Madison Square Park: The DOH has just called us with the official word on Country. Unsurprisingly, the reasons for their closure were neither flood related nor 'minor infractions'. Straight from the DOH rep: "The health department did close them today. They are in our accelerated program because of their poor inspection history. They have failed several inspections in the past year, so they were sent a letter that said they needed to pass two in a row to get our of that increased inspection program. And failed this inspection.Sounds like the 'upkeep' the staff said they are doing over the weekend involved throwing away a fridge full of meat. Better get on your game before you open this as a steakhouse guys.The main issue, although there were several, was that they had significant quantities of meat that were vacuum sealed. If you're doing reduced oxygen packaging cooking, you have to have it approved through the Health Department, which a lot of restaurants do. They didn't have a plan to do that, and they also could not document where they got that meat from. It wasn't labeled, it wasn't dated, they couldn't say who had sealed it or where it came from. There was definitively a health risk there. That was a significant issue that lead to their closure."
· DOH Chronicles Update: Country 'Closed For Upkeep']]>
RED HOOK— If for some reason, 'Go to Red Hook and Eat Tacos' isn't enough instruction for you, Serious Eats NY has a new definintive guide. It's mostly a collection of what was already reported, but you've got all your history, maps, and links in one place. [SE]
Yesterday the MTA invited members of the media to check out the monster of a tunnel being built 19 stories under Manhattan, and Curbed has a massive photo gallery of the beast. Besides seeing the construction workers' subterranean break room, here's our favorite part: a dirty utility bar named Bungalow Bar a.k.a the closely guarded secret and the city's impossible to get into underground hot spot. [Curbed]]]>
Soho West: Some somewhat unsurprising news from an unexpected source. The blog for the Tribeca restaurant Estancia reports that Giorgione 508, the spinoff from restaurant Giorgione will be closing: 
Turns out New York isn't immune from the rash of Starbucks closings planned for 2009. 10 of the 600 scheduled shutters will be in NYC: "When Starbucks released the full list of stores tagged for elimination, it included six in Manhattan, two in Queens and one in Brooklyn. All of those in Manhattan are in Midtown: 340 Madison Avenue (at 44th Street), 400 Madison Avenue (near 48th Street), 1600 Broadway (near 48th Street), 1675 Broadway (near 52nd Street), 565 Fifth Avenue (near 46th Street) and on the fifth floor of Macy’s flagship store in Herald Square." [NYT]
The Bocuse d'Or board has announced the replacement for Damon Wise, the chef who withdrew his name from contention yesterday morning: Chef John Rellah, Jr., Executive Chef of the Hamilton Farm Golf Club in Gladstone, NJ. He was the former executive chef of the Union Club in New York and has worked at Lespinasse and Le Bernardin. A little more about his cooking from his restaurant's site: "John's food is a masterful integration of the subtle and complex flavors of the Orient and the Middle East with French method...He has a remarkable personal style of cooking. He also makes a great burger..." [EaterWire]]]>
MIDTOWN EAST— Wine Spectator announced today that Alto is one of the three 2008 winners of its Grand Award, the mag's "most coveted honor." From the release: "Alto joins the ranks of only 72 other restaurants worldwide to hold this lofty distinction—one that recognizes wine lists with upwards of 1500 selections that exhibit vintage depth as well as an excellent breadth of major wine growing regions." [EaterWire]
The anonymous Starbucks blogger lists reasons why making Vivannos blows: #1: "Each one takes significantly longer to make than other drinks." #4: "The consistancy is really liquidy which always looks incorrect." #7: "No, you can’t get it in a tall. And, no, sir you can’t get the biggest one. Because you just can’t." #10: "I’m a total tool when I have to yell across the floor, “WE NEED MORE BANANAS” during a rush." Why the barista likes making Vivannos: "They make me not hate frappuccinos. Maybe that was the whole point of this." [147xxxx via Eater LA]]]>
1) Midtown: As if this town needed another steakhouse, 
I live my life in a perpetual state of swearing off stupid behavior, then slipping up and participating in said sworn off behavior, enjoying the stupid behavior, and then feeling like shit afterwards. It's an awesome cycle. However, one very, extremely dumb activity that I really do swear I will never be suckered into participating in ever again is clubbing. Me and clubs, we're through. It's not that I ever even liked clubs beyond the age of, like, nineteen. It's just that I drink too much and then someone convinces me that it's a good idea to waste half my paycheck at some crappy, loud moron-magnet, dancing to Soulja Boy and drinking $15 appletinis. I cry just thinking about it. 
This morning Daniel Boulud along with Jerome Bocuse, Dieter Hannig, Gérard Collomb (the mayor of Lyon) and other officials from the Bocuse d'Or competition announced the eight semi-finalist teams from the United States. These teams of two will go on to compete against one another this September in Orlando to determine who will rep America in the Olympics of the food world. Remember, whichever team wins in Orlando will take a three month break to train with Thomas Keller and USA team coach Rolando Henin in the specially designed cooking facility on the grounds of the French Laundry. And the finalists are:
METPACKING DISTRICT— Mr. Cutlets reports some rumors that Ilan is coming back to the big city: "The Top Chef winner just might be the executive chef at a massive Spanish restaurant called ¡pasé! in the meatpacking district, at 455 West 16th Street...if things get off the ground, the place will presumably feature food in the vein of Hall’s previous employ at Casa Mono..." [Cutlets]
You may have heard about Thomas Keller's upcoming sous vide manifesto, but the fall catalog of Artisan Books is out in PDF form, and along with it, a preview, book specifics and some striking images from Keller's Under Pressure. NYC Book Bonus: on page 14 of the same PDF document, you can read all about another fall arrival Eric Ripert's "On The Line: How One Great Restaurant Made it to the Top and Stayed There", complete with maps of the kitchen and stations and more shots of Ripert's mug than you can handle. [Artisan via Eater SF]]]>
The shills have been kept to a minimum this week but a few have been able to eek through here and there. Today we have Naya, Zocalo, Parlor, and a surprising success story from South Brooklyn Pizza:
Following last week's City Mag piece on the beauty of a restaurant family (staff) meal, a writer on GigaChef.com wonders why some restaurants make employees pay: "I was shocked to learn from a friend who works for Gramercy Tavern...was having $15 a week deducted from his paycheck for the 'privilege' of eating it...since staff meal usually strives to be more edible than enjoyable, is it right to charge for it?" Reps at USHG say they only charge $2 per meal, that it's lower than the industry standard, and that they take great care with the staff meals. Which brings us to this: which restaurants charge, which don't, and what do you waiters think of it all? Discuss [GigaChef (with subscription); previously]]]>
