• Up next for Red Cat and Harrison owner Jimmy Bradley: An eatery at the forthcoming Nolitan hotel with Red Cat chef Bill McDaniel in the kitchen. [NYT]
• The team behind Dutch Kills in LIC are prepping a tiki bar on the LES. [F&W]
• Montenapo, the restaurant in the New York Times building, has closed. [GS]
• Danny…
• The week in reviews: Sam Sifton of the Times pronounces Madangsui the best Korean BBQ in Manhattan and gives it one star; the Post's Steve Cuozzo isn't all that impressed with Le Caprice; Time Out's Jay Cheshes has mixed feelings about Susur Lee's Shang; GQ's Alan Richman heads over to Ken Friedman and April…
• The much-hyped Breslin opens for lunch on Thursday, but co-owner Ken Friedman already has a detractor: the mosque across the street. [NYO]
• Closings: Centro Vinoteca in the West Village has been shuttered by the city. And the Bread Bar at Tabla is closing as of tonight. [Eater, GS]
• François Payard's eponymous…
Eating & Drinking: Wednesday Edition
• The week in reviews: Sam Sifton gives a super-enthusiastic review (and two stars) to Daniel Boulud's DBGB in his first review as NYT restaurant critic today; the Post's Steve Cuozzo leaves Oceana very happy and gives it three out of four shiny new stars, now that he's armed with a star system like every other paper; …
Eating & Drinking: Monday Edition
• The new edition of the Michelin Guide is out and five spots earn a coveted three stars: Per Se, Masa, Le Bernardin, Jean Georges, and Daniel. [GS]
• Café Boulud reopens this Wednesday following a month-long refresh. [TONY]
• A roundup of restaurants opening in the next week or so. [TONY]
• Carnival, the amusement…
Eating & Drinking: Monday Edition
• Roundups of restaurants opening in the next week or so. [TONY, Eater]
• A look at the last-minute work involved in getting The Breslin, Ken Friedman's latest restaurant, ready for its October 8 opening. [NYT]
• Photos inside Abe & Arthur's, which opens to the public next week. [Eater]
• You may soon able to booze…
Eating & Drinking: Monday Edition
• After more than 30 years in business, Café des Artistes is no more. The landmark restaurant closed on August 9 for a monthlong vacation. Now the owners, George and Jenifer Lang, say they've decided against reopening it in September following "steady losses and a union lawsuit." [NYT]
• Another notable closing: Ken…
Eating & Drinking: Thursday Edition
• Frank Bruni will soon step down as the Times' chief restaurant critic. Who will replace him? Eater rounds up some of the faves as well as a bunch of unlikely picks, like Katie Lee Joel, who has a 475,000-1 shot of landing the gig. [Eater]
• Bruni's first appearance (second coming out?) after he steps down from the…
Eating & Drinking: Tuesday Edition
• The restaurant formerly known as Ago will reopen next Tuesday under the name Locanda Verde. Andrew Carmellini is executive chef and a co-owner with Robert De Niro; Ken Friedman consulted on the new design. [NYT]
• Rumor has it Per Se's Jonathan Benno may be going off on his own. [TFB]
• Tasti-D-Lite isn't…
Eating & Drinking: Thursday Edition
• Who doesn't want to take over Tavern on the Green? A meeting of potential bidders today attracted Alan Stillman, Boathouse owner Dean Poll, Capitale's Seth Greenberg, and reps for Cipriani, Trump, and Meyer. [NYO]
• Minetta Tavern is attracting quite the crowd: Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow were there for dinner last…
Eating & Drinking: Wednesday Edition
• Pics inside the UWS branch of Zak Pelaccio's Fatty Crab, opening tonight. [GS]
• Time Out's Jay Cheshes says Ken Friedman and April Bloomfield's John Dory "is the best new restaurant I've visited so far this year." [TONY]
• The owners of Long Island City's Water Taxi Beach will be opening a beach bar/restaurant next…
Eating & Drinking: Wednesday Edition
• Fat Hippo has opened in the space that used to house 71 Clinton. [GS]
• The Times's Frank Bruni gives out two stars today to April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman's "putatively British" John Dory. [NYT]
• A number of struggling restaurants are planning to stay open until just after they "make their nut" on Valentine's…
Eating & Drinking: Thursday Edition
• Ago partners Robert De Niro, Richard Born and Ira Drukier have tapped Andrew Carmellini as chef; Ken Friedman is the design consultant. [NYT]
• Is Justin Timberlake opening a Southern Hospitality in Chelsea? [GS]
• Peasant in Nolita finally has menus in English. [Eater]
• Martha Stewart went to Momofuku Milk Bar on…
Deep Inside The Box, More Controversy for the Ciprianis
♦ New York takes a long look in this week's issue at The Box, Simon Hammerstein's infamously sleazy club. Don't read it if you're eating or you're easily offended by tales of snot and/or raw sewage. [NYM]
♦ Fresh trouble for the Cipriani family: The head of the State Liquor Authority, Daniel Boyle, says an aide to…
Showdown at Ago, Alain Ducasse Gets Defensive
♦ Mirco del Vecchio, the executive chef of Ago, says he'll sue Robert De Niro for breach of contract if he's replaced at the restaurant by Jean-Georges Vongerichten. [Page Six]
♦ Why is Alain Ducasse's Benoit earning such bad reviews? Ducasse blames American journalists who "don't quite understand French bistro." […
John Dory's Debut, Election Night Specials
♦ John Dory, the Brit-themed seafood shack by April Bloomfield, Ken Friedman, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich, looks like it's finally opening, possibly as soon as Saturday night. [TONY, Metromix, Eater]
♦ A look inside Center Cut, Jeffrey Chodorow's new restaurant inside the Empire Hotel. [Eater]
♦ Craftsteak and…
Sheridan Square Ends, Trader Joe's Begins
♦ It's only been a few months since it opened, but Sheridan Square has already closed. [Eater]
♦ Hand over $50 to the Obama campaign and you can watch the debate at The Box tonight. [NYP]
♦ Taavo Somer and Ken Friedman on cutting out half the menu at the Rusty Knot. [DBTH]
♦ There are actually bars in the city…
Coming Soon: Ace Hotel
A bit more news today about yet another (over)hyped boutique hotel expected to land in New York in the near future. Ace Hotels, the West Coast-based chain of hotels for "urban nomads," will be opening a NYC outpost on 29th and Broadway (the former home of the Hotel Breslin and an SRO) in February 2009. The hotel will…
Actress Finds Love With Meaty Restaurateur?
Restaurateur Ken Friedman, who runs the West Village celebrity magnet Spotted Pig and reportedly does not use deodorant, is, according to former Gawker writer and current man-about-town Josh Stein, dating Robin Wright, the former wife of Sean Penn. Does Sean Penn use deodorant? Will Ken Friedman be able to continue…
Ken Friedman
Ken Friedman