Flight to India : Flight news and information

Noho : One of the few critiques lobbied at Daniel Boulud’s DBGB Kitchen & Bar on the Bowery by amateur bloggers and major critics alike is that the full menu isn’t served in the bar room. For the first two months of the restaurant’s existence, hungry and reservation-less diners in search of blood sausage, the Viennoise, skate au pistou, or steak frites were out of luck, allowed to only order a limited roster of D-Biggity’s sausages, his burgers, or a small selection of aps in the first come first serve lounge area. Now, a call to the restaurant confirms that it’s an equal menu for both dining rooms .

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DBGB Alert: Full Menu Now Offered in Bar Room

Upper West Side : A concerned fan of Blondies , the uptown sports bar institution, wrote in last night to report that the bar’s Upper West Side location was closed without warning. Today a spot check reveals the culprit was the tax man! The city seized Blondies UWS yesterday, leaving the telltale ominous orange sticker plastered to the door. While the tipster hears they could reopen as soon as tonight, reps at the Upper East Side location said they are still waiting to hear when those big screens will be switched back on again.

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SEIZED! UWS Jock Haven Blondies Taken by the Tax Man

After showing my listing on Racine, the family and I headed down to zoo on Sunday.  What a gorgeous day!  We walked around a bit, but Ben wasn’t very into the zoo that day.  We were getting hungry and decided to walk over to Wells St.  Adobo Grill, yum – but would we get the death stares by bringing a baby in with us?  I’ve been to Adobo before, but it’s always been later at night and very crowded.  We walked in and we very pleasantly surprised!  A highchair was immediately brought over as well as a paper coloring mat and crayons.  They also had a children’s menu – not only mexican options, but your standard kid’s fare – chicken fingers, burgers, etc. On a sidenote, I’m not usually a fan of paying for chips and salsa – but I didn’t mind too much here, their tres salsas (plus a bonus mole) were very very tasty! I thought I would pass along this info in case you don’t want to hire a babysitter, but have a nicer meal out with a happy child. Old Town: 1610 N Wells Wicker Park: 2005 W Division http://www.chicagofamilyrealtor.com

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Kid Friendly restaurant, Adobo Grill

Dedham is about to get a new restaurant, as the opening of a casual upscale French bistro with a familiar name looks to be happening later this month. According to The Daily News Transcript, Aquitaine will open in the new Legacy Place development near the intersection of Routes 1 and 128, with the opening date apparently being somewhere around August 22. The newspaper mentions that Aquitaine will have both indoor and outdoor dining, with a capacity of 185.

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Aquitaine to Open in Dedham This Month

A new chain of fast casual restaurants from Friendly’s debuts in Mansfield this week, with an emphasis on takeout food and fast service. According to the Boston Globe, Wilbraham-based Friendly Ice Cream Corporation is opening Friendly’s Express in Mansfield tomorrow (Wednesday, August 5), with the new spot featuring counter service and a smaller space than the original Friendly’s restaurants. The Globe mentions that Friendly’s Express will have a more limited menu, with items such as salads, sandwiches, and, of course, ice cream.

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Friendly’s Express Coming to Mansfield

West Village : Multiple tipsters report and a call to the midtown branch confirms that cash strapped Frederick’s Downtown , nightclub man Frederick Lesort’s sceney MePa/West Village French brasserie, closed on Friday. It was known more for its choice sidewalk seating and Meatpacking scene than its pricey French fare, but according to some readers—and one assumes, all of the workers there—it will be missed. Careful observers will recall it was actually the midtown branch that filed for bankruptcy back in April after owing a combined $400k to the landlord and the city.

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The Shutter: Frederick’s Downtown Says Farewell

The only reason to order room service when at the Priory is that the restaurant is fully booked (and it may be). The room-service food is all the same, but served with a bit more bother, and because the menu changes so often, they will have to send someone up to you with a list of dishes to choose from; and these will then be served in courses, in the same leisurely manner as though you were dining downstairs. So there is no reason not to take advantage of the comfort and beauty of the restaurant

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Restaurant of Le Prieuré

Thin-cut french fry fans, rejoice!  The new-to-New-Orleans burger franchise Flamin’ Burger (504-305-2427, 2009 Williams Blvd, Kenner, LA) dishes up handcut, hot, fresh, shoestring fries.  The once-common julienne fry is now hard to find, having lost ground to medium-cut, skin-on, seasoned fries, double thick steak fries, and all manner of potato perversions (tater tots, I’m talking ’bout YOU). Thankfully, Flamin’ Burger brings back the simple, straighforward shoestring.  FB also sells pretty good griddled burgers & hot dogs, but go for the fries.  Chili & (liquid) cheese availble to garnish said fries, for those seeking a fix.

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Shoestring potatoes

One of the charming qualities of Oklahoma City is that there are a wide variety of reasonably priced, independantly owned, “ethnic” restaurants in close range.  CousCous is really one of my favorites.  A lamb tagine is proper soul-food disguised by a culture I didn’t grow up with.  When I tried a tagine for the first time, I remember being blown away by all of those flavors combining into what tasted like someone else’s childhood.  I can imagine being served this sort of dish by my mother for a Sunday meal.  Plus, what’s more photogenic than meat on the bone?

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Tagine at CousCous

The Mill , a historic former restaurant on Route 66 in Lincoln, Ill., will receive a $10,000 cost-share grant from the National Park Service’s Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program , reported the Bloomington Pantagraph . “This is really good news for us because it allows us to put a new foundation around the building, which will give it stability,” said Geoff Ladd, Route 66 Heritage Foundation chairman. Officials are estimating it will take around $100,000 to fully restore The Mill.

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The Mill gets $10,000 grant

SOHO — A press release today confirms the earlier report that the shuttered restaurant Smith’s is going to reopen as a Mermaid Inn. Per the flacks, Mermaid Oyster Bar will have a menu that “reads like an oyster bar’s greatest hits: extensive raw bar boasting a daily selection of 16 types of oysters, seafood bisques, ceviches and fried clams. The beverage program emphasizes cocktails and beers on tap.” [EaterWire] EAST VILLAGE — Filing a piece in the Dept.

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EaterWire: Mermaid Inn Oyster Bar, Nathan’s Petition

1) Lower East Side: The Robs and Thrillist , BlackBook , and The Feed bring word that Michael Huynh’s aforementioned beer garden will open this week. Bia Garden’s brew list will be “all Asian, with cans and bottles served in coolers by the six-pack, twelve-pack, or case, and billed by how much is consumed.” The restaurant will also offer a menu of Vietnamese street food, with such goodies as “sambal-garlic frog” and “lotus rootlet salad with shrimp and pork.” Status: Not open, though they could soft open “any day now.” 154 Orchard St., 212-780-0010 2) Park Slope: Grub Street also shares the news that Bark Hot Dogs will be opening on Bergen Street. The restaurant will be serving up pork-and-beef wieners (from a “venerable Austrian sausage maker”) basted in smoked lard butter, homemade pickles and sauerkraut, heirloom beans, and bacon from S

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Monday Opening Report: Wing Bar, Cello Certified Open

Of all the things I have been missing about Paris, food certainly tops the list.  So I was excited to check out L’Albatros, recently opened by Zack Bruell, in University Circle near Case Western Reserve University.  While I was slightly dissapointed by the lack of any sort of French feel to the atmosphere of the restaurant (although that has more to do with what i was hoping for than any failing on the part of L’Albatros), my lunch was wonderful, and the service was the most attentive of any restaurant I have been to yet. Fresh bread (served continually every time our plates were empty–bonus points!), dipping oil, and a house made mustard kept us company until our appetizers and entreés arrived.   My arugula salad was ten thousand times better than the one I ordered at Bar Cento.  I ordered the grilled salmon, which  was beautifully seasoned and finished with a citrusy béarnaise sauce, but slightly undercooked to my liking.  Pier W still wins the salmon contest, but I’ll gladly eat from L’Albatros any day.  The salmon was served on a bed of lentils, which had a hint of sweetness that I wasn’t terribly thrilled with.  My companions ordered the chicken breast with fennel and goat cheese, the suasage platter, roasted trout, roasted cod, and duck confit.  The trout was phenomenal, as was the bit of sausage that I tried.  Positive reviews were given to all the dishes except for the cod

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L’Albatros

PR reps report that the allegedly violent chef David Burke will be closing his David Burke Townhouse (fka david burke & donatella) tomorrow for renovations. It will reopen later this month with a new menu and new design with the same name and “basic concept.” It wouldn’t be surprising if the Upper East Sider followed in the footsteps of Cafe Boulud and Chanterelle by adding a greater focus on the bar/lounge area and bar menu

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Renovations: Davidburke Townhouse Closes for Revamp

The haute hot dog craze shows no sign of abating, and neither does the pop-up/mobile/transient restaurant trend. Asia Dog , a pop-up hot dog operation that has graced Williamsburg’s Trophy Bar as well as the Brooklyn Flea in recent months, is making its first inroads into Manhattan by joining forces with another ’09 phenom. They will be setting up shop serving creatively-topped dogs at relatively new banh mi spot An Choi every Monday this month, except for the August 17, with the possibility of more dates in the future.

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Pop Ups: Asia Dog Taking Residence at An Choi

My husband and I went away for the weekend.   One of our wedding gifts was a night at a bed and breakfast we love, so we decided to take a little mini-vacation.  We rushed to leave the house, then it poured the whole trip up, we got stuck in traffic and balked at the tolls.   And then the rain stopped as we checked in, and we marveled at the fog that blanketed the mountains and the nearby barn.  We took a walk to the creek, smelling the wildflowers and mud and watching goldfinches as we settled into vacation mode

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Tasting Gratitude

Have you dreamed of going to Greece someday?  Well we have a touch of Greece right here in Florida.  Just outside of Tampa and Clearwater you will find Tarpon Springs, the largest Greek community in the US.  Tarpon Springs is well known for two things – the (some would say) best sponges in the world and the Greek Restaurants.  Our family went to Mama’s Restaurant and had delicious Chicken Pitas smothered in Tzatziki sauce (yumm) and Avagalemeno Soup (almost as good as my home made version).  For a wonderful Tiropita (cheese pie) my choice would be Hellas bakery.  Behind the main street is also a little Greek grocery store.  You will find many wonderful items in there that can’t be found in a typical grocery store.  After traveling to Greece and then going back to Tarpon Springs, I will say that Tarpon is a miniture village.  If you want a weeks worth of fun go there during the Greek Easter week.  Beautiful traditional events.

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Tarpon Springs Florida

La Chitarra (pronounced key- tahr -rah ) is a pasta maker believed to have been invented in Chieti, Abruzzi Italy around the 1800’s.  No one seems to know who invented it and until recently pasta made with the chitarra was mainly found in the Apulia and Abruzzi regions.  Since I’ve never been able to find a story behind this unique simple pasta maker, I made up one.  A long time ago, a young boy by the name of Michele, watched his mother making pasta every day, toiling over kneading the dough, rolling out it out into huge thin sheets and cutting it with a knife into thin stands.

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La Chitarra:An Old World Pasta Maker That Creates Music

You don’t have to believe in Feng Shui for it to work. Like gravity, Feng Shui principles are in effect at all times even though you can’t see them.  And you don’t need windchimes, crystals, statues, a red front door, and mirrors to practice Feng Shui.  Feng Shui originated in China over 4,000 years ago and of course, the ancient Chinese didn’t have any of the so-called “Feng Shui” items found stores today. Feng Shui provides us with principles which explain: Why location on a street is important and can cause restaurants in certain locations to fail time after time; Why certain rooms in your home feel more comfortable than others; Why you may feel unsettled if you sleep in a bed placed in the middle of a room rather than  against a wall; Why most of us feel better in a home that has an adequate amount of natural light; Why it feels awkward to have a stairway directly facing the front door.

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Feng Shui works whether you believe in it or not.

1st Floor, su:k kaihinmakuhari, Makuhari Messe, Tokyo, Japan First night we went: Cheap beer (for Tokyo) – 370 yen per glass.  Great sushi platter.  Menu has photos – if you’re used to sushi, you can guess what most of them are.  They did drag up a menu with some of the English translations written in felt tip pen but that spoiled the fun somewhat.  The highlight was the sand eel nigiri closely followed by the tuna maki.  Staff are really friendly and you can sit at the bar and watch the chef at work.  You can chat to him as well if your Japanese is up to it. Second night we went: Beer still cheap and sushi still good.  However..  service was really poor with Japanese patrons getting served before the few Westerners who were there.  We didn’t get a few things we ordered, gave up, and were charged for them when we left.  We noticed this happening to others on the first night we were there.  It’s not easy to tell if you don’t speak Japanese as you won;t be able to read the receipt

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Sushi Fujino, Makuhari Messe