Santogold Indulges in a Cookie (or Two or Three) While in the Studio
It’s been a happy New Year for Rolling Stone “Artist to Watch” Santogold (née Santi White), who just returned from a British tour with M.I.A. to see herself on the cover of this month’s Fader. What sort of challenges might 2008 bring? “I do these detoxes where for 20 or 30 days I can only eat organic fruits or vegetables,” she says. “It makes you not even really be able to eat greasy food — you can, but it feels disgusting. By the end of the year [after not doing the detox for a while], I tend to crave fried food and chocolate all the time.” That doesn’t mean you’ll find her eating cheesesteaks like she did growing up in Philly (she now lives in Bed Stuy and has been a pescatarian for twelve years), but this week she did hit the vending machine at the Soho studio where she’s recording her debut self-titled album, out in April.
NewsFeed
PDT’s Winter Menu Blows Our Minds, GI Tracts
PDT’s winter cocktail menu debuted last night, and we are still hung-over. Mixologist Jim Meehan consulted his peers for the menu, which includes contributions from Pegu’s Audrey Sanders, Tailor’s Eben Freeman, “International cocktail maven” Charlotte Voisey, and others. There’s even a nod to Adam Platt in the description of PDT bartender Don Lee’s Benton’s Old Fashioned, a combo of bacon-infused bourbon, maple syrup, and angostura bitters: “the crossroad of Haute Barnyard and Barroom.” (If this keeps up, we’re going to have to add Haute Barnyard to the banished-words list soon.)
Restroom Report
Breaking the Code of Silence about PDT’s WCs
We figured the new cocktail speakeasy next to Crif Dogs would have remarkable restrooms. After all, its name is PDT (Please Don’t Tell) and we’ve always had that same policy when it comes to East Village loos — you’ll certainly never hear our stories about the ones at Lit circa 2002. At least, not until you buy us a few El Diablos at this decidedly more civilized boîte. In which case, like the Strokes song goes, meet us in the bathroom.
In the Magazine
Summer Brings Hot Dogs, Barbecue, and Department-Store Salads
Summer is upon us at last, and with it come the inevitable summer foods: hot dogs, barbecue, snap peas, salad … and pappardelle with truffles and butter. Well, not every food consumed in the hot months is inevitable. But this issue comes packed with hot-weather options. The Underground Gourmet reviews Willie’s Dawgs and PDT, the new chic cocktail lounge attached to Crif Dogs (you’ll have to read to understand). The city’s most ambitious barbecue opening yet happens this week; Gael Greene is very taken with Aurora Soho’s reverse commute; Pichet Ong takes off from the dessert business to create a killer sugar-snap-pea recipe; and Rob and Robin offer both a guide to the city’s top department-store salads and a quiz to determine your green-eats quotient, a test which only the most narrowly focused carnivore could possibly fail.
Mediavore
Nello Buys ‘Page Six’ on the Cheap; Jody Williams Trying Not toNello’s Nello Ballan gives Richard Johnson a $1,000 gift, and fifteen “Page Six” mentions of Ballan’s restaurant later, the embattled gossip column has the devil to pay. [NYT]
Jody Williams claims not to have read Frank Bruni’s review of Morandi, though she knows that people are laying odds on the date of her departure. [Mouthing Off/Food & Wine]
Related: Not So Bene [NYM]
Restaurant-industry lobbyists express a not-unexpected disappointment with the federal minimum-wage increase passed by Congress, finding it “entirely out of place” in a war-spending bill. [Nation’s Restaurant News]
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]
Mediavore
Yep, 66 Going Soba; Trans Fats on the Run in Long Island66 will become Matsu Gen in “late spring” and specialize in soba noodles. [NYT]
Related: Vongerichten May Deep-Six 66, Serve Sushi and Soba Instead [Grub Street]
Landmarc, in the Time Warner Center, is wildly inexpensive relative to its location and the restaurants around it, and Steve Cuozzo is predicting boffo business. [NYP]
Related: Will Landmarc’s Downtown Cool Play Alongside Its Ritzy New Neighbors? [Grub Street]
Think you’ll get your lard fix in Long Island? Not so fast: Nassau County is planning a trans-fat ban. [Newsday]
NewsFeed
We Can Now Quit Snooping: Dog Spot’s Name RevealedThe mysterious plaster puppy that has been an object of fascination on St. Marks Place is no longer such a mystery — and our original report has been proved incorrect. We were told by neighbors that the establishment would be an icee joint, but now that the awning has been erected, it’s clear this will be a, ahem, hot-dog stand. The pup’s competition, the giant “Eat Me” sign down the road at Crif Dogs, may not stand a chance: Judging from the wiring we noticed coming out of its tail, this dog may just be able to fetch, and smash, bottles in true St. Marks form. Just don’t quote us on that.
