More Sex From Gael Greene; TKettle’s Veggie DumplingsGael Greene returns to her sexy-tables topic after an influx of reader mail: “Several romantics agreed with Francesco that ‘Jean Georges at lunch could not be more sexy.’” A reformed Madame Bovary concluded: “It was a lot of bang for the buck.” [Insatiable Critic]
Even the Brits are buzzing over the prospect of Charlie Trotter opening a restaurant overlooking Madison Square Park. [Caterer Search, UK]
Related: New York to Charlie Trotter: Bring It On!
This hefty roundup of book recommendations for foodies includes such Grub-approved picks as the Food Snob’s Dictionary and My Last Supper (where you can see Wylie Dufesne lounging like Lady Godiva, but with cheese). [Zagat]
Related: Meet the Original Food Snobs
David Kamp Brings Aid to Would-Be Food Snobs
Eating the Last Supper
Mediavore
Chang Has Big Dreams for Vegas; Nobu to CaterDavid Chang plans to open a Momofuku in Vegas where everyone “wants you to do well. [And] there are no government officials who go after you and none of the bull[bleep] that’s in New York City.” [NYP]
Nobu heads to the Sundance Film Festival this January as the first push to establish a catering arm of the company. [NYP]
Gordon Ramsay at the London, Insieme, and Toloache are some of the newer restaurants spicing up pre-theater dining. [NYT]
The Annotated Dish
Toloache Experiments With Haute TacosMexican food hovers close to the ground in New York, but with the opening of Toloache and Rayuela, it’s beginning to take its place among the city’s great restaurant cuisines. Considering how vital Mexican line cooks are to the city’s restaurants, this respect is long overdue. At Toloache, Julian Medina’s menu is both huge and modern, highlighted by a dozen different tacos drawing on his youth in Mexico City. “I’m a taco fanatic,” the chef says. “Now is a perfect opportunity for me to put them on my menu and show what they can be.” As always, mouse over the different elements of the image to see them described in the chef’s own words.
Neighborhood Watch
La Esquina Laying Breakfast Eggs on Little ItalyEast Village: If you’re a police officer, a nurse, or another kind of emergency service responder, S’MAC will give you a 15 percent discount on your order now through Labor Day. [S’MAC]
Flatiron: The name of the new Gansevoort coming to Park Avenue will be … Gansevoort Park. [Down by the Hipster]
Harlem: More mega-chain fast food coming soon. [Uptown Flavor]
Little Italy: La Esquina now serves breakfast. [Eat for Victory/VV]
Midtown East: Tonight at the Mercedes Benz showroom, Adirondack Creamery and Chinatown Ice Cream Factory will dole out green-tea, kulfi-pistachio-cardamom, and almond-cookie ice creams (among other flavors) to ticket holders supporting Asian Women in Business. [AWIB]
Midtown West: On August 23, former Maya chef de cuisine Julian Medina is opening his own nouveau Mexican restaurant called Toloache at 251 West 50th Street. [Grub Street]
Mediavore
City Council Might Tackle Labor Violations; Drunks Abound at High-EndCustomers get drunk, carry on, and throw up even at the finest restaurants. Especially at the finest restaurants: “More people throw up in the dining room of Per Se than your average college bar.” [NYT]
The City Council is considering a law that would put labor violations on par with health violations, in an effort to protect vulnerable immigrant workers. [NPR]
Mocktails are on the rise, thanks to “the whole rehab thing,” and nowhere more successfully than at Indochine. [NYP]