Fort Greene Restaurant Scene’s Crescendo; De Niro Hotel So Close You Can Book ItAstoria: The Southwest restaurant that’s been under construction near the Ditmars stop on 31st Street is named Mojave and opens tonight. [Joey in Astoria via Astorians]
East Village: The Mermaid Inn reopens tomorrow after a one-week renovation, which may have been inspired by Time Out‘s mouse sightings. [Eater]
Fort Greene: New restaurants the Smoke Joint and 67 Burger have joined older favorites like iCi and Thomas Beisl to build a thriving restaurant scene near the Brooklyn Academy of Music. [NYT]
Tribeca: De Niro’s Greenwich Hotel is now taking reservations for the spring. [NewYorkology via Eater]
Neighborhood Watch
Lovescool’s Bakery Open in Gramercy; Pupu Platters From the Fifties in QueensAstoria: Chickenhead is playing at the beer garden this Saturday from 8 p.m. to midnight. [Joey in Astoria]
Clinton Hill: J & J Cafe on Fulton near Waverly is already closed, but don’t hold your breath for the next newcomer. With all the construction in the area “there’s little use opening anything in that space…it’s almost completely invisible.” [Clinton Hill Blog]
Fresh Meadows: Old-school Chinese-American restaurant Kim Yum has been serving Pupu Platters and strong drinks since the fifties. [Gothamist]
Gramercy: Dessert blogger and Golden Scoop award winner Kelli Bernard has opened her bakery and tea house at 171 Third Avenue between 16th and 17th streets. [NewYorkology]
Harlem: Harlem Tea Room tries to pull a fast one: “This may not be a sticking point if you haven’t grown up with scones, but they are not biscuits. They just aren’t. Biscuits are lovely things, but you cannot claim to sell homemade scones and serve biscuits.” [Uptown Flavor]
West Village: Gusto chef Amanda Freitag puts oodles of autumn into her recipe for free-form pumpkin ravioli with apple-cider reduction. [Restaurant Girl]
The In-box
Where Do I Party With Pupu Platters? And Strong Drinks? And, Oh, Mirrors?
Dear Grub Street,
I’m on a quest to find the perfect restaurant venue, so naturally I went straight to the source. A group of fifteen to twenty desperately seeks a Chinese restaurant with over-the-top hokey décor, mirrored walls, and decent food. And strong drinks. Well, the mirrored walls aren’t a requirement, but someplace that will allow semi-raucous, dressed-in-a-theme patrons and hopefully not be more than $25 a head. Does this place exist?
Andrew