Food and Things » restaurant openings

Upper West Side Restaurants: Cafe des Artistes To Reopen; Smoke Jazz Club Features Corn Chowder

Laura Weiss — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 20:38:06 +0000

Cafe-des-Artistes. Photo by sjmcdonough via flickr.

Recent Upper West Side restaurant news:

The venerable Cafe des Artistes will reopen around February or March as an Italian restaurant; the interior will remain mostly untouched, says the new owner Gianfranco Sorentino (WSJ)

Smoke Jazz Club’s chef Patricia Williams has been preparing some fine corn chowder, reports The Times.

Upper West Side: Restaurant Openings and Closings, Tavern on the Green, Mama Mexico, Gina La Fornarina, and Robert

Laura Weiss — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 12:00:03 +0000

The new year has marked the closing of the venerable Tavern on the Green. But the restaurant scene is constantly evolving, and there are some new places to talk about. Here’s a roundup of recent Upper West Side restaurant activity:

Restaurant Gina La Fornarina. Photo: Westside Independent.

Mama Mexico declared bankruptcy. The recession as well as reported non-payment of taxes apparently led to the bankruptcy filing. (Crain’s via Myupperwest)

Italian restaurant Gina La Fornarina has opened at the corner of 73rd Street and Amsterdam. Take a peek at the menu here. (via Westside Independent)

The Westside Independent reports that Museum of Art and Design in Columbus Circle has unveiled a new restaurant, dubbed Rober t, with windows overlooking Central Park. The eatery, which features Mediterranean-inspired dishes and is open for lunch and dinner, claims it’s “sexy and romantic.” Valentine’s Day, anyone?

New York Magazine in its “Where to Eat” feature, gave short shrift to Upper West Side spots. But the magazine did gush about West Branch’s cheddar-topped burger.

Restaurant Opening: Big Daddy’s to Open Branch on the Upper West Side in Early 2010

Laura Weiss — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:30:01 +0000

Big Daddy’s, the chainlet of popular 80′s retro-style eateries, is opening a new Upper West Side outlet on Broadway and 91st Street in early 2010.

Big Daddy's, Upper West Side. Photo: Laura Weiss

The opening of the 150-seat restaurant is slated for January or February, said Caki Zamoiski, marketing rep for the casual family-friendly eateries, with existing locales in Gramercy and on the Upper East Side. Offering a menu of diner-style favorites, ranging from pancakes and burgers to sundaes and shakes, the place is often crowded with families with children.

What prompted Big Daddy’s move to the Upper West Side? The area’s improving shopping and dining environment for one, said Zamoiski. She pointed to the arrival of retail magnets like Whole Foods and the Apple Store as indicative of the area’s evolving retail climate.

“It’s definitely an up and coming neighborhood,” said Zamoiski. “There’s been a lot of development with Whole Foods and the new Apple Store.”

Another bonus: the abundance of families with young children on the Upper West Side.

But family restaurants and diners abound up and down Broadway. Big Daddy’s will be facing competition from long-established casual eateries—including City Diner, situated directly across Broadway from Big Daddy’s new locale. Numerous other family dining establishments—from diners to pizza joints—dot Broadway as well.

Still, Zamoiski said Big Daddy’s isn’t concerned about the competition.

The restaurant “is a good fit” for the neighborhood, she insisted.

As for City Diner, its manager, Mel Meletiou, expressed some concern about the arrival of the new eatery across the street.

City Diner: Photo: Laura Weiss

“We’re always concerned,” he said. “Anything that opens up next to you, we’re concerned.”

As for future expansion plans, Big Daddy’s—parent company Branded Restaurants USA also operates City Crab and Duke’s—has its eye on Times Square for its next location. Going national may be in the works as well, said Zamoiski .

Upper West Side Restaurant News: Academia del Vino Opens; Dovetail Expands; Recipe Gets Some Respect

Laura Weiss — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:16:37 +0000

Academia di Vino Opens up On Broadway. Upper East Side wine bar Academia di Vino has moved into the space at 2427 Broadway that was occupied by Docks, the neighborly seafood house that closed earlier this year. (212 787 3070)

Dovetail closes for renovations. The New York Times reports that Dovetail, the inventive American spot on 77th Street will reopen Nov. 6 with an expanded bar and dining room. (212 362 3800).

Recipe Gets Solid Review. Tme Out New York gave a solid thumbs up to Recipe, the downtownish farm-to-table restaurant on Columbus Avenue between 81st and 82nd streets. Discerning Upper West Siders had already discovered the barnyardy 26-seat eatery with its recycled wood-paneled walls, where the menu features sophisticated locavore dishes like a luscious seared Hudson Valley Duck breast and savory Oven Roasted halibut. (212 501 7755)

Upper West Side: Community Food and Juice Reopens Today

Laura Weiss — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:39:13 +0000

Upper West Side restaurant Community Food and Juice reopens. Photo: Community Food and Juice.

Calling all Upper West Side brunch-goers—upper Broadway restaurant Community Food and Juice reopened today. The restaurant’s been closed for months due to a devastating fire. Today, it was packed, so it probably pays to get on line early for their popular Sunday brunch.

Kolache Mama Come To NY and Serves Up Knish-Type Pastry

Laura Weiss — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:00:31 +0000

If you want to eat Eastern European but are sick of the same old knishes and bagels, then chase down the kolache, a new nosh just now hitting New York.

What’s a Kolache you ask? The kolache [pronounced kuh‐LA‐chee ] is a type of sweet yeast-risen fresh-baked dough filled with savory ingredients like spinach and feta, or sweet fillings like lemon curd.

The people at Kolache Mama, who have just opened their first store at 45 E. 45th Street, will tell you it’s the new bagel.It also looks a bit like an open-face knish, which isn’t all that surprising given its Eastern European origins.

So how do these new snacks, priced at an affordable $2.99, taste? Would you be tempted to trade a slice of pizza, not to mention a bagel, for a kolache? With tasty fillings like spinach and feta and tomato and mozzarella, the round pastries make for a relatively healthful and filling snack. As for the bread casing, it boasts the heft of a hamburger roll and the mildly sweet taste and texture of a slice of Pepperidge Farm white bread.

Maybe that familiar white bread taste and feel is why folks from America’s heartland—from Minnesota to Texas—crave the pastry. So popular is the kolache in the nation’s mid-section that Prague, Oklahoma; Caldwell, Texas; and East Bernard, Texas hold annual kolache festivals.

Kolache Mama will offer 25 varieties, including a a “Combo Nosh” with hummus, tabbouleh, tzatziki and sirachi sauce and sweet offerings made with ingredients like apples and chocolate ganache.

Kolache Moma plans to open additional outlets in New York soon.

If you try one one of these pastries, let me know how you like it.

Chock Full o’Nuts To Bring Back Nutted Cheese Sandwiches

Laura Weiss — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:00:36 +0000

New Yorkers love their sandwiches. There are fans of pastrami on rye. There’s the ban minh crowd. Subs bursting with cold cuts have their partisans, too.

Photo: Chock fullonuts.com

But, the best sandwich of all, hands down, is the Chock Full o’ Nuts “nutted” cheese sandwich. Sadly, this little snack disappeared when in the 1970s, the company decided to close down its coffee shops and focus on beverages instead.

But, happy day! Chock Full o’ Nuts has just announced that it will be opening a full service restaurant in the space on 23rd Street recently occupied by the Comfort Diner, according to a report from Crain’s New York Business. Why am I excited? The restaurant chain will be bringing back its divine cream cheese and nut sandwich.

Back in the day, Chock full o’ Nuts was where you’d go for lunch with your mother after a back to school shopping trip.You’d perch on a stool at the counter. And if your mother was like my mother, there was only one thing she’d suggest that you order—that divine nuts and cheese sandwich. It’s two pieces of raisin bread enclosing a mixture of cream cheese and chopped nuts. Yum!

There’s no announcement yet of when exactly the resurrected eatery will open. When it does, I’ll be first in line.

Chef Ed Brown Talks About Upper West Side Dining, His New Chowder House, and the Economic Downturn

Laura Weiss — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:00:32 +0000

With the opening today of Ed’s Chowder House in the Empire Hotel near Lincoln Center, Chef Ed Brown will be dishing up the seafood equivalent of comfort food.

A year ago, Brown, who lives on the Upper West Side with his wife and two sons, opened Eighty One, a Michelin-starred eatery on 81st Street across from the Museum of

Photo: Chef Ed Brown

Natural History. That was during the boom times. Now, with the economy sputtering, Brown is turning, at the Chowder House, to familiar favorites from the sea, from crab cakes and a raw bar to whole fish—all of which are aimed at being easy on the wallet.

Meanwhile, at Eighty One, Brown has re-engineered the menu in a nod to the economic downturn. In addition to the eatery’s classic dishes, there’s a $30.81 two course “eco(nomy)-friendly” menu. Another $8.10 gets you an additional appetizer. And when Eighty One’s Library space isn’t being used for private parties, it becomes a no-reservations casual spot with items like Buffalo wings and burgers.

Brown talked recently to Laura Weiss of Food and Things about his new ventures, the state of dining on the Upper West Side, and the economy’s impact on New York dining.

LW: I hear that Eighty One has changed its menu in response to economic downturn.

EB: It’s not changed. I’ve increased the amount of different types of offerings. There’s the original program, the basic ala carte with great stuff based on great ingredients with interesting preparations. We’ve also added an eco(nomy)-friendly menu. The third thing we have going is 81 Grill. There are no reservations. It’s only open on nights I don’t have a private party in the Library. We put paper on the tables and installed a 65-inch television.

LW: The food must be different at that lower price point.

EB: It’s not different in style. There’s zucchini risotto, slow roasted chicken with cracked wheat, scallop ravioli with a yellow wine sauce.

LW: I assume the recession hasn’t been great for business.

Photo: Eighty One

EB: Absolutely. We still do a fairly good business on the regular program but it just wasn’t enough to make it successful. I wholeheartedly believe it’s about the economy and not about the restaurant. If I could do the numbers I did the first 6 months, we’d be fine.

LW: What about being located on the Upper West Side? People look down their noses at the dining scene here.

EB: If I agreed with that I wouldn’t have opened Eighty One. I still believe strongly that the Upper West Side has some of the most cultured food savvy people in the city. There are plenty of people with disposable income who want to eat out. I tried to build a beautiful place, but not one that’s fancy. I built a grown up restaurant. It’s not noisy. We don’t rush you.

LW: People call the Upper West Side the suburbs.

EB: This is not the place for the 25-year-old hipster crowd. Frankly, I’m not looking for that crowd. I’m not offering hip trend, I’m offering a place to come and dine and relax.

LW: Why aren’t there more high-end restaurants up here?

EB: The biggest reason is that people don’t have the resources or the stomach to make the investment. I’ve made a huge investment in this restaurant. That took a lot of guts. I going to do everything I can to see it through. It was a platform for Ed Brown on his own.

LW: What’s your favorite dish?

EB: Risotto with arugula pesto.

LW: And at home, what do you cook?

EB: We eat a lot of what I call the Sunday Special, pasta with clams and some sort of white flesh fish.

LW: So why now a seafood place?

EB: The only reason I’m doing that deal is that I was asked to do that deal with Jeffrey Chodorow. What was needed on the Upper West Side was a restaurant with accessible items and price structures. I agreed and said I’d do it. There’s nothing on the menu where you won’t be sure what it will be.

LW: What’s the future for the restaurant business in New York? Is the day of the high-priced glitzy eateries over?

EB: I’m in the camp that the adjusted style and philosophy of dining will be here for awhile. I don’t dislike it. I’m using the same proteins. I’m not using any lesser quality ingredients. I just shaved off luxury ingredients. I’ve reduced the fois gras and caviar I use. I’m also making my margins even smaller. The check average today is smaller. It’s gone from $89 per person to $69 per person.

LB: And what about you? What’s the future look like?

EB: I’m absolutely am hanging on. I think we have a good plan. I’m very well backed. We’ll continue to keep it alive. I don’t think the economy is close to all better but there’s a positive perception that the economy is better. People are still going out. We just have to be smart and creative how we attract that market to our door.

Ed’s Chowder House
Empire Hotel
44 West 63rd Street, at Broadway
212-956-1288
www.chinagrillmgt.com

Eighty One
45 West 81 Street
New York, NY
212 873 8181

Upper West Side: Tavern on the Green Owner Chosen; A Voce Moves to the Neighborhood

Laura Weiss — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:47:22 +0000

Photo: by Rachel from Cupcakes Take the Cake via flickr

Just as Cafe des Artistes was shuttered, two other restaurants announced new operations on the Upper West Side this week.

The owners of the Central Park Boathouse said they were taking over Tavern on the Green, the Central Park eatery better known for its surroundings than for its food. As the Westside Independent noted about the eatery, typically clogged with tourists: “Tavern on the Green’s food has never been its selling point — it scored an anemic 15 in Zagat last year and was called by one reviewer ‘more spectacle than restaurant.’ The Boathouse scored just one point better, and likewise draws visitors with its setting.”

A Voce, the Italian eatery in Gramercy, will be opening its Time Warner outpost Sept. 18 with a separate chef and menu.

Tavern on the Green

Central Park & W 67th St

New York, NY 10023

212 873 3200

A Voce

Time Warner Center

10 Columbus Circle

212 823 2523

Upper West Side: Hummus Place Opens on Broadway

Laura Weiss — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:23:28 +0000

Are you yearning for some Middle Eastern grub? Hummus Place has just opened a branch at 2608 Broadway, between 98th and 99th streets. Yelpers generally give the spot generally high marks. I’ve eaten at the one on Amsterdam between 74th and 75th, but honestly, I can’t remember what the food was like.

If you present the coupon they mailed out recently, Hummus Place is offering a free appetizer with an order of hummus for $5.95, good until Sept. 30.

Anyone have any opinions about this place?