Copyright 2009 The New York Sun Tue, 19 May 2009 01:04:27 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Food and Drink :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/food-drink istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us PAUL ADAMS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/joedoe-lives-up-to-its-name/86455/ Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST When a restaurant bears the name of its chef, be it ill-fated Grayz (whose founding namesake, Gray Kunz, departed this month) or Gordon Ramsay's tepid Gordon Ramsay, the name on the sign often seems like a substitute for — rather than a token of — any personality within. JoeDoe is an unlovely name for a restaurant, but it feels like a true expression of its chef, Joe Dobias. Mr. Dobias has cooked at Savoy, and his menu at JoeDoe has a similar foundation in thoughtfully sourced ingredients. But... SETH GRUDBERG http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/in-a-black-and-white-world-mothers-knows-best/86456/ Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST In the battle of the best black-and-white cookie in uptown New York, there are two bakeries that popularly stand out among the countless that sell this delight: Glaser's and William Greenberg Jr. Desserts, both hailing from the tony Upper East Side, and both gaining mentions in other press for selling superlative cookies. But can a locally known Bronx bakery, Mother's, take on and take out these two titans? This battle royal would be every cookie for itself, each one standing on its own two... ERIN LINDHOLM http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/danny-meyers-concrete-take-on-shake-shacks-latest/86468/ Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Burger lovers on the Upper West Side have been buzzing with anticipation all summer for the opening of the second outpost of Shake Shack, restaurateur Danny Meyer's perennially popular burger stand in Madison Square Park, open since 2004. Earlier this year, rumors had the opening date of the new restaurant, at 77th Street and Columbus Avenue, pegged to the beginning of October; now, mid-October seems more likely. When asked about opening dates throughout the summer, various figures at the Union... LEAH KOENIG http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/sharpening-youthful-skills-in-the-kitchen/86466/ Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Food and television fanatics take note: Earlier this summer, Bravo announced the development of "Top Chef Junior," a teenage-focused spin-off of its reality hit, "Top Chef." Hopeful contestants aged 13 to 16 will face off to prove that they can chop, sauté, and broil beyond their years, and best their competition. The show represents Bravo's latest attempt to cater to America's obsession with all things culinary. It also mirrors the growing acceptance of cooking as a respectable, and even... BRET THORN http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/kitchen-dish-archipelago-the-grand-tier-and-ellis/86467/ Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST ISLANDS IN THE STREAM Archipelago (333 Hudson St., between Vandam and Charlton streets, 212-243-3345) has its soft opening this week, starting tomorrow, for dinner only. The food is by chef Hisanobu Osaka, formerly of Morimoto, and is mostly nontraditional Japanese, but influences come from all over the place, such as France (seared duck breast and confit leg with orange-cumin glazed baby carrots, and shiitake duck jus) and Peru (squid seviche with red onions, pickled cherry tomato, nori, and... PAUL ADAMS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/sheridan-squares-go-round-ends-with-impressive/86007/ Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST The fast churn of the restaurant world can pack a lot of history into a short time. It was only last summer when I enjoyed Central Kitchen and its adjoining tapas bar, Tasca. Central Kitchen closed before I had a chance to commit my enjoyment to print, while Tasca survived only several more months. Sheridan Square replaced Central Kitchen in the space, with chef Gary Robins; I had one of his meals there before he left the position in July. Franklin Becker is now manning the kitchen at Sheridan... JASPER GERARD http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/marco-pierre-white-rises-from-the-ashes/86025/ Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Marco Pierre White vanished. At the very point when cooking became rock 'n' roll, the man who created the modern-day British phenomenon of the celebrity chef handed back his three Michelin stars in 1999 and went fishing. But although he quickly adapted to his second career as a country gentleman, he didn't find quiet anonymity entirely becoming. So, he has returned to prominence as the star of the British version of "Hell's Kitchen," which goes prime time on NBC next month with another... BRET THORN http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/kitchen-dish-double-crown-bussaco-and-tierra/86024/ Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST ASIAN FROM DOWN UNDER AvroKO, the design firm that owns Public restaurant, opened Double Crown (316 Bowery at Bleecker Street, 212-254-0350) earlier this week. Manning the kitchen is Australian chef de cuisine Chris Rendell, most recently of Mews of Mayfair in London, and the food is intended to reflect an intersection of British cuisine and the culinary customs of the Asian part of its former empire. Dishes included tandoori-marinated foie gras with Earl Grey prunes, and Singapore laksa with... PAUL ADAMS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/at-macondo-size-may-vary/85494/ Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST New York City's streets offer more than their share of miscellaneous food. But somehow, when used in a restaurant context, the words "street food" remain evocative. They conjure not boiled beef dogs and hot roasted nuts but a world of exotic, bargain-priced, authentic treats. Macondo is the latest restaurant to promise its customers the enchantment of pedestrian fare. The name comes from a town in Gabriel Garcia Márquez's magic-realist novel "One Hundred Years of Solitude," and accordingly, the... ROBERT SIMONSON http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/looking-at-new-yorks-liquid-past/85495/ Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST With new cocktail dens such as White Star and Apotheke opening every other week, modern cocktail history is being made on the streets of New York City, even as I write this sentence. But whatever delectable potions today's mixologists come up with, they have much to live up to. There are few cities that compete with Gotham when it comes to cocktail history. The revived cocktail culture of the 21st century has brought along with it a mini-boom of bibulous historians, turning once obscure... BRET THORN http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/kitchen-dish-bloomingdale-road-de-santos/85493/ Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST MILK AND CUPCAKES Magnolia Bakery's Upper West Side location (200 Columbus Ave. at 69th Street, 212-724-8101) has been certified kosher dairy through United Kosher Supervision by Rabbi Yaakov Spivak. UPPER WEST BLOOMS Remember chef Ed Witt from Varietal? He and restaurateur Jeremy Wladis (Nonna, Firehouse, Campo) have teamed up to open Bloomingdale Road (2398 Broadway at 88th Street, 212-874-7400) in the space that once was Aix. It opens today. The food focus is on shared plates, including six... PAUL ADAMS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/convivio-revamps-the-old-limpero/85055/ Wed, 3 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST 'Did you see him?" a customer at Convivio's copper-topped bar whispered excitedly to her companion. "Mario just walked by." She was referring to Michael White, the chef of this newly reconfigured restaurant, who does bear a certain resemblance, in shape and coloring, to his fellow Italian chef. L'Impero, whose dark staidness sat easily in hushed, clubby Tudor City, closed in June, and reopened shortly afterward with the same chef but with a new name, bright Mediterranean colors, and a menu that... BRET THORN http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/kitchen-dish-tong-num-pang-and-more/85057/ Wed, 3 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST BEYOND THAI ICED TEA Tong (39 E. 13th St., between University Place and Broadway, 212-253-2696), a Thai restaurant by chef Peter Pitakwong, formerly of Peep, is testing its menu on family and friends and plans to open this Friday. Specialties include a set northern-Thai-style lunch and nearly 40 different teas, all available with such sweeteners as chrysanthemum syrup and rose petal jelly. SLICE OF CAMBODIA The people behind Kampuchea Restaurant, chef Ratha Chau and partners Josh Marcus, Scott... JULIE WIENER http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/locavorism-from-across-the-pond/85056/ Wed, 3 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Some people might think that the local-foods revolution and obsession with ethical eating are a local (or at least domestic) phenomenon, one spearheaded by American personalities such as the former director of New York's Greenmarket, Nina Planck, author Michael Pollan, or restaurateur Alice Waters, and embraced by such big-name stores as Whole Foods Market. Meet Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, the face of British local eating, or locavorism, as it's currently known. Popular in Britain, Mr... BRET THORN http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/new-tables-new-tastes-this-autumn/85958/ Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST The country might be suffering through an economic downturn, but New York's restaurant operators do not seem to have noticed. The three months following Labor Day are traditionally the city's busiest season for restaurant openings, and this year is no exception. Of course, a restaurant is not truly open until it serves its first meal, and the dates for the debuts of these eateries are extremely approximate. But the roster below includes the owners' best guesses for when their doors will open... PETER HELLMAN http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/bridging-the-gap-between-summer-and-fall-wines/85975/ Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST If San Pellegrino water (with a twist of lime) was wine, I would have been in deep rehab during the waning summer days of late August. Summer is the time when I'm more eager to slice open a perfect Long Island tomato, or husk a just-picked ear of Hudson Valley corn, than to reach for a corkscrew. But here's an essential fact about wine: Like wardrobes, this liquid has its own seasons. It would be as out-of-kilter to pour a fleshy, alcoholic Chateauneuf-du-Pape or a wham-bang Australian Syrah in... REBECCA THOMAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/cold-creamy-beer-corn-and-wasabi/84734/ Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST "Not every flavor is for everybody, here." A co-owner of Max & Mina's, Bruce Becker, gestured toward one of his shop walls, where a menu of beer, corn, wasabi, sour cream, and lox reads more like a picnic or sushi menu than a list of ice cream confections. While locals in neighboring Flushing appear to have fallen under the low-calorie spell of Pinkberry and Red Mango — the competing frozen yogurt chains opened last year within a few doors of each other on Roosevelt Avenue near Main Street... PAUL ADAMS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/socarrat-takes-a-secure-attitude-toward-tapas/84672/ Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST The popularity of tapas has led to an escalation of sorts, with "pan-Asian tapas" and the like on the one hand, and ever more strenuously authentic Spanish tapas on the other hand. To judge by the press releases, New York chefs are endlessly, tirelessly junketing to the farthest reaches of Andalusia to learn the real, truest way of stewing a cuttlefish in its own ink, or olive-oiling a white anchovy. Socarrat, on West 19th Street, feels like a pleasant step off the more-authentic-than-thou... BRET THORN http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/kitchen-dish-black-iron-burger-clo-shortys32/84673/ Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST BURGER WAIT Owner Jason Hennings said on Monday his Black Iron Burger Shop (540 E. 5th St., between Avenues A and B, 212-677-6067), originally slotted to open last April, will probably open tonight — but maybe not until tomorrow night. Phone calls to the restaurant yesterday went unanswered. DRINKS-DOCTORS The world of New York cocktail aficionados is abuzz with the anticipated opening of Apothéke (9 Doyers St., between Pell Street and Bowery, 212-406-0400), scheduled to begin serving on... NANCY DAVIDSON http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/tea-to-the-iced-degree/84676/ Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST In 1992, Miriam Novalle opened the T Salon, a combination retail store, tearoom, and innovative, modern sushi bar that revolutionized the way many New Yorkers thought about tea. It was neither frumpy and cozy nor as formal as a white-gloved hotel tea service. There was room for both a quick casual cup and a proper afternoon tea, replete with tea sandwiches, scones, and clotted cream. Because of a dispute over the lease, the original T Salon moved from the Guggenheim Museum SoHo to a location at... PAUL ADAMS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/kafana-takes-on-momofukus-attitude/84194/ Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST There is a breed of trendy restaurant where one gets the sense that the chef thinks he or she was the first to discover meat. The group of Momofuku establishments, which serve dozens of pork-exalting dishes to a young clientele that seems unendingly starry-eyed about them, is a prime example. I see Kafana as a response to this breed of restaurant. Is Kafana newly opened? Check. In a hip neighborhood? Check. Glorifying meat? Deliciously. But there's nothing sassy about the little rustic bistro... NANCY DAVIDSON http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/spiaggias-tony-mantuano-serves-new-cuisine-at/84195/ Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Gourmets and tennis fans might have different perspectives on tennis's last Grand Slam of the year. What does an epicure think of the U.S. Open? From the mouth of executive chef Michael Lockard of Levy Restaurants, the company that oversees the food service at the U.S. Open: "It's a big food event, and they play tennis here, too," he says, only half-joking. The spectacle at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, running from Monday through September 7... JAYANTHI DANIEL http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/unofficially-curry-curry-serves-indian-at-open/84196/ Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST The banner that hangs underneath the awning of Midtown East's Curry & Curry might be just a little misleading: "Official Caterers for US Open Tennis 2008," it boldly proclaims. The term "official," at least for the U.S. Open, is reserved for sponsors, according to a publicity associate with the United States Tennis Association, Kristen Clonan. Curry & Curry, which is found on East 33rd Street, between Lexington and Third avenues, doesn't happen to be a sponsor — but it will be the only vendor... BRET THORN http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/kitchen-dish-home-beca-thor-and-more/84199/ Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST BACK FOR MORE Home (20 Cornelia St., between Bleecker and 4th streets, 212-243-9579) is scheduled to reopen tomorrow after several months of renovations. The 15-year-old restaurant has a new kitchen and a giant garden that is heated and open year-round. Late-summer small plates on the menu include fried green tomatoes with tomato-apricot chutney, as well as baby spinach-and-frisée salad with duck prosciutto, grilled peaches, dry-aged goat cheese, and sherry vinaigrette. Among the large plates... ERIN LINDHOLM http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/theres-something-fishy-about-these-usb-drives/83724/ Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST The market for USB flash drives is an ever-expanding universe of novelty. New casings — using colorful, translucent plastics, or rhinestone bling, or even bulletproof materials — dramatically improve upon that monotone silver-gray color ubiquitous to electronic devices. Some drives have abandoned rectangular casings altogether in favor of nostalgic shapes, such as teddy bears and rubber duckies. And then there are the edibles: A Japanese company, Solid Alliance, has gadget geeks drooling with... BRET THORN http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/kitchen-dish-allegretti-vintage-irving-and-a-new/83734/ Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST THE NAMESAKE Alain Allegretti, the former executive chef of Atelier at the Ritz-Carlton Central Park and Le Cirque 2000, opened his own restaurant on Monday. Allegretti (46 W. 22nd St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-206-0555) reflects on the cuisine of Provence, where the chef grew up, featuring dishes such as red snapper with toasted pine nuts and saffron broth; tagliolini with baby cuttlefish, cherry tomato, and almond pesto, and roasted Colorado lamb loin with spinach and ricotta... PETER HELLMAN http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/staking-out-brooklyn-turf-for-a-winery/83735/ Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST The drab ex-factory building on Dobbins Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, is an unlikely command post for a bold, one-woman foray into urban winemaking. But that's where, in a small second-floor office with a single ivy-covered window, ex-engineer Alie Shaper is advancing on her goal of creating a full-scale urban winery in her home borough. It's grandly called Brooklyn Oenology, and its first releases of white and red wines can already be found at a range of local shops, including Blanc et Rouge... PAUL ADAMS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/powerful-flavor-reported-in-alphabet-city/83736/ Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST One little spot on Avenue A, which seems to be perpetually shaded by sidewalk scaffolding, has housed a series of restaurants in just a few years. The latest occupant, Yerba Buena, is completely unassuming from the passerby's view, but packs a ton of excitement into the small space. To the constant icy rhythm of cocktails being shaken — excellent $11 drinks devised by Artemio Vasquez — the staff weaves among close-set dark wood tables, plying customers with complex, vigorous pan-Latin food... JAYANTHI DANIEL http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/a-sweet-rock-experiment/83253/ Wed, 6 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST After walking down an aisle filled with environmentally friendly baby diapers and beige and pink clothing of organic cottons, a regular shopper at the newest Whole Foods Market, on Warren Street, finds herself facing a wall that holds a new row of lever-operated dispensers filled with nothing but rock sugars, from small chunks of white sugar to sizable jewels of blue and brown sugars. Not only do the plastic dispensers, outfitted with a spout at the bottom for filling paper bags, offer more... PAUL ADAMS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/a-rising-son-forges-ahead/83254/ Wed, 6 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST New York is not a dynastic restaurant city in the way that some are. Here, in the competitive thick of things, culinary institutions that last beyond a generation are more likely to be bargain ethnic gems than high-end palaces. But Forgione, a name that conjures remembrances of the highest of the city's eating echelons, is a name that is now being carried forward with distinction. Larry Forgione opened An American Place in 1983, popularizing the now-ubiquitous mantra of regional, seasonal... BRET THORN http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/kitchen-dish/83255/ Wed, 6 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST View Larger Map BARBECUE FROM AFAR Braai is a South African term for barbecue, and it is also the name of a restaurant scheduled to open on Saturday in Hell's Kitchen (329 W. 51st St., between Eighth and Ninth avenues, 212-315-3315). One focus will be specialty meats: The owners, who also run Xai Xai Winebar on the same block, are working on getting South African springbok, a type of antelope, for the menu. But in the meantime, they are featuring ostrich, as well as South African lobster tails... BRET THORN http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/kitchen-dish-a-rethink-for-borough-food-drink/82845/ Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST ALL MORNING, ALL NIGHT Bún (143 Grand St., between Lafayette and Crosby streets, 212-431-7900) tried to offer 24-hour service in the past without success, but it is trying it again, starting this Friday. Breakfast items, served from midnight to 11 a.m., include pandan pancakes; sticky rice with Chinese pork sausages, and duck confit with daikon pancake, duck egg, and red vinegar soy sauce. MORE SSÄM, MORE FUN Momofuku Ssäm Bar (207 Second Ave. at 13th Street, 212-254-3500) is taking over the... PAUL ADAMS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/why-leave-the-flavor-downtown/82846/ Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST King Phojanakong creates terrific, inventive plates at his Lower East Side hideaway Kuma Inn. The most recognizable culinary influences there come from the Philippines and Thailand, but flavors from all over make welcome cameo stints. The chef has no shortage of talent or ideas, and, over the years, I've had nothing but praise for him. So it's hard not to feel a little insulted, as an uptown-dweller, that the cooking at his new restaurant, Talay, aims so low. The restaurant options on this... ROBERT SIMONSON http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/the-best-gin-for-a-summer-elixir/82847/ Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Before the mojito, before the caipirinha, the gin and tonic reigned supreme as a hot-weather drink, quenching summertime thirsts at taverns and backyard parties the world over. Born of practicality — the quinine in the tonic once helped combat malaria in the British Empire, while the gin made it easier for authorities to throw the bitter elixir down people's throats — it survived simply as a delectable liquid marriage. Although more complicated drinks might be the tipples of choice for today's... CHARLOTTE COWLES http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/topping-off-with-the-right-tonic/82848/ Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST While tonic water has been consumed since 1825 to ward off malaria, artisanal brands have been creeping into the market for the past few years. Beverage companies such as Q Tonic, Stirrings, and Fever-Tree replace the high-fructose corn syrup and artificial flavorings used by soft-drink giants, such as Canada Dry or Seagram's, with ingredients such as organic agave syrup, cane sugar, and fruit and flower oils. Tonic water gains its name from the antidotal qualities of its main ingredient... PAUL ADAMS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/hundred-acres-is-miles-better-the-second-time/82422/ Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST When Marc Meyer and Vicki Freeman took over the old SoHo favorite Provence, they kept the name but imbued the space with a dark louche-ness ill-suited to the sunny Provençal cuisine. The food, in turn, wasn't bright enough to penetrate the sleaze and rescue the restaurant. Now, though, they've reworked and renamed it Hundred Acres, and have refreshed the menu with the source-conscious, "farm-forward" style of cooking with which they've had great success at Cookshop. The transformation is a... BRET THORN http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/kitchen-dish-ammos-spawns-a-new-market-and-more/82423/ Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST ALL IN ONE The owners of Ammos will be opening a new restaurant, bar, and gourmet market at the Helena this fall. Hudson Café Market (601 W. 57th St. at Eleventh Avenue) will occupy 4,300 square feet of the luxury rental building on ground level, and another 2,300 square feet downstairs. Ammos chef David Ogren will be in charge of the "contemporary American comfort food" that will be served there. SIDELONG GLANCE Restaurateur Michael Sinensky of Village Pourhouse, Proof Bar & Lounge, Hudson... ROBERT SIMONSON http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/from-mexico-to-india-the-wine-way/82424/ Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Leo Barrera, the wine director at Tabla, Danny Meyer's temple to Indian cuisine, was born into the hospitality business. His family owned hotels first in Acapulco, Mexico, where he was born, and then in Cancun. Growing up, he was a south-of-the-border version of Eloise. "Until my teenage years, I resided in hotels," he said. He was not, however, born into a world where wine held great sway. "We don't really drink wines," he said of his native Mexico. "We have a small wine industry in Baja. But... BRET THORN http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/kitchen-dish/81943/ Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST DO OVER L'Impero was renamed Convivio (45 Tudor City Place at 42nd Street, 212-599-5045) on Monday, and the restaurant's cuisine has changed from northern Italian to southern. The prices have come down, too, with a four-course prix fixe for $59 at dinner and $49 at lunch. Michael White is still the chef. The room has been redesigned by Vicente Wolf to look more relaxed — with orange banquettes — but the tables remain dressed in white tablecloths. MENU PAGES The team behind Rayuela — the... NANCY DAVIDSON http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/local-restaurants-reinvent-the-aperitivi/81944/ Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST In the 1860s, at a bar in Milan, Italy, Gaspare Campari — the inventor of his namesake bittersweet herb and botanical-fortified wine — created a cocktail composed of one part Campari, one part red vermouth, and a splash of club soda with an orange-peel garnish. The drink was particularly popular among American tourists in Italy during Prohibition, and became known as the Americano. In New York, mixologists at upscale Italian restaurants are reinventing aperitivi (liquors or cocktails meant to... PAUL ADAMS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/scott-conants-scarpetta-a-memorable-space-a-meal/81957/ Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST The last time I went to the Village Idiot, I splurged: $6 for a pitcher of beer and $1 to cue up Willie Nelson on the jukebox. I knew it would be my last visit to the honky-tonk, the victim of a rent increase. I didn't guess, however, that soon I'd be back in the same space, nibbling foie-gras dumplings at a mahogany bar. Scarpetta is the latest upscale Italian restaurant by chef Scott Conant, known for simple, luxurious cooking at L'Impero and Alto. A scarpetta is what we call a sop, a hunk of... IRA STOLL http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/in-cobble-hill-a-battle-of-the-scoop-sales/81958/ Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Under the hot summer sun, an ice cream war is breaking out in the unlikely venue of Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. First, Sweet Melissa Patisserie, a coffee and pastry shop, expanded into the building next door and opened what it called Sweet Melissa Cremerie. Then, right across the street, The Chocolate Room opened, promoting its own homemade ice cream. Both are siblings of Park Slope establishments, though neither the Seventh Avenue Sweet Melissa nor the Fifth Avenue Chocolate Room is known for ice... LEAH KOENIG http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/new-yorks-food-trucks-are-on-a-roll/81824/ Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:49:52 EST Last summer, a Belgian man named Thomas De Geest piqued the city's curiosity when he started selling authentic Belgian waffles and toppings called dinges — literally, "things" — to hungry passersby out of a bright yellow and red truck. Almost simultaneously, he was joined on the streets by the Treats Truck and the Dessert Truck, two separate companies that sold homemade desserts-on-wheels. Devoted customers — and a hoard of food Web loggers — followed, ushering in a new era of food trucks in... BRET THORN http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/kitchen-dish/81478/ Wed, 9 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST THAI KING Taweewat Hurapan is now the chef of Asiana Restaurant & Bar (120 E. 34th St., between Park and Lexington avenues, 212-725-7666). Mr. Hurapan is a native of Thailand, and was on that country's Olympic fencing team in 1972 and 1976. He later became a fencing coach at City College of New York before changing careers. He has been in and out of the kitchens of Rain over the past decade, and also had a restaurant of his own, Hurapan Kitchen in the West Village, which opened in late 2006 and... PETER HELLMAN http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/nectar-wine-bar-brings-downtown-vibe-to-harlem/81479/ Wed, 9 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST In the beginning, there was only Harlem Vintage. Nestled into a new-wave apartment building on Frederick Douglass Boulevard, it opened four years ago and was a pioneering wine shop in an area where buying wine or alcohol usually meant pushing your money through a hole in bulletproof glass. But the cash register at Harlem Vintage, far from being protected, sits openly on a low counter, whose transparent top is inset with an intricate pattern of oak leaves. More important, what gets rung up here... PAUL ADAMS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/cafe-society-suffers-from-a-mixed-bag-menu/81480/ Wed, 9 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Its name bespeaks sophistication, its neon sign competes with the fashionable Coffee Shop across the street, but Cafe Society feels like a restaurant desperately in search of a personality. Deco-pink walls, mirrored columns, and Warhol-print banquettes collide in an awkward interior that seems to grasp ambitiously for both comfort and glamour and achieve neither. Much as the restaurant fails to settle into one social niche or another, customers can meander among mediocre representatives of... HENRY SAMUEL http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/french-willing-to-try-screw-caps/81481/ Wed, 9 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST PARIS — The familiar sound of corks popping may soon be consigned to history as French wines start dropping the traditional cork for the screw cap. While New World wines have been sealed with screw caps for years — with up to 90% of New Zealand wines and 60% of Australian bottles using them — the French have been far more reluctant to change their ways. But according to one wine expert, two of the world's top names — Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in Burgundy, whose bottles can sell for tens of... ADAM GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/chestnut-wins-hot-dog-contest-after-eat-off/81256/ Fri, 4 Jul 2008 14:41:21 EST Joey Chestnut reclaimed the top spot at the annual hot dog eating contest in Coney Island on Friday after first tying with archrival Takeru Kobayashi in a 10-minute chow-down and then beating him in a five-dog eat-off. The men tied at 59 frankfurters in 10 minutes, before being made to gobble another five dogs in a last-minute tiebreaker. They consumed 64 hot dogs total and were looking quite peaked after the competition. Mr. Kobayashi had hoped to reclaim the throne after a disappointing... BRET THORN http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/kitchen-dish-china-1-countrys-steakhouse/81102/ Wed, 2 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST VERITABLE MOVE A protégé of Joël Robuchon, Grégory Pugin, is the new chef at Veritas (43 E. 20th St., between Broadway and Park Avenue South, 212-353-3700). In other Véritas news, starting Monday, the restaurant will be open from 3-5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, as well as during normal mealtime hours, serving light dishes and wine. NEW ANTIQUES Malik Fall is the new executive chef of the recently renamed China 1 Antique Restaurant and Lounge (950 Ave. B at 4th Street, 212-375-0665). The... PETER HELLMAN http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/new-gourmet-hot-dogs-make-their-way-to-the-market/81103/ Wed, 2 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST From her childhood in Gascony to motherhood in New York, food maven Ariane Daguin long kept her distance from hot dogs and all the unknowable things within them. "I just told people that it's better not to eat them," she said in a telephone interview. No longer. Just in time for the grilling season, D'Artagnan, the Newark-based purveyor of traditional French-style luxury foods owned by Ms. Daguin, has introduced a new line of hot dogs with aspirations to artisanal status. Along with versions...