New Jersey Needs More Goat; Chain Restaurants Sat Out On Super Bowl AdsPlus: Super Bowl ads confirm that adorable dogs can be used to market anything; and First Lady Michelle Obama pushes the restaurant industry for smaller portions and healthier kids meals, all in our morning new roundup.
New York ‘Times’ to Wonder How Bloggers Stay AliveWhen we received a voice mail last week from Kim Severson of the New York Times, saying that she wanted to interview us, our natural response was one of delight. Was the topic to be hamburgers or our upcoming book on same? Or perhaps the larger topic of meat? Or perhaps the ongoing efforts of Grub Street? It was with giddy fingers that we dialed Severson’s number only to find out that the lady was writing an article on how fat and unhealthy food bloggers are, and to ask us, in so many words, why we were still alive. Apparently, bloggers aren’t the trenchermen they once were: Off the Broiler’s Jason Perlow recently had some serious health problems, and even Steven “the Fat Guy” Shaw of eGullet has gotten on the austerity program. But, as we told Severson, the day we start eating salad she’s welcome to our place at the table. Grub Street may cost us the vitality of our once-springy carcass, but by God the work will go on!
In the Magazine
Lily Allen Eats Blue Ribbon Sushi Four Times a Week
Our interest was piqued when we read the last line of Jada Yuan’s piece about Lily Allen’s two weeks in New York. “‘Don’t worry,’ she says, cheerily chomping on chicken satay at Cafe Gitane, a few hours before double-fisting pizza slices at Joe’s. ‘I’m still eating like a fucking pig.’” Vulture, our entertainment blog, has some choice outtakes from the interview, but none of them clear up our curiosity about Lily’s New York diet — here, then, are some food-related kernels that didn’t make it into the magazine piece.
NewsFeed
Cognac Burglar Breaks Into Osteria Del CircoIf you own a bar or restaurant, and a shady figure emerges with a hot deal on a bottle of Remy Martin Louis XIII, think twice before taking it – there’s a good chance it was stolen from Osteria del Circo late Friday night. Owner Mauro Maccioni, scion of Sirio, tells us that someone bashed in the eatery’s window, opened the vestibule door, and made off with two bottles of cognac — the Remy, which retails for around $2,000 a bottle, and Martell L’or, which usually retails for between $1,000 and $1,200. “I never heard of anything like it,” Maccioni tells us. “They didn’t even try to take anything else.” Only two explanations suffice for the bizarre crime: Either cognac connoisseurs are getting bolder or criminals more jaded in their appetites. Either way, lock up the liquor cabinets. And if you do see that bottle, as Mauro says ominously, “the Maccionis would like it back.”
Neighborhood Watch
Maddened Teens Attack Clinton Hill’s Locanda Vini e OliiClinton Hill: Teens getting more than frisky this spring: Two hooligans terrorized Locanda Vini e Olii by attempting to crash outdoor metal chairs through the glass façade during Friday’s dinner service. [Brooklyn Record]
Dumbo: Foragers Market has an inspired banana display. [Dumbo NYC]
East Village: The new bar entered through Crif Dogs and known as PDT does not take its name from ”Please Don’t Tell.” A pierced girl says it’s Porno Dog Tavern. [Down by the Hipster]
Harlem: West 145th Street welcomes a Starbucks. [Uptown Flavor]
Long Island City: Fresh Start natural grocer is opening a garden to allow you to enjoy the prepared foods outdoors and, one hopes, to lend out to community groups. [Joey in Astoria]
Midtown West: Aureole is moving to One Bryant Park. [NYM]
Prospect-Lefferts-Gardens: Papa’s market not only has nice cheese, but Papa wants to ride the wonderful wave that is gentrification and renovate. [Across the Park]
Openings
Just In: Curry Craziness in Midtown
Reports from the scene of the newly opened Go!Go! Curry indicate that lines for the first branch of the Japanese takeout joint are at lengths unseen since the days of Beard Papa’s opening. “Over 40 people in line,” said one curry craver about half an hour ago. “I had to get lunch elsewhere.” We just called the restaurant to discover the line is still down the block. “Maybe you will wait 30 minutes,” we were told. Is it worth it? Well, it’s true that servings of curry over rice (with your choice of shrimp, chicken, pork, etc.) are just 55 cents until 9:55 tonight, but wait till nightfall and you’ll get even more bang for your half-buck: The Website attempts to curry favor by informing us that there’s free parking on 38th Street after 7 p.m.!
Go!Go! Curry, 273 W. 38th St., nr. Eighth Ave.; 212-730-5555.
Mediavore
Restaurant I.D.-Theft Ring Exposed; Ted Nugent–Influenced CuisineWaiters in 40 restaurants formed a huge identity-theft ring, recording credit-card numbers and making $3 million in purchases. [Fox NY]
Donald Trump gets a sweetheart deal from the state to build Trump on the Ocean, a huge restaurant and banquet hall, on Jones Beach. [Newsday]
Chef J.J. Rachou is still feeling the sting from his Department of Health closure and can’t bring himself to reopen Brasserie LCB yet. “If you lift every can, you find a cockroach,” he says. [NYT]
Neighborhood Watch
Tribeca’s 66 Turning Japanese in MayBedford-Stuyvesant: The list of what to drink at Thursday’s Wine & Cocktail Tasting fund-raiser includes Cockspur Rum and Beam Wines. [Bed-Stuy Gateway]
Chelsea: The Frying Pan, the vessel recovered from the bottom of the ocean and turned into a bar in the eighties, has moved over a couple of piers and requires some work. [NewYorkology]
Chinatown: Highgate Holdings will transform the Baxter Street Holiday Inn into a boutique hotel with a “hip” restaurant possibly from Tao’s Marc Packer or Richard Wolf of Stanton Social. [NYP]
East Village: The new Cooper Square hotel may get an outlet of L.A.’s Table 8. [Down by the Hipster]
Harlem: Arlene Weston’s Southern-Jamaican Maroon’s is expanding uptown to West 145th Street and may be open by June. [Uptown Flavor]
Tribeca: 66 will be turning Japanese in May. [Eater]
Williamsburg: The Brooklyn Kitchen will host a cupcake cook-off tomorrow at 6:30 p.m.; you may get handouts if bakers decide to bring more than the required six contenders. [Gothamist]
The Annotated Dish
Morandi’s Deceptively Simple Duck Sandwich
Chef Jody Williams had made her mark as a master of Italian cuisine at Gusto when Keith McNally hired her to run the kitchen at Morandi. Like most of her cooking, this duck sandwich with quince and apple mostarda and green savoy cabbage appears simple and rustic but was created with a great deal of thought and technique. Mouse over the arrows for Jody Williams’s explanation of each ingredient.
