Kitchen Dish
FRIARS COME FULL CIRQUE The Friars Club (57 E. 55th St., between Park and Madison avenues, 212-751-7272), long known for the sort of "roasts" in which the guests of honor are lampooned, has new chefs. The members-only club that caters to people in the entertainment industry has hired Alain Allegretti and Jason Kallert as co-executive chefs. Mr. Allegretti was executive chef of Le Cirque 2000, and Mr. Kallert most recently was executive sous chef of Le Cirque.
FIRE IN THE HOUSE Sheridan Square (138 Seventh Ave. S. at 10th Street, 212-352-2237), chef Gary Robins's latest culinary stage, opened last week. Mr. Robins — who gained acclaim in New York at the Biltmore Room and later at the Russian Tea Room — and his staff are making much of the dining room's exhibition wood-burning oven and grill, serving whole red snapper for two and anise-scented, crisped Long Island duck breast. Among the appetizers is a marjoram-scented roasted Vermont quail with a risotto of spring peas, onions, blond morels, and apple-smoked bacon.
TRIBECA SCOOP Duane Park (157 Duane St., between West Broadway and Hudson Street, 212-732-5555) has opened an ice cream shop next door. Griff's Gelati, named for owner Marisa Ferrarin's dog, is selling ice cream, sorbets, and frozen yogurt, with flavors changing weekly. Among them are black walnut-fudge, Devonshire clotted cream, peanut butter-malted milk ball, and banana-caramel yogurt.
GIVING HELP In response to the earthquake that recently devastated Sichuan province in China, Rickshaw Dumpling Bar (61 W. 23rd St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-924-9220, and 53 E. 8th St., between Broadway and University Place, 212-461-1750) is donating $1 of every order of its Szechuan chicken dumplings (six for $5.55) to Red Cross disaster-relief efforts there.
"This is the first time I have been moved to do something like this and I really hope we have a great turnout of support," the owner of Rickshaw, Kenny Lao, said.
FORWARD FOOD Avant-garde chef Wylie Dufresne of WD-50 will be teaming up with French television chef Julie Andrieu and David Zuddas of Generation C in Lyon, France, this September in a two-day program at the French Institute Alliance Française (22 E. 60th St. at Madison Avenue, 646-355-6100). "Food Futures" will be part of a broader contemporary cultural festival and promises — in fine French fashion — to "examine new modes of thinking and approaches to food ... originating in France and New York."
Exact details are still being worked out, but the event will be on Saturday and Sunday, September 27 and 28.
EASTERN PROMISES There are now at least two restaurants in Manhattan for diners in search of pljeskavica. The Balkan version of a hamburger has been on the menu at Employees Only since January, and is now at Kafana (116 Ave. C, between 7th and 8th streets, 212-353-8000), a new Serbian restaurant. Also on the eatery's menu are a pie-of-the-day appetizer, walnut-stuffed prunes wrapped in bacon, and traditional baked beans with peasant sausage.
AFTERNOON MEOW The Red Cat (227 Tenth Ave., between 23rd and 24th streets, 212-242-1122) is now open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 2:30 p.m. Along with burgers, the menu includes chicken-fried chicken livers with wild mushrooms, sautéed fish cake with green papaya salad, and the restaurant's signature tempura green beans.
Mr. Thorn is food editor of Nation's Restaurant News. He maintains nrnfoodwriter.blogspot.com.
