EAST VILLAGE— EV Grieve reports that Arlo & Esme, the coffee shop and bar on 1st Street between 1st and 2nd Aves. is closing after three years in business. [EVG]
BOERUM HILL— Last January, tensions arose between Boerum Hill's Victory Cafe and its landlord when the cafe's owners learned said landlord was shopping for a new tenant. Perhaps that tenant was found, because Victory is being evicted. They will be open until the end of January. [EaterWire]
TRIBECA— A fan files on the Feast of the Seven Fishes (which has been available all week) at Stuzzicheria in Tribeca: "It's a traditional Italian Christmas Eve Feast of Seven Fishes dinner for $49. It's excellent -- sort of like a poor man's tasting menu -- and it'll remind many Italian Americans of their childhood Christmas Eves." [EaterWire]
New Year's Eve is just about here, and since it is the worst night of the year, most sane people will leave New York's bars and clubs to the tourists for other nightlife options. A good portion of New York's nightlife regulars will be headed to Miami or Las Vegas. 20,000 people will be headed to Madison Square Garden on some illegal substances. Some will heed our advice on how to survive New Year's in New York. But for you crazy people who don't fit into any of those categories and are looking for something to do on the big 12/31, Eater presents its Nightlife Guide to New Year's Eve in NYC!
Still haven't planned New Year's Eve? Click through for our dining guide, and check back later this afternoon for our ever handy nightlife guide.
Still haven't made those all-important New Year's Eve plans, yet? Not to worry. We've assembled a handy list of 18 of the city's hottest restaurants that will be serving dinner that evening, and still have room for your reservation. Some of these places are running prix fixe specials, other are just serving regular menus late into the night — but we've weeded out any major rip-offs, or holiday mark-ups.
On Saturday at lunch, M. Wells' co-owner Sarah Obraitis told us she hoped she would be picking up her liquor license for the uber popular Long Island City gastro-diner on Tuesday. Knowing the restaurant's track record with the State Liquor Authority and the months of agonizing delay, we knew celebrating was premature. But lo and behold, Andrew Knowlton reports on the Twitter today that the booze permit is in hand, and diners can expect to get silly on some good French wine from here on out. Congrats!
Obraitis told Eater she hopes to open for dinner in late January. Later this week, she and husband, chef, and co-owner Hugue Dufour will close the restaurant to take a trip home to Montreal and will reopen on January 4. They've had a sommelier on staff for about a month, so expect a killer wine list to make its debut soon.
· @AndrewKnowlton [Twitter]
· All Coverage of M. Wells [~ENY~]
[photo credit]
City Bakery's Maury Rubin has been busy of late adding his Birdbath green bakeries to locations all over the city—including Tribeca, the New Museum, and an NYU dorm in the East Village. But today comes his first setback. A commenter reports and a call to one of the bakery's other location confirms that the 7th Avenue South location has closed. Rumor has it it's due to lease issues. Which is almost always the case.
· All Coverage of Birdbath Bakery [~ENY~]
Opening a restaurant in a hotel comes with a lot of advantages, including a lower start up cost and built in clientele. But oftentimes, it also comes with a hotel union. A union, and more specifically the Local 6, was blamed for putting Cafe des Artistes out of business, for thwarting the negotiations between Dean Poll and the city for Tavern on the Green, and while they serve a purpose for the workers, to be sure, they can be a headache for the operators. Take this story from a diner who had lunch this Monday at Geoffrey Zakarian's new restaurant The National, within the Benjamin Hotel:
I was having lunch at with a friend today at The National restaurant when right in the middle of their lunch rush 12:45 pm something I have never seen before in my 50 years as a New Yorker happened. Thugs with video cameras, dressed in trench coats and wearing fedoras came bursting in and demanded that the staff stop waiting on the tables. At first I thought we some how were involved in a movie that was filming but then a manager came over and apologized. He explained that it was "the hotel union" and that they were pulling everyone to stage a protest.
1) Chelsea: Diner's Journal reports that the latest entrant to the ever-growing premium burger landscape, Elevation Burger, is now open in Manhattan. It's the 10th location in the chain that started out in Virginia, whose burgers are organic, pesticide-free, and antibiotic-free, just to name a few of their traits. Status: Certified open; 103 W. 14th St. 212-924-4448.
2) Lower East Side: Grub Street brings word that Berkli Parc is now open but only for coffee, pastries, and other light fare. Owner Mark Hernandez is hoping to unveil the full menu next month but customers will have to satisfied with the free wi-fi for now. Status: Certified open; 61 Delancey St., 212-966-2737.
3) Greenpoint: Without much fanfare, popular food cart Calexico has opened up a brick and mortar location in Greenpoint.
According to Fast Food NYC, their hours are presently limited - 5:30pm to midnight Tuesday to Sunday and closed Monday but should eventually be open until later in the night which will work out nicely since this location has a full bar, a first for these guys. Status: Certified open; 645 Manhattan Ave., Greenpoint, 347-763-2129.
New Year's Eve in New York is chock full of scams, mostly related to creatively worded offers that make it seem like you are getting something special when you are really just getting suckered. Today's example come from SNAP, the new sports bar in the Meatpacking District, which announced its New Year's party plans today. While the $65 price for a general admission ticket isn't so unreasonable, it's the bar's offer of celebrity hob knobbing that seems especially galling. SNAP is offering customers the chance to "spend NYE 2011 rubbing elbows where so many celebrities have been spotted the past few weeks". You mean we can actually go to a place where Ken Griffey Jr, Stephen Dorff and Darryl Strawberry have also gone? It's a Christmas miracle! As for the rubbing elbows part, you will just have to settle for the elbows of the other idiots that are shocked that Leonardo Dicaprio isn't ringing in 2011 at a sports bar on 8th Avenue. Just another reason why New Year's is the worst night in New York!
· SNAP Coverage [~ENY~]
· Avenue Offers Mystery Perks For Platinum VIP's On New Year's[~ENY~]
· New Year's Eve Coverage [~ENY~]
Shane is leaving, Damon Wise staying put [Photos: Savory Cities, JBF]
Seems like the big shakeups in Tom Colicchio's restaurant group always fall around Christmas Eve. Last year, on the day before Christmas Eve, he announced that he would close his Chelsea restaurant Craftsteak and replace it with Colicchio & Sons. One year later, we hear another bit of news via the world of Facebook. Shane McBride, who was brought on three years ago to run Craftsteak and was most recently the chef de cuisine at Colicchio & Sons, has left the empire. He announced his departure on Facebook yesterday (see below). McBride is a talented chef who we're sure will find a good position.
[Krieger, 12/20/10]
Harold Dieterle's new Thai-inspired West Village restaurant Kin Shop is something of an instant hit. Longtime fans of the chef's food have been lining up since its opening in October, but Sam Sifton's recent, stellar review has brought in new crowds from all over the city. Thankfully, partner (and soon-to-be-mom) Alicia Nosenzo is in charge of the door. Over the past decade, she's worked the front of the house at many of NYC's great restaurants, including Perilla, her first project with Dieterle, just a few blocks away.
It's 8PM on a Saturday Night, what's the wait for a table? We save the bar and the counter for walk-ins, but they've been really popular. So, it still could be an hour and a half, just for the bar. The wait for an actual table may be longer.
Is there anything I can do to make the wait shorter? No, not really.