Kitchen Dish

By BRET THORN | July 18, 2007

DINNER WITH JUSTIN

Southern Hospitality (1460 Second Ave. at 76th Street, 212-249-1001) is slated to open tomorrow. The venture of club operator Eytan Sugarman, pop star Justin Timberlake, and Mr. Timberlake's friend Trace Ayala will feature southern classics such as chicken-fried steak, St. Louis–style ribs, and barbecue-smoked shrimp. For dessert: peach cobbler and pecan pie. The three partners already own Destino on the Upper East Side.

BYEBYE, PIE

Cronkite Pizzeria and Wine Bar (133 Norfolk St., near Rivington), which opened last November, has closed. Management cited "bad location, bad name, bad decor" as reasons for the restaurant's failure.

HELLO, TACO

The owners of Mercadito, who were planning on opening a streetfood-oriented restaurant across the street from their Avenue B location called Callecita, have decided instead to use that space for what they hope will be the first of many taquerias.

Mercadito Cantina (172 Avenue B, between 11th and 12th streets) will feature a dozen tacos as well as guacamole and salsa bars. They will also be pouring a dozen Mexican beers and six different sangrias as well as aguas frescas. They hope to open the first one in September.

TEN AT 11:30

Izakaya Ten (207 10th Ave., between 22nd and 23rd streets, 212-627-777) is now serving brunch on Saturday and Sunday between 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., featuring items such as salmon benedict, served on rice cakes with avocado slices instead of English muffins, and omelets stuffed with shrimp fried rice and fermented soybeans, and topped with tuna sashimi. Cocktails include a wasabi bloody mary and "Chu-Hais" made with shochu and citrus juices.

MORE MEXICAN

Expect more Qdoba Mexican Grills in New York City this fall. The burrito chain currently has just one unit in Manhattan (208 E. 34th St., between Second and Third avenues 212-686-3600) and two in Queens, all operated by local franchisee Madalex LLC. But the Denver-based franchisor is negotiating leases to open Qdobas in Manhattan in September or October. A Qdoba spokeswoman said the move was an effort to increase its presence in the market. A rival, Chipotle Mexican Grill, operates 18 restaurants in the city.

RUN FOR THE BURRITO

Chipotle, meanwhile, is sponsoring the Underwear Run this Friday in Central Park. The precursor to the New York City Triathlon, which is on July 22, is a 1.7-mile run that starts at 7 p.m. — and everyone races in their underwear. Chipotle will hand out T-shirts to the first 100 people to finish the race, and it will give all of the runners mini "burrito bols."

Mr. Thorn is food editor of Nation's Restaurant News. He maintains nrnfoodwriter.blogspot.com.