Manhattan: Theatre District/Times Square Archives
The Shutter: The Southside Cafe, Epoque Bar & Grill
For the most part, it's been a good week for the city's restaurants. Only the two following places met their demise since the last Shutter Report. Know of anymore? Do tell.
1) Times Square: Lost City brings word of a shutter in the Theater District "The Southside Cafe on W. 47th Street appears to have suddenly folded. The interior has been swept clean of furniture, pictures and wine. No sign was posted in the window saying it had closed, but no one answers the phone. The 14-year-old old, hole-in-the-wall Italian eatery was a favorite secret of theatregoers. The Southside was no landmark, but Times Square has lost another affordable, independent restaurant." [Lost City]
2) Hell's Kitchen: Sometimes turnover is so quick in this town that a space goes from shutter to plywood to open in a matter of weeks. Life with Food and Drink reports on just such a case in the HK: "I noticed that Epoque Bar & Grill, a bar/restaurant on 50th and 9th that had just opened in mid-October, was gone. But not only that-- a new bar had already taken its place. Hibernia looks vaguely Irish-ish and definitely more downscale than Epoque...more along the sports bar vein than see-and-be-seen." [LWFAD]
—photo
Who Goes There?: Pergola des Artistes
This is the fourth edition of Who Goes There? a new regular feature in which Lost City's Brooks of Sheffield cracks the doors on mysteriously enduring Gotham restaurants—unsung, curious neighborhood mainstays with the dusty, forgotten, determined look—to learn secrets of longevity and find out, who goes there.
Krieger, 5/1/08
Unless you're a New Yorker cartoonist, you probably have little experience with Pergola des Artistes, a tiny, family-owned French holdout among the chain eateries and tourist traps of Times Square. For whatever reason, the septuagenarian doodlers of the venerable weekly do Tuesday lunch at this narrow, 45 year-old bistro, which advertises a "Year Long Lobster Special."
Who else eats here? Couples. Old couples. Aged twosomes who have haunted the dusty red W. 46th street storefront for decades. The night I visited, nearly every four-top was occupied by a twosome, often armed with a cane, a hearing aid and a well-preserved sense of dignity. The pair seated next to me said they had been coming once a month for 25 years.
Why you should follow the New Yorker's cartoonists,>>Black Thursday Sneak Peak: Restaurants' Breakup Insurance
The only thing worse than the amateur hour that is New Year's Eve is amateur hour that comes on the shape of Valentine's Day. Restaurants charge too much, people, and couples, who have no business being out in public go out in public, and the media goes bananas with round-ups, gift guides and assorted other tedious heart-themed nonsense. So, in honor of the shitshow that is V-Day, we're going to roll out a V-Day and vicinity feature called, Black Thursday. Today and tomorrow we'll provide a sneak peak of what tomorrow night will bring. On Friday, we'll feature horror stories from the night in question. Throughout, we'd LOVE to hear of your war stories.
You should at least entertain the thought that you're going to break up with your special someone before you get to Valentine's Day dinner. Or, rather, that's what the restaurant is thinking. Let's kick off our Black Thursday coverage with a dialogue sent into the tipline between Chez Josephine and someone ("NG") with a V-Day resy:
[NG: I made dinner reservations about a month ago. The restaurant called today to confirm the reservation:]CJ: we want to confirm your reservation
NG: oh, ok, we'll be there
CJ: you made your reservation a while ago right?
NG: yes
CJ: well, you know it's Valentines Day, so we request a $60 deposit on a credit card. Can you do that?
NG: you're kidding, is it because so many people don't show up?
CJ: oh yes, they have a fight and break up in the afternoon and don't show up for dinner.
Crunching The Numbers: Restaurant Pretentiousness Ratio
Two days ago, Felix Salmon posted his Restaurant Pretentiousness Ratio, a formula which takes the prices of a wine list in relation to the prices of entrees to yield a scientific level of pretentiousness for any restaurant. For example Mermaid Inn has a low ratio of 1.6 while Cafe Gray has a whopping 4.7. Take what you will from the ratio, but as an entertaining snow day diversion at Eater HQ we decided to crunch the numbers on a sampling of restaurants around town to see the math in action. But first, the original formula:
RPR=W/ESee how Le Cirque, Frankies Spuntino, Balthazar, and more fare after the jump. >>
W is what you might call the quarter-median wine price: take the red wines only (to make things a bit more manageable) and find the price of the wine such that 25% of the wines on the list are cheaper, and 75% of the wines on the list are more expensive.
E is simply the average price of a main course.
EaterWire: More Problems at Sanju & 360, Bar Menu at One if by Land
MEATPACKING—Postscript to the week in Merkato: word from their PR is Marcus Samuelsson is "contractually obligated" to be in Stockholm for the opening of Aquavit. When he made the promise, it was back when the restaurant was supposed to open in November, and he will be there to oversee things in New York next week. So being in Stockholm is not his bad, ok? But not delaying the opening until his return? We'd say that's a misstep on his part. [Eater Wire]
EAST VILLAGE—The new project in the old Remote Lounge space, run by the owners of Hi-Fi and Black and White, is going to open at the end of this month, and will be called Bowery Electric. [Zagat Buzz]
MIDTOWN—More changes are afoot at the confused and troubled restaurant Sanju: "The soap opera of Saju continues. It appears they are now a Med. style Bistro...I saw pastas, a special of corn chowder on the menu today....Someone call Gordon Ramsay or lets just deathwatch this place." The committee is taking it under consideration. [Eater Wire]
Continue reading "EaterWire: More Problems at Sanju & 360, Bar Menu at One if by Land"EaterWire: 12th St. Ale House Opens, More Red Mango!
EAST VILLAGE—This is FastPlywood™ graduate 12th Street Ale House, which was revealed and opened in the last 48-72 hours. Our man in the East Village writes: "Aaaaaand, the plywood is off the former Dick's gay bar on the corner of Second Ave. and 12th Street, revealing the 12th Street Ale House rebranding. If this and Shoolbred's (old Jade Mountain space) both cater to a fratty clientele, this will be the douchiest block in the East Village. Blue Owl is already there. Note, it appears to be open. Two bartenders, lights on, no customers." [EaterWire]
RED MANGOVERSE—Via the tipline and comments, news of visible activity at two imminently opening (known) Red Mango locations. Following up on yesterday's Wire news, West 14th: "Looks like red mango and pinkberry each are opening on opposing crnrs on 14th and 6th. Probably not printworthy, but figured you'd be interested." Printworthy! It is so freaking on. And at 723 8th Avenue: "another Red Mango going into a space on the west side of 8th Avenue between 45th and 46th." [EaterWire]
The Shutter: Collins Bar RIP, Plus Central Village Carnage!
The Shutter administers last rites to closed restaurants, bars, and clubs around town. Seen someplace drop the shutter for the final time? Please do let our spiffy new tipline, tips@eater.com, know all about it.
1) Hell's Kitchen: An early June EaterWire reported the news that stalwart Eighth Avenue hideaway The Collins Bar would shutter in July to make way for another new high-rise. The time is now upon us: according to the countdown clock on Collins' official site (above), the end comes Sunday. A moment of silence, please. [Shutter Staff]
2) Central Village: A tipster emails, "last night i went to take my brother to taste of tokyo on 54 W 13th St—i've been telling him about it for 8 years, as it's my favorite local sushi—there was a sign on the door saying thanks for your business, we're closed. i couldn't figure out if it was permanent so i figured id write the experts. any ideas?" A call to the restaurant: phone number changed; new number: no answer. Sounds doneski. [Shutter Inbox]
For the Central Village, the pain has just begun. Two more shutters are coming up. >>BruniBetting: Landmarc TWC
Tomorrow, Frank Bruni reviews Landmarc at the Time Warner Center. Today, the Eater oddsmakers have set the action as follows:
Zero Stars: 2-1 √√As little as one star for Landmarc TWC, Marc Murphy's sterilized, maxed-out sequel to Landmarc (in Tribeca) would be a huge coup for the restaurateur. His original restaurant owns one star from Amanda Hesser, and to call TWC equal to its older sister is patently absurd. The reasons to star the downtown location -- ambiance, attention to detail, wine list, grilled meats -- are all muted uptown, where the entire operation absolutely reeks of Murphy's desire to churn out huge profits. Those tiny desserts aren't sized according to what Murphy thinks of as an ideal dessert. They're designed to squeeze an extra $15 out of you while you pay the bill. This one is simple, and none of the other critics in the land have filed anything to the contrary, so let's get on with it: Big-box restaurant serving mostly serviceable, intermittently inspired food in a mall: goose egg.
One Star: 4-1
Two Stars: 8-1
Three Stars: 50-1
Four Stars: 25,000-1
· Landmarc TWC [NYT; after 8:00 PM]
√√ denotes the Eater bet.
BruniBetting: Insieme
Tomorrow, Frank Bruni reviews Insieme, Marco Canora and Paul Grieco's Italian restaurant in, as they call it, Midtown (and as we're more familiar with it: Times Square). Today, the Eater oddsmakers have set the action as follows:
Zero Stars: 6-1Let's get the Platt comparison out of the way first. He two-starred it, which, if we're going with a straight conversion to Bruni units, indicates that the Bruni is going to throw it two stars as well. More background data: Canora's CV reveals, of course, that he's got two Amanda Hesser stars at Hearth. Neither of those tidbits really matter today, however. This here review is going to be all about the BruniCurve, for which there is no reliable equation. Tomorrow is A Voce, part two: An excellent chef doing elegant Italian fare in a fairly problematic space. If Bruni is to be consistent, he's going to three star Insieme. There is absolutely no question that this is first rate Italian food, something with which we know Mr. Frank can be seduced. If, however, the Bruni has gotten wiser in the last year -- and we do believe he has -- he's going to be tougher on Insieme than he was almost exactly one year ago at A Voce. So, yessir, it's going to be like that: Eater is taking two stars, but do feel free to roll the dice on three.
One Star: 4-1
Two Stars: 3-1 √√
Three Stars: 5-1
Four Stars: 25,000-1
· Insieme [NYT; after 8:00 PM]
√√ denotes the Eater bet.
Week in Reviews: One Star for Katz's, Cuozzo Goose Egg for Shake Shack
1) It's nostalgia day at the Times, where Frank Bruni celebrates 119 years of Katz's by awarding it one star in his column, "typically reserved for restaurants more proper but no more deserving." Alright, then:
Let’s take the occasion of the most recent rumors, which swirled just a few weeks ago, to pause and appreciate Katz’s...To revel in its pastrami sandwich, one of the best in the land, with an eye-popping stack of brined beef that’s juicy, smoky, rapturous. To glory in the intricate ritual of the place: the taking of a ticket at the door; the lining-up in front of one of the servers who carves that beef by hand; the tasting of the thick, ridged slices the server gives us as the sandwich is being built; the nodding when we’re asked if we want pickles, because of course we want pickles.Shortcomings: 'a limited selection of desserts, none of them outstanding'; Mediocrities: 'the Philadelphia-style cheese steaks.' [NYT]
Continue reading "Week in Reviews: One Star for Katz's, Cuozzo Goose Egg for Shake Shack"
EaterWire: Siberia Closed, Perhaps for Good
HELL'S KITCHEN—Famed West Side dive bar Siberia has been closed for a week and will likely remain closed for at least another week, this according to a bit of top-notch tipline intel and a spokesperson for the bar. Officially, the reason for closure is an "issue with insurance," but in the case of such things, it's unlikely this is the full story. We'll put chances on a reopen at 50-50 until more is known. And somewhere, Bourdain sheds a tear. [EaterWire]
The Dish: Parish Diner, Trattoria Trecolori
Shall we adjourn to the Dish then? Look out for a special Dish investigation later today, but for now:
1) Parish Diner: If it's ok with you, we'll start in Greenpoint today at this new diner, with a kitchen run by Suba alum Bruce Dillon. The menu is fairly straight forward diner fare, but with some decidedly Southern, even South-of-the-Border influences, such as a Burros Pastor (a pulled pork and pineapple burrito). Neighborhood touches are planned, such as live music, local artist shows, and indie film screenings. Slated open for dinner is tomorrow, with Brunch service to follow. 218 Richardson Street, Greenpoint; (718) 383-8200, website. [Eater Staff]
2) Trattoria Trecolori: Long a local Hell's Kitchen favorite, Trattoria Trecolori has reopened in new, expanded digs. And, what do you know, there's an opening celebration for friends, family, and, if you're so inclined, you: "Our opening celebration will run from Tuesday, May 8th through Sunday, May 13th. We will serve Lunch from Noon till 3:00 PM and Dinner from 4:00 to 11:00 PM. Our menu as our service will be as good if not better than ever. Our entire staff from 45th street is back for our revival and we are all looking forward to making this a memorable dining experience for all our guests. Gracie e cevediamo pronto!" 254 West 47th Street, Hell's Kitchen; (212) 997-4540, website. [Eater Staff]
3) Monkey Bar Barrrom: Per the Previous, the front room at Monkey Bar opens tonight. Menu is by Patricia Yeo and promises to feature her signature blend of Asian/American fare. The dining room is slated to open in another few weeks. 60 East 54th Street, Midtown East; (212) 838-2600. [EaterWire]
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