Motorino Expands Hours; Robicelli’s Market ClosesPlus: Isaac Mizrahi’s Mushroom Truffle Spaghetti served at Saks, and a mystery beer tasting in Park Slope, in our regular roundup of neighborhood food news.
Don’t Skip the Bread at Commerce; Oh, Yoko, Save Café La Fortuna!Bay Ridge: One of the city’s greenest cake shops, Little Cupcake Bake Shop, actually makes awesome cupcakes, too. [NewYorkology]
Carroll Gardens: Frankies’ third location is sizable, but still at least a few months from being completed. [Eater]
Upper West Side: Blossom at 466 Columbus Avenue is a candlelit vegan restaurant with a fireplace. [Gridskipper]
Former John Lennon and Yoko Ono favorite Café La Fortuna is closing this Sunday. [Lost City]
West Village: At newly opened Commerce, Andrea Strong “had the bread basket of the century,” which included “about a half-dozen types of bread, all fresh baked in house that morning. There was a buttery mini brioche, an sourdough olive roll the shape of a fat bullet, a ciabatta and a sesame roll, and my favorite, and one that I think they should turn into a bar snack with mustards and cheese—the soft malt pretzel.” Sounds like a good start. [The Strong Buzz]
NewsFeed
Tanoreen Set to Expand to Twice Its Present Size, Still in Bay Ridge
When Tanoreen topped our Cheap Eats list last year, it was a sign of favor that was bound to send more customers out to Bay Ridge. Inevitably, Tanoreen has decided to expand to accommodate all its new admirers, acquiring the lease on a nearby space twice its size. “We’re really tight on the weekend, and our lease is up. So now is the time to make the step,” chef-owner Rawia Bishara tells us. “It will be four to five months, but we won’t be closing; we’re going to move right from the one location to the other one in late spring.” So while you still have to go out to Bay Ridge, at least you’ll get a table.
User’s Guide
Take the Cab to Deepest Brooklyn for Restaurant WeekThe bargains at Brooklyn Restaurant Week, which starts this Monday, aren’t quite as overwhelming as the Manhattan version. The deal is the same — three courses for only $21.12 at any of the listed restaurants — but few of these places are hugely expensive to begin with. Look at it this way: What you save will cover the cab fare. What follows are a few of the more far-flung Xs on our own personal Brooklyn treasure map. Generally, these aren’t destination restaurants, but this week they should be.
Back of the House
Mmm, Whale Sashimi; Check Your Pants at the DoorOne of the Times’ ever-ambivalent world travelers goes to Japan. But if eating whale sashimi is wrong, he doesn’t want to be right. [NYT]
Noho is for pedestrians: a helpful guide to its restaurants. [NYT]
Related: Our Noho lunch spots. [Grub Street]
Secrets of a hat-check person, revealed. It turns out women are checking not only their coats but also their pants. [NYP]
