Wing Week: Part II

We launched Wing Week yesterday out of our devotion to the Buffalo Wing. It was introduced in the '60s by way of Buffalo, New York, and credit usually goes to Teressa Bellissimo, who founded Buffalo's Anchor Bar with her husband Frank in 1935 (the restaurant's been at its current Main Street address since 1937). Regardless of whether or not you support the Bellissimo history, or favor Duff's over Anchor Bar, you're celebrating a region-specific food that is enjoyed far beyond its Western New York origin. Next up on Wing Week? Wogie's in the West Village.

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1, 2, 3, 4, 5... 6?!

Chez Sardine will open in the West Village sometime this winter. When it does, it will become the 5th installment in Gabe Stulman's Little Wisco empire. The restaurant will also be Stulman's first foray into Japanese food; drawing inspiration from a Japanese Izakaya, which is a type of casual Japanese drinking establishment that serves food to go with the booze. Chef Mehdi Brunet-Benkritly, who is currently at Fedora, will take the toque at Chez Sardine.

Work hasn't started on the 183 West 10th Street storefront yet, but today we get word that Stulman has partnered with former Momofuku Ssam and Ma Peche chef Tien Ho and plans on opening a bristo.  A location has been chosen but isn't being revealed just yet.  Is it safe to say it'll be somewhere in the West Village?  Before work starts on the 6th Little Wisco project, Tien Ho will be working with Stulman at his other West Village haunts.

Subterranean Restaurant News

When Atera opened in Tribeca in March, Grub Street told us chef Matt Lightner and co were planning to open a bar in the space under the restaurant.  Originally going to be called "The Office," it turns out the name is to be determined.

Plans for the new bar space include a separate kitchen with its own private dining room.  It will provide a place for diners to have coffee and reflect on all the foraged food a multi-course meal at the 17-seat chef's counter puts in their stomachs.

In the West Village, the laundromat space Ed Schoenfeld took over under RedFarm is closer to opening.  In an interview with Paper Mag back in April, Schoenfeld said he'd be taking over the laundromat June 1st.  "It's going to take us a few months to do it over. So by September 1st, middle of August, we'll have that space."

Update on Tuesday, August 14, 2012 at 11:59AM by Craig Cavallo

Ed Schoenfeld tells Digest NY that date is set for sometime "In the fall: Oct plus or minus."

UWS Fatty Crab Is Scurrying Away; Red Farm to Slide In

Restaurateur Ed Schoenfeld and chef Joe Ng opened Red Farm last summer.  Pete Wells gave it two stars to in March.  In April, Ed Schoenfeld told Paper Magazine he's taking over the laundromat space under Red Farm, providing more space for guests to dine at the wildly popular Chinese joint on 529 Hudson Street.  His plans are for a bar and communal table and will open sometime this fall.

The Off the Menu column in today's Dining & Wine section of the Times reveals Red Farm is undergoing another expansion.  Florence Fabricant reports, "Ed Schoenfeld and Joe Ng plan a branch of Red Farm, their West Village Chinese restaurant, to open in the fall, replacing Fatty Crab on the Upper West Side, which remains open for the time being."  The space in question is 2170 Broadway, between 76th and 77th Streets.

Tertulia: The Weekend Warrior

Last Friday, May 11th, marked the start of Tertulia's late night bar service.  The bar will now be open until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays.  The restaurant has also opened their outdoor space and welcomes guests for lunch, weekend brunch, and dinner.

Chef Seamus Mullen spent the afternoon last Friday at 92Y, talking about his new cookbook, Hero Food.  The book is a candid look at Chef Mullen's life living with rheumatoid arthritis, which he was diagnosed with five years ago.  The book focuses on 18 ingredients that he calls "hero foods" that help maintain a healthier lifestyle.

"Seamus's "heroes" are real food, elemental things like good meat, good birds, eggs, greens, grains, and berries. He cares about how his vegetables are grown, how his fruit is treated, and about the freshness and sustainability of the fish he uses. His hope is that you will eventually forget about why these recipes are good for you, and that you'll make them just because they taste good."

In other Seamus Mullen news, Tertulia is now part of the Extra Mooga ticket for this weekends Googa Mooga event.

The D.O.H. Leaves The Little Owl D.O.A.

A sign up at The Little Owl reveals the restaurant closed after a health inspection last night.  A total bummer for the Campanaro Camp, but the hiccup should be resolved by dinner service tomorrow night.

In the meantime, an additional sign up suggests checking out fellow Campanaro restaurant Market Table, around the corner from Little Owl at 54 Carmine Street.

Joe's Red Shanghai Farm

It wasn't so long ago when Chinatown was the best option for Xiao Long Bao, aka soup dumplings.  You would turn off Canal onto Mott Street and then walk until you came to that movie-set, ripped-right-from-Hong Kong street named Pell.  You turn left and find Joe's Shanghai halfway down the block.

Restaurateur Ed Schoenfeld and chef Joe Ng have introduced a detour to that Chinatown route.  You'll find their soup dumplings a bit further north at RedFarm in the West Village.  The newish restaurant on Hudson Street has "green market sensabilities" and two stars from Pete Wells.  Their dumplings are like the ones at Joe's, but with a suit jacket on.  Here's a slideshow of how they're made.

Pete Wells + RedFarm = 2 Stars

Pete Wells is a big fan of dumplings.  At Red Farm, the new(ish) market driven Chinese restaurant in the West Village, he gives them and the rest of the menu two stars.

Redfarm is the wok work of restaurateur Ed Schoenfeld and chef Joe Ng.  Joe Ng doubles as executive chef at Chinatown Brasserie on Lafayette Street.

So that makes Ed, Joe, and the dumplings the face of the restaurant, right?

Update on Wednesday, June 20, 2012 at 4:22PM by Craig Cavallo

Chinatown Brasserie closes and Andrew Carmellini takes on new lease.  Owners plan to reopen in the same neighborhood under a smaller roof sometime this fall.