Thursday, July 22, 2021
A farewell visit to The Baroness
Openings: Gia Trattoria on the Bowery; Marufuku Ramen on 2nd Avenue
Gia ... brings craveable Italian food, handcrafted drinks and much more. In addition to an array of mouthwatering wood-fired pizzas, Gia's menu includes flavorful pastas, appetizers, shareables, snacks and entrees.
Menu highlights include: the Pesto Rossa Pizza, Calamarata pasta with squid, san marzano, capers, pine nuts and fennel seeds, "Fairytale Eggplant" with gorgonzola, sun-dried tomatoes and pickled scape and Branzino with fennel confit and herbs.
Marufuku proudly serves the authentic Hakata-style Tonkotsu ramen — featuring milky and umami rich broth made from boiling pork bones for long hours, an ultra-thin artisanal noodles that match perfectly with the broth, and Cha-shu made from specially selected pork.Steven took these photos as they opened on Monday... Hours:
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
A warm and fuzzy shoot for NY Lottery in Tompkins Square Park
Happy returns: New location of Gaia Italian Café — REVEALED!
Stopped by to check it out yesterday just as Gaia was walking up the block. She invited me in for a look and said it would likely be a smaller operation than her previous spot on Houston Street, focusing on takeout at first. However, that could change. Ideas are in the works. She anticipated being open by August. Google currently shows her as open at that address, but that's not the case just yet.
So no indoor dining in the new space.
Bagnasacco closed her popular business on July 26, 2020, at 251 E. Houston St. between Norfolk and Suffolk after nine years.
Illustrations from the pandemic
Openings: Yubu on 7th Street, Evil Katsu on 9th Street
Sushi by M debuts in new space on 2nd Avenue
Tuesday, July 20, 2021
Tuesday's parting shot
A smoky late-afternoon view of Midtown
After a smoky sunset Monday evening, heavy smoke continued to hang over the Northeast on Tuesday, as a result of more than 100 wildfires burning in the western U.S. and more in Canada. Air quality advisories were in effect for much of Canada and had been issued for Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York City as the smoke descended from the upper levels of the atmosphere.
The AQI reading in New York City Tuesday afternoon was an unhealthy 122, the highest this year so far. At this elevated number, health effects can be immediately felt by sensitive groups. Healthy individuals may experience difficulty breathing and throat irritation with prolonged exposure, and should limit outdoor activity.The smoke will likely clear out overnight as a cold front moves into the area, AccuWeather notes.
NYPD IDs person of interest in 1st Avenue homicide
The @NYPDnews account today released these images of a person of interest wanted for questioning in connection to the homicide of a 37-year-old man found on First Avenue early last Wednesday morning... According to published reports, 37-year-old Marvin Bellamy, who lived in the Frederick Douglass Houses on the Upper West Side, was found with a puncture wound to his chest on First Avenue near the McDonald's between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. He reportedly died later at Mount Sinai Beth Israel.🚨WANTED for QUESTIONING in regard to a HOMICIDE: Do you know this guy? On 7/14/21 at approx 6:00 AM, at 1 Ave and East 6 St in Manhattan, a 37-year-old male was found deceased with a puncture wound to his chest. Any info? DM @NYPDTips, or anonymously call them at 800-577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/JK03h6gAea
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) July 20, 2021
A week into the ongoing investigation, police did not disclose a possible motive for the stabbing, or the circumstances leading up to the deadly attack.
Police sources also did not known of any possible connection between Bellamy and the person of interest, whose image was captured by a nearby security camera on the day of the incident.
The morning sun
A big ridge in the jet stream is transporting western wildfire smoke our way next couple of days. Most of the smoke is in the upper atmosphere and won't dramatically impact air quality, but the sky may look a little milky and the sunrise and sunset may be enhanced.But why the red/orange?
RIP Joe the tailor
More details on 2 new fast-casual Indian restaurants from the owners of the Masalawala
The first of the team's fast-casual restaurants, the fried chicken-centric Rowdy Rooster, opens in August on First Avenue and Ninth Street. Mr. Pandya is studying the numerous Indian iterations of fried chicken, from pakoras to Chicken 65, a spicy snack that supposedly originated in a hotel in Chennai.
A month later comes Kebabwala, on Second Avenue and Fifth Street, which will focus on classic kebab preparations like chicken tikka and seekh kebabs.
The Anthology Film Archives returns with in-person screenings on Aug. 5
Anthology Film Archives marks its long-awaited post-pandemic reopening with a program that could only take place "in real life," projected theatrically and on film: our brand-new restoration of Paul Sharits's rarely screened early masterpiece, Razor Blades (1965-68).The latest in our ongoing series of restorations of Sharits's films, Razor Blades is a typically mind-bending, consciousness-expanding experiment in perception and a classic among "expanded cinema" works.
By means of color combinations, the strobe-like flickering of the dueling projectors, a high-volume stereo soundscape, and single-frame imagery, it demonstrates the cinema's capacity for exploring the mysterious interaction between light, color, rhythm, eye, and mind. The double projection piece never exhibits precisely the same way, rendering every screening a unique experience.
Find more details about the reopening here.
Former Banco Popular space for rent on Houston and B
Former bubble tea shop space for rent on 3rd Avenue
Monday, July 19, 2021
Monday's parting shot
Coming soon: Cutlets Sandwich Co. opening an outpost on 3rd Avenue
So what makes Cutlets stand out? The deli is committed to serving a better-for-you sandwich, meaning they exclusively serve unprocessed proteins, free from antibiotics, hormones and added sugars. Sandwiches are topped with seasonal vegetables and built between meticulously sourced breads and spreads. For full transparency, a full sourcing list of local producers and farms is listed on Cutlets' website.You can find their menu here.
Italian favorite Via Della Pace announces itself in new 4th Street home
The Lazy Llama Coffee Bar opens cafe in the First Park kiosk
Who's NOT on tonight's CB3-SLA docket: Roberta's Pizza, Spiegel
Chef-owner Carlo Mirarchi told Grub Street in September 2019 that they were going to open what he called Roberta's Wine Bar.
Roberta's got its start in Bushwick in 2008. As Eater noted, Roberta's had been on an expansion kick, with openings in several food halls, and adding two locations in Los Angeles and one in Williamsburg ... not to mention its frozen pizza business ... and burger joint.
Aces Fine Food and Spirits in the works for 197 2nd Ave.
Snack Bowery sets up shop on the Bowery
Sunday, July 18, 2021
Week in Grieview
Thanks for the memories: Mars Bar closed 10 years ago today
However, a DOH visit did them in on July 18, 2011 — 54 violation points and mentions of every known type of fly. (Filth flies! Flesh flies!) And apparently, owner Hank Penza said the hell with it. And closed.
[I]n its prime it was perhaps the epitome of an East Village bar: menacing, dark and covered inside and out by graffiti, stickers and impromptu spray-painted artworks. Its forbidding restroom was an urban legend in and of itself.It wasn't always that way ... per a different feature at the Times:
When the bar opened in 1984 ... the facade was gleaming. "We thought, 'Oh no, another sushi bar; there goes the neighborhood,'" said Jim Sizelove, who was part of the rowdy art scene called the Rivington School.We can relive the bar here for a moment... in 2016, East Village-based filmmaker Jenny Woodward released an entertaining video short titled "Last Days of the Mars Bar," featuring interviews with Penza in the days leading up to the bar's closure.
Penza shares some colorful anecdotes (and perhaps tall tales), such as how the bar got its name and how the first art appeared on the bar's walls.
And Penza doesn't seem all that broken up about the end of days here.
"Fuck the bar. What am I, crazy? There's a beginning and an end. You hear? The Mars Bar will live forever and I'll die... I feel like there's a beginning and an end, and this is the end to another chapter in my life."
Penza died on Oct. 29, 2015. He was 82.
The corner storefronts where Mars Bar stood were eventually demolished in late 2011/early 2012 to make way for the residential building called Jupiter 21. The corner space now houses a TD Bank and Kollectiv, "an urban retreat center" that features an herbal pharmacy and spa.
Anyway, thanks for the memories...