Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Burger battle on Second Avenue

First, you have Paul's, who has claimed "NYC's best burger."



Not to be outdone, across the way, Dallas BBQ is claiming it has "New York's most popular half pound burger."



And a little south on Seventh Street, Song 7.2 says it has "the best burger in NYC."



Perhaps they do. It just doesn't look like it. For starters, I like for my hamburger to look as if it already hasn't been digested. However! A Hamburger Today took one for a test drive last fall...And Robyn Lee wrote:

While this burger may not be the best in the city and wouldn't fulfill a craving for a regular burger lacking seasonings up the wazoo, it's one of the tastiest takes on a burger I've had and a great deal for only $7. I'd definitely eat it again.

Speaking of beef

A newish sign outside St. Mark's Burger ... "We grind our own beef."



More subtle, of course, than "bop our own bologna."

Agnes and Eva closes on 13th Street



A reader notes that Agnes and Eva's Cafe on 13th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue has closed. Per the reader: "it was this nice cafe owned/operated by a mom & daughter, you go downstairs to this lil room blissfully away from the usual manh bustle... free wifi, decent brunch foods, no attitude, jazz music playing on stereo, not crowded... i'm so sad, hard to find a non-crowded cafe in the e. village." The Cafe opened last summer. Had always intended to go there, but never did. Seemed like a homespun haven away from the Momofuku madness across the way...

Photo via Serious Eats.

Paste tags DOB

Michael Huynh's new French Vietnamese place on St. Mark's Place continues to attract some graffiti attention... Earlier...



And now... As the Graffiti Friend of EV Grieve (GFOEVG) notes, Paste of the EE crew is the latest to tag DOB...

Boutiques on Bowery likely not opening yesterday — or ever

I've been watching the goings-on at The Bowery Bazaar/Boutiques on Bowery ... located inside the retail space in 52E4, the 15 stories of condo on the Bowery near Fourth Street. Originally scheduled to open Feb. 1 ... the etched-in-glass Boutiques on Bowery signage went up in the middle of February... It has been a strange saga. One day last week we received a note from one of the designers stating BOB was opening March 1... Then! On Friday, BoweryBoogie noted: "The latest word is that they’ve decided not to reopen as Boutiques on Bowery and to close for good."

I walked by last night... no more naked mannequins...no more etched-in-glass Boutiques on Bowery signage...



Previously on EV Grieve:
What happened to Boutiques on Bowery?

Monday, March 1, 2010

Porchetta outpost taking over the Mingala Burmese space



Earlier today we mentioned that Mingala Burmese Restaurant at 21 East Seventh St. (a few doors east of McSorley's) had closed. Now Eater brings word that the folks behind Porchetta just down the street have applied for a liquor license here.

Tompkins Square Park igloo disappears from market



Previously on EV Grieve:
Price melting on "Soho-style" igloo in Tompkins Square Park

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition



Before the Meatpacking District fell (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Lights out for Bowery's Lighting District? (BoweryBoogie)

Ray's pink slips (Neither More Nor Less)

The sounds of "After Hours" (Flaming Pablum)

A well-endowded snowman in TSP -- with video! (The Gog Log)

NYC in black-and-white glory (Blah Blog Blah)

Why the FRIGID Fest is now cheesier (Broadway World)

Dude leaves 27 bags of weed on the roof (Stuy Town's Lux Living)

Porchetta sends meat to Marines in Afghanistan (DNAinfo)

"Blank Generation" now on DVD: "A time capsule from pre-Disneynification New York City"



From the inbox...MVD Visual released "Blank Generation" on DVD last week...

Finally on DVD is the classic punk rock movie from 1980 starring Richard Hell, illustrating the end of the first wave of New York City punk rock better than any documentary. Nada (Carole Bouquet), a beautiful French journalist on assignment in New York, records the life and work of an up and coming punk rock star, Billy (Richard Hell). Soon she enters into a volatile relationship with him and must decide whether to continue with it, or return to her lover, a fellow journalist trying to track down the elusive Andy Warhol (playing himself). Featuring members of the Voidoids and the Ramones.

This long lost film is like a time capsule from pre-Disneynification New York City: sleazy, dirty and most importantly, real. The DVD package includes a lengthy new interview with Hell about the film and more.

Richard Hell states: "This is a priceless package. The real burnt-out New York in January and February 1978, the Voidoids live at CBGB, Ed Lachman's cinematography, Elliot Goldenthal's sound track, Carole Bouquet's face, my lithe figure, Andy Warhol to break your heart, Luc Sante demonically extracting the ugly truths from me re: the horror of it all (bonus feature which is better than the movie itself)...unique."


And here's the trailer...



Updated: A reader pointed out an interview that Hell did with The Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy blog last week... in which Hell trashes the film. Here's an excerpt:

As with many cultural artifacts dating from a fetishized period (in this case the late ’70s New York punk scene), the film is hailed on the cover as "a classic punk rock movie" and "better than any documentary." That's not how its star sees things. "It's just completely incoherent," Richard Hell said of the movie... He talked with Speakeasy about the bewildering experience of making – and re-watching — "Blank Generation."


Why did you participate with the DVD release if you hate the film?

It was going to come out anyway. It was good to have the opportunity to explain the conditions under which it was made. It does have a certain value as this eccentric artifact of this time and place. And it’s the best existing film footage of my band at a time when it was in top condition.

You’ve been in several films since then. What did “Blank Generation” teach you about acting?

Nothing.


Classic! This makes me want to see it even more! I guess this is why the publicist for the DVD said "no one was available" for interviews about the re-release.

P.S.
Not to be confused with Amos Poe's documentary "Blank Generation."

Price melting on "Soho-style" igloo in Tompkins Square Park

On Friday, we wrote about a new listing that popped up on Prudential Douglas Elliman for a "Soho-style" igloo right in the heart of East Greenwich Village in Tompkins Square Park.

On Friday, the 15-square-foot igloo was priced at $1.5 million ($100K per square foot!)



However, today, the price has been chopped down to $500K!

Here's the listing:

This fully original Soho igloo is ready to go at a stunning and spacious 15 square feet!! Located in a new igloo and facing southeast off the Park you will enjoy the setting sun, quiet nights, and all the space!! The ground has been white washed for a tasteful but artful look. There is a flat screen TV nook that has been smartly placed in the living space so the TV will flow seamlessly against the snow. Closets everywhere, bath and a half, open kitchen round out this one-of-a-kind one igloo flex two loft space. The igloo is a condo so subletting and renting are permitted. Pets are welcome!


According to Streeteasy, this property originally went on the market around this time last year, but was quickly pulled several warmer days later...

There was an open igloo this past Friday...



...where potential igloo-buyers discovered that the space may be best suited for those under say, 3 feet tall.




If you're interested, then I urge you to hurry. The temperatures are expected in the mid 40s today...

Cafe Brama closes



An EV Grieve reader passed along work that Cafe Brama on Second Avenue near 10th Street had closed... We walked by several times ourselves during prime business hours...and the gate was always down. And no one is answering their phone.

I was unaware of Cafe Brama's origins...Per their Web site:

We, Kostas & Christos, brothers, were born in Poland as children of political refugees, and we grew up in a strong Greek community proudly promoting our culture. After the fall of the Berlin wall Poland become a place with unlimited possibilities and in 1992 we opened the first Cafe Brama. We named it "Brama" which means "Gate" in Polish since it was founded in Szczecin, Poland in the historical Brama Krolewska (King's Gate). King's Gate was built in the acquisition of Pomerania by Prussia.

In 1996 we moved to Warsaw to open another Cafe Brama there and our success allowed us to expand the business and open six locations in the Polish capital. After fourteen years of success and recognition we decided to open Cafe Brama in New York and we chose the East Village because of its casual and comfortable ambience. We belive that the community will welcome the quality and style of the food that we love.

The former Mingala Burmese Restaurant on the block



The same EV Grieve reader who passed along the Cafe Brama news also noted that Mingala Burmese Restaurant at 21 East Seventh St. (a few doors east of McSorley's) had closed. Indeed. I didn't even notice that the place had shuttered and been put up for sale so quickly... The rent is $9,300, according to the Tower Brokerage listing. There is also a Mingala Burmese on the Upper East Side.

Don't you forget about ...our breakfast bar...



Outside Whole Foods on Houston and the Bowery. Not the best Anthony Michael Hall that I've ever seen...

First sign of spring: Tables outside Zum Schneider



Yesterday afternoon outside Zum Schnieder, Avenue C and Seventh Street.