The Elm In Williamsburg Is Closing

February 13, 2015 by Leave a Comment

The Elm in Williamsburg has been open for nearly three years and unfortunately will be officially closing this coming Sunday. When the restaurant originally opened in August 2013 inside the King & Grove Williamsburg hotel, chef Paul Liebrandt believed the restaurant would serve as a ‘gateway’ for a clientele dissimilar to that of Corton.

The food and coffee at The Elm were highly praised including a three star rating from Adam Platt, however there was something about the atmosphere that never really jived. Chef Paul Liebrandt has mentioned that he would like to undertake another fine-dining restaurant project, so perhaps this may be the push to do so. For more information on the closing of The Elm in Williamsburg, click here.

Filed Under: Local Market Buzz Tagged With:

Chocolate Will Cost More This V-Day

February 13, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Cocoa prices increased significantly in the past year which will make this year’s Valentine’s Day chocolate gifts that much pricier. There has been in increase in demand for darker chocolates (mainly in Asian markets) which require more cocoa that could explain the cause of the spike in the commodity. Edward George, head of soft commodities research at EcoBank states,“What’s driving up the price, really, is rising demand for cocoa in Asia, though it also was pretty strong in North America and Europe.”

Environmental factors could also have been another factor affecting the rise; a dusty wind known as the harmattan began to sweep the big players in cocoa production this December (mostly West African countries) right at the beginning of the prime harvesting season. Many of the cocoa trees were also attacked by fungi that contributed to the decrease in production. Hershey’s has raised prices across all its products this year to offset the high cocoa prices. Sylvia Kälin, head of Lindt & Sprüngli’s corporate communications states,”L&S, like other companies in the chocolate industry, had to make occasional price adjustments on selected products in 2014 to absorb some of the raw material cost challenges — even if at first we always try to counter these challenges with increases in efficiency and volume.”

To read more about the rising cost of chocolate, click here, and on that note, Happy Valentine’s Day from TPG!

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz Tagged With:

Baz Bagel & Restaurant: Single Product Enterprise

February 12, 2015 by Leave a Comment

181 Grand Street (NoLita)        Tel. 212.335.0609

bazbagel-inside-34535

Their Success…Baz Bagel offers hand-rolled bagels made in small batches with smoked fish, fresh seasonal spreads and other Jewish comfort fare in a laid back atmosphere full of fun retro touches. Former General Manager at Rubirosa Bari Musacchio and Barney Greengrass veteran David Heffernan partnered together to bring Nolita/Chinatown a great bagel store and daytime café hangout. The large Barbara Streisand portrait, tile floors, fun lunch counter and palm tree wallpaper give the space a very beachy, Floridian-Jewish vibe.

The menu is not 100% bagel centric, which allows room for Jewish comfort fare favorites such a latkes, matzoh brei and pizza bagels! There is also a portion of the menu dedicated solely to the egg: America’s favorite breakfast go-to. The Eggs à la Baz, for example, consists of two latkes with two poached eggs, nova and chive; what else do you need for breakfast? The bagels themselves are hand-rolled with malt, boiled and baked on wood boards the old-fashioned way in the back kitchen daily. Flagels and gluten free bagels are also available for the health conscious guest.

The menu is concise, focused and includes distinctive bagel sandwiches with amusing names such as the Rainbow Kitty, Pretty In Pink, Mooch and Art’s Ark Tuna Melt. The menu also has a sweet side including enjoyable ‘fountain favorites’ such as malted milk shakes and soda floats. Other desserts include a house-made chocolate babka, key lime pie and self-proclaimed world famous blintzes! The house-made items on the menu from bagels to babka contribute to the homey, comfortable ambiance.

Take Aways…The menu at Baz Bagel and restaurant was cleverly crafted to include high demand breakfast items, important Jewish comfort foods, a star product (the bagel), and unique variations of the star product (creative bagel sandwiches). The Floridian atmosphere from the palm tree wallpaper and flamingo accents down to the 70’s classics playlists has not been done before on the Lower East Side, which lends a very special charm to this bagel shop and café. The lunch counter and booths create an old-school atmosphere that is very relaxing and comforting, while the front counter with the beautifully displayed bagel baskets and shmears allows for a quick bagel and coffee pick up on the go.

Filed Under: Retail Spotlight Tagged With: ,

New Dinner Menu At El Rey Luncheonette

February 11, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Nicholas Morgenstern’s El Rey Coffee Bar and Luncheonette on the Lower East Side has started serving dinner! The small space’s kitchen is run by executive chef Gerardo Gonzalez who is known for his ‘SoCal, neo-hippie, veggie-centric-but-not-vegetarian’ style. The new dinner menu includes vegan chicharrones with hot sauce, cashew crema and chamoy sauce, octopus salad with black salsa, charred radicchios with ricotta, hazelnut and mint and papas bravas with pickled pineapple hot sauce.

Morgenstern was inspired by the tapas style service of Bar Jamón. El Rey Luncheonette is also pushing toward organic and biodynamic wines. For more information on the new dinner menu including photos of the new dishes, click here

Filed Under: Local Market Buzz

Kosher Burger Concept Opens In Crown Heights

February 10, 2015 by Leave a Comment

A new Kosher burger concept, named Boeuf & Bun, has opened in Crown Heights at 217 Kingston Avenue.  The new spot has been self-proclaimed as an “artisanal burger lab” serving high-end gourmet burger options. The main focus lays in quality, which is why all burgers are ground in house, nothing is premade or prepackaged (including the custom sauces). After a long, unsuccessful search for the best Kosher bun on the market, Australian owner Tzemach Woolstone decided to make his own.

One burger, called ‘The New Yorker,’ is topped with pastrami, cabbage slaw, and horseradish. There is also a lamb burger with olive tapenade and cumin garlic aioli.  There are a few non-burger options such as seasonal soups, tacos, and a slow-cooked beef sandwich. For more information and photos of Boeuf & Bun, check out their Facebook page here

 

 

Filed Under: Openings Tagged With: ,

Gansevoort Market Foodstand Spotlight

February 9, 2015 by Leave a Comment

On Monday February 23rd, Foodstand and Slow Money NYC will host an evening where five new food entrepreneurs will take the stage to share their work, get advice from a panel of exerts (investors, marketers, and innovators), and get feedback from the audience. This will be an opportunity for the experts to showcase their product or business to a diverse panel of experts and audience collaborators who’ve all shown up with one mission: to help good food ventures be the best they can be.

Below is the schedule for the event:

  • 6:30PM: Doors open and drinks
  • 7:00PM: Community Annoucements + Keynote
  • 7:20PM: Expert Roundtable Introductions
  • 7:30PM: Each presenter gets 5 minutes to showcase their product. Experts share thoughts in the next 5. Audience vote on live-text questions Entrepreneur wants feedback on.
  • 8:30PM: Drinks and Networking

Tickets will be $15 and will take place at Gansevoort Market – 52 Gansevoort Street; for more information on how to get involved either as an expert or to attend as part of the audience, click here

Filed Under: Events

Melt Shop & The Little Beet To Expand In LI

February 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment

The Roosevelt Field Shopping Mall in Long Island will be welcoming two newcomers this week: Melt Shop and The Little Beet. Melt Shop has a few outposts in New York City and one in the works in Washington D.C. set to open this week, so this is not a new feat for owner Spencer Rubin. This will be a new endeavor however for Franklin Becker’s The Little Beet. A few months ago Becker opened the sit-down version, Little Beet Table, on Park Avenue between 23rd and 24th St.

Both brands are moving into the large shopping mall outlet at Roosevelt Field as a way to expand the brands. Becker is also currently working on a steakhouse concept. The foot traffic at Roosevelt Fields Mall is very heavy, and the current chains at the mall such as Houston’s and Seasons 52 do very well. These two fast casual concepts will surely soon become go-to’s for shoppers looking to grab a quick bite at a fair price. To read more, click here.

Filed Under: Local Market Buzz, Openings

Cracker Barrel To Work On Fast Casual Concept

February 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Cracker Barrel, the Tennessee-based restaurant chain, is working on transforming their concept into a new fast casual format as a strategy to extend the overall brand. Interestingly enough, there are few concepts that are similar to the Cracker Barrel brand of country cooking in the fast casual market space. The restaurant chain consists of a large barn-feel full service restaurant with an attached general stores selling everything from Adirondack chairs to clothing to toys.

The chain will be working on delivering a new approach to the guest experience. Currently the Cracker Barrel restaurants do $3.4 millions in sales, and the retail portion of the chain brings in another $900,000. Cracker Barrel will be keeping us guessing on what kind of menu they will be implementing in the fast casual concept, the service type and whether or not the Old Country Store will still be making an appearance. To read more about Cracker Barrel’s future plans to extend the brand, click here.

 

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz

New Talde Opens In Jersey City

February 5, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Last night American Chef Dale Talde opened the second location of his restaurant Talde. The first outpost is very successful in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and has now been brought over to the other side of the Hudson in Jersey City, NJ at 8 Erie Street. Talde is is a casual Asian-American restaurant and bar famous for creative dim sum dishes such as the bacon pad Thai and dumplings galore, including flavors such as pretzel, pork and chive. The new location will be introducing a few new dishes and dim sum options including the McBao, a bun with a boneless char sou ribs and pickles.

The design of the new space is slightly more modern that its counterpart in Park Slope with exposed brick walls, booths that each have heavy wooden tables and concrete floors. The decor consists of pieces like porcelain dolls, Buddha head art and an attention grabbing installation of large lanterns hanging over the bar. To check out pictures of the new space or to download a copy of the menu at the new Jersey City location of Talde, click here. 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

New Microsoft/PayPal Mobile POS Options

February 5, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Microsoft 8.1 and PayPal have partnered up to enable PayPal Here to run on any Microsoft 8.1 product. Microsoft will now be able to sell Surface as an all-in-one mobile POS system to food enterprises. A new device powered by Microsoft 8.1 has also been debuted: the Panasonic’s Toughpad FZ-R1. The Toughpad device is unique in the sense that it’s design makes it sturdy enough to endure tough use in a restaurant setting and will have a significantly longer life than other consumer table models.

With this new Microsoft-PayPal partnership, merchants will be able to accept card payments with PayPal Here on any device that runs the Windows 8.1 operating system. PayPal used to be only compatible with iOS and Android devices, but now has released an SDK to enable software developers to create ancillary services such as inventory management and customer engagement programs such as loyalty that can be paired with PayPal Here on Windows. This could potentially open the doors for similar providers such as Amazon Local Register, Intuit GoPayment or Square, whose up until now have not been compatible with Windows devices.

Brad Brodigan, vice president of retail at PayPal states in Mobile Payments Today, “To me, the most important piece [of the mobile point-of-sale market] is to provide solutions that are flexible enough to meet the needs of all types of merchants, and that’s why this partnership with Microsoft is so important for us, not only are we providing the PayPal application on the Windows network, but we’re also providing the PayPal Here SDK to the developer network to create customized services.”

To read more about the new partnership between PayPal and Microsoft and the effects the all-in-one solution will have on enhancing customer engagement, click here

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz Tagged With:
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