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Grub Street

Edited by Josh Ozersky with Daniel Maurer

7/ 8/08

NewsFeed 

7/ 8/08

5:55 PM

How Many People Watched Anne Burrell on TV?

anne burrell

Will Anne Burrell get through a full season?Photo courtesy the Food Network

Anne Burrell’s new Food Network TV show, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, has gotten a stormy reception among Netizens. But is it actually doing well? The premiere episode had 662,000 viewers, says Allison Page, the Food Network's vice-president of programming. That was a 21 percent increase over Simply Delicioso, which ran previously in the time slot. The Food Network plans to air six episodes of Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, but could order another ten or so. Anne Burrell, like us, will have to wait and see.

Related: Citizen Critics Weigh In on Anne Burrell’s New Show

More: NewsFeed  »allison page, anne burrell, food network, secrets of a restaurant chef

Two for Eight 

7/ 8/08

4:00 PM

Tables Available at Craft and Craftbar; Gramercy Tavern Mostly Booked

It’s 4 p.m., and that means it’s time to play Two for Eight. We just asked nine restaurants the best times they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don’t guarantee the results.) Today: Danny Meyer and Tom Colicchio.

From Bar Room at the Modern to Union Square Cafe. »

More: Two for Eight  »bar room at the modern, craft, craftbar, craftsteak, eleven madison park, gramercy tavern, modern, tabla, union square cafe

Neighborhood Watch 

7/ 8/08

3:15 PM

Bruni to Take on Benoit; Diner Makeover in the Burg

Astoria: Aegean Cove is up and running on Steinway Street, with the former chef from Gus' Place. [Grub Street]
Midtown West: Frank Bruni's at bat tomorrow on Platt-bageled Benoit. [Diner's Journal/NYT]
Murray Hill: Red Cherry frozen yogurt has opened on Fifth Avenue near 33rd Street, "just a block or two from Pinkberry, Crazy Bananas, and (soon) Red Mango." And first word has it not as good as the veteran fro-yo players. [Eater]
Sag Harbor: Montauk may be so hot right now, but Zagat has still called out the American Hotel for both appeal and service. [Zagat]
Williamsburg: Kellogg's has had its makeover, but will the food be better, since before it "was like the worst small-town Denny's ever with food that was three times as expensive"? [Bottomless Dish/Citysearch]
West Village: One If by Land has submitted a recipe for sautéed gulf shrimp with hearts of palm, so it looks like they haven't had trouble sourcing seafood after dropping purveyor Wild Edibles. [Restaurant Girl]

More: Neighborhood Watch  »american hotel, benoit, frank bruni, kellogg diner, midtown west, murray hill, red cherry, sag harbor, williamsburg

NewsFeed 

7/ 8/08

3:00 PM

Down by the Hipster Responds to Latest Dis From Guest of a Guest

scott solish and rachelle hruska

He said, she said.Photo: Patrick McMullan and courtesy of Scott Solish.

First, nightlife blog Down by the Hipster tangled with Eater after it outed its anonymous writer Scott Solish and speculated that he had seen his best days, and now Solish is taking aim at Guest of a Guest's Rachelle Hruska in a quickly escalating feud that has already led to accusations of shoddy journalism, comment tampering, and (gasp!) cluelessness about the Hamptons scene. Here’s the breakdown (bolding ours), followed by what Solish told us about the latest accusation, that a supposed Cain investor is the "second half" of his blog.

"Everything on her two GoaG sites is utterly worthless." »

More: NewsFeed  »down by the hipster, rachelle hruska, scott solish

VideoFeed 

7/ 8/08

1:45 PM

Video: A Summer Fish Grill With Eric Ripert

With the possible exception of the god Neptune, no one has authority over the fishes of the sea like Eric Ripert, the chef at Le Bernardin. Taking over the big grill last week at Harry's at Water Taxi Beach, the Ripper showed us how to cook black bass on a piece of slate. It was a new method to us, but after tasting the results, we'll never grill fish another way again.

Related: What a Grill Wants [NYM]

More: VideoFeed  »eric ripert, le bernardin, seafood, video, water taxt beach

NewsFeed 

7/ 8/08

1:00 PM

Emeril, Man and Brand, Explains His Nature to the World

emeril lagasse

Emeril Lagasse, mogul.Photo: Getty Images

Advertising Age’s interview with Emeril Lagasse so perfectly encapsulates everything people hate about celebrity chefs that we are wondering if it shouldn’t be printed up, hermetically sealed, and deposited at the Smithsonian. Ad Age interviewing a chef at all is worthy of a knowing snort on the part of a cynical observer. A good portion of the interview is about Lagasse's $50 million sale of “the Emeril brand” to Martha Stewart Omnimedia, earlier this year. But the piece has so much more, including Emeril referring to himself in the third person. Some highlights follow.

"What a lot of people don't realize about Emeril is that..." »

More: NewsFeed  »emeril lagasse, martha stewart

NewsFeed 

7/ 8/08

12:00 PM

Miracle Fruit Is More Expensive Than a Gallon of Gas

miracle fruit

The good stuff.

Miracle Fruit, the berry that tricks your taste buds into perceiving sour tastes as sweet, may have gone quasi-mainstream, but it’s not getting any cheaper. We recently opted out of a “flavor tripping” party on July 4 when we were frantically warned, before the party, that supply was limited and that the berries would cost $6 each (that’s about double what they were when we first alerted you to local supplier Miracle Connect). Huffington Post blogger Shira Levine made it to the party with bells and reports on what she calls “a food orgy that tantalizes the tongue.” In our experience (though apparently not in Levine’s), the berry makes bottom-shelf tequila taste like high-quality mescal. We wonder how long it’ll be before folks start selling hits outside of dive bars like dealers used to push Ecstasy outside of Twilo.

The Miracle Berry: A Food Orgy That Tantalizes the Tongue [Huffington Post]

More: NewsFeed  »miracle berry, miracle connect, miracle fruit

NewsFeed 

7/ 8/08

11:00 AM

Cityfile Makes Chef Stalking Way Easier

Yesterday our sister blog Daily Intel pointed us to Cityfile, a recently launched who’s who of New Yorkers. Among the 2,100-plus who rank so far are, of course, many restaurateurs, club owners, and chefs. Their bios don’t say much that can’t be found via Google, but you won’t find descriptions like this on Wikipedia: “The foul-mouthed, volcanically-tempered, porcine [David] Chang (his staff's nickname for him is 'Gordo') is seeing a fellow Korean-American who works in the ad department at Microsoft.” Clearly the editors aren’t afraid to be catty, posting Tom Colicchio’s home address and the sexual orientations of chefs like Gabrielle Hamilton, April Bloomfield, and Patricia Yeo, as well as delving into their dating lives: “Yeo, who lives on Charles Street, recently had a romantic schism with longtime partner Jennifer Scism, who nonetheless remains Annisa's sommelier and co-owner.” One thing to keep in mind — the bios could have used some better fact-checking (Sasha Petraske’s the Mercury Dime is referred to by the name it had back when it was going to be a wine bar, the Mighty Ocelot) so take all of it with a grain of salt.

Cityfile [Official site]

More: NewsFeed  »april bloomfield, cityfile, david chang, gabrielle hamilton, patricia yeo, tom colicchio, zak pelaccio

Mediavore 

7/ 8/08

10:00 AM

Bar Boulud to Expand; Mia Dona Delivers

• With the neighboring Chase bank soon to be out of the picture, Bar Boulud can expand its bar space and add another kitchen. [NYP]

• If you’ve got the money and the willpower, turning a ten-pound pork belly into bacon at home is a cinch. [Salon]
Related: Bacon: No Need to Overanalyze

• Despite what the packaging says, a British court ruled that Pringles are not technically potato crisps because they are made from dough, not potato slices. [WSJ]

Hitting the Fulton Fish Market before sunrise. »

More: Mediavore  »bacon, bar boulud, calorie posting, lobster, mia dona, pringles, sasabune, starbucks, sushi

NewsFeed 

7/ 8/08

9:30 AM

Wakiya Hit With $5 Million Lawsuit

wakiya

Wakiya, the latest in a series of big-name plaintiffs.Photo: Noah Sheldon

The parade of big-money harassment suits continues. The Sun reports today that Wakiya, the haute Chinese restaurant in the Gramercy Park Hotel, was sued by a former employee for $5 million. Natividad Alcantara, a “public area attendant,” claims that she was assaulted by a co-worker, and later fired because she spoke Spanish. "According to the suit, Ms. Alcantara said in Spanish to the co-worker, 'Please stop, I did not want to have any problems with you,' but was laughed at in return. A supervisor, Steven Lam, allegedly approached Ms. Alcantara a few moments later to tell her not to speak in Spanish, as the co-worker who had assaulted her had complained," reports the Sun. Alcantara is suing for $5 million because that is “the sum she expected to earn at the hotel in a lifetime, had she not been fired.” What are they paying public-area attendants over there?

$5 Million Suit Filed Against Restaurant in Gramercy Park Hotel [NYS]

More: NewsFeed  »gramercy park hotel, lawsuits, wakiya

Beef 

7/ 8/08

9:00 AM

Jamaican Women Take Umbrage With Bourdain

sasha petraske

Tony Bourdain: now offending Jamaicans.Photo: Getty Images

The new season of No Reservations began last night, and Tony Bourdain is already in trouble — but over an episode from last season. Some Jamaicans have taken umbrage over Bourdain's Imus-like use of the word “bitches” when describing a dance-hall concert: "Like reggaetón, its mutant cousin, dance-hall is the hard-core beat behind lyrics concerning, for the most part, acquiring possessions, getting respect on the street, beating down perceived enemies, and enjoying the physical charms of varied, if not multitudinous, bitches.” The women of Jamaica were not amused. “I am offended as a woman,” reggae artist Nadine Sutherland told CaribWorldNews. The backlash is growing, the online news service reports: “Other observers say that when Bourdain, a white, privileged man, uses the word it takes on a connotation different from its use by the dancehall artist. ‘I don't blame dancehall for Anthony Bourdain's comments,’ said female hip-hop sensation Stahhr. ‘It's not like he doesn't have any common sense.’” The Travel Channel, which airs No Reservations, hasn't responded with the inevitable rote apology yet, but we can't wait to hear what Bourdain has to say about his privilege and lack of common sense.

Anthony Bourdain's No Reservation Comment Pisses Off Jamaicans [CaribWorldNews]
Related: Bourdain Set to Reconquer the World in New Season of ‘No Reservations’

More: Beef  »anthony bourdain

7/ 7/08

Beef 

7/ 7/08

6:00 PM

Bacon: No Need to Overanalyze

sasha petraske

Bacon: it's not just for fetishists anymore.Photo: Mitchell Feinberg; food styling by Sarah Jane Crawford

Salon launched “Pork Week” today, the online magazine's tongue-in-cheek answer to Discovery Channel’s popular Shark Week. But it isn’t getting off to a very promising start with “Bacon Mania.” The article, which enumerates seven theories why bacon is popular, is even more tiresome than the bacon fetish it questions. The theories include “Bacon is sexy,” “bacon is rebellious,” “bacon is kitsch,” “bacon is funny,” and so on, each one less convincing than the one before. Salon consults some go-to bacon aphorists, with predictable results: John T. Edge (“Bacon is a sort of 21st century tattoo, a marker that declares the wearer to be a badass, unbeholden to convention.”) Bacon of the Month Club founder Dan Philips (“Bacon is the ultimate expression of freedom.”), and Sex and Bacon author Sarah Katherine Phillips (“Pour me a drink, light me a smoke, fry me up a pan of bacon, and let's get it on.”) When will the anti-bacon backlash come? Surely it’s overdue already. Not that bacon – the food, not the fetish – has anything to fear from it.

Bacon Mania [Salon]

Related: Porn Star Who'll Eat Anything Draws the Line at Cheese
Bacon Has Jumped the Shark

More: Beef  »bacon, bacon of the month club, dan philips, john t edge, salon, sarah katherine lewis

NewsFeed 

7/ 7/08

5:30 PM

Water Taxi Beach Gives Away Free Birds

water taxi beach

Seasonings in the sun.Photo: Joe DeLessio

This ain’t no fro-yo giveaway. Per Gothamist, Water Taxi Beach is participating in a little something known as “fowl philanthropy”: “We had such a good time giving away free BBQ Chicken on Sunday that we are doing it again. We have 3 cases of fresh young chicken (approx 200 1/2 chicken) and we are giving it all away starting about 5 p.m. on Wednesday.” Okay, so the line won’t be as long as the one for iPhones, but get over there fast.

Free BBQ Chicken at Water Taxi Beach! [Gothamist]

More: NewsFeed  »long island city, nightlife, water taxi beach

NewsFeed 

7/ 7/08

4:15 PM

Chodorow Ponders ‘Times’ Debacle, High-Tech Food Court

jeffrey chodorow

Chodorow, closet Decibel fan.Photo: Getty Images

Belvedere has followed its “Keys to the City” ads (where the likes of Ken Friedman and Daniel Boulud looked back on their careers and recommended their favorite spots) with new installments featuring David Sarner of the Pink Elephant (he brags of bringing bottle service to the city), Kyky and Unik of Merkato 55 (Kyky recommends you “keep it real” by going to Whole Foods where “there’s beautiful girls”), our own Nur Khan of Rose Bar (“I have a passion for Morrissey Night at Sway,” he admits), and Mark Baker of Mansion, who talks about his (um, fetish?) for “fun and crazy” Russians. The must-watch ad, however, is Jeffrey Chodorow, who goes on again about Bruni’s Kobe Club number.

"You'll be able to charge a meal on your cell phone." »

More: NewsFeed  »david sarner, frank bruni, jeffrey chodorow, kobe club, kyky and unik, mansion, mark baker, merkato 55, new york times, nur khan, pink elephant, rose bar, sway

Two for Eight 

7/ 7/08

4:00 PM

Tables available at The Mermaid Inn and Rayuela; The Red Cat and Sfoglia Mostly Booked

It's 4 p.m., and that means it's time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don't guarantee the results.) Today: Neighborhood Chic.

From Applewood to Trattoria L'Incontro. »

More: Two for Eight  »Applewood, little owl, ouest, rayuela, sfoglia, the good fork, The Harrison, the mermaid inn, the red cat, trattoria l'incontro
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