This week, Sam Sifton takes aim at the new iteration of Aureole, the once "creamy" townhouse restaurant serving audacious American food that this year reopened as a cafeteria hawking great burgers to midtown workers at Bank of America and Conde Nast. He gives it one star. After touching upon the trajectory of owner and original chef Charlie Palmer and the former impressiveness of the restaurant, Sifty sums up its current state thusly:
Times change. In 2007, Mr. Palmer announced plans to move the restaurant south, into bigger digs. The result is a Las Vegas event restaurant airlifted into Manhattan, a corporate cafeteria with a soundtrack of smooth jazz in the George Benson style. The food can be quite good. It can also be the opposite.]]> ...if your order goes well with the kitchen, you can have a good meal. If it doesn’t, you’ll be staring down a listless Wiener schnitzel, pale and greasy beneath a thick lemon-caper sauce, with too-tart applesauce. Or at dry veal tenderloin with charred onions...Sifton goes on to report that there is excellent bar food—try the burger, the onion rings, the sliders—but that in the end, it is "a love letter to an America we see reflected back at us in unflattering light: relatively happy, unthinking, desirous mostly of sugar and fat. That’s Vegas for you. It’s not New York." [NYT]Aureole, as the New York expression goes, is meh.
Sam Sifton offers a Brief on Prime Meats, a restaurant he hints he'll give a full review once the main dining room opens: "The menu is currently small. But it delivers...The hamburger ($13 and up) is one of the better in this burger-mad city...Steaks are more complicated...It is sold here by the ounce, $1.80 per. (That’s prime.) It’s very good meat, though, from Creekstone Farms, with a nice mineral tang and served with plenty of crust." [NYT]
Alan Richman concedes that the food is still fine at San Domenico's reincarnation, SD26, but he isn't buying the new technology and scene: "The brand new SD26, open less than two months, is either convoluted/newfangled or fresh/contemporary, depending on your sensibility—or maybe your age. What's clear thus far is that it is enormously busy, despite or because of many gimmicks, much noise, considerable chaos." [GQ]
The Plattster files on A Voce Columbus, noting impressive entrees and marginally disappointing pastas. He awards it the threespot: "But the real revelation at the new A Voce is the cooking. Robbins retains the structure (and even the typesetting) of Carmellini’s original menu, but in this grand new setting she makes it uniquely her own." [NYM]
THE ELSEWHERE: Oliver Strand finds the food "nice enough" but the cocktails steal the show at Yerba Buena Perry, The Hungry Roach has a rave for Sorella, Gael Greene deems SD26 a thoughtful work in progress, Tables for Two, unlike Sam Sifton, isn't totally won over by Prime Meats, Sarah DiGregorio urges readers to overlook the setting and try the excellent Malaysian fare at Laut, Metromix has an epically terrible meal at Mercat Negre, Robert Sietsema finds a lot to like (and a waiter to hate) at Abe & Arthur's, and Ryan Sutton files on some hits, some misses, some hefty price tags and slivers of truffles at SD26 and A Voce Columbus.
THE BLOGS: Ed Levine gives an A- to the brunch at Brooklyn Star, Writing with my Mouth Full falls for Diner, Food in Mouth reflects on the shwarma sandwiches at Mamouns, Immaculate Infatuation isn't won over by Ruby's notorious burgers, and there's a new Pierogi round up on Restaurant Girl.
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TRIBECA— Flo Fab reports that an evening wine bar called By the Ounce will open in the white corner room at Bouley Bakery: "everything — wine and food, including meats, cheeses, vegetable dishes, caviar and smoked fish — will be served and priced by the ounce ($5 and up). Wines selected by André Compeyre, the wine director, will be dispensed by the ounce, half-glass and glass, from a new-fangled wine keeper by Napa Technologies, and also sold by the bottle from a list of 250. To kick off this venture, the chef, Shea Gallante, will prepare a special white truffle menu — the truffles not sold by the ounce but shaved over pasta, eggs and so forth — for $25 per dish." [EaterWire]
79 Macdougal Street, Greenwich Village
Caracas Brooklyn has secured their liquor license, and true to their Venezuelan inspiration, has introduced a bar focusing on rum. The bar area has been dubbed Roneria Caracas and will feature rum-imaginings of classic cocktails created by consulting mixologist Orson Salicetti of Apothéke. Opens Thursday. [TONY, previously]]]>
1) Williamsburg: Eater photog Will Femia sends word that The Williamsburgh Cafe has gotten some new signage. According to a newly-hung banner outside, it's now Williamsburgh Cafe: Korea. Details about a new menu/major concept change are scarce and calls to the restaurant have gone unanswered. A sign outside the restaurant claims it reopened yesterday. [PLYWOOD]
Is Miami's famed Opium Group planning a second attempt at invading New York's nightlife scene? According to Steve Lewis, they are hoping to bring a version of their relatively successful Louis Bar and Lounge to a yet-to-be-identified space in Soho. If you recall, the Opium Group laid a major egg at Mansion, a colossal failure of an attempt to bring the Miami-style nightclub scene to W. 27th Street. That club was re-branded as M2 and the Opium Group headed back down south with their tail between their legs. A nightlife insider told Eater that while company principal Roman Jones has been seen taking meetings in New York recently, they had not heard any pending plans for a new venue in New York. One obvious location would be in the new Trump Soho, but that space has already been taken by Rony Seikaly's Quattro project, and the neighborhood will not look kindly upon another club attempting to open. The Opium Group is also working on a Louis type concept in the failed Forty Deuce space in the Mandalay Bay, but the Vegas and Miami markets are night and day compared to New York's scene, so they would be wise to remember how much fun they had with Mansion before signing any leases. 
1) Noho: The Eater inbox brings news this morning that Leela Lounge has shuttered and has been taken over by newcomers Dan Warren and Chef David Scott Walker. The word is that the pair will be opening a "common mans" gastropub in the space. [EaterWire]
Brian Boitano's Food Network show, What Would Brian Boitano Make, has been picked up for a second season according to Boitano's Twitter courtesy of Eat Me Daily: "If your idea of a cooking show is a flamboyant gold medal-winning Olympian figure skater preparing a series of dishes for the likes of an all-female roller derby crew, you're in luck!" [Twitter via EMD]]]>
@StevenKamali: Noah Tepperberg and his team from Artichoke are officially coming to the MPD, they won board approval in a unanimous decision tonight! Community Board 4's Business License and Permit committee approved a beer and wine license for Artichoke West, not a full liquor license, and the application goes up for approval in front of the full Board later this month. According to a tipster, work on the former Red Rock space is already underway, and the owners are working on an artichoke beer to replace the artichoke cocktails that are not yet allowed. [Previously]]]>
WEST VILLAGE— Newish Denton Bros' spot Corsino is now serving lunch, and brunch on weekends beginning at 10am. [EaterWire]
Steve Lewis reveals that he has been hired by none other than Matt Levine to provide a third redo of the lounge space in the lobby of The Hotel on Rivington. Taking a trip down memory lane, the THOR lounge first opened way back in 2006, when the hotel's opening was a shot across the bow of the historic Lower East Side. During the lounge's opening run, those in the know had to tell the doorman, "we're friends of Marcel's in from the Netherlands" to get inside. But its place on top was short lived, and lounge quickly became an afterthought. By Fall 2007, the lounge had installed some slick black couches and the requisite stripper pole and been rechristened as 105 Riv. But the rebranding never took off and by 2009, the 105 Riv concept as well as THOR's entire F&B program were floundering. ]]>
Enter Matt Levine, who after gaining infinite notoriety with the Eldridge, was brought in by THOR to handle the hotel's restaurant, lobby bar, and lounge. After opening the non-shit show but hardly booming LevantEast, Levine has now turned his attention to the lobby lounge. According to Lewis, the space will be rechristened CV, which is the address in Roman numerals. Pure. Levine. Genius. Levine has partnered with the Bloc Group and the crew from the now closed Upstairs on the project. Partner Jed Stiller explains that this "brings the trend towards hotel-driven lounges to the LES. The Rivington is a celebrity-driven hotel, and we expect to service the high-end guests of the hotel as well as our friends." Celeb driven? THOR? Hmmm. Lewis promises to "make the place a warm, comfy space to hang with a “Meatpacking” aesthetic", and it will be open by the end of the month. At least he didn't say sexy. 
Quick memo to club and lounge owners and their publicists who may be prepping the launch of a new venture. Your new lounge is neither sophisticated nor sexy, so there is no need to include these phrases in any press materials. The latest to violate this rule are the soon to re-open Union Square Lounge, which promises to "become the destination for your evening entertainment and enjoyment . . . served up in a sophisticated and sexy subterranean space", and Spice Market's new soiree offering a "sexy lounge-like atmosphere downstairs on Thursday nights". Back of the envelope calculations and rather unscientific studies show that 99% of all pre-launch marketing include these phrases, while less than 1% of the customers reported feelings of sexiness or sophistication after visiting said lounge. Going forward, let's agree to check the misused adjectives with the burly doorman and let us know that once open, the lounge will serve drinks, play music and offer couches for sitting. Honesty is so sexy and sophisticated.
Throughout the summer, rumors started spreading that a mystery man had been showing up at New York's hottest nightclubs and spending ridiculous amounts of money. One story even had him rolling into Avenue during fashion week and spending $160,000 in one night. As soon as the rumors began, rival clubs owners began working the phones, hoping to either add fuel to the fire or put it out because the big spender from Asia was extremely press shy. If news of his spending got out, the unlucky club owner named in the story would lose all of this guy's business. According to one nightlife source, losing four months of this customer could cost an operator as much $2 million.Yesterday, the NY Post blew the roof off the big spender, running a full spread on Taek Jho Low, a Malaysian-born Wharton grad who has inexplicably become the biggest whale in New York City.]]>
While no one knows much about Jho, his business or his past, they certainly know about his nightclub spending habits. In addition to his lavish night at Avenue, Lo has also had a few other wild nights on the town. According to the Post:
A tipster shares some intriguing info that helps corroborate rumors that Scott Conant will be taking over the Table 8 space at the Cooper Square Hotel: "Not sure if this helps, but about a month ago, interviews were going on @ Scarpetta, and the management said that an opportunity had just opened up in NYC, so they were looking for a whole new staff for a quick opening." [Eater Inbox; previously]]]>
Yesterday morning, the minions of Lakshmi and Colicchio opened the doors of Craftsteak to eager hopefuls looking for spots on Top Chef: Season 7 (referred to as Top Chef Classic by the casting folks) and its new little sister, Top Chef: Just Desserts. Eater was there to look around, ask questions, and do its fair share of cringing. Onto a smattering of the under-qualified, the overqualified, the batshit, and everything in between:
MISUNDERSTANDINGS—In a Miami Times piece today, Jacques Pepin admitted to hooking up with more than 10,000 fellow cooks, servers, and bartenders in his lifetime. Now he's in the comments to explain: "...I must be too old and not "hip" enough to understand that the TRUE meaning of "hooked up with" now means "slept with." My interpretation of your question was that you were asking how many people I have encountered, cooked with, worked with, etc. in the food world. SHAME ON YOU!!" Sadface. [Miami Times]
Things have never been that great at Los Dados, David Rabin's Mexican joint in the heart of the Meatpacking District. Getting the beloved Sue Torres to sign on as chef gave Mexican food lovers hope that this place would be cranking out quality cuisine, but she left after a year, and the Dados has gone from a potential destination to that place across from the High Line that offers free margaritas and serves corny tamales. Falling another rung down the culinary ladder, Los Dados has installed a 103" TV and flat screens at the bar, and will be showing football on Saturday, Sunday and Monday through the winter. They also have created a Guy Fieri inspired menu, featuring wings, hot dogs, pizza and sliders to munch on during the big game. That's money! When a so-called trendy restaurant in the heart of the MPD goes sports bar, it may be time to add it to the list. 
The lounge beneath the Coffee Shop in Union Square is getting a redo behind promoter Michael Gogel with hopes of attracting a young, Parisian crowd. Rather than focusing only on Parisians and those who they congregate with, one would think Mssr. Gogel would want to attract any customers he can get, since the Union Square Lounge (the subterranean space beneath the unfortunate Coffee Shop) failed the get any buzz or business when it first opened and no one has been clamoring for its return. [GoaG]]]>
Halloween has thankfully come and gone, and looking back, the costume affair became a shitshow rivaling the most dreaded of all New York City nights, New Year's Eve. New York should always have something for everyone, but on Halloween, especial a Saturday Halloween, the city is filled with private parties, over the top affairs, giant rip offs, and an anything goes attitude that transforms the island into a no-go zone for anyone looking to enjoy a night on the town without putting on a costume and pounding 1000 vodka sodas. Now that it's come and gone, it seemed like a good time to rank the worst nights to go out in New York. After the Eater nightlife operatives assess the aftermath of tonight's post-Yankee parade drinking marathons (there's one going on right now at McSorley's), it may need to be added to the list.]]>
1. New Years Eve - Who wouldn't it enjoy spending hundreds of dollars on a ticket to a club just for an open vodka bar and a champagne toast at midnight? Most people. Restaurants and clubs make a killing on New Years, but with the overflow of tourists and college kids looking to get lit, the night is usually an over-hyped disaster for everyone and easily tops the list.