Eat Archives

FW: NYC Nightlife Taskforce Raid

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From: [Louis 649]
Date: Monday, February 11, 2008
To: eater complaints dept.
Subject: Nightlife Taskforce Raid

——

So, my place was invaded last Friday night, February 1, 2008. The space is approximately 650 square feet, with room for 50-60 comfortably. At 11:30 PM, peak time, 18 government agents descended on our asses. We had NYPD, DOH, FDNY, SLA, and DOB. 18 people in all, single filed their way right in. And stayed for an hour, lights on, music off.

Louis 649 is a live music venue. Yeah, it's fucking loud and the neighbor upstairs complains. Yadda yadda yadda. She also pays $250 for a real two bedroom. Two hundred and fifty dollars. On 9th Street and Avenue C. And I'm not a yuppy business owner who doesn't understand. I'm a 24 year old welfare child from the Bronx who busts his ass. I pay $700 for my sprawling apartment in the Bronx and I got motherfuckers hanging outside my window smoking pot and bullshitting all night. Cue the violin.

I'm wondering if there's any illegality in the modus operandi of this "Task Force" >>

DOH Chronicles: Hakata "Pig's Feet" Tonton Stickered, Shuttered

We just got this sad tip regarding the DOH and mecca for porcine trotters, Hakata Tonton: "Walked by Hakata Tonton on Saturday afternoon, saw the infamous DoH yellow flier nailed to the door. Two bemused looking staff inside sitting around. Wasn't able to talk to them." Correspondents stopped by the place, and the picture confirms: certified shuttered, as of 2/6/08. Can't a man just serve up hundreds of pig's feet and hot pots in peace, people?
· Will Pig's Feet Fly [NYT]

Unconfirmed Rumormongering: Keith McNally To Buy Minetta Tavern?

Minetta Tavern: The new Morandi?

Here's a bit of luscious, grade-A, unconfirmed Keith McNally rumormongering, straight from the Greenwich Village tipline: "Heard an interesting rumor while out last night...apparently Keith McNally put in an offer of $1.2 million to buy Minetta Tavern...Kinda a weird one in my humble opinion, but I heard it on good word from the owner of another area bar that recently opened." More: As far as we know, the VIP resy number hasn't been released yet. Developing.
· Minetta Tavern [official site]

photo credit

Introducing The Week in Yelp

From the people who brought you The Week in Craig, one of the all time great uses of the internet, comes Eater's newest feature: The Week in Yelp, wherein Amy Blair takes aim at the ridiculousness that is the world of Yelp. Her intrepid Yelp-surfing, and words, follow:

Admittedly, I have done a lot of stupid things in my lifetime (namely, my 22nd birthday, the infamous drunken sleepwalking incident of 2003, that time I ran naked into the edge of an otherwise frozen lake in February in Wisconsin on a dare, I could go on…), but perhaps none was more pointless than the night I exited the interstate and drove around random towns in Ohio in search of an Olive Garden while on an ill-advised road trip between New York and Chicago. I wasted about four hours of my life on this quest, since it was pretty hard to accept that there wasn't an O.G. around just about every corner in this otherwise perfect landscape of American wasteland.

In the end, much to our disbelief, my traveling companions and I just couldn't find an Olive Garden and wound up at Fazoli's, another staple of stoned Midwestern existence, only remarkable for their unlimited Diet Coke refills and five-dollar price tag. Alas! Who hasn't been to one of these chain restaurants? You're on the road, it's the only restaurant in your town, it's cheap…whatever the reason, there isn't a person alive who doesn't know exactly what to expect when they step through the doors of a national chain restaurant. And yet, amazingly, there are hundreds of "reviews"of these restaurants on Yelp. I spent about thirty seconds trying to figure out why anyone would take the time to do this, and then I got distracted by my television and made myself a sandwich.

Without further ado, onward to the dumbness!

Airport Quesadillas, the Olive Garden and Batali's Ass, Coming Up >>

Eater Inside: Merkato 55

[Kalina, 02/06/08]

This here is Merkato 55, Marcus Samuelsson's much hyped, somewhat delayed homage to Africa. It finally opens tomorrow. The most recent, and with any luck the last, giant themed venture to open in MePa, this baby has two floors with 150 seats, a rum bar, a "kidogo," or small plates, bar, a communal dining area downstairs, and a formal dining room upstairs. The interior was designed by Dutch architect Menno Schmitz, and "African" decor accents include giant silk screened portraits (below), hanging basket lamps, and a whole helluva lot of yellow and brown.

Samuelsson's got his pedigree and track record going for him here, so Merkato opens with the benefit of the doubt. But daddy's opening a huge restaurant straight into an economic shitshow and he's not even showing up for the opening (Aquavit Stockholm is more important). On the other hand, promoter/operators "Kyky and Unik" are also involved—as owners, per their own claims (but if having intel on opening schedule is any indicator of equity stake, they've got about .001% combined). If anyone can fill the place, maybe it's them. Maybe.

Want to see the formal dining room? >>



Eater Inside Gone Wild: 'Crosby' at Parisi

As reported yesterday, beloved sandwich joint Crosby Connection has reopened in a new permanent location--a sliver of the Parisi Bakery on Elizabeth Street. (NB: this is not the Parisi located on Mott St., which is still open and serving hefty sandwiches of its own.) Our correspondent gives her thoughts: "'Crosby' at Parisi - Crosby Connection's new location at Parisi Bakery on Elizabeth b/t Houston and Bleecker Sts. Open regularly, same delicious menu, location not as ideal as previous spot but hopefully their loyal patrons will walk the 4 blocks east. Note signage is dry-erase board. Nice."

Patience, we're about to go Inside. >>

Adventures in Food Technology: The Col-Pop Revealed

The crazy kids over a Serious Eats have uncovered a pretty genius fast food item imported from South Korea: a dual compartment soda/chicken cup, or Col-Pop. A plastic insert in the top of the cup holds chicken (or anything you want) while the bottom contains your ice cold beverage. Right now these babies are only available at BBQ Chicken locations in Chelsea and Flushing, but we're expecting this to hit the mainstream soon. Real soon: no question they're pork bun compatible. The naysayers at Gizmodo have weighed in about the ineffectiveness of the cup (condensation is an issue), but the Eater Department of Consumer Testing calls that a minor detail. Hit play for more details and some top notch Adam Kuban-age.
· Snack to the Future: The Col-Pop, an All-in-One Chicken Nugget and Soda Cup [SE]

Superbowl XLII Dining Guide, Part III

As promised, this weekend we're running a roundup of Super Bowl XLII meal deals still on the table. In no particular order, these all come direct from official sources and materials. Kick off is in four hours, which gives you plenty of time to sort all this out.

Monkey Town, by the Kalina

1) Can you guys uptown hear us in the back? This one's for you:

Big screens under the big top!
Hudson River Cafe has winterized their spacious outdoor patio. Cheer on your favorite team with Chef Ricardo Cardona's favorite football fare.

House Made Nachos
25-Cent Wings
Chili Con Puerco
Grilled Skewers
Chicken, beef, shrimp
Mini Cheese Burgers
Grilled Baby Back Ribs
Guava BBQ sauce
Crispy & Spicy Shrimp
Maytag blue cheese
Beer & Cocktail Specials

Continue reading "Superbowl XLII Dining Guide, Part III"

Superbowl XLII Dining Guide, Part II

As promised, today we're running a roundup of Super Bowl XLII meal deals still on the table. In no particular order, these all come direct from official sources and materials. If you've yet to send us info on your restaurant's special deals it's not too late.

Vamos, from the Kalina Archive, 11/20/06

1) Petite Abeille, the Belgian mini-chain downtown, is running their "famous" drinks specials. 1/2 price on all Draft Beer (at the bar only) at 401 East 20th street (First Avenue) and 134 westBroadway (Between Duane and Thomas). A special bar menu includes wings, hot dogs and shirmp cocktail.

2) At Vamos, the East 20s Mexican joint (from the same owners as Petite Abeille), there's an Eater discount happening. Mention Eater and get 10% off. Delivery radius: 14th street to 26th street and Gramercy and Avenue C. Menu:

Double Guacamole $8
Chicken Skewers with mole Sauce $3/piece
Shrimp Skewers with Mole Sauce $6/Piece
Fried Calamari with chipotle mayo $6
Quesadillas(Choice of Chorizo-Shrimp-Hongos-Sencilla)$7
Tacos(2 Pieces.Choice of Carne asada-Camarones-Pescado-Cochinita-Veggie)$8
Vamos Nachos (For 2)$6

Up next, Maxie's Bar and Grill has half-off deal if your team is down. Their interesting offer, up next. >>

Superbowl XLII Dining Guide, Part I

As promised, today we're running a roundup of Super Bowl XLII meal deals still on the table. In no particular order, these all come direct from official sources and materials. If you've yet to send us info on your restaurant's special deals it's not too late.

Trestle on Tenth, where the gameday special is Duck Necks. Photo from the Kalina Archive.

1) Los Dados is running a delivery package. Order by noon (646-810-7290) on game day for guaranteed delivery by kickoff. $20/person, minimum 4 people. Delivery radius: Houston to 25th and 5th Ave. to the river. The menu is as follows:

Choose Two Starters:
Deconstructed BBQ Beef Mini Tacos, queso fresco, handmade corn tortillas, pico de gallo
Guacamole, Chips, Salsa
Organic Greens, lime vinaigrette, pickled vegetables
Chicken, Black Bean, Pork or Sweet Tamales

Choose Two Taco Fillings:
Smoky Shredded Pork
Grilled Vegetables
Organic Chicken, Chile Mecco Sauce
Shredded Beef
Chipotle-Lime Shrimp

Also included:
White Rice and Black Beans
Hard Tacos, Corn & Flour Tortillas
Pico de Gallo, Romaine, Pickled Serranos
Guava & Cheese Empanadas

Continue reading "Superbowl XLII Dining Guide, Part I"

Adventures in Branding Superbowl XLII Edition: Brady's now Manning's

From the crazy Upper East Side, blogger 78thand2nd has a dispatch on Second Avenue sports bar Brady's, which has quite cleverly renamed itself in preparation for this Sunday's festivities in Phoenix. To the 10028: "UES dive bar Brady's on 82nd and 2nd is going to make it damn well known that the name of the bar has nothing to do with anything related to the Patriots or their quarterback Tom Brady -- and the bar has been temporarily re-branded Manning's, in honor of Giants quarterback Eli Manning."
· Brady's Hates Tom Brady, Re-Names Itself Manning's [78thand2nd]

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