Defonte’s Soon To Open In Staten Island

December 10, 2014 by Leave a Comment

After the sudden move of the beloved sandwich shop in Manhattan, the Defonte’s family has decided to open up shop in Staten Island! The sandwich shop which retreated to Red Hook after the Manhattan building where the outpost was located was bought by a developer, will be opening their second location this Sunday at 95 Water Street, Stapleton, Staten Island. Owner Nicholas Defonte recently stated that the Stapleton neighborhood, “reminded me a little bit of Red Hook many years ago before it got built up as it is now.”

The original sub shop opened in 1922 and hasn’t really undergone any drastic changes since. The menu will be almost identical to the Red Hook shop, and the bread used to make the massive sub sandwiches will still be delivered daily to the new outpost. To read more about the opening of Defonte’s in Staten Island this Sunday, click here

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Two More Sweetgreens in NYC

December 9, 2014 by Leave a Comment

The new Sweetgreen outpost in Nolita opened today! The opening is actually one day ahead of schedule, and is having a ‘Pay What You Want Day,” which is the tradition of the brand on opening day with all the proceeds going to a given charity; in this outpost the proceeds will all go to Grow NYC. The following Monday Sweetgreens will also be opening a new location in Brooklyn, in none other than Williamsburg, with the same charity event except that at this location all proceeds will be going towards Education Through Music.

Sweetgreens is having a really great run, especially in recent months given their $18.5 million boost from investors including Danny Meyer and Daniel Boulud. Both new New York City locations were designed by local artists to give a contemporary feel. The furniture in the Brooklyn location is mainly made from reclaimed oak from the company Aellon and Uluru (based in Brooklyn). The menu items also have a New York theme including seasonal ingredients such as pears, apples, cheddar and many fall vegetables.

To read more about the two new Sweetgreens locations in New York City, click here

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Rossopomodoro Opens In Greenwich Village

December 8, 2014 by Leave a Comment

The Neapolitan pizza chain Rossopomodoro, known as Eataly’s inner pizza place, has opened it’s first outpost outside of Eataly. The new Rossopomodoro opened last Thursday in the former Cole’s Greenwich Village space at 118 Greenwich Avenue. The space has multiple dining rooms with marble tabletops and hanging light fixtures as well as a fully-equipped bar and gilded pizza oven similar in shape to the gold pizza oven that once was at Donatella in Chelsea. Rossopomodoro also has some pantry items on display which are available for purchase.

The menu includes a great pizza selection with a variety of toppings such as squash, gorgonzola and guanciale, as well as a great selection of pasta courses such as ricotta ravioli, linguine with sea urchin and the classic tagliatelle alla bolognese. The cocktail menu is also in keeping with the Italian theme as they are serving many Italian liquors such as limoncello, Campari, Aperol and different Amari. To check out some pictures of the new space and to read more about the opening, click here

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100 Montaditos to ReOpen in Brooklyn

December 5, 2014 by Leave a Comment

The 100 Montaditos on Ludlow Street that opened three months ago is now set to close. After spending a full year to build out the space the outpost will be closing after a short three month run. Mini Hospitality owns the US franchise rights to the chain, named for its 100 varieties of mini-sandwiches, and is planning to transform the space into more of an upscale concept with a full liquor license.

The concept works very well in Madrid, Spain’s capital, where the chain blankets the city center, but did not have as much luck when it opened in Miami, and is now proving to be unsuccessful in New York City as well. The goal of Mini Hospitality was to open 30 US locations by 2017 but this now seems too aggressive and it may be time to revisit this goal. Mini Hospitality believes the concept of small finger sandwiches and beer will do better in Brooklyn. A release from DNAinfo quoted the franchise owners, “We feel that the demographic of neighborhoods such as Bushwick, Greenpoint, and Upper Manhattan, offer us multiple opportunities to expand our international brand in the coming year.”

To read more about the closing of 100 Montaditos due to a combination of location and concept, click here

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Toby’s Estate New West Village Location

December 5, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Toby’s Estate has opened its newest Cafe and Brew School in the West Village at 44 Charles Street and 7th Avenue. The Cafe is appropriately housed within a landmarked 1920s artist studio in a typical West Village brownstones. The first permanent Brew School can be found at this location, named The Brew Parlour, that offers a variety of educational opportunities for guests of the coffee house, as well as for coffee enthusiasts and aficionados.

Classes include one-on-one espresso and latte lessons as well as a new cupping series and Home Brew Methods class. The Toby’s Estate Coffee Educators will help participants to master techniques on different brewing equipment such as the Chemex and V60. The cafe’s menu includes a wide selection of single origin pour-overs and espresso from the Toby’s Estate team’s recent travels to Colombia, Honduras, Ethiopia and Panama. The Cafe will also have a larger food menu including homemade brunch and breakfast items as opposed to other outposts that provide pastries from Brooklyn and New York based rotating “residency” programs.

To check out photos of the new Toby’s Estate in the West Village and to learn more, click here

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Doughnut Plant Opens Brooklyn Outpost

December 4, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Early yesterday morning Doughnut Plant opened its first Brooklyn outpost, right in time for the holidays! There were already guests waiting at the door before the shop’s bright and early opening at 6:30AM. This outpost will be offering all the signature Doughnut Plant flavor of doghnuts, such as peanut butter and jelly and tres leches, as well as some seasonal flavors. The holiday doughnuts include marzipan-glazed yeast doughnuts in the shape of stars, gingerbread and panettone cake doughnuts.

Doughnut Plant serves coffee from Toby’s Estate, Intelligentsia and is also currently serving from City of Saints, a guest roaster. There is a considerable amount of seating available at this Brooklyn location which is larger in size to the Lower East Side location and more comparable to the Chelsea outpost. Mark Israel, the owner, has decorated the shop with a lining of doughnut-shaped terra cotta tiles that were made by his father.

To see photos of the new Doughnut Plant outpost in Brooklyn, click here

The shop is located at 245 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, New York.

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Mu Ramen Opened in LIC

December 2, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Owners Joshua and Heidy Smookler opened their new permanent brick and mortar ramen restaurant yesterday in Long Island City. There was a long delay in opening as they waited for Con Ed to connect their gas, but opening day is finally here! Joshua previously worked at Per Se, and Heidy at Buddakan before they decided to open up a pop-up ramen shop that gathered a rather large and loyal following. In the Spring of last year, New York Times food critic Pete Wells wrote that when he, “made a list of my favorite bowls of ramen in the city, I put it in first place.”

The new Mu Ramen can be found at 1209 Jackson Avenue (48th Avenue) in Long Island City, Queens. The new space features an open kitchen, dark-wood finishes and brick walls. The counter can seat up to 22 people and the cooks also double as waiters because as Joshua says, “I like the personal interaction you get at sushi bars.” Enough about decor and service, the menu is what makes people crave Mu Ramen! Up to 120 lbs of pork bones are boiled in a 24inch diameter pot at the highest heat for over 20 hours. Each bowl of Mu ramen is extracted from about 24oz of the pork marrow bone. According to Joshua and Heidy, “Time, no MSG and great effort are the key ingredients to Mu Ramen.” The menu also offers fried chicken wings stuffed with brioche and foie gras, and plenty of truffles.

To read more about the opening of Mu Ramen in Long Island City, click here

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First New York Lyfe Kitchen

November 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Lyfe Kitchen (Love Your Food Everyday) is a fresh-casual chain that originated in California and was founded by some of McDonald’s longtime veterans. McDonald’s successes with large-scale operations is what can be brought to Lyfe Kitchen, giving the healthy-fast-food an important new competitor. There are 13 existing locations, and the first in New York City will be opening soon on W 55th Street near 8th Avenue.

Also appealing to the masses, Lyfe Kitchen’s menu was devised by Art Smith, personal chef to celebrity Oprah Winfrey and Tal Ronnen, known for being a vegan cooking “guru.” Whole grains, vegetables and low fat proteins take center stage on the menu to appeal to a variety of trendy diets (including gluten-free, paleo, etc.) and the dishes do not go beyond 600 calories per portion. As for beverages there will be no soda to keep with the healthy pattern, there will be however , wine and beer. Superfood-enhanced cocktails will also be part of the menu. The design is also “fresh” as furnishings are sustainable and recyclable.

To read more about the opening of Lyfe Kitchen, click here

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Pier A Harbor House in Battery Park City

November 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Harry and Peter Poulakakos have opened their project that has been in the works for three years: the restaurant mega-complex Pier A Harbor House. The restaurant complex is in Battery Park City, where Harry and Poulakakos already have a stake in most restaurants. They took control of the landmark in 2011 and had plans to build a large multi-level restaurant with everything from private dining rooms to picnic tables.

The first floor of the restaurant had it’s soft opening a few days ago and will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. The menu consists of pub fare with a particular emphasis on seafood. The second floor of the space will be more of a fine dining space and will be opening at some point in 2015. To read more about the opening of the restaurant mega-complex in Battery Park City and to see photos of the space, click here

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New Shake Shack in Midtown East

November 12, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Shake Shack opened yet another outpost yesterday in eastern midtown on the corner of 40th St and 3rd Ave, just a short walk from Grand Central Station. This location will be the seventh outpost opened by Danny Meyer and his team in New York city. This location was in the works for about a year, and it seems the next outpost will be Herald Square to open soon after this. The popular burger chain is known for adding some location-specific concretes to the custard menus at their different outposts.

The concretes featured at this new Midtown East Shake Shack include the ‘Murray Hill Malt’, consisting of chocolate custard, marshmallow sauce, malt powder, chocolate truffle cookie dough and Mast Brothers cocoa nibs, the ‘East Slide,” a custard with strawberry, banana and cheesecake blondies, the ‘Jitney’ with Tate’s Bake Shop chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter sauce (5% of sales on this custard benefits an animal welfare organization). The crinkle cut fries and Brooklyn Brewery ShackMeister are also served here along with all the Shake Shack classics, just in case there was the slightest doubt.

To read more about the opening of Danny Meyer’s seventh Shake Shack in Manhattan, click here

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