• New York State employers must now grant workers eight weeks of paid, protected leave. That will rise to 12 weeks in 2021.
• Many restaurant staffers on leave will earn less than the minimum wage under this payroll tax-funded program, which pays one-half to two-thirds of a worker’s salary.
• There could be a fix for high-cost areas like New York City: San Francisco, for example, requires employers to share the burden of leave pay with the state program, ensuring that most workers earn their full salary while at home. NYC should do the same.

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Controversial fast-food chicken chain Chick-fil-A is set to open its third Manhattan location near Grand Central, anticipating it to be its busiest location ever. Come March 1, at the corner of East 42nd Street and Madison Avenue, the store will debut with two floors spread across 6,200 square feet, Buzzfeed reports.

Chick-fil-A first descended on Manhattan in 2015 to massive hype and very long lines, prompting it to quickly open its second Midtown location the following year. This new Grand Central location will be its third standalone restaurant in the borough, and it’s expected to become the busiest Chick-fil-A in the country — even despite backlash to Chick-fil-A president and COO Dan Cathy’s frequent anti-LGBT comments.

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Danny Meyer, founder and CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, said the restaurant industry is in a good position to help civilize the conversation on a number of issues.

The restaurateur and author of the popular book, “Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business,” shared his views as he accepted the Workplace Legacy Award at the recent TDn2K Global Best Practices Conference in Plano, Texas.

“The Workplace Legacy Award is all about figuring out how to balance this people, profits and planet,” said Joni Doolin, founder and CEO of TDn2K, when introducing Meyer. “You are a poster person for it.”

The award recognizes a restaurant industry leader who demonstrates success in people practices and operations, in addition to benefiting employees, organizations and communities.

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Andre Surmain, who transformed his cooking school’s Manhattan townhouse into Lutèce, an epicurean mecca defined by haute cuisine, even higher prices and a high-and-mighty clientele, died on Wednesday at his home in St. Paul en Foret, in the South of France. He was 97.

His death was confirmed by his nephew Peter Hurwitz.

A month after Lutèce opened in 1961, Craig Claiborne, the restaurant critic for The New York Times, described it as “impressively elegant and conspicuously expensive.” (His dinner for two was $52.30, or about $435 in today’s money.) The food, however, “could not be called great cuisine,” he wrote.

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Whole Foods Market 365, an offshoot of Whole Foods that offers lower prices, makes its East Coast debut today with the grand opening of its new location in Fort Greene. The 30,000-square-foot space is located at 292 Ashland Pl. at Lafayette Avenue, and not only has cheaper prices but also has a cafe level with four restaurant concepts, including a popular West Coast vegan burger chain and a homegrown bakery.

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Popular Taiwanese dessert chain Meet Fresh has opened its first New York City location, offering taro balls, shaved ice, tofu pudding, and more at 35 Cooper Square at East 6th Street.

The East Village store opened to long lines this weekend, EV Grieve reports, for the treats made in Taiwan and imported here. Started by siblings in Taichung, Taiwan, the chain now has more than 100 stores in Taiwan, plus a few sprinkled across the U.S., Asia, and Australia. The extensive menu, below, offers many variations of its signature items with over 100 dishes on the menu, such as mango shaved ice, boba tofu pudding, green tea with whipped cream, and hot almond soup.

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“No one eats Pelicana chicken in Korea anymore,” my mom said, surprised when I raved about Pelicana, one of the biggest fried chicken chains in Korea that opened its first location in Manhattan recently. “There are so many fried chicken chains here. Pelicana is like a dying brand in Korea now,” my mom said as I continued to praise Pelicana’s fried chicken. But despite my mom’s negative insights about the future of the chain in Korea, Pelicana’s entrance into Manhattan is still a big deal. Located on the third floor of Food Gallery 32, a food court in the heart of K-town at 11 West 32nd St., between Broadway and Fifth Avenue, it’s the best version of Korean fried chicken that New Yorkers can probably find outside of Korea.

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Momofuku kingpin David Chang’s delivery-only restaurant experiment Ando is done. Less than two years after launching, the company announced Monday that it’s shutting down both its short-lived fast-casual outpost on 14th street and its app. Instead, Ando’s team is integrating with Uber Eats, but food, such as the cheesesteak and fried chicken, will no longer be available starting today.

On Ando’s website, a statement notes that the company’s “team and technology” will still be playing role in looking at the future of delivery. “Even though we’re saying goodbye, we sincerely appreciate you inviting us into your homes and offices,” an email to customers says. Eater has reached out to Ando and Chang for more information.

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Bid farewell to the cozy cat cafes of the Obama years. In 2018, America will be all about the ax-throwing bar. That’s right, establishments that pair alcohol with leisurely hurling deadly objects at targets exist, and they’re opening up everywhere.

The practice of chucking a hatchet into wood and hoping it sticks is as old as the lumberjack, but it’s relatively new as a “sport.” Unsurprisingly, its current status as indoor recreational activity began in Canada. Torontonian Matt Wilson, inspired by the fun that occurred when presented with an ax, a tree, some beer, and boredom, founded the Backyard Axe Throwing League (BATL) in 2006. The BATL spread ax-throwing venues throughout Ontario, and in 2016, Wilson established the National Axe Throwing Federation (NATF).

And now, maybe because there’s a lot to admire about Canada these days, America is catching on. Here’s everything you should know about the trend taking over bars and warehouses, and likely coming soon to a city near you.

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