The Absolute Best Restaurants in Sunset ParkWhere and what to eat in one of Brooklyn’s most eclectic and delicious neighborhoods, from a Cantonese banquet feast to a mole-poblano tamale.
Bar Blanc Is So Open; Good Chinese in Sunset Park? Try Crashing a WeddingDumbo: Admission to Taste of Spain at the Dumbo Arts Center from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight includes a wine tasting and tapas. [Dumbo NYC]
Flatiron: Boqueria is throwing a “Cava fueled fiesta” for New Year’s Eve. [Snack]
Prospect-Lefferts-Gardens: The empty space on the corner of Flatbush and Beekman will become a Subway, and one blogger isn’t so upset: “At first we were disappointed that a big chain was coming in, but … some Subways even have full blown salads.” Nice! Just like McDonald’s. [Across the Park]
Sunset Park: Sietsema may have had to crash a Chinese wedding to figure this out, but dim-sum go-to Pacificana is also good for dinner. [Eat for Victory/VV]
West Village: Bar Blanc seems to be in soft-open mode. [Eater]
Neighborhood Watch
Rockabilly Bar in Progress on the LES; Dévi Reopens With a DiscountAstoria: “A lot of people in town are excited” about the 7-Eleven that just opened on 30th Avenue and 30th Street, so much so that the Slurpee machine may have broken from overuse. [Joey in Astoria]
Clinton Hill: No more soft opening! Speakeasy from former Top Cheftestant Josie Malave opens tonight, and photos taken of the menu in the window reveal such inspired dishes as zucchini sticks and fettuccine with spinach and sun-dried tomato. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Flatiron: Dévi reopens tonight, and the dinner menu will be 20 percent off through November 20. [Bottomless Dish/Citysearch]
Little Italy: Papabubble’s grand-opening party went well on Saturday; as you can see from these pics, the “walls were fully stocked with fresh candy, open jars with samples were everywhere, and … stateside Papabubble proprietors, even put on a little candy making show.” [Down by the Hipster]
Lower East Side: Fat Baby and Spitzer’s Corner owners Rob and Will Shamlian seem well on their way to opening a rockabilly bar and restaurant at 133 Essex Street, minus a liquor license and a mechanical bull. [Eater]
Sunset Park: Pepper and salt fish are tiny fish deep-fried in a batter that puffs up like funnel cake; they go well with abundant mini-shots of beer, and conveniently both are served at Ren Ren on Eighth Avenue every day until 3:30 a.m. [Eat for Victory/VV]
Neighborhood Watch
Former Gertel’s Bakery Foe Turns Fallen Kosher Comrade on the Lower East SideHell’s Kitchen: Kyotofu has planned a sake dinner for August 26 from 7 to 9:30 p.m. that features five types of sake, a tasting menu, and cocktails for $60. [Grub Street]
Lower East Side: Moishe’s bakery at 504 Grand Street will soon serve wholesale products from recently closed-out kosher competitor Gertel’s. [Lost City] Spitzer’s Corner began its soft opening this weekend and was already chock-full of jolly drinkers. [Eater]
Midtown West: BLT Market (from this week’s Openings) won’t be serving dinner until Thursday, but here’s a peek at the interior to sate any premature curiosity. [Restaurant Girl]
Sunset Park: The taqueria Tacos 2004 draws legions of immigrants who come to twirl the waitresses across a teeny dance floor. [NYT]
West Village: Next Monday at 7:30 p.m. winemaker Alain Rochard of the Languedoc will host a four-course dinner and wine-pairing at Provence restaurant. [Strong Buzz]
Neighborhood Watch
Gilt Shows Midtown East the HandBattery Park City: Flurt frozen yogurt looks almost complete on South End Avenue. [Eater]
East Village: Wannabistro 26 Seats has just changed owners, but for now the menu will remain the same. [Grub Street]
Flatiron: The Gansevoort people plan to open another hotel on Park Avenue South somewhere in the Twenties. [Down by the Hipster]
Midtown East: Gilt will close for the last two weeks in August, before chef Christopher Lee debuts the fall menu. [Grub Street]
Sunset Park: Sunset Park locals fight to keep out Papa John’s pizza: “I feel like this is the neighborhood’s last stand,” says one pie protester. [NYT]
Upper West Side : Aix brasserie will host a six-course wine dinner next Monday night showcasing rosé. [Grub Street]
The Underground Gourmet
Taco Mix’s Torta Cubana May Be Overstuffed, But It’s Also Sandwich
A good sandwich is a balanced sandwich. This, as any faithful reader of the Underground Gourmet’s sandwich dispatches can tell you, goes without saying. Good sandwich-making requires not only skill but also a delicate touch. Frantically stuffing a sandwich the way cartoon bank robbers cram bills into sacks emblazoned with $$$ symbols is considered bad form among the sandwich elite, and emblematic of what is wrong, culinarily and nutritionally, with our Supersize Nation. As Mario Batali once explained to the UG in between dainty bites of a toasted panino,
“The American tendency is to obfuscate the perfect simplicity of the sandwich by putting too much crap in it.” Despite prevailing carbophobic biases and the legacy of a certain diet doctor, Batali asserted, “The bread is the main event. There shouldn’t be more stuff inside than outside.”
