Author Archives: nevinmartell

Plate’s Chef Shuffles for the week of May 18

Posted on by nevinmartell

Per Se vet Ben Hershberger has been appointed the head baker and instructor at Hot Bread Kitchen, a social enterprise bakery that provides low-income and foreign-born women with paid training to become professional bakers. Fitz Tallon was promoted to executive chef at Manzo. Gramercy Terrace at Gramercy Park Hotelreopened after renovations with a new “American Classic” menu from Jeff Seizer. Michael Psilakis (Anthos) opened a second location of MP Taverna to the north in Westchester. Italian-Asian fusion eater Siro’s, whose original location is up in Saratoga, just opened a sister spot in Manhattan. Black Tree Sandwich Shop, a second location of Sweetleaf coffee shop, and Biang! from the Xi’an Famous Foods crew all debuted. Maslow 6 Wine Bar is now open adjacent to the wine shop of the same name; Executive Chef Nick Kipper is in charge of the menu of small plates and panini.

The modern kosher restaurant Jezebel opens next month with Bradford Thompson (Café Boulud) in charge. Pie Corps hope to have a brick-and-mortar location up and baking by June. Guy Fieri will open Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar in Times Square later this year. Ciano’s Shea Gallante is opening Italian Kitchen in Ardsley, N.Y. with Paul Mancebo (Ciano) handling kitchen duties. Later this year, Sugar and Plumm Purveyors of Yumm and Zucker’s Bagels & Smoked Fish will open their second locations. The team behind the clam shack Littleneck will open The Pines later in 2012 with Angelo Romano (Roberta’s) overseeing the menu, while the Post Office crew will open the seafood-centric OTB this fall. Meanwhile, we hear that a Florida-retirement-styled shuffleboard bar is in the works in Gowanus…but only because it was shouted loudly right into our good ear by someone wearing plaid golf pants.

Belcourt has shuttered; the space will become Calliope by Eric Korsh (Waverly Inn) and his wife Ginevra Iverson (Prune). The steakhouse Ben Benson’s will close just after Father’s Day.

Finish reading this weeks Chef Shuffles on the Plate website now.

Photo of Michael Psilakis, MP Taverna.

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Wi-Fried – When coffee shops turn off the Web

Posted on by nevinmartell

On a recent Wednesday afternoon, a stream of customers flows into Peregrine Espresso on 14th Street NW. Almost no one stays very long, since nearly all of the dozen seats are filled.

Two twentysomething guys in faded T-shirts and jeans casually chat at one of the tables, while a woman with frizzy gray hair intently edits a sheaf of papers nearby. The few laptops open are running Microsoft Word, not Facebook.

What kind of bullshit is this?

As a freelance journalist who has made a career out of frequenting java joints of every size, this doesn’t seem right. Places like this are supposed to be a haven for people like me who want to get out of the house just so that we feel like we’ve accomplished something.

It’s like there’s something missing here.

Oh, yeah, free Wi-Fi. What was once an integral coffeehouse element is now no longer guaranteed.

“When we signed the lease, it immediately occurred to me that we did not have the space to encourage people to hang out for long periods of time,” says Peregrine owner Ryan Jensen. “It wasn’t appropriate to offer Wi-Fi and end up with a situation where people could never expect to find a seat. It’s hard enough as it is.”

Jensen knows what it’s like to foster that type of environment, since Peregrine’s original Capitol Hill location offers free Wi-Fi, as did its predecessor, Murky Coffee. “There were some things that we didn’t really feel like we wanted to mess with,” he says. “One of those things was offering Wi-Fi.”

After over a decade in the business, Jensen has seen a shift: Coffee shops “went from being more communal places to being second offices for a lot of people,” he says. The squatters linger for long periods, take advantage of power outlets, and sometimes hog tables intended for multiple customers.

Finish reading this story on the Washington City Paper website now.

Illustration by Jandos Rothstein; photo by Darrow Montgomery

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Eat By Numbers – Elisir

Posted on by nevinmartell

When you dine out, you might think about the ingredients that go into your food, but you probably don’t think about all the numbers that make your meal happen. Restaurants are filled with interesting figures that might not be apparent when you bite into an enticing entrée or take a sip of a signature cocktail, but they’re all around you.

This week we pop down to Elisir – a bastion of Italian modernism in Penn Quarter – to find out just how many pastas they make by hand and to discover the number of grappas you can enjoy after one of chef-owner Enzo Fargione’s epic tasting dinners.

Elisir

Maximum capacity: 117

Cameras capturing the culinary team at work: Three

Televisions broadcasting the action in the kitchen: Five

Pastas made in house: Nine, including saffron fettuccine, giant agnolotti, red beet tortelli filled with cheese fondue, and saffron fagotti filled with liquid truffle

Cigar boxes kept on hand for the branzino carpaccio dish: 18

Get the rest of the numbers by clicking over to CityEats’ Plate blog now.

Photo courtesy of Michael Palmer.

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Breaking Bread (Traditions)

Posted on by nevinmartell

Over the past few years, you may have noticed something missing from restaurant dinner tables.

No, someone didn’t steal the silverware. It’s the breadbasket. During the economic downtown, an increasing number of eateries have excised free bread in order to cut costs, while others have begun charging for it.

Restaurateurs may want to rethink this move though, because a good bread program can help set an establishment apart from its competitors and help form its identity.

There are plenty of practical reasons why proprietors originally began offering a crusty kickoff to meals, which are still worthwhile incentives to keep it today.

A small high glycemic index snack like a roll can get the salivary glands working, which makes customers hungrier and likely to order more food than they originally intended.

It can also soothe an irritable patron before they take their dissatisfaction out on the waitstaff.

The hit of salt in the butter can make diners thirsty, so they might order high mark-up drinks from the bar.

And if that’s not enough to convince you, starting off a meal with a free item can help create a halo effect around the entire dining experience, which leads to a more positive overall impression of the restaurant.

Finish reading this post on the Restaurant Management website now.

Photo of Red Lobster’s Cheddar Bay Biscuits courtesy of Red Lobster.

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The Cribs – In the Belly of the Brazen Bull Review

Posted on by nevinmartell

It may be Johnny Marr–less, but the brotherly Jarman trio certainly isn’t rudderless after the departure of that high-profile guitarist. The indie scrappers’ fifth album is as cocky, defiant and shouty as earlier efforts. Chunky and chugging “Glitters Like Gold” kicks off the proceedings, then sneering fuzz-rock anthem “Come On, Be a No-One” cranks it up a notch. “Back to the Bolthole” grinds along like a soothing methadone treatment, while “Chi-Town” is a bouncing, boppy tune perfect for pogoing. Wall of sound enthusiast David Fridmann and sludge rock analogist Steve Albini split production duties here, which is obvious with each contrasting track. It’s a good thing that the Jarmans write such catchy songs, because it’s that allegiance to memorable hooks that binds this record together. You almost feel a little bad that the former Smiths axeman is longer in the mix, because he’s missing out on playing some top-notch tunes.

Filter Grade: 85%

This review originally appeared in Filter magazine.

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Plate’s Chef Shuffles for the Week of May 11

Posted on by nevinmartell

Chris Leahy (LYON) has been named executive chef at Lexington Brass. Pan-Asian Yunnan Kitchen opened with Travis Post (Franny’s) overseeing the kitchen. Fratelli la Bufala Neapolitan pizzeria, Proto’s Pizza, Kimchi Grill, a location of A.J. Black’s Italian-focused Il Tesoro, Bar Seven Five Terrace, Puerto Rico inspired Casa Ventura, a new location of Jebon Sushi & Noodle, and a sidewalk cart version of Kelvin Natural Slush Co. all opened. ZirZamin is now welcoming guests in the Bar Henry space with an “Austin-themed menu.”

Tavern 29 opens next week with a German-focused menu and Demi Monde will open at the end of the month. Cock & Bull is taking over the old Goodburger location in Midtown; opening date TBD.

Pete Wentz’s Angels & Kings and Mikey’s Burger both closed.

Finish reading this week’s Chef Shuffles on the Plate website now.

Photo of A.J. Black, Il Tesoro.

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Pizzeria Orso Executive Chef Will Artley Shares His Ink

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Pizzeria Orso executive chef Will Artley wasn’t always on the right track. As a teen, he was kicked out of high school in upstate New York, which was a huge blow to his parents. “That was the first time I let them down,” admits Artley. “I told them, ‘I promise you that I’m going to do something with my life. I’m just taking a different path.’”

Starting at age 15, he started gravitating toward kitchen work, picking up any kind of gig he could score. There was one stint at Misty Meadows Pig Farm, which also had a restaurant. “So you’d get to see the pigs and then eat them,” he explains.

Finish reading this story on Eater DC now.

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Dirty Dishing: Rasika West End’s Ashok Bajaj and His Sculpture Snafu

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Tragicomic insider stories about the trials, tribulations, and just plain weird stuff that happens when you run a restaurant.

Restaurateur Ashok Bajaj is a seasoned pro when it comes to opening up new hotspots. Over more than two decades, he has built an empire that includes long-loved and well-lauded dining destinations such as Rasika, the Oval Room, and Bibiana.

Despite this record of success, he still runs into some problems. When it came time to design a sister location to Rasika located in the West End, Bajaj didn’t want it to be a carbon copy of the original. So he worked with designers to create a singular space full of grand gestures – literally.

Finish reading this story on CityEats’ Plate blog now.

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