SAVORING SCIENCE WD-50 (50 Clinton St., between Stanton and Rivington streets, 212-477-2900) is getting a new pastry chef. Alex Stupak, an innovative 26-year-old, is coming from Chicago, probably at the end of July. Mr. Stupak is currently the pastry chef of the critically acclaimed Alinea restaurant, where he has invented savory dishes as well as desserts.

Like WD-50’s chef-owner, Wylie Dufresne, Mr. Stupak is a practitioner of molecular gastronomy, in which unconventional ingredients and techniques – often borrowed from the world of food science – are used to give new flavors and textures to food.

For example, at Alinea, he used a gum called sodium alginate to make cinnamon breath strips, to be eaten before an apple pie dessert. He also used it to make semi-solid globules of sunflower seed soup, which he dropped into a bowl of porcini mushroom soup.

But he will not be copying Alinea’s dishes at WD-50. What he will dream up there is anybody’s guess.

OFF THE MAINLAND Brian Young is no longer the executive chef at Mainland (1081 Third Ave., between 63rd and 64th streets, 212-888-6333). A spokeswoman for the owners did not give a specific reason for his departure, but, describing Mr. Young as “not particularly warm and fuzzy,” she said his leaving was “not by his choice.” No immediate successor was named.

EYE ON THE LINE If the crowds at Shake Shack (southeast corner of Madison Square Park, Madison Avenue and 23rd Street, 212-889-6600) have been keeping you from sampling the burgers and milk shakes there, you can now see just how long that line is without venturing out into the summer heat. Union Square Hospitality Group, which owns Shake Shack, launched the Shack Cam last weekend so you can look at the line from your computer screen. Visit shakeshacknyc.com and click on the Live Shack Cam window.

BIG BLUE The Hideaway (185 Duane St., between Hudson and Greenwich streets, 212-334-5775)is offering Maryland-style blue crabs – on Monday nights through Labor Day.

Maryland Blue Crab Night features three oversized blue crabs – flown in on ice from Maryland that morning – for $19. Eight jumbo spicy peel-and-eat shrimp are $25. Two ears of corn on the cob are $4, fries are $5. A pint of Samuel Adams Summer Ale is available for $5.

MORE HERRING Dutch nieuwe maatjesherring is still available at the Grand Central Oyster Bar (Grand Central Terminal, 89 E. 42nd St., near Vanderbilt Avenue, 212-490-6650), and tomorrow, it is being paired with Dutch beer for Friends of Heineken night. From 6 to 8 p.m., you can enjoy a Heineken Borreluurje special. That is a plate of herring, another one of Dutch meatballs, or bitterballen, and a pint of Heineken or Heineken Light for $10, plus tax and tip. The restaurant also will hold a grand prize drawing for two tickets to Amster-Jam, a concert sponsored by Heineken, plus dinner for two on the night of the concert.

Mr. Thorn is food editor of Nation’s Restaurant News. He can be reached at bthorn@nrn.com.