarian Delights of NYC: Achar

  Laut's achar​ This Malaysian salad is made of lightly pickled vegetables, like carrot, cucumber, and cabbage, plus pineapple for sweetness. The sticky dressing is based on fried sesame seeds and peanuts, pounded together with shallots, galangal, lemongrass, chiles, and candlenuts. Sweet and tangy, it's a delicious way to cool your mouth while eating spicy Malaysian food. This rendition--very tasty, but a bit miserly on the portion size--came from Laut, a strange restaurant where--if you pi

  October 22, 2009

• Tavern on the Green Sees the City in Court

  ​A lawsuit between Tavern on the Green and the city has been brewing, and as of yesterday, it was served up steaming hot in U.S. bankruptcy court. As was previously reported, the city's suing the troubled restaurant's operators, the LeRoy family, to regain ownership of Tavern's name, which is valued at $19 million. The city maintains that the LeRoys obtained the name fraudulently and without its knowledge or permission, in 1981. It also argues that because the name had been used since the

  October 22, 2009

• Open: Say Hello to Corsino, The Breslin

  Jason Denton, who owns, 'Ino and 'Inoteca, has opened Corsino, which specializes in crostini with assorted toppings, as well as other Italian plates from chef Steve Connaughton. [NY Times] From the The Spotted Pig team, The Breslin has finally arrived. The Ace Hotel's new restaurant will feature a "seasonal, rustic, meat-heavy menu with English inflections." [Daily Candy] Caprice is the New York outpost of the venerated London brasserie. The menu is similar, with steak tartare, wild mushroom r

  October 23, 2009

• How Do You Spell G-U-T-B-O-M-B? Okonomiyaki at May Chan

  ​ 3-D art or food? The okonomiyaki at May Chan Ramen and Robatayaki. (Click to examine more closely). A couple of months ago, May Chan Ramen and Robatayaki dropped like a piece of fruit from a tree into the dead center of the East Village. The conjoining of a ramen place and a robatayaki (Japanese grill) seemed odd, but that was hardly the limit of the menu, for there were Korean dishes, too (suggesting a Korean ownership), and a seemingly random collection of other Japanese dishes that m

  October 23, 2009

• At Highlands, Andrew Hamilton Brings the Haggis

  zoonabar/flickrA haggis herd.​ When Highlands opens this weekend, the Scottish gastropub's menu will go where scant few others have dared: to the haggis, the most revered and reviled of Scotland's traditional foods. That the mention of the dish, which is made by boiling a sheep's organs in its stomach, still invokes disgust among Americans now accustomed to offal-saturated menus is due in part to the fact that it's been illegal to import haggis since the British mad cow scare of the early

  October 23, 2009

• The Early Word: Lot 2

  ​ Lot 2 is on a stretch of Sixth Avenue in what you might call Sunset Park, Greenwood Heights, or South Slope. It's a quiet avenue. A few blocks south, it dead-ends into Greenwood Cemetery. In the last few years, the area has enjoyed an unlikely mini-boom: Aside from Lot 2, there's Toby's Public House (and Scratchbread), Southside Coffee, and Safe Harbor--plus, the new branch of Lucali's, which is still under construction. Chef Scott Bridi is a Brooklyn native, and was previously sous ch

  October 26, 2009

• What's Happening This Week: Taste of Greenmarket & Austrian Wine Month

  Our weekly dining and drinking newsletter features all the coolest epicurean events in the city. Sign up for it here! Taste of Greenmarket Studio 450 October 28 The Greenmarket's annual food extravaganza has arrived. Chefs from Blue Hill, Daniel, Craft, Aquavit, and the Spotted Pig will prepare signature dishes to benefit the organization's Youth Education Project, which connects some 5,000 city kids to local farmers to learn about agriculture and eating seasonally. Jim Meehan of PDT and Julie

  October 26, 2009

• Cookbook Tester: The Craft of Baking

  ​ From 2001 to 2008, Karen DeMasco was the pastry chef who conjured the desserts at Craft, Craftbar, and 'wichcraft, providing a blissfully lavish counterpoint to Tom Colicchio's studiously executed cooking. DeMasco's since moved on to Locanda Verde, where she's currently demolishing diets with things like maple budino and pistachio brown butter cake. DeMasco's desserts, so full of straightforward yet elegant pleasures, would suggest that the chef would make an excellent guide for the h

  October 26, 2009

• Battle of the Dishes: Asian Fish Sandwiches

  Xie Xie's Fish Cha Ca La Vong​ The effects of the Asian sandwich explosion can be glimpsed most poignantly in the Pygmalion-like transformation of the lowly fish sandwich. Once synonymous with thickly battered, mercilessly deep-fried square patties squished between a styrofoam bun and further humiliated by a piece of orange plastic cheese, the filet-o-fish has become, in the hands of the sandwich revisionists, a different beast entirely. Flattered, caressed, and embellished by cilantro bo

  October 27, 2009

• Damn the Recession: Why This Is a Great Time to Get Into the Restaurant Business

  Don't be fooled by the doomsday prophecies that have everyone staying inside their apartments and living off ramen and tins of baked beans. According to a lengthy and extremely thorough article Regina Schrambling has penned for Entrepreneur, the bad economy has presented all sorts of opportunities for restaurateurs. Cheap rents, experienced yet unemployed chefs, and a dining public more interested in value than vanity dishes have all conspired to create a surprisingly favorable environment for o

  October 27, 2009

• What to Drink at Bar Celona: It's All About the G y Ts

  mccun934/flickr​For reasons unknown, the simple gin and tonic has become one of the most popular drinks in Spain. True to form, Bar Celona, the new tapas bar opened by former fashion consultant Cynthia Diaz in Williamsburg, will not only serve small plates and a selection of wines, it's also touting a pretty ambitious cocktail list that features, among other things, a gin-and-tonic section. Designed by mixologists Tad Carducci and Paul Tanguay, otherwise known as The Tippling Bros., the dr

  October 27, 2009

• Doggy Style in Park Slope: Bark Hot Dogs

  October 27, 2009

• DEATH BY CHOCOLATE

  October 27, 2009

• Recession-Wracked Harlem Restaurants Will Pay Your Car Fare

  ​Restaurants aren't doing so well anywhere in New York. (We saw the headline "Recession is not all bad news for NYC eateries" in Crain's, and the story turned out to be that it was not all bad news for diners -- lower prices at fancy restaurants!) The ViVa (Viaduct Valley) Harlem Restaurant Owners Association has a clever idea (or desperate measure, depending on how you look at it) to get you into their member establishments (including Pancho Gringo and the Hudson River Cafe). Between 5

  October 28, 2009

• Wild Game Festival at Henry's End in Brooklyn Heights

  ​ Last week, the Wall Street Journal ran a piece on the wild game renaissance in British restaurants. Apparently, younger chefs across the pond are creating modern, accessible game dishes, leaving aside heavy sauces, and boning small game birds for customers who don't want to be bothered picking through the carcass. And lean game meats like venison, rabbit, grouse, and elk have become attractive to consumers who are trying to avoid industrially produced beef and poultry. But you'd be har

  October 28, 2009

• The New Vegetarianism

  ​ A delicious bunch of purple mustard greens from the New Amsterdam Market, grown in Queens. In the past, vegetarians have extolled their dining habits with evangelistic fervor. They were often prone to wrinkle up their noses, and even make snide and pious comments, when others were scarfing flesh around them. This was always good for dramatic effect, but didn't win many converts. In their book, you were either with them or against them, and there was no middle ground.

  October 28, 2009

• Floyd Cardoz on Tabla's New Menu

  Courtesy Tabla​The Danny Meyer restaurants formerly known as Tabla (upstairs, haute New Indian) and Bread Bar (downstairs, casual New Indian) have been unified into one entity, which is now simply called "Tabla." Hearing the news, Fork in the Road feared that executive chef Floyd Cardoz's inspired cookery would be somehow curtailed. And what about the fate of the frankie/chaat cart that appears outside the restaurant in the summer? A representative for the restaurant sent over the new men

  October 28, 2009

• What Do Mixologists Do on Their Off-Nights? Drink at Other People's Bars, of Course

  Blowing off steam at Louis 649 after too much jigger science.​Behind the various cocktail bars he tends, Frank Cisneros mixes drinks that require precious attention. He calculates ingredients such as saffron-infused syrup, rare bitters, and caramelized demerara sugar with jiggers of spirits like rhum agricole and Armagnac. But when it's his turn to unwind on the other side of the bar, he'd rather reach for the quick relief of a shot and a beer, thank you very much. "You talk to any chef a

  October 28, 2009

• East Village's Pommes Frites Applies for Wine License

  Robert SietsemaPommes frites from Pommes Frites​The East Village's Pommes Frites, which scored the number two spot on Our 10 Best French fries list, has applied for a license to serve wine. So instead of hitting up the fried-potato-heaven after you get a little tipsy, you can do both at once--streamlining, if you will. But French fries are notoriously difficult to pair with wine, because of their fatty-salty nature. A manager, reached at Pommes Frites, confirmed that the restaurant has a

  October 29, 2009

• Crosby Bar: Land of the $18 Cosmo

  Today, Eater ran a compilation of the early buzz about the recently opened Crosby Bar, in the Crosby Hotel. Generally, people have found it mediocre so far. It so happened that Fork in the Road was at Crosby Bar last night, for work-related reasons. The cocktail list is so ridiculous, it almost seems like a joke, or maybe an art installation commenting on overblown cocktail culture.

  October 29, 2009

• Our 10 Best Wine Shops in NYC (and NJ)

  ​Some wine shops go crazy with the signage, as with this European vineyard vehicle parked in front of the Seaport's Pasanella & Son. But will it make our top 10? What does Fork in the Road look for in a wine store? A broad selection of wines, from France, Italy, Spain, and California; smaller selections from such further-flung locales as Oregon, South Africa, Chile, Austria, and Australia; quirky, surprising choices from places like Hungary, Morocco, Canada, and even Mexico; and vintages

  October 30, 2009

• Waiter Rant Responds to 100 Waiter No-Nos List

  emilio labrador/flickr​Waiter Rant, the blog by Steve Dublanica, who wrote a (formerly anonymous) book by the same name, delivered a thorough response to Bruce Buschel's You're the Boss blog post entitled, "One Hundred Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part 1)." To no. 35 (Do not eat or drink in plain view of guests), Dublanica replies: "I'd agree with this if restaurants weren't so cheap and actually fed their employees! I worked at one place where they deducted $2 per shift fo

  October 30, 2009

• Chef Shuffle at Brooklyn's Lot 2

  Lot 2​Scott Bridi, who was just named a "pioneering chef" by Time Out New York for his work at Lot 2 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, is actually about to leave the restaurant for other projects.

  October 30, 2009

• Recipe: Make David Suarez's Panzanella de Calabaza con Hongos (Chopped Bread Salad with Pumpkin and Mushrooms)

  ​Halloween may have come and gone, but that doesn't mean it's time to start hanging Christmas decoration just yet. The Pan de Muerto is a traditional Day of the Dead recipe, ritually made every year in the weeks leading up to All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day on the first and second of November, respectively. It also happens to make a tasty salad when combined with fresh pumpkin, radicchio, and queso fresco. "Chopping up the Pan de Muerto and using it in a Panzanella is an easy way to m

  November 2, 2009

• Miserly Brunchers Force Cornelia St. Cafe To Charge Mandatory Tip

  ​ After a perfectly fine omelet at Cornelia Street Cafe this Saturday, eaten while watching the costumes go by, you might have been surprised to note that your bill included a mandatory 18-percent gratuity, regardless of the size of your party. Was it because the servers were Halloweened-up in some very creative 80s garb? A call to owner Robin Hirsch got to the bottom of the mystery.

  November 2, 2009

• New Foodie Buzzword Alert: Bistronomic

  Over tapas at the newly opened Mercat Negre in Williamsburg last week, a group of diners could not help but notice the waiter's use of the term "bistronomic." Had he said it just once, they might have ignored it as they sipped their crisp, refreshing albarino and munched deliciously deep-fried croquettes. But, after several pronouncements of the word to describe the food and vision for the restaurant, the diners became intrigued. What does it mean? Did the waiter -- a slender, dapper fellow with

  November 3, 2009

• From the DOH Chronicles: Spotted Pig's Personal Hygiene Problems, Flying Insects at Cafeteria, and Mice Who Enjoy High-End Cocktails

  be_khe/flickrGuess who's coming to dinner?​The mice-in-the-cheesecake photos purportedly taken at Junior's the week before last served as a reminder, once again, that vermin aren't terribly picky about where they make their home, and that DOH woes aren't limited solely to the likes of Taco Bell and hole-in-the-walls in farthest Queens. There are, in fact, plenty of fashionable, and even reputable establishments that rack up enough violation points (28 or more) to incur a dread "Requires Co

  November 3, 2009

• Recapping the Chocolate Show, Morsel by Morsel

  One of William Dean's delectables.​Bowls of cacao beans, vats of liquid chocolate, and stacks of truffles invaded the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea this past weekend as the Chocolate Show touched down in New York. French event planners Sylvie Douce and Francoise Jeantet have taken their trade show around the world in order to give the public a glimpse into the inner workings of gourmet chocolate. The 12th-annual event featured exhibits from international chocolatiers, as well as chocola

  November 3, 2009

• Rum Along to Ambiance

  November 3, 2009

• SD26: Food in Need of Love

  November 3, 2009

• Drooling in Anticipation Over Purple Yam

  Purple YamTamarind shrimp with caramelized onion and mustard seeds​Purple Yam may not be open for another week, but its owners certainly know how to whet the public's appetite. The restaurant's website pictures some of the Pan-Asian dishes that will be featured on the menu, such as tamarind shrimp with caramelized onions and toasted mustard seeds, Balinese duck leg, and, somewhat unexpectedly, a mushroom and leek quiche that will be served during brunch. If the photos, which also include s

  November 4, 2009

• Under the Toque: A16 Pastry Chef to Follow Nate Appleman; Could New York Have Finally Lured Animal?

  ​ Jane Tseng, the pastry chef at A16 and SPQR in San Francisco, is allegedly following in Nate Appleman's footsteps and heading for New York to take over as pastry chef at Keith McNally's upcoming Pulino's Bar and Pizzeria. [Eater] Michael Ronis, the founding chef of the Carmine's chain and Virgil's Real Barbecue in Times Square, has passed away at age 60. His obituary in the Daily Journal attested to his love of food and keen interest in new restaurant openings. [Grub Street] Fox has an

  November 5, 2009

• The Redhead's Brunch Menu Sings the Song of the South

  Tasting Table noticed that the Redhead began serving brunch this past weekend, finally taking a cue from chef Meg Grace's consulting work with Permanent Brunch. Grace's new menu carries a strong Southern accent, featuring seafood gumbo, Anson Mills grits, biscuits and gravy, and pancakes served with sorghum syrup. Start whistling Dixie, y'all.

  November 5, 2009

• Boulud Continues Worldwide Expansion; Blumenthal Moves on from Bad Fish Fiasco

  ​Just weeks after announcing a Singaporean outpost of DB Bistro Moderne, Daniel Boulud reveals plans to open a Bar Boulud in London's Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park next spring. Bloomberg reports that Gilles Verot, known for his charcuterie in Paris, will helm the kitchen. Boulud said in a statement that the restaurant would combine "New York's energy and spirit, a little French soul and tradition, and a touch of London." It won't be the only new resto for the Mandarin Oriental. Heston Blume

  November 5, 2009

• 100 Things Waiters Shouldn't Do, Under Penalty of Death, Dismemberment, or Undying Scorn

  fast eddie 42/flickrWith rules like these, you'd probably want a break, too.​Bruce Buschel, the would-be Hamptons restaurateur who's been blogging about his experiences for the Times, has just published the second half of his list of 100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do. If Buschel's rules are any indication, then working as a waiter at his establishment will be the service industry's equivalent of being a first-year cadet at the Citadel. Much of Buschel's list is valid: No. 58's

  November 5, 2009

• Battle of the Dishes: Grass-Fed, Local Steak Versus Supermarket Steak

  Left: Kinderhook Farm rib steak from Marlow and Daughters; Right: Key Foods rib steak​ As retail experiences go, they were as different as it gets: I walked into Key Foods and found a bone-in rib steak in the refrigerated section, packaged in a Styrofoam container and covered in plastic. The label provided no information other than the cut, the weight (.80 pound), and the price ($7.90 at $9.99 per pound). Then I headed to Williamsburg and asked the bearded butcher behind the counter at Mar

  November 5, 2009

• Our 10 Best Cheeses

  ​ ​Is it a piece of marble or a blue cheese? And did it make the list of Our 10 Best Cheeses? Who doesn't love cheese? A friend says she administers a cheese test to potential boyfriends. If the guy doesn't crave the coagulated milk products of cows, sheep, goats, or water buffalo, it's no dice! (Why is there no such thing as pig's milk cheese? And what about llama cheese?)

  November 6, 2009

• Open & Closed: Say Hello to UO; Goodbye to Elvie's Turo-Turo

  The new Sigmund Pretzel Shop on the Lower East Side was opened by pastry chef Lina Kulchinsky and partner Tricia Wancko. Expect small batch, hand-twisted pretzels, plain or dressed up with spreads and dips, both sweet and savory. [Always Hungry] Sushi UO has opened on the Lower East Side with 23-year-old chef-owner David Bouhadana at the helm. Bouhadana has studied in Japan and worked at Morimoto. The menu at his unmarked restaurant will change daily. [NY Times] The owners of Koreatown's not-s

  November 6, 2009

• Dovetail Re-opens Tonight, Expanded and Renovated

  Dovetail, pre-renovation.​Just as Mario Batali has shrunk Del Posto in his quest for the NYT stamp of approval, Dovetail has added 20 seats to its dining room and 500 bottles to its wine list. According to a rep, John Fraser's Upper West Side New American restaurant will also boast a new sommelier, Babbo/the French Laundry's Amanda Reade Sturgeon, as well as a new cheese cart, cocktail menu, and roster of small plates for the expanded bar.

  November 6, 2009