(Photo: Liz Clayman)
By now you may have heard that, hot on the heels of opening Westlight on the roof of Williamsburg’s shiny new William Vale hotel, Andrew Carmellini has opened his bottom-floor restaurant, Leuca. Grub Street noted that the Italian spot is serving “New York’s most elegant sundae,” which will surprise no one who’s had the decadent, over-the-top La Fantasia di Doppio Cioccolato at one of the chef’s other spots, Locanda Verde.
(Photo: Andrew Boyle)
Certain things are givens these days. If you’re a disgraced celebrity on a mea culpa tour, you appear on The Today Show. If you order something involving burrata, you post it to Instagram. If you’ve been to Austin, you tell everyone you know how amazing it is until they stop talking to you.
If you’re a hotshot chef, you open a fast-casual burger joint. It’s just what you do.
(Photo: Daniel Maurer)
(Photo: Daniel Maurer)
Also last night: Tom Rinaldi — author of the New York Neon and blog — led a tour of the East Village and Lower East Side’s neon signs. Check out designer Jay Boucher’s Vine, below, for a glimpse of what ya missed.
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Amanda Cohen (Courtesy of Dirt Candy)
Foodies’ll be in a tizzy today, as the James Beard Awards have announced their semifinalists. As per usj, downtown Manhattan restaurants are representing — and this year, North Brooklyn is, too! You’ll find many of the usual suspects in the list of nominees below, but you’ll also find fresh faces like Daniel Delaney of BrisketTown, Amanda Coen of Dirt Candy (who’s been a critic of the dude-centric awards in the past), Fredrik Berselius of Aska, Eli Sussman of Mile End, Carlo Mirarchi of Roberta’s, and Jennifer Yee of Lafayette. Here’s the list with NYC chefs and restaurants bolded and those from Bedford + Bowery’s neighborhoods linked — in case you want to maybe eat at a Beard contender before seeing an Oscar-nominated movie. Finalists will be named March 18 and the winners will claim their medals May 5.
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