Are you a foodie? Do you care about making your community a better place? Put those two things together and you’ve got Taste of the Lower East Side, a tasting event and fundraiser on May 9th for the programs at Grand St. Settlement. What started as an event benefitting Grand St.’s mentorship program JUMP! has turned into a night where ticket buyers can enjoy unlimited food and drinks from 50 neighborhood restaurants.
Grand St. Settlement is a 103 year old organization that serves low income families across the Lower East Side and Brooklyn. Grand St.’s programs center around early childhood, youth, low income individuals and families, and seniors. With an eye towards advocacy and social services, Grand St. supports over 10,000 New Yorkers with programs that strengthen families and communities.
Tickets for Taste of the Lower East Side are available at TasteofLES.org where you can find more information about the event and Grand St. Settlement. The event, located at Metropolitan Pavilion 125 W 18th St., will begin with a VIP tasting session at 6pm and general admission starting at 7pm running until 10pm. Don’t miss out on your chance to #EatWellGiveBack at Taste of the Lower East Side.
In the past couple of months we have been posting a weekly video installment from “Feed Me a Story,” a project created by multimedia artists Theresa Loong and Laura Nova, featured on The Lo-Down in May. It was part of the FABLES Public Art project produced by FABnyc.
We are posting a weekly video installment from “Feed Me a Story,” the project created by multimedia artists Theresa Loong and Laura Nova that was featured last month here. It’s part of the FABLES Public Art project produced by FABnyc which kicked off in May.
We are posting a weekly video installment from “Feed Me a Story,” the project created by multimedia artists Theresa Loong and Laura Nova that was featured last month here. It’s part of the FABLES Public Art project produced by FABnyc which kicked off in May.
Beginning today, we’ll be posting a weekly video installment from “Feed Me a Story,” the project created by multimedia artists Theresa Loong and Laura Nova that we featured last month here. It is part of the FABLES Public Art project produced by FABnyc that kicked off in May.
Boy did AndrewAndrew like this place (not to mention the Twin Peaksy bathroom)! So much so, they recommend moving to the L.E.S. so you can order take-out. So far chef Danny Bowien’s Mission Chinese, which opened Tuesday, has been garnering big thumbs up.
Our friends AndrewAndrew recently visited the new Chinese restaurant, Yunnan Kitchen, on Clinton Street. They had a little extra help with their video review on this one. Take a look.
Viktor & Spoils, the new bar at the Hotel on Rivington.
This morning’s Lower East Side food/restaurant news:
Viktor & Spoils, the new tequila bar and taqueria in the Hotel on Rivington, opens Thursday. Zagat has a preview, as does Urban Daddy.
Two Lower East Side restaurants make it onto the dreaded Eater “cursed spaces” list: 107 Rivington (currently Co-op Food & Drink); and 189 East Houston (most recently Masala Twist).
The Voice says Pho 88, the new Vietnamese spot on Bayard Street, looks promising.
Banh mi shops have popped up like mushrooms across Manhattan over the last few years. I think it has to be a consequence of the economic downturn. How else to explain the culinary craze surrounding this once esoteric, frugal lunch item? Many who had never heard of a Vietnamese sandwich a decade ago now argue the merits of one over another. They’re cheap, light, filling, fresh and exotic – all attributes earning high marks in my book. Today it’s a banh mi connoisseur’s paradise in and around our neighborhood.
There’s news today about a couple of Lower East Side restaurants. First, Eddie Huang told Eater and then started blogging about his decision to close his original Baohaus restaurant, at 137 Rivington Street. Huang says he wants to focus on his new 14th Street establishment and was just spread too thin. The restaurant will shut down after Sunday.
Second, Grub Street reports that Iacopo Falai is probably not opening a new trattoria on Clinton Street. He has already closed Falai, his more formal restaurant on Clinton and seems poised to shut Falai Bakery. Here’s how he explained the situation to the food blog:
“I need to sell Falai first,” (he) said, indicating that the other project is up-in-the-air. (A rep e-mailed this morning to say the project isn’t happening.) The toque alluded that he could resurrect Falai restaurant elsewhere. “It’s the cooking I do,” he explained, and he hopes to continue it “in some other form.” The Lower East Side might just not be right anymore: “It’s mostly bars now,” he lamented. “Or people want tapas, small plates. They go out at 10 p.m. — at 10 p.m. Falai was closing.”
Fork in the Road notes that Imperial Tavern has not reopened, in spite of a sign in the window suggesting the new Ludlow Street party spot would resume operations February 14th.
Bowery Boogie reports Stellina, the bakery/gelato emporium next to Sorella, will be opening soon.
Serious Eats proclaims “Tasty Dumplings” on Mulberry Street the tastiest dumplings in Chinatown.
Michael Huynh is changing the concept at 154 Orchard again. Bia Garden never caught on, so he planned a course correction, turning the place into an Asian tacos destination. Weeks after the new venture was supposed to open, however, Huynh tells Eater he’s changed his mind. The new plan: a Thai/Vietnamese restaurant called Andy ‘n’ Bao.
Fatta Cuckoo on Clinton Street soft-opened this weekend. Via Twitter, they’re beckoning us to come by for cocktails (although we later found out they were closed Monday).
Robert Sietsema checks out the new and improved “Fried Dumpling,” the city’s first one dollar dumpling joint. Same great dumplings plus a few additions to the menu, including brisket soup (Fork in the Road).
Veselka owner Tom Birchard says Veselka Bowery will open in mid-March (Feast).
The best hand pulled noodles in the neighborhood? Danny might not go that far, but still found Sheng Weng on Eldridge Street very satisfying (Food in Mouth).
Have you had a great (or not so great) eating experience in the neighborhood recently? Let us know about it on our new restaurant listings page. You might also check out The Lo-Down’s complete guide to restaurants that deliver on the LES.
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