Brooklyn: Dumbo Archives
Week in Reviews: Onespot for Elettaria
Krieger, 3/2/08
Mr. Frank Bruni weighs in on Akhtar Nawab and Noel Cruz's East 8th Street experiment Elettaria and gives it the old onespot. It's cute, it's darling, and the food is somtimes good. But the design just does not work for the Brunz.
"Elettaria doesn’t work as well practically as it does visually. A lack of any real division between the dining room and an open kitchen means that you have to step into the kitchen and sometimes even squeeze past a cook to descend to those restroomsAnd of course the Bruni never misses a chance to have a little fun: "...when every second restaurant calls itself 'market-driven,' Elettaria describes itself as “spice-driven.” (I’m waiting for the restaurant that’s driven by Morgan Freeman.)" [NYT]...The ostensibly individual tables bisecting the dining room are essentially one way-too-long communal table, which makes for odd traffic patterns.
...Elettaria is lovely but awkward, and its awkwardness undercuts Mr. Nawab’s impressively creative cooking. But then his cooking also undercuts itself, some dishes mirroring the setting: seductive in the abstract, less so in actuality."
Pans for Ago & Palm Court and the Elsewhere up next.>>
EaterWire AM Edition: Burger Bash Coming to DUMBO?
DUMBO—As you may have heard, South Beach's increasingly popular annual Food & Wine fest is coming to New York this fall over Columbus Day weekend. Most reports indicate all the events will take place along 9th Avenue in MePa, but Men's Vogue says otherwise: "The event is such a success that its promoters plan to bring the whole circus to DUMBO, Brooklyn this fall." It turns out both reports are correct. Most of the 'circus' will center around the Meatpacking District, but the food hordes will have to cross the river if they want to attend one very important event. Host Lee Schrager writes: "Working hard to do an event in Dumbo on Fri 10/10 - perhaps Burger Bash." Hear that Shake Shack, Burger Joint? You'll be competing over in BK. [EaterWire]
To appease the stroller set, DUMBO's Water Street restaurant and two unnamed Manhattan venues now offer on site babysitting for couples who insist on bringing the kiddies to dinner: "Kids and bars. It’s an issue that has gained traction as more and more establishments have banned the stroller set (hello, Union Hall?) despite the risk of losing parents as customers. Rodman’s solution was to bring in Parent Play...The cost of the service, even with Water Street footing some of the bill, is $18 for one child, $25 for two, and $30 for three." [Brooklyn Paper]
Plywood Report: West Village Mania, Brooklyn Twofer, &c!
What better way to brace for the New Year than by checking in on some of the new restaurants that will grace it. Yes, it's time for the very last Plywood Report of 2007.
1) West Village: Above, what we’re looking at here is Tasca, the Hall-repped, flash-in-the-pan tapas restaurant at the corner of Seventh Ave South and W10th St, and the carcass of Central Kitchen. Word is that the two spaces are going to be combined into a restaurant for former Biltmore Room toque Gary Robins (too, of Russian Tea Room debacle fame). Robins is a capable chef, great at times, per reviews, but if he thinks his haute price point and food is going to work on this block, Kamali is going to get this venue back in six months. [PRE-PLYWOOD]
2) West Village: At right, Sweetiepie, on Greenwich Ave. (between Christopher/W10th St.) Seems self-explanatory at present, though it bears noting that the restaurant had applied for a liquor license at this address, as we reported awhile back. Possibly of import: Murray Rubin's Birdbath is two blocks away on Waverly and Seventh, Jack's coffee is half a block around the corner on W10th, and Joe is three blocks South on Gay and Waverly. And none are closer than Lafayette French Pastry, a long-time fixture across the street at 26 Greenwich. So, this isn't a neighborhood in need of coffee and cakes, but a good cupcake could make for an interesting show." [PLYWOOD]
3) West Village: A tipster emails, "A new dessert restaurant of some sort going in the old lilac chocolates space at 120 christopher. i live in the building above and spoke to the woman locking up the other night as she was leaving...she said they're hoping to open in january...looks like they've got dark gray slate or tile down on the floors, the lower half of the walls, and as facing on a bar or counter to the left of the doorway...upper parts of the walls are still plywood...they also noisely installed a huge new exhaust system in the alley right underneath my window, but i digress." [PLYWOOD]
4) Upper East Side: 78th and 2nd reports, "The boards came down at the former spot of First Wok on 78th and 3rd on Sunday, and something called Liz Kelsey has set up shop." Hmmm. [PLYWOOD]
Ahead: a Brooklyn two-pack from Dumbo to Park Slope. >>Back to top
About Eater
From the newest temples of haute cuisine to the oldest dive bars in New York, from Batali to McNally, Eater has you covered. More about Eater...
Tipping Is Customary
Know about a restaurant opening or closing in your neighborhood, or other NYC restaurant gossip? Do let us know.
Restaurant Search
Archives & Feeds
Full-Content FeedContact Us
Email Eater
|
EATER
Editor
Amanda Kludt
Eater Radar Editor
Kelly Dobkin
Photography
Will Femia
Noah Kalina
Daniel Krieger
Interns
Erin Sikorsky
Adam Hass
Banner Design
Khoi Uong
Editors-in-Chief
Ben Leventhal
Lockhart Steele
