Taiwanese Fried Chicken and Bubble Tea Head to the Flatiron District

This new eat-in, take-out spot is a Taiwanese doubleheader. Kung Fu Tea, a Taiwanese-style bubble tea company that started in 2010 in Flushing, Queens, and now has 200 outlets in 30 states, has joined forces with TKK Fried Chicken, a chain founded in 1974 in Taiwan. The Taiwanese recipe called “original” on the menu is crisp and moderately spiced. There is also a milder version and, for the American market, a crisper, more forcefully seasoned one. How is this fried chicken different from the Korean variety found all over New York? “Taiwanese fried chicken is first marinated for 24 hours to add flavor,” said Steven Luw, the general operating manager. “Then it gets a flour breading and is fried once. Korean fried chicken is usually dipped in batter and fried twice.” The company, which will count this location as its first American restaurant in addition to the 68 branches it has in Taiwan and Shanghai, is also offering items that are not on the menu in Asia, including curly fries, a fried chicken sandwich, chunky coleslaw, Wisconsin-style cheese curds, biscuits and seared shishito peppers. The bubble tea partnership provides many colorful teas with optional toppings like red beans and crushed Oreos, served at varying sweetness, iced to hot.”

Read more here.

NYC Holiday Pop-Ups Bars Opening This Season

Frozen Peppermint Slide at Industry Kitchen

Industry Kitchen

The South Street Seaport restaurant will channel a winter chalet and features special dishes like a “gingernut pizza,” made with ginger crust, eggnog frosting, spicy pecans, candy canes, and sprinkles. Drinks include a large format frozen cocktail made with Baileys, candy canes, peppermint bark, and pretzel rods. The spiked hot chocolate has Nutella. Now open at 70 South St.

View more here.

Hill Country Food Park Opens in Downtown Brooklyn

“Marc Glosserman, who brought his Texas roots to New York and founded the various Hill Country restaurants, has turned what was his barbecue place in Brooklyn into a spacious food hall with an outdoor vibe. “I want it to be like a gathering of food trucks,” he said. Here, there aren’t trucks, but rough-hewed stalls to provide sustenance from morning (coffee and Du’s Donuts) until night (Van Leeuwen ice cream and cocktails). Fried chicken, including some new sandwiches, will be on offer, along with baby back ribs and other barbecue. And there’s Austino’s, for square pizza Texas-style; Bluebonnets, serving vegetable-forward sandwiches and salads; and Nickie’s Tex-Mex specialties, including tamales, nachos and burgers with salsa. Libations are soft, hard and in-between. On the second floor, a sprawling new version of Hank’s Saloon, a venerable dive bar that is closing in Boerum Hill, will be installed by early next year.

See more restaurant opening here.

A French Celebrity Chef Finds a Spot in a Lexus-Owned Space

“The aromas you might pick up in this building, owned by Lexus, the car company, may not be that new-car smell but rather curry, roasting meat, smoked vegetables, caramel and freshly ground coffee. Food is the main purpose of this installation, which features a ground-floor cafe, a full-service restaurant and bar upstairs, and not a car in sight. It’s the third such venture for the brand, after others in Tokyo and Dubai. Union Square Hospitality Group is behind the cafe and restaurant, but the food is being devised by Gregory Marchand, a French celebrity chef who owns the Frenchie restaurants in Paris and London. He will be on hand from time to time for the next four to six months; after that, another chef-in-residence will be imported. “We want chefs who are new to New York and up-and-coming,” said Kirk Edmondson, the manager. The long-term executive chef is Nickolas Martinez, who worked with Joël Robuchon and at Foragers City Table. Kaz Fujimura is responsible for pastries, and Andrea Morris is in charge of drinks and wine. A circular bar and lounge is on one side of the second floor. The dining room, done mostly in black and white with a spacious open kitchen, seats 50. Mr. Marchand’s menu includes some of his signature dishes like baby leeks with Parmesan sabayon and smoked egg yolk, halibut grenobloise, and a toffee and banana dessert called banoffee.”

View more here.

The Nutella Cafe is finally opening in Union Square

“Nutella stans of the eastern seaboard, your time has finally come: the Nutella Cafe in New York City opens on Nov. 14, in all of its ridiculously decadent, Instagrammable glory. In case you have not also been tracking this cafe so intensely that employees at Google are probably concerned about your Nutella search history, a bit of background: in June, Ferrero announced the opening of a Nutella cafe in the Big Apple, marking the second such cafe in the U.S. after the original opened in Chicago in 2017. The menu at the Chicago location is already drool-worthy enough — now, many of those fan favorites are about to hit the New York location, which also includes new menu items that will make your Nutella-loving heart sing.

Before we even get into the menu, though, you need to know that this new cafe is a capital E Experience, from the decor to the merchandise to ordering the food itself. The new cafe, which is located in Union Square, is so Instagram-worthy that it has attracted crowds long before its opening. The front door is a Nutella jar; the ceiling is crafted to replicated Nutella spread; even the light fixtures are based off of the yellow flower on the iconic Nutella jar. The place is wall-to-wall Nutella, lined with unique merchandise, a gelato station, a coffee station, shelves of Nutella goods, and a massive light fixture that says “Nutella” on it that covers an entire wall.”

View more here.

 

NYC Food Trucks To Soon Get Letter Grades Like Restaurants

Food Carts, Trucks to Get Letter Grades Just Like NYC Restaurants

“Every cart or truck will be getting (a) newly designed decal, and when the inspector finishes the inspection, an ‘A’ looks just like the restaurant A,” says Deputy Commissioner for Environmental Health Corrine Schiff.

Beginning in December, all of the city’s 5,500 mobile food vendors will be graded on their food safety and will receive a corresponding alphabet score. A tracking device will also be attached to every unit so inspectors can keep track of each business.”

Read more here.

New NYC Ramen Restaurant Ichiran Is the Ultimate Spot for Introverts

Related image

“Calling all introverts. A Japan-based restaurant, Ichiran, known for its solo dining booths, has just opened its second location in New York City. The popular Midtown ramen restaurant allows customers to enjoy their meal without distraction.

Here’s how it works — you place your order by filling out a form specifying exactly what you want. A waiter takes the form without uttering a word, and a few moments later the steaming bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen appears. You enjoy the ramen and when finished, you push a button and the empty bowl is taken away. All of this happens without a single spoken interaction.

The idea of solo dining first occurred to the creator of Ichiran when he noticed all of the distraction that came with eating in a restaurant. Thus, the flavour concentration concept was born. By sitting alone, diners are able to solely focus on the taste of their food, and therefore fully enjoy the experience of the ramen.”

Read more here.

World’s cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant opens second NYC location

“Tim Ho Wan has received a bunch of international hype throughout the years as it was dubbed the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant in the world a year after it opened in 2009 and subsequently earned one star. The first NYC location launched in the East Village in 2016 to very long lines, serving its signature baked BBQ pork buns, steamed shrimp dumplings and pan-fried turnip cakes, all priced in the single digits.”

“The new location will serve these specials from head chef Yinghui Zhou, in a space inspired by 17th-century French salons, with Chinese accents like an embedded bamboo steamer and the Tim How Wan dragon logo.”

View more here.

7 New Restaurants at the Jersey Shore

A bone-in, rib-eye steak topped with seared scallops at Prime 13 Wood Fire Grill and Bar, which has locations in Point Pleasant Beach and Brielle.

Prime 13 Wood Fire Grill and Bar, Brielle 

“Earlier this month, two Jersey Shore restaurateurs came together to open the second location of Prime 13, a steakhouse in Point Pleasant known for its prime rib and 40-ounce rib-eye for two.

The restaurant opened in the space previously occupied by Brielle Ale House, owned by Chris, Frank and Matt Gullace. The brothers run the bar, and Gerard Tortora, owner of the Point Pleasant Beach restaurant, leads the kitchen. The menu is similar to Point Pleasant Beach: wood-fired filet mignon, dry-aged strip steak and rack of lamb with the option to add seared scallops, lobster tail and foie gras ($29.99 to $76); seafood dishes, and cocktails, plus 10 beers on tap, more than a dozen bottles, and nearly two dozen wines.”

See more here.

Popular Bushwick Seafood Spot Heads to Williamsburg Waterfront This Spring

“Popular Bushwick seafood restaurant Sea Wolf will set up shop this spring in a new luxury real estate development rising on the Williamsburg waterfront — a much more high-end locale compared to the restaurant’s original digs in Bushwick.

Sea Wolf has plans to swing open within the residential and commercial project under development at 420 Kent Ave., at South Eighth Street, in a “polished,” nautical-inspired version of its original outpost, according to a news release. Owner Daniel Cipriani says the “boat-like,” low-ceilinged space has a windowed front, making the view of the East River, three bridges, and Manhattan skyline a main draw.

The upscale waterfront spot is a prime slice of Brooklyn real estate that has attracted big-name chefs like Danny Meyer, who launched taco stand Tacocina this past summer in nearby Domino Park. Cipriani’s personal connection to the water — his lifestyle revolves around fishing and surfing — attracted him to the space, which he says will have a more “refined” menu than his Bushwick location.”

Read more here.