Showing posts with label Feast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Feast. Show all posts

Monday, November 9, 2020

On 3rd Avenue, Feast exits, Yellow Rose arrives

After seven years at 102 Third Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street, Feast has closed.

Ownership announced the news early last week on Instagram:
It's with bittersweet news that we're officially announcing the closing of our doors here at Feast. We've shared incredible memories and irreplaceable friendships with staff and guests alike. And for those reasons alone, we are eternally grateful.
In the spring of 2014, the restaurant made international news ... when a patron at Feast was asked to remove her Google Glass headset before dining. The diner, the organizer of a Google Glass user group, refused to do so, and left the restaurant. 

She wrote about the incident on Google +. Shortly afterwards, 13 one-star reviews of Feast appeared on Google from people who commented on the diner's post. The negative reviews were not based on the restaurant's food, but rather the no-Glass policy. (You can relive the memories here!)

Moving forward, the space already has a tenant. In recent weeks Feast has hosted a pop-up collaboration with Yellow Rose, a Tex-Mex-style eatery. Starting on Wednesday, Yellow Rose will be here full-time.

Per the Infatuation: "Expect a menu of a bunch of delicious tacos, spicy hominy soup with long fideo noodles, micheladas, and desserts."

Updated 11/10 
Grub Street has a feature on Yellow Rose here. Excerpt!
Four years ago, Dave and Krystiana Rizo moved to New York by way of San Antonio. Soon, Dave was cooking at Superiority Burger, while Krystiana managed and bartended at the East Village location of Emmy Squared just a few blocks away. But even as the couple was diving into the New York food scene, they craved the cooking from back home.

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Reader appreciation: Feast



Via the EVG inbox...

Feast has been open throughout the crisis to provide the neighborhood with amazing cocktails and take-out items. The husband and wife team are so friendly and welcoming at the window. The restaurant is also working hard providing meals to hospital staff and frontline workers.

Feast is at 102 Third Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street. They are open Tuesday through Sunday from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Want to share an appreciation of an essential East Village business that remains open during the COVID-19 crisis? Send us an email here. (Thank you for the suggestions!)

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader appreciation: Le Fournil Bakery

Reader appreciation: Abraço

Reader appreciation: Post

Reader appreciation: Zaragoza Mexican Deli & Grocery

Reader appreciation: Barnyard Cheese Shop

Reader appreciation: Good Beer

Reader appreciation: Mamoum's Falafel

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

A Feast/Google Glass post mortem



Last Friday, we posted about a patron at Feast who was asked to remove her Google Glass headset before dining at the restaurant on April 20. Apparently guests had voiced their privacy concerns when another Glass Explorer dined there a few weeks earlier. In that situation, the Glass wearer quickly consented to remove the Glass.

The diner on April 20, NYC resident Katy Kasmai, the organizer of a Google Glass user group, refused to do so, and left the restaurant.

She wrote about the incident on Google +. Shortly afterwards, 13 one-star reviews of Feast appeared on Google from people who commented on Kasmai's post. The negative reviews were not based on the restaurant's food, but rather the no-Glass policy.

The story quickly became what Adam Chandler described at The Wire as "a flashpoint in the Google Glass battle" … and there was plenty of back-and-forth between the so-called Glassholes and those who, well, are not.

The incident received ample coverage in the tech press, including Mashable, CNet, ValleyWag and Daring Fireball, among others.

Now for a little EVG navel-gazing — the post because the fourth-most viewed in the blog's 7-year history. Still going to take quite a push to top the posts related to topless women.

And what about for Feast? Last Friday morning, there were 28 Google reviews, good for a 3.1 out of 5 rating. As of last evening, there were 529 Google reviews, which pushed the rating up to 4.5.

Here is part of one new 5-star review:

Any restaurant that stands up to the Google Glass bullies deserves 1,000 stars. I sincerely hope Feast reads this review and sues every reviewer who unfairly left them one star reviews because Google Glassholes retaliated after being asked to remove their Google Glasses so diners could dine in peace. I can't wait to go back to this great place. Google Glassholes are obnoxious c**** (rhymes with "runts") and I hope if there is a hell, they all rot in it for all eternity.

And what is the reaction from Feast? We reached out to management for comment.

"We're totally blown away," a restaurant rep told us. "We knew the story had some elements that people would be passionate about, but not to this extent. We've even gotten emails from people all over the world supporting us. Not to mention the Google reviews. I mean, it's sort of all a joke now, but I'm glad it happened because the whole online rating system for restaurants is flawed and this sort of proves our point, which was one of the original points we wanted to make, but it pretty much turned into a privacy war. Don't get us wrong though, we are incredibly humbled by the fact that 500-plus people would spend their time leaving a review for us."

As for Katy Kasmai, the spurned Google Glass wearer who sparked this debate…





The Feast rep confirmed that the two sides did reach out … with an offer of a Google Glass tutorial for the taking.

"Things got out of hand really fast and we just wanted to get a handle on things before we set anything up," the Feast rep said. "As we have said before, our decision is fully based on customers and we never harbored any ill will toward Katy.

"Our decision to meet Katy is based off the fact that we do try to give everyone the best possible experience and if this is something that is important to her and will maybe have us understand Glass more, then we're for it. However, it's our customers who matter to us, and if the overwhelming majority are uncomfortable with Glass, then our policy stands. It's pretty interesting how passionate the pro-Glass and anti-Glass sides are. The arguments and comments have strayed so far from something so simple as a policy at a private establishment. We require people to be clothed when they come in, although that's never been an issue — nobody's ever argued about it. We asked Katy to take her Glass off, just a policy. Not discrimination."

Previously on EV Grieve:
A Google Glass Feast (77 comments)

Friday, May 23, 2014

A Google Glass Feast



Here's a story coming from Feast, the one-plus-year-old restaurant on Third Avenue near East 13th Street.

Feast has enjoyed positive reviews, notching a solid 4 our of 5 stars in the Yelp and Open Table worlds. But last week management noticed 13 recent one-star reviews on Google, which comes up first when you search for Feast.

What happened for this many negative reviews to arrive at once?

Toward the end of last month, Feast said that they had a customer arrive as a walk-in for brunch. She was wearing Google Glass. A few months previously, they had another diner wearing a pair and the restaurant received several comments about privacy from other guests. Restaurant staff asked the person to remove them, and he quickly consented.

So when the other diner came in wearing Google Glass, management asked her to take them off before dining. She refused, and left the restaurant.

"We try to give everyone the best experience possible and she didn't get that," Feast management admitted to us.



On April 20, the diner wrote a post about what happened, which apparently angered some of her 3,000-plus Google+ followers.

Around this time the spate of reviews arrived on Google. Feast looked into this, and discovered that all of the one stars are from people who commented on the diner's original Google+ post. The negative reviews include lines such as: "Ignorant bigots and hateful. Perhaps being illegally discriminate too. The food is irrelevant as the service is less than poor." The reviewer lives in Phoenix.



The Google review of Feast is currently 3.1 out of 5 stars, up from 2.4 the previous week.

"When the first thing that comes up when you search Feast in Google is a 3.1, it can really hurt a restaurant like us. Then you have 13 people, which is about half the total reviews, who have never been to our restaurant let alone live in NYC, leave you one-star reviews … it's malicious and technically a violation of Google's own terms for leaving reviews," the Feast manager said. "Again I can understand her leaving the one-star based on her experience, but 12 others with no experience on who we are or what we do is unfair."

The Feast manager figures this will become an even bigger issue for the food-service industry as Google Glass hits the mainstream.

And for Feast, the restaurant doesn't have a final policy on the matter yet. "The fact is that the policy of asking Google Glass wearers to remove them is based off experience. It's not a policy set in stone so it could very well change."

Monday, March 11, 2013

The Feast bake shop opens today



Feast opened last Tuesday on Third Avenue near East 12th Street ... among other things, the place offers two large-format dinner options. (The Farmer's Market Feast and the "Nose to Tail Feast.")

Today, the bakery portion of the place opens. Feast proprietor Brian Ghaw also owns Savoy Bakery in East Harlem. The bakery will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Feast opens today on Third Avenue


[Photo by Dave on 7th]

Back in July, the New York Central Framing Annex moved from 102 Third Ave. around the corner to East 12th Street...to the New York Central Art Supply Warehouse... We didn't know too much about the new bar-restaurant in the works for the renovated space, which looked as if it has a similar design vibe as Boulton & Watt on Avenue A...

In any event, Feast opens today. And Gothamist has the scoop on what to expect.

Feast styles its menu around the idea of dinner parties, where diners "share plates of food and long conversations" as they would dining at someone's home. Two different "feasts" are available at dinner time, including a Union Square Greenmarket feast that changes with the seasons and a nose-to-tail feast focused around a rotating selection of animals. Diners are seated around large, communal tables made from reclaimed wood, surrounded by vintage pieces like a cast iron stove from Cape Cod, hay pulleys and picture frames.

Here's the menu via the Feast website. According to the menu, the Farmer's Market Feast is $38 per person while the "Nose to Tail Lamb Feast" is $48 person.

Doors are open from 7:30 am – 4 pm Monday through Sunday for coffee and "freshly baked-on-premise-pastries." Feast proprietor Brian Ghaw also owns Savoy Bakery in East Harlem.