Alain Ducasse Has Designs on LCB’s Midtown West SpaceAstoria: Sai’s Organics health-food store will open a new location that incorporates a wellness center, and they’re hiring. [Joey in Astoria]
Bensonhurst: Do Carluccio’s heroes have a right to be famous? Has anyone heard of them? [Brooklyn Record]
East Village: A sake retailer is moving in on East 9th Street. [Down by the Hipster]
Flatiron: Charlie Palmer shuts down Kitchen 22. [Eater]
Fort Greene: Pequeña chef and co-owner Johannes Sanzin, who also partners in Olea and Maggie Brown, is developing a space on Fulton and Clinton Avenue for an unknown restaurant. [VV]
Midtown West: Our Insatiable Critic’s new blog breaks news that Alain Ducasse cohorts claim to have secured the low-rent space of Department of Health–shuttered Brasserie LCB. [Bite]
Upper East Side: There’s apparently something sacred about staring at bodega workers just trying to have dinner in peace. [The Upper East Side Informer]
Williamsburg: An Austro-Hungarian biergarten — huge, with a restaurant — is in progress on North 3rd Street! [A Test of Will]
Neighborhood Watch
Texas Barbecue Coming to Tribeca in Limited ReleaseClinton Hill: Former Bodegas spot now in the hands of Fort Greene’s Pequeña posse. [Brooklyn Record]
Little Italy: The great-grandson of the founder of the San Gennaro Festival plans to add an Italian-American history museum to the nabe as well as high-end retailers like Armani and Gucci (a step up from those “I Heart BJs” shirts). [MetroNY]
Lower East Side: Park Slope’s Cocoa Bar set to open on Clinton Street by the end of May. [Cocoa Bar]
Tribeca: Smokin’ Joe’s True-Blue Texas Barbecue will serve lunch (sandwiches, platters, and all the fixins) at the Tribeca Tavern on Fridays and Saturdays during the Tribeca Film Festival and, let’s hope, longer. [NYT] Mai House’s late-night $10 menu kicks off tonight. [Myriad Restaurant Group]
West Village: Chumley’s will be under construction for the next few months, at least. [Eater]