(Photo courtesy of Old Monk)
Now that Babu Ji has moved near Union Square, its old home in Alphabet City has given way to a new Indian joint. Old Monk, a contemporary Indian soul food restaurant, opens tonight on Avenue B.
Pool and shuffleboard on offering. Photo credit: Industry City.
Vincent Chirico, the chef and serial restaurateur behind Coarse in the West Village and Vai on the Upper West Side, opened a new restaurant today in Sunset Park’s Industry City. We got some photos and a copy of the menu.
(photo: Cassidy Dawn Graves)
This past Monday, notable noodle purveyors Chuko Ramen began serving dinner in their Bushwick location at 144 Evergreen Avenue. Now, North Brooklynites will no longer have to make their way to Prospect Heights to enjoy a bowl of Chuko’s flavor-packed veggie miso ramen or their celebrated kale salad.
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(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: Nicole Disser)
Something’s been cooking over at 2 Knickerbocker, the triangular lot that was once home to Amancay’s Diner, a late-night “spin the bottle” diner opened by a restauranteur known for his jello-wrestling glory days. The new tenant, Cape House, is a bit more serious minded, and aims to fill a big ol’ hole in the city’s food scene.
(Photo by Evan Sung, courtesy of Hail Mary)
Plenty of upscale diners have hit the food scene as of late– for one, there’s Juno, the Bushwick restaurant that John Barclay (founding dude at Bossa Nova Civic Club) recently pulled out of– and there was even a short-lived spot called Amancay’s Diner that was, well, a bit more of a downscale kind of place, with a spin-the-bottle setup and an owner who was better known for throwing jello-wrestling parties than his food.
But Hail Mary– a new Greenpoint restaurant that opened on Wednesday night in the former home of 68 and then subsequently (briefly too) Hook & Cleaver which was run by Chopped chef Diane DiMeo– is pushing the diner concept even further with their avant-garde take on the American everyman classic.
(Photo: Nicole Disser)
On Monday John Barclay, proprietor of Bushwick mainstay Bossa Nova Civic Club, announced on Facebook that he was no longer involved with Juno, the upscale-diner “date spot” that he opened up with the help of the same investors from his nightclub venture back in December. “It had become clear that the spot wouldn’t survive without the funding that I can’t provide,” he wrote, wishing the place well.
(Photo: Kavitha Surana)
“This is my little baby,” Ricardo Valdez said with an excited grin, opening the door to his brand new bar on Orchard Street. A former floor manager at one of New York’s premier French destinations, Ladurée Soho, Valdez capered off with Chef Johann Giraud (who has a truly jaw-dropping internet 1.0 web-xistence), to launch their own take on the old world. The result: Excuse My French, an irreverent tapas bar dedicated to all things Francophone.
If the Chinatown snowman doesn’t come back this year, literally everything’s ruined. (Photo: Angelo Fabara)
Fondue Chalet
Sure, Williamsburg is a long way from the slopes, but this winter you can take part in the city version of après-ski rituals at the Fondue Chalet.
The seasonal pop-up– another establishment from the proprietor of a regular army of food and drink outlets including Diviera Drive (the fantasy yacht club restaurant just down the street), Soho’s Rintintin and Café Select, and LES party den, Happy Ending– opened on Friday, and plenty of guests were ready to get slippy.