La Newyorkina Set to Open This Summer

March 8, 2016 by Leave a Comment

custom.jpg

We’re excited to announce that good colleague and friend Fany Gearson, the chef and co-owner of Dough and mastermind behind Mexican sweets maker La Newyorkina, will be opening an ice cream shop of the same name this summer. Although some may be craving the refreshing treats already in this Spring weather, hopefully the months will fly by until June or July, when La Newyorkina will open at 240 Sullivan Street. The shop will be a “celebration of Mexican sweets,” says Gearson, who grew up in Mexico City.

One thing is for sure – the options available will keep guests coming back well into Fall and Winter. Expect over 15 types of ice cream and slushy, at least 30 flavors of paletas, fruit flavored chamuyadas (imagine the best slushy you’ve ever had), and a brand new frozen treat for Gearson: the nieve de garrafa, a delicate frozen custard churned with a paddle.

We’d like to offer our congratulations to Fany, and look forward to visiting with joy and excitement.

To read more, click here.

 

 

Filed Under: Local Market Buzz, Openings Tagged With: ,

Sushi Zen Closes Amid Plans to Reopen with 3 Times the Space

February 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment

image.jpgMidtown staple Sushi Zen first opened its doors in 1983, when sushi was still considered an adventurous choice for Times Square dining. In the years since, more and more upscale sushi restaurants have joined the scene, and raw fish has fully entered the mainstream (arguably ushering in the next-wave poke trend). Sushi Zen, run by head chef Toshio Suzuki, nevertheless remained a favorite, earning some celebrity chef fans like Michael Anthony and training others like Masaharu Morimoto in the traditional Edomae style of sushi making.

Now, Sushi Zen has shut down operations at it’s original location at 108 West 44th. There were plans in the works to reopen three blocks north at 114 West 47th Street, a move predicted as early as March of last year, with a new space significantly larger at 6,500 square feet. It now looks like that new space will not pan out.

Although New Yorker’s may now balk at paying more than $25 for their sushi entree, Sushi Zen was a staple that consistently earned high marks from critics.

To read more, click here.

Filed Under: Closings, Local Market Buzz, Openings Tagged With: , ,

Cafe Altro Paradiso Now Open

February 24, 2016 by Leave a Comment

cafe-altro-02.w600.h400.jpg

Thomas Carter and Ignacio Mattos, the team behind the critically acclaimed Estela on Houston street, is already having a busy year. They’re in the midst of preparations to open a branch at the new Metropolitan Museum outpost, Met Breuer, and just opened the doors of their latest project – Cafe Altro Paradiso.

The original Estela made a name for itself by taking the traditional tapas bar formula and tweaking it slightly, increasing the size of the dishes to a just-big-enough-to-share size. The new restaurant, which the team claims will be a largely traditional Italian cafe, has big shoes to fill – but guests can expect that there will be some fresh ideas in play on the menu of pasta dishes, Italian wines and seafood.

Cafe Altro Paradiso is located at 234 Spring street. They are taking reservations and accepting walk-ins beginning this week

To read more, click here.

Filed Under: Local Market Buzz, Openings Tagged With: ,

Batali and Bastianich’s La Sirena Now Open

February 11, 2016 by Leave a Comment

la-sirena01.w600.h400.jpg

Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich, the team behind Babbo Ristorante and Lupa Osteria Romana in the West Village, has finally opened their latest project after a series of delays. The new restaurant is La Sirena, and it’s being billed as a modern Italian trattoria, falling somewhere between the casual Lupa and and upscale Babbo. 

La Sirena is located in the Maritime hotel in Chelsea, in a huge space with both indoor and outdoor seating. The menu features a wide selection of antipasti and main courses like spicy octopus and braised beef short rib, but Batali and Bastianich still expect pasta to be one of the biggest sellers.

For now the restaurant is only open for dinner, but lunch, brunch and breakfast are also in the works.

To read more, click here.

Filed Under: Openings Tagged With: , ,

Noma’s Chef has Big Plans in Brownsville

February 10, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Claus Meyer, the star Danish chef and co-founder of world famous Noma, has a few big projects in the works that he hopes will be a bit more accessible than a Michelin star. Chief among them is a combined restaurant and culinary school opening later this year in a former 99 cent store in Brownsville, both of which will be geared chiefly towards residents of the neighborhood. This is the second school-restaurant combo from Meyer, the first being Gusto in La Paz, Bolivia. Both neighborhoods were chosen for their limited access to healthy food, with the goal of empowering residents and the local economy by providing affordable dining and education together.

Applications are currently open to Brownsville residents aged 18-24 for a year long culinary program at the new school. Meyer’s team also plans to offer free cooking classes to residents throughout the year, and serve food from the neighborhood at the 40 seat restaurant. Additional details have yet to be set in stone, although there are sure to be plenty of fans of Meyer who treat the spot as a destination restaurant, no matter what it looks like.

To read more, click here.

DSC5164.jpg

Gusto in La Paz, Bolivia

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz, Openings Tagged With: ,

Syndicated Lets You Dine and Drink with Your Favorite Flicks

February 2, 2016 by Leave a Comment

BN-MB639_NYFEED_G_20160112165325.jpg

The hospitality industry is well known for creative hybrids, and snacks and beverages have a way of popping up everywhere from bookstores to art galleries to flower shops. So the movie theater/restaurant combo should seem only natural – most main stream movie theaters make their profit at the snack counter, and “Dinner & a Movie” is still the most popular date choice. With that in mind, it’s exciting to see this concept done well, with as much attention paid to the food as well as the movies.

Syndicated, a new bar/restaurant/theater in Bushwick, does just that. With a thoroughly curated list of screenings (each night features either one or two flicks, often with a theme connecting them), and an equally thoughtful menu (including house cocktails, local craft beers, and dishes like heritage porchetta), Syndicated is a sure sign that the Bushwick night life is getting even livelier. They have special programming for Oscars week, but more than a few nights in January sold out early, so buy tickets online early

Filed Under: Local Market Buzz, Openings Tagged With: , ,

Russ and Daughters at Brooklyn Navy Yard

February 2, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Gantry_corridor_R_D.0.JPG2016 is already shaping up to be the year of exciting food halls, with The Pennsy opening to fanfare and Brooklyn Navy Yard expected later this year. Now, we have another exciting announcement regarding the latter: the New York icon Russ & Daughters will be opening a location in the 60,000-square-foot Navy Yard space. The team says this location will be focused on fast casual breakfast and lunch, and they plan to increase bakery production with classic New York and Jewish baked goods like bialys, babka, challah and knishes.

The Russ & Daughters company recently turned 100 years old, and they’ve been celebrating by making big moves to expand, from opening the Orchard Street Cafe in 2014 to their planned location in the Jewish Museum to their baked goods facility in Bushwick. With new businesses constantly opening, it’s always nice to see a beloved standby keep things fresh.

To read more, click here.

Filed Under: Local Market Buzz, Openings Tagged With: , ,

Fast Casual + Hawaii = Wisefish Poké

January 27, 2016 by Leave a Comment

wisefish-poke03.w529.h352.jpg

In a true sign of the chain’s enduring influence even in it’s downfall, you can now find a “Chipotle of” nearly every cuisine, from salad to curry to falafel and back again. So the opening of fast casual “Chipotle of Hawaiian” Wisefish Poké yesterday should come as no surprise to anyone, although poké itself might be a dish non-Hawaiians are less familiar with.

Traditional poké is a raw fish salad extremely popular in Hawaii. It’s most commonly made with yellowfin tuna but also available with salmon, octopus or shellfish and dozens of seasoning combinations. At Wisefish you can construct your own bowl from bases of rice, zucchini noodles or mixed greens and toppings like crab salad, wasabi-avocado cream, and citrus-ponzu sauce. The fish is responsibly sourced from vendors like Greenpoint Fish & Lobster Co, and aims to be un-selfconsciously fresh and healthy. All told, this seems like a great moment for a concept like Wisefish: fast casual bowls are as popular as ever, and mainland Americans have already fully embraced raw fish. Poké provides just enough of a twist to get the lunch crowd out of their usual routine.

Check out Wisefish Poké at 263 West 19th St., and read more here.

Filed Under: Openings Tagged With: , , ,

The Pennsy Now Open for all Your Upscale Food Court Needs

January 14, 2016 by Leave a Comment
pennsy-ny0116.jpg

Photo via travelandliesure.com

The Pennsy, the new upscale food court with celebrity chef credentials, is now open in the space formerly occupied by Borders Penn Station. Along with a full service bar, 8,000 square feet, and additional outdoor space, The Pennsy boasts stalls from Marc Forgone, Franklin Becker, Pat LaFrieda and Mario Batali (the latter in collaboration with Mary Giuliani through Mario By Mary). There you can get everything from lobster rolls to tempeh sandwiches, and Italian panini to  gluten-free bowls at The Little Beet.

So far The Pennsy has a 4-star review on Yelp, indicating it’s already getting a lot more love than its eponymous railway station. Hopefully this carefully curated food hall can lighten the burden of wading through crowds to catch the LIRR

To read more, click here.

Filed Under: Local Market Buzz, Openings Tagged With: , ,

David Chang Gets Feisty With Momofuku Nishi

January 8, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Momofuku Nishi – David Chang’s latest project in Chelsea – has finally opened, and Chang made the announcement today through his magazine Lucky Peach along with an interview. The restaurant was rumored to be an Italian-Korean fusion, but Chang balks at that description. Instead, he asks “what food isn’t fusion?” and says,

“There are Italian words on the menu but we’re not trying to make Italian food. We’re not trying to make a Korean restaurant. We’re trying to do something that we’ve never done at Momofuku. We’re inspired by Italy but we’re not using any Italian ingredients. Things are moving at light speed here.”

Momofuku Nishi will also add to the list of major New York restaurants operating with a no-tipping policy. Chang cited the greater parity between front of house and back of house wages as the primary factor in this decision, and made no apologies for charging more.

The real cost of selling food is not accurately reflecting the labor that’s going into it. In 2000, I got paid maybe $10 an hour. Inflation has definitely risen, but cooks’ wages haven’t. That’s one of our biggest issues. We want to be able to grow as a company so we can provide for more people. This is a way we might be able to do that. And if it doesn’t work, we can always go back to the old way.

The menu is not yet available online, but Nishi is now open Tuesday – Saturday from 6:00pm-11:00pm.

To read the full interview, click here.

Filed Under: Local Market Buzz, Openings, Trending Now Tagged With: , ,
«Previous Page
Next Page»