Edible Jewelry for ‘Commitmentphobes’; Midtown East Welcomes AdourEast Village: TKettle owner Andy Pan is still waiting for his partner BBQ Chicken to open, but “it’s killing me softly,” he says.
[Eat for Victory/VV]
Little Italy: Send a mixed signal to your love this Valentine’s Day with a candy ring from Papabubble. [TONY]
Lower East Side: Tomorrow night at Suba is a pata negra feast, which includes dishes made with “Ossabaw Island hogs, the ‘long lost cousin of the Pata Negra’” paired with Spanish wines. [Bottomless Dish/Citysearch]
Midtown East: Initial reactions to Adour are already mostly positive, but no one else has noticed the specially reserved handbag seating, yet. [Eater]
Rockefeller Center: On Friday from 3:30 to 6 p.m., Morrell is hosting a tasting of La Caravelle Grand Cru to celebrate the Champagne’s ten-year anniversary. [Snack]
Neighborhood Watch
Green Coke in the Bronx a Good Thing; Eat a ‘wichcraft Sandwich, Save theAstoria: New Mexican restaurant Luna de Juarez at 25-98 Steinway is ready to be sampled. [Joey in Astoria]
Bronx: Coca-Cola’s added a handful of hybrid-electric trucks to its 90-vehicle delivery fleet based in the South Bronx. [NYP]
Cobble Hill: Sahadi’s has put up a new sign, possibly in preparation for the onslaught of Trader Joe’s. [Lost City]
East Village: A sushi bar called Nori will refill the Hip-Hop-Chow space on Second Avenue in hopes that this more banal concept will survive in the space for more than a few months. [Eater]
Meatpacking District: Paparazzi aren’t the only ones not allowed to photograph the hallowed spaces of Socialista; civilians were hampered from shooting as well. [Down by the Hipster]
Rockefeller Center: An eggplant sandwich “invented by three teenagers from New York City who spent a summer learning about the food business as part of a program connected to the Fresh Air Fund” (which will also snag some of the proceeds) has been added to the menu of ’wichcraft’s newest location at 1 Rockefeller Plaza near 50th Street and will be available at ten other locations by next week. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
Neighborhood Watch
Have Sex in an East Village Bar BathroomChelsea: Bungalow 8 and Cain may be outtie, but South Beach’s Eric Milon hasn’t abandoned plans to bring Mansion to the old Crobar space. [Down by the Hipster]
East Village: Bouncers at Drop Off Service bar (in a former Laundromat) hang drunken oafs out to dry, plus a killer happy hour lasts till 8 p.m. [Gridskipper] But at Angels & Kings on East 11th Street, the bathrooms are meant for sex. [NYP]
Gramercy: I Trulli’s outdoor garden opens today. [Grub Street]
Meatpacking District: Paradou kicks off “Mother’s Week” May 14: E-mail the restaurant with a dish your mom used to make, and if it gets served as a special, you win a free bottle of wine. [Grub Street]
Midtown West: A branch of ’wichcraft is coming soon to the shopping concourse below Rockefeller Center. [Grub Street]
Murray Hill/Kips Bay: Hsing Chen, executive pastry chef at Country, has reinstated a dessert trolley that could inspire a food-caddy renaissance; plus, she makes what might be the first popcorn ice-cream float. [Gothamist]
Ask a Waiter
Alfredo of Rome’s Josh Marmer Refuses to Feed Your American Girl Place
With high fanny-packing season winding down, we thought we’d take the pulse of the restaurant that serves fettuccine Alfredo (using the original recipe) in the belly of the beast — Rockefeller Center. Luckily, Josh Marmer, manager and head waiter at Alfredo of Rome, survived to tell all.
User’s Guide
How to Feed Your Children Near the Rock Center TreeThe lighting of the tree in Rockefeller Center, happening Wednesday at seven, is one of those traditions for tourists that we could never bring ourselves to despise. The tree rules. But if you take children with you to go see it, where are you going to eat? Here are three kid-friendly suggestions. You might want to make reservations now.
NewsFeed
Text Messaging to Improve Midtown Worker-Drone Efficiency?
It’s not unusual for aggressive handbill men to slap flyers into our palms outside the Grub Street offices. But to actually try out a company whose ad we’ve just been handed — that’s positively extraordinary. Today, the unthinkable happened: We used Mobo, a new text-ahead restaurant service, whose handout has been sitting on our desk, to order lunch.
After creating an account with our credit card — this took about an hour to dope out — we found a participating nearby eatery, Two Boots at Rockefeller Center. (Mobo’s 25 participating restaurants all cluster in office areas.) We then ordered a small “Newman” pizza on our phone, via text message, while walking over that way. And sure enough, the food was waiting for us at pickup, already paid for. Mobo had actually worked, lending the smallest bit of convenience to the chaos that is our lunch hour. Of course, it would’ve been even easier if we’d just had something delivered.
Meanwhile, we await the day when someone figures out a way for us to digest lunch electronically. Then we’ll finally have a paperless office.
Three Blocks
Worldly Lunching Around Rockefeller CenterNobody wants to walk more than three blocks for lunch during the workday. In this series, we’ll comb the city’s micro-micro-neighborhoods in search of affordable spots for dining with co-workers, eating solo, or just getting takeout.
Today: The area around the intersection of 48th Street and Sixth Avenue.
