June 2009
June 29, 2009Curtains for Jean Georges. D’Amico Details in Three Weeks!
Part of me feels sad because I know that a lot of people are having a very bad morning. All the staff at the Chambers restaurant, heretofore headed by Jean Georges Vongerichten, are being told their restaurant will close, to be replaced in the near term by the D’Amico Cucina team. Part of me, however, feels happy because I was right! Posted on Monday, June 29, 2009 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (1) |
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June 18, 2009Meatfest ’09
A reader writes: “I've got a Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker/Smoker. Where do you recommend I go for “clean” pasture pork? I used to hit up Farm in the Market at the Midtown Global Market. Is the new farmer's market in there still the best spot? I'm up on the North side.” This question suddenly has great urgency for me, since I got my husband a Smokey Mountain Cooker/Smoker for Father’s Day (or as my editor calls it, “a Smokey Mountain Smoky Cooker Smoky Smoker,” given how many times Weber likes to stick some derivation of the word smoke in the description). Now that I too have a smokey smoker, where shall I get great, good, and well-priced meat to smoke? I like the new place at Midtown Global Market, but I was too very much in love... Read more » Posted on Thursday, June 18, 2009 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (8) |
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June 15, 2009New Restaurant On the Block
I recently talked to the young chef, Darin Koch (pronounced cook, natch), who is opening Butcher Block, the new restaurant going in to the old Fugaise spot in Northeast Minneapolis. Our conversation was odd, mainly because Koch told me about 16 times that the restaurant plans to make no profit at all, that they’re going to specialize in in-house butchery but are opening without a butchery area, will be open till 4 a.m. on weekends (and would be open 24 hours a day if Koch had his druthers). It will offer 29 chicken wing flavors. Does any of this sound credible to you? Well, it’s what I was told. Here’s more of what I was told: Butcher Block will be all about in-house butchery, and will open June 18. Koch has a cooking background that includes a long stint at... Read more » Posted on Monday, June 15, 2009 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (10) |
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June 9, 2009D’Amico Disappearing, But For How Long?
The big news is D’Amico Cucina closing. If you haven’t heard, yes, it’s true. The restaurant that more or less invented contemporary fine dining in this town is dimming the lights. Their last night will be Saturday, June 27. This is especially sad news for a few reasons. First, this is the restaurant that launched an empire (all the D’Amico and Sons, as well as Masa, Café and Bar Lurcat, and Campiello), not to mention half the chefs working in independent restaurants in town (Tim McKee, Doug Flicker, Isaac Becker), and even if all the little acorns have grown into strong trees, it’s still upsetting to see the mighty oak fall. Second, D’Amico’s closing is sad because I thought they were doing very strong work lately. In... Read more » Posted on Tuesday, June 9, 2009 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (5) |
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