Slurp Shop, Ivan Ramen’s outpost in Gotham West Market, provides a delicate balance of both New York and Japanese culinary influences. The Long Island-born Jewish owner expands on traditional ramen flavors to serve high quality classics with a hint of the Big Apple. Slurp Shop’s Whitefish Donburi epitomizes the union of these two opposing regions. The soon-to-open East Village extension will provide an even greater selection of Jewish-Japanese fusion ramen.
Caring for Customers in the Cold
December 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Popular restaurants that often have a loyal, albeit freezing, fan base waiting in line outside, are taking extra measures to ensure guest satisfaction. Dominique Ansel, Shake Shack, Tom’s Restaurant in Brooklyn, and the West Village outpost of Magnolia Bakery are a few retailers that give special treatment to guests waiting in the cold.
Mr. Ansel offers “Winter Pass” tickets, similar to a “Fast Pass” ticket at theme parks like Disney World, that grant customers who arrive from 7-8am the option to pick up a ticket, arrive two hours later, cut the line and receive their Cronut. It’s not uncommon for lines to wrap around the block as early as 5am at Dominique Ansel. As soon as staff arrives to open the trendy SoHo bakery, they begin passing out hot chocolate and madeleine samples to patient customers braving the cold. Mr. Ansel even considered installing heat lamps outside but later vetoed that idea for logistics reasons.
Shake Shack hands out hot chocolate to guests outside each time it snows, and heat lamps are situated in the vicinity of outdoor seating areas. Tom’s Restaurant offers a melange of samples including cookies, coffees, pieces of pancakes, waffles and French toast, which never fails to alleviate the vexation of queuing outside. Magnolia Bakery delivers samples year-round, including their famous banana pudding.
Retailers can take note of these examples of winter generosity. Sometimes all it takes is a few hot chocolate samples to prevent customers from second-guessing their decision to wait on line outside.
Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Upcoming Ventures
December 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Rumor has it that Chef Jean Georges will release a line of prepared food, including jams, under the ABC brand. That’s not all the restaurant magnate has in store— he plans to open a raw and vegan restaurant in the spring.
Whynot Coffee Now Open in Lower East Side
November 27, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The first Whynot Coffee premiered in May in the West Village, and the successful coffee shop most recently expanded to 75 Orchard Street in the Lower East Side. Each location will have a theme emblematic with its surrounding neighborhood; the West Village venue is reminiscent of sixties Paris and the upcoming East Village retailer will be entrenched in tattoo culture. The 75 Orchard Street outpost highlights art from a wide selection of artists and offers free WiFi. This location also serves blue bottle coffee and pastries from Mille-Feuille. Because, why not?
Pig Butchering Demo: Wed 11/13
November 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Join Meat Hook butcher Sara Bigelow for a comprehensive demonstration of snout-to-tail butchering techniques. All porcine queries are encouraged as Ms. Bigelow will show how to butcher an entire cross section of a farm-raised pig. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about unfamiliar cuts and even try some of Brooklyn Kitchen’s house-made sausages and Great Brewers’ beer. Leave your knives at home; this class is not hands on (however, participants will receive a 10% discount on equipment on the day of class).
Company: Brooklyn Kitchen
Location: Williamsburg
Address: 100 Frost St (Manhattan Ave & Leonard St)
Time: 6:30pm-8:30pm
Tickets: $85
24/7 Biscuits in the East Village
November 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Empire Biscuit, the newest niche-food outpost, opened its doors to the East Village this week. As of today at 8am, the Southern biscuit restaurant will be open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The neighborhood’s most-anticipated munchie-food joint offers twelve butters and spreads and twelve jams, jellies and marmalades to complement this comfort snack food. Biscuit sandwiches and biscuits & gravy are ideal options for meals.
More complex biscuits, including biscuit sandwiches, cost $6-8.50 and custom biscuits with one of the aforementioned spreads cost $4.50. Empire Biscuit also serves the popular, cold-pressed Blue Bottle coffee. The wide range of options allows customers to keep it simple with a plain biscuit and butter or to opt for a more adventurous meal, such as the spiced fried chicken, pickled carrots and sauce à l’orange biscuit sandwich. Some of the more gourmet accouterments include the oxtail & brown sugar jelly, pear & vinho verde butter and the bacon & cracklin’ butter.
Empire Biscuit’s slogan says it all: “Breakfast Lunch Dinner Drunk”.
Food for Thought: Chipotle’s Partnership with Huffington Post
October 30, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Two days ago Huffington Post launched Food for Thought, Chipotle’s latest brand marketing strategy. Food for Thought is a HuffPost section dedicated to promoting awareness about healthful habits and sustainability practices. Contributing writers from all walks of life including doctors, lawyers and food authors discuss everything from food legislation to finding seasonal produce. This strategic move on Chipotle’s behalf is timely considering the recent shift of priorities since McDonald’s was its major investor. Now more than ever Chipotle is making efforts to be an industry leader in sustainable, GMO-free fast food chains.
Mark Crumpacker, Chipotle’s Chief Marketing Officer, writes that “people are more aware than ever of the impact that food has on people, animals and the environment.”
Through this partnership, Chipotle hopes to change customers’ perceptions of them as the burrito joint that’s owned by McDonald’s, to the Mexican fast food chain that genuinely cares about the sourcing of its ingredients and our affect on the environment.
Restaurant Inspection Letter Grades Become Ubiquitous Online
October 30, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Thanks to a savvy coder, the public no longer has to rely on only one source to view restaurants’ letter grades. Health department inspection grades and points are now available on several popular restaurant-targeted sites including MenuPages, Yelp, Seamless, GrubHub, Zagat and Delivery via Google Chrome. In just one click, viewers get the insider’s scoop on the most recently updated restaurant grade, last inspection date and score while simultaneously making reservations or ordering delivery online. The pressure for restaurant owners, chefs and management to comply with health department standards has never been greater since the launching of Google Chrome’s latest extension.
The Aussie Coffee Invasion Continues Strong in NYC
October 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
New York’s obsession with all things Aussie, at least retail-wise, is strongest in coffee, and getting stronger. With the large (and growing) number of Australian ex-pats that flock to these shores in finance and law, there are plenty of customers at the ready to sing their praises – when it comes to coffee, Australians believe they do it best.
The Wall Street Journal highlights the wave of specialty cafes opening across the city. One owner, Leon Unglik, is a former lawyer who named his shop, Little Collins, after a Melbourne street. He tells the WSJ that customers enter saying “Oh, thank God you’re here now, we can finally get decent coffee…We’ve got a very strong coffee culture back home,” he said. “In Australia, everywhere you go you can expect to get a decent coffee.”
Don’t Stop Shopping: Clothing Retailers Continue Trend of Food in Store
October 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment
As we wrote earlier this week, clothing retailers are continuing to see opportunities in offering food and beverage in store. Why have them leave if they get hungry, or need a shot of espresso? Grub Street reports today on Saks Fifth Avenue, a store that’s always done well with the ladies who lunch, opening a chainlet, and Brooks Brothers’ entering the field with a preppy beef haven.
paigepapers.com 