Ethan Hawke Hits Qdoba; ‘Beverly Hills 90210’ Reunion at D’OrLast week Todd Barry told us he was a Chipotle man and we noted that a couple of respected chefs were too — but it seems Ethan Hawke, for one, prefers naked burritos to burrito bols, if a recent sighting at Qdoba Mexican Grill is any indicator. Are notable New Yorkers embracing casual dining chains? Lizzie Grubman did take her client Tailor Made to, um, the Olive Garden…
Celebrity Settings
Tom and Gisele Lock Lips at Nobu, ‘Full House’ Cast and the B-52sEarlier this week we linked to a Daily News item claiming Padma Lakshmi rudely refused complimentary dishes from Fiamma’s chef. A commenter wrote, “I was at Fiamma the night Padma was dining there and it absolutely did NOT go down that way. When the dishes arrived at the table, she thanked them profusely and apologized for being too full to eat any of them!” Whatever happened, Padma was just one of many celebs to chow down (or at least show up) at local restaurants this week, and here’s our gossip-column compendium of just who went where.
Mediavore
Gordo Envisions Demise of Bruni; David Burke Scores Cabaret LicenseGordo scoffs at Frank Bruni for panning his restaurant after the Times critic called to “schmarm” him and ask about a dish since “if you don’t know what you’re criticising, then don’t write about it.” But the snappy chef still feels generous toward food critics: He’ll “do all the canapés at their funerals free of charge.” [Daily Star]
David Burke just acquired a cabaret license for Hawaiian Tropic Zone, though thankfully it won’t be Burke himself doing the dancing but rather professionals copying the Pussycat Dolls. [NYP]
Smart small businesses like Little Cupcake Bake Shop in Bay Ridge are leading the green front because they can “benefit from conservation efforts in two ways — by saving money on their monthly utility bills and by raising their profile in the community for much less money than they might spend on local advertising.” [NYT]
Mediavore
Sam Mason Needs More Money; Hawaiian Tropic Zone Looking for Studly Men WithIn an effort to change its image as an “upscale Hooters,” Hawaiian Tropic Zone is hiring a beefy male staff “with personality.” [NYDN]
Does Sam Mason need a new financial backer to open Tailor? Those delays cost major cash. [Down by the Hipster]
China has formed a cabinet-level committee to monitor food safety but still calls the national coverage of tainted exports “viciously sensationalized.” [NYT]
Back of the House
Hawaiian Tropic Is Just Misunderstood, Owner SaysThis week’s New Yorker offers a touching portrait of a restaurant mogul in pain – in this case, food-court mogul Dennis Riese, the owner of Hawaiian Tropic Zone. Riese knows that people consider the Zone little better than an upscale Hooters, or worse, a strip club. But nothing could be further from the truth, he says: For one thing, there are “no nipples.” You can’t very well have a strip club without nipples, can you? Of course, even nipples wouldn’t necessarily make the Zone woman-unfriendly. “Women like sexy. Talk about empowerment and feminism! There’s nowhere offering women sexy in the way they would like it to be — classy sexy!” The short piece is probably a ten on what ESPN’s Bill Simmons likes to call the Unintentional Comedy Scale, but we feel a twinge of sympathy for the Zone, having actually been forced to eat at the regular Hooters, which, “talent” aside, has pretty awful food.
In The Zone [NYer]
Related: Hawaiian Tropic Zone’s Tina Marino Probably Won’t Be Sharing Her Life With You
The Go-Go Gourmet
Mediavore
Senator Schumer Stands Up for the Red Hook Ball Fields; Di Fara Set to ReopenSenator Chuck Schumer visits the Red Hook ball fields and stands up for the vendors in front of rolling cameras: “Removing this for something that might make a little more money for the City of New York makes no sense. We don’t want McDonald’s here.” [NYDN]
Earlier: Senator Schumer Springs to the Red Hook Ball-Fields’ Defense
Di Fara will reopen by the end of the week. But it isn’t clear what owner Dom DeMarco will be doing to prevent another closure. [AMNY]
FreshDirect has a rival in tiny, Long Island City–based Bread-n-Brie. Unlike FreshDirect, with its vast inventory, Bread-n-Brie goes to good markets and gets things for you upon request. [NYT]
NewsFeed
Beard After-parties: Hawaiian Tropic Zone, Momofuku Party Bus, MoreThe James Beard Awards after-parties presented special challenges which could only be solved by the liberal use of an open bar. The place to go was the Hawaiian Tropic Zone, whose bikini-clad waitresses and go-go dancers, serving at the behest of chef David Burke, provided a welcome dose of vulgarity after the high-class Beard gala. But the truly hot ticket was the Momofuku party bus, which, if David Chang & Co. were to be believed, was a chartered party vehicle where the most intense celebrating would be done. Regretfully, though, it was closed to press. “Sorry, dude,” David Chang told us, dazed and blissful and still unbelieving in the wake of his victory.
Mediavore
Gordon Ramsay Attacks; Bush Fails EatersGordon Ramsay lays into Marco Pierre White, Frank Bruni, and Big Macs in this wide-ranging interview, which ends with this complaint: “I’m being judged on my persona as opposed to my food, and you know what? Fuck it.” [The Independent]
Morgan Stanley and other firms won’t let their executives entertain clients or expense lunch at the Hawaiian Tropic Zone because it’s too much like a strip club. “We are a totally misunderstood restaurant,” claims the owner. [NYP]
Less than 10 percent of food imported to the U.S. is even examined by the FDA, which is “woefully understaffed and underfinanced” by the Bush administration. [NYT]
In the Magazine
The Robs Heart Kefi; Gael Greene Hits the Hawaiian Tropic ZoneIt’s an odd food section this week: Gael Greene goes to a restaurant most critics wouldn’t go near; four restaurants open all at once, and not one of them in a familiar genre; a chef describes a dangerous encounter with Adam Platt’s ravenous actor brother; and in the review, Rob and Robin bestow a rare four-star review on the Upper West Side’s Kefi.
Back of the House
Sex Apparently Always on the Menu at New York RestaurantsUpon reading the jaw-dropping news this weekend of rampant sexual abuse at Jean Georges, we started scratching our heads. Just what has gotten into the restaurant business these days? When did the revels pass from frat-house frolics to full-blown Roman debauchery? Here’s a time line to help you understand.
Back of the House
All We Want For Christmas …In case you’re wondering what we want for Christmas here on Grub Street, we’ve actually gone to the trouble of making a list.
• A Grub Street outpost in Las Vegas. Possibly built in conjunction with Hawaiian Tropic Zone, with David Burke as consulting chef.
• A James Beard Rising Star Chef award. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!!!
• A bar stool alongside Mario Batali and Courtney Love at the Spotted Pig. Then a hot ice pick with which to blind ourselves.
• A new restaurant which brags about “year-round” ingredients grown “all over the place, and bought from SysCo.”
• A menu that eschews subtitles, credits, translations, geography, or recipes in favor of big, detailed full-color pictures of every dish — just like at Denny’s.
• The permanent destruction of the Cookshack smoker, the last refuge of mediocre urban barbecue cooks. (The Cookshack, a refrigerator-size device that “smokes” with the aid of a handful of electrically warmed chips, is a sad replacement for a real wood smoker, like the ones used at RUB and other major barbecue establishments.)
• An end to “soft openings.” When you’re ready to open, open. Come hard or don’t come at all!
• Three good new Jewish delis, five good new non-gourmet pizzerias, ten good new local Chinese restaurants, and no more gourmet-burger operations.
• Unless, of course, it’s the White Castle on Avenue B we’ve always wished for.
Back of the House
A Steamier Hawaiian Tropic Zone; Beer and Lederhosen in QueensCalorie counts coming to NYC menus. [NYDN]
Pour out a pint for Häagen-Dazs’s co-creator, the Polish woman responsible for the fake Danish name. [NYT]
Beer and lederhosen come to a Queens shopping center. [Gayot]
Sophie’s Cuban Cuisine seeks another Manhattan location. [Restaurant News Resource]
Hawaiian Tropic Zone will be the next NYC restaurant to tackle Vegas: “Misters to cool patrons during the steamy daytime desert temperatures.” [PR News]
Related: Hawaiian Tropic Zone’s Tina Marino Probably Won’t Be Sharing Her Life With You
While we wait for that follow-up on Zak Pelaccio’s plans for American expansion, Eater tips us off to a high-concept eatery that will practice the “art of the urban sandwich.” [Eater]
Ask a Waiter
Hawaiian Tropic Zone’s Tina Marino Probably Won’t Be Sharing HerWhen 19-year-old Tina Marino moved here from her native Buffalo two months ago to take acting classes, her talent scout landed her a gig as a “tableside concierge” at the Hawaiian Tropic Zone. The interview process, she says, was a bit different than the one she underwent before working at T.G.I. Friday’s: “We had to try on a bathing suit.” We wondered how she keeps her cool (besides working in a sarong) amid co-worker squabbles, two fiercely competitive beauty pageants per night, and the occasional customers she describes as “rude, obnoxious gentlemen — well, not gentlemen.”
The Other Critics
Love Gets No Love From Bruni; Strong Falls in Love With Self at Cafe ClunyBruni shares Platt’s horror over Lonesome Dove’s “hairy and scary” welcome mat and agrees the “mistakes don’t end at the front door.” For one, the quail quesadillas and rabbit empanadas taste like, well, chicken. Still, it’s not all bluster: “Mr. Love seems dedicated to getting first-rate cuts of meat, and if the rub-happy kitchen goes overboard in seasoning them, especially with salt and pepper, it certainly knows how to cook many of them.” [NYT]
Forget the two-hour rule at Ramsay at the London: Paul Adams fumes over getting bum-rushed at Goblin Market: “When a place goes to such lengths to make it clear that they don’t want customers, I for one am glad to oblige.” [NYS]
At David Burke’s Hawaiian Tropic Zone, the dishes taste “like they came from a war zone, not a tropic zone.” But then again “at a human zoo like this, the quality of the food just doesn’t matter.” [TONY]
Back of the House
Fake Fines, Mandatory Tanning, and $40 EntréesThe latest industry news: politicians enforcing draconian restaurant rules, restaurant requiring waitresses to tan, Rachael Ray earns backhand compliment.
Owner Dave Brodrick on the new Blind Tiger’s liquor-license battle: “It has left a bad taste in our mouths.” No, not of booze. [NYDN]
The Bulgarian bar Mehanata also fights the good fight. [Eater]
Score one for the little guys: A city worker gets busted doling out fake fines. [NYDN]
Cellies to stay in city eateries. [NYS]
Ralph Lauren looking to buy a dining and lodging club in the Hamptons? [NYP]
“Forty is the new thirty,” according to one of the many restaurants charging the big four-oh for entrées. [NYT]
Rachael Ray: “Ditzy like a fox.” [NYT]
Study shows that restaurants dish out heaping helpings. [USA Today]
Mandatory tanning? Inside the Hawaiian Tropic Zone’s waitress dorm. [NYP]
The In-box
Getting Your Goat; What’s Your Problem With the Hawaiian Tropic Zone?Letters, we got letters …
Dear Grub Street,
I just read your “review” of David Burke at the Hawaiian Tropic Zone … You the writer sound so uptight that you actually need to spend some time at a strip club. According to your article, the place is worse than Hooters. I am shocked at your lack of objectivity. The restaurant is actually a classy concept that mixes beautiful women with great food and drink. Give it a chance before you go for the jugular. I would like to think of New York Magazine as being fair. Not single-minded and judgmental based on your own insecurities! Loosen up!
Mark,
The item you’re referring to wasn’t a review, but in any case, you’ve got us all wrong. We LOVE the Hawaiian Tropic Zone precisely because it is such a crass idea. David Burke is a great chef, and there is no way the place can fail. Go for the jugular? We would invest in the Hawaiian Tropic Zone if we could!
Yours,
Grub Street
The Other Critics
The Economics of Big-Box Dining
Regina Schrambling’s long L.A. Times feature on New York big-box restaurants might be a must-read for observers of the New York dining scene. Although better known as her brilliantly arch and caustic blog Gastropoda, Schrambling is a rock-solid food reporter when not in harridan mode, and she helps get to the bottom of a basic question. How, in a city where even small spaces are astronomically expensive, can it pay to open a restaurant the size of a bus terminal? The answer is volume, but the how and why of the way restaurants like Morimoto, Buddakan, and the Hawaiian Tropic Zone operate might not be immediately apparent to readers who don’t know a lot about the restaurant business.
Click and Save
New ‘Tenderloin District’; the Thai’s Bitchin’ in Hell’s KitchenThis week in the news you can use, you’ll find guides to everything from sports grub to beets, plus an argument for why size matters.
• On the heels of Planet Thailand’s move to Chelsea, a roundup of chili-deploying joints in Hell’s Kitchen. [NYT]
• Ravioli and pierogies with beets sexify the “sturdiest of root vegetables.” [NYDN]
• Swear off Peter Luger after Alan Richman’s thrashing? Check out the new “tenderloin district” around Penn Station. [AMNY]
• Grub for sports fans, including all-you-can-eat wings at Blondies. That’s right — they went there. [AMNY]
• Size does matter: gems like the Little Owl versus trendy juggernauts (hello, Hawaiian Tropic Zone). [MUG]
• We’re also psyched about Ruby Tuesday: Chains like Japan’s grill-it-yourself-joint Gyu-Kaku and tofu-cheesecake purveyor Kyotofu to take Manhattan. [TONY]
User’s Guide
The Go-Go Gourmet
You have to hand it to David Burke. The frequently mulletted meat-and-lobster whiz has done it all: He pulled off an experimental gastronomy restaurant in a neighborhood populated mostly by septuagenarians and rethought the hamburger inside a department store. Now, in his crowning glory, he has created a menu for bikini bar Hawaiian Tropic Zone on Seventh Avenue.
