The State's Department of Labor just filed a wage order that will increase minimum wage across all service industries, placing a little more money in the pockets of servers across the city while forcing restaurateurs to overhaul their payroll systems in two weeks. Starting on January 1 in New York, tipped food service employees will receive a minimum hourly wage of $5 instead of the current $4.65.
Some employers are not exactly thrilled at this New Year's deadline. Says the owner rooftop bar of 230 Fifth, "It's so preposterous that it's guaranteed to lead to an allegation in all future labor law litigation that they shortchanged people on this particular day."
Meanwhile, the new wage law includes provisions allowing employers to mandate tip pooling and "exempting restaurants from giving employees a weekly allowance for 'wash-and-wear' uniforms." Now, restaurants must pay workers for an extra hour if their shift is over 10 hours.
· New Wage, Tip Rules Are on the Way for Restaurants [WSJ]
UPPER EAST SIDE— Diner's Journal reports that a Stumptown coffee bar has opened up at The Whitney. [DJ]
TO CATCH A CRITIC—After Eater National called him an “unanonymous altacocker” today, GQ’s Alan Richmanresponds: “I never let restaurants I review know I'm coming, and while I'm often recognized while visiting NY restaurants, so is almost every other NY critic. Instantly. Everyone is unanonymous these days.” Okay, but not every New York critic makes videos with the chefs and then puts them on year-end top ten lists. [Eater National]
CHELSEA—New York Burger Co., the chain opening a location in what has been deemed a cursed space over in Chelsea, opened to the public today, a week after a public exorcism. According to DNA Info, "An hour in, business bustled and the order line stretched to the door." [DNA Info]
It all looked like a happy ending when neighborhood joint Knife + Fork resurrected three months after its closure on 4th Street by opening within the Avenue A newcomer Percy's Tavern. But perhaps it was too good to be true. Chef Damien Brassel'swebsite now reads:
Knife + Fork Has Closed It's Doors
at 210 Avenue A, NYC. Thank you for all your support and please check back from time to time as we make plans for the future. Thank you for all your support and please check back from time to time as we make plans for the future.
It's unfortunate that Brassel's Celtic cooking and moderately priced prix fixe menus haven't been able to find a successful home. As far as Percy's Tavern goes, they say they'll be implementing a new menu next week which will have a larger range—mozzarella sticks, catfish, and salmon were cited as examples—than what Brassel had on offer.
· All Coverage of Knife & Fork [~ENY~]
Last night Suzanne Riva and her husband Mario opened their long planned Gramercy Park area casual Italian spot La Follia. The Rivas are the duo behind the sadly shuttered restaurant Irving Mill and its sister restaurant Candela. Now they're trying again with the cuisine of the moment, rustic Italian fare. The menu is broken up into antipasti, salads, small plates, crostini, salumi, and cheeses to start and then paninis, pastas, and mains like baked eggplant parmigiana, hangar steak, and roasted chicken. Everything is under $20 and is under the control of Mercedes Bautista, a sous chef at Irving Mill.
The one problem: they are awaiting their liquor license. When that comes, the enoteca next door will open as a companion to the dining room. Until then, it's mocktails for all.
As the NYC restaurant world continues to change, so do the rules surrounding dining etiquette. This year, we learned a lot of new "dos" and a lot of new "don'ts." Here's a look back:
Socarrat Nolita, the new sister restaurant to the original Socarrat in Chelsea and its older predecessor La Nacional on 14th Street, opens its doors to the public tomorrow night. Fans will appreciate a much roomier dining room here in the old Ghenet space on Mulberry, as the space can hold two tops and banquettes in addition to the signature mirrored communal table. All in, the dining room fits 58 at tables, 12 at the bar. As for the menu, it's similar to the original, with a page of so of tapas and a half a dozen paellas. Call 212 219-0101 for resys.
· All Coverage of Socarrat [~ENY~]
So in 2010 celeb chef and boat and vespa enthusiast Todd English opened three curious projects: a restaurant in a nightclub (that he quickly left), a well received high end food hall in the Plaza, and a flop of a French restaurant called Ca Va. If you thought he couldn't outdo himself in 2011, you are dead wrong.
Earlier this fall came the news of Ember Room, a restaurant that he's opening with two co-owners of Spot Dessert Bar and fellow "celebrity chef consultant" Ian Chalermkittichai. And now we learn he's opening a restaurant in the Limelight Marketplace. A rep doesn't have many details but tells Eater that the restaurant, called Cross Bar, will open sometime in January. According to the Las Vegas Sun, it will be a Manhattan version of his P.U.B. in MGM's CityCenter in Vegas.
Ruth Reichl isn’t the only one who got an early taste of Red Rooster. Last night, Paul McCartney, Ben Stiller, Paul Simon, Chris Rock, Jimmy Fallon, two members of the Rolling Stones and much of the SNL cast all enjoyed a vegetarian dinner at Marcus Samuelsson’s new Harlem eatery. Apparently, they’re still waiting on a liquor license, but will open on Friday with or without it. [GS, Previously]