All stories about "The Curious Case"
The Curious Case of Greenpoint's Papacito's
Restaurateurs have all kinds of weird setups in New York. Cramped kitchens, dumbwaiters, hot plates instead of burners, and on and on. Yet we rarely hear about a restaurant actually sharing its kitchen with another. Our roving photographer found out that's exactly the case at Greenpoint's new and already packed outdoor restaurant/bar Papacito's. His report:
I swung by Papacito's and ran into the owner (former owner of Brooklyn Label). He says they won't be totally up to speed for another week (even though they're technically already open since last weekend). Right now the menu is just a sign on the wall but they'll soon have printed menus. More significantly, I found out where the heck the cooking is being done. While there's some meat cooking outside on a grill, he's actually sharing the kitchen with the Thai place next door. He says they're actually buying out the Thai restaurant, so in addition to the beer garden area they'll have indoor seating (and delivery!) once they take over the space."We wonder if that means you can order Papacito's in the Thai place and Thai food out in the garden of Papa's. Would be nice no?
· South of the Border, By Way of Greenpoint [Brooklyn Based]
· The Curious Case of NYC's First 'Sports Bar for Kids' [~E~]
The Curious Case of Ramen Setagaya's Shared Space
As the East Village's answer to uptown's seasonal Park Avenue Spring, three different restaurants have opened in the shared space in the back of Ramen Setagaya since its debut last summer. First it was Pan-Asian tapas place Oriental Spoon in July. Then it changed in October to Pasta Wafu, a restaurant specializing in Japanese pasta and sushi. And now introducing Izakaya Oni, the ramen joint's newest and shiniest roommate. We can only assume the restaurant serves hot Japanese pub fare, but we'll wait for some early reports to find out for sure. NB: if you want to check it out, odds are you only have four to six months before it changes again.
· The Dish: Oriental Spoon [~E~]
· Oriental Spoon Gives up on Tapas, Relaunches as Japanese Pasta House [Cutlets]
The Curious Case of Action Burger
Hey, remember Action Burger, the comic-book themed disaster of a burger joint that opened in Williamsburg last month? It was a curious case from the get-go but the story has been getting stranger. First, the signage for Cafe Mexicano, the previous restaurant, is still up. Second, according to reports, the place hasn't been open for at least three weeks. Purportedly it is "under renovation." Third, and most interestingly, they advertised the restaurant to their key demographic at Comicon but were shuttered when the convention hit town. If the walls of your burger joint are covered with comic book posters, maybe you shouldn't go pissing off the nerds: From a commenter:
"I got a flyer from Comic Con as well, and it didn't say 'coming soon' or 'under renovations', it also didn't say it was in Brooklyn, and there is an identical address elsewhere in the city..."The nerds get pissed, next.>>
The Curious Case of Bun's 24-Hour Conversion
Soho: A sign announcing their shutter wouldn't have been incredibly surprising. A note about chef changes or a cancellation of lunch service: totally reasonable. But a sign announcing that the lackluster Soho project and one time property of Michael Huynh, Bun is converting into a 24-hour restaurant this June? We didn't see that one coming. For some reason we find the all-out nutty move....refreshing. What will those crazy cats think of next?
· EaterWire AM Edition: Michael Bao Huynh Gone at Bun, Mai House [~E~]
Restaurant Concepts Gone Wild: Action Burger
Owned by an alum from the now shuttered Lucky Burger and a former bartender at the East Village's Cherry Tavern, Action Burger opened up to little fanfare on Williamsburg's Grand St just last week. For now we'll leave the burger judging up to the experts. But let's take a look at this little lady, shall we? Designed with a comic book theme in mind, the walls are painted bright yellow, the doors bright red. Superhero posters and collectors cards line the walls and surround a TV screen playing the Cartoon Network. The entire left wall is dominated by a case of action figures, "just a small portion" of the owners' full collections. The backyard is being cemented over to resemble a city street from a comic book. You get the idea. Having a cohesive restaurant design: a good thing. What we have here: we'll call it curious at best.
· Plywood Report: Action Burger [~E~}
· Initial Response: Action Burger [AHT]
The Curious Case of Border Burrito
A special East Village correspondent writes in about the curious case of Border Burrito, née Rocket Wrapps:
"The place was Rocket Wrapps for a while, an NYU hangout and a decent nabe lunch option. They had good burritos on the menu and quesadillas I believe. Then overnight it was Border Burrito. It had a new confusing menu and the funny part is, the burrito wasn't as good as the one Rocket Wrapps even though it's the same owner. When I called after the changeover, the guy still answered the phone Rocket Wrapps and for a gloriously short time, you could get rocket wrapps OR border burrito menus."Converting your establishment from focusing on one fast food option to another overnight is one thing. And doing a bad job at making your namesake product can't be a good sign. But what makes this place truly curious is its newly launched MySpace page pushing its "On the Border Singer/Songwriter Series":
Music at NYU fast food joint
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