The Food Section: Appetizers

The Pleasures of Dining Solo at the Grand Central Oyster Bar

Dining alone at the Grand Central Oyster Bar [Financial Times]

An Ode to Key Food

The Key Food Across The Street [Amateur Gourmet]

Iron Chef Morimoto Ranks New York's Best Ramen

Morimoto's Ramen Primer [New York]

Dirty Dining

New York State Senator Jeff Klein, who wants a system of letter-grade ratings of cleanliness in New York eateries, released his annual list of New York City's dirtiest restaurants on Sunday (download a PDF of the complete report).

Chinese Flavors in Flushing

In the New York Times, Julia Moskin surveys the Chinese cuisine of Flushing, Queens. Plus: An interactive map of 20 things to eat in Flushing, including how to pronounce them.

Cheap Eats

New York Magazine publishes its annual "Cheap Eats" issue, including 10 deals for $5 or less, where top chefs eat cheap.

Best Breakfasts of New York

New York magazine rounds up the best breakfasts in New York City, naming Williamsburg's Egg the best.

Red Hook Attracts New Yorkers and Budding Restaurateurs

Sophisticated restaurants are flourishing in Red Hook, in New York's Hudson Valley, to meet the needs of an influx of epicurean weekenders.

Sandwiches: The New Frontier

The Knish Press (a knish sliced, filled, and pressed panini-style) and the Benny Mac (a sub sandwich stuffed with mac-and-cheese, chicken, BBQ sauce, and bacon) are among some metropolitan sandwiches you may not know.

Best of New York

New York magazine has unveiled its annual "Best of New York" food picks for 2008.

Zagat: Babbo is Best

A new Zagat guide to "America's 1,000 Top Italian Restaurants" names Babbo as New York's top Italian eatery.

Chains Required to Post Calorie Info

The New York City Board of Health has voted to require chain restaurants that have 15 or more outlets nationwide to prominently display calorie information on their menus.

The Return of Ducasse

New York magazine profiles Alain Ducasse and charts his plans to win over New York with his new restaurant, Adour, opening in late January at the St. Regis Hotel.

The Year in Eating

Reflections on the best and worst of New York dining in 2007: New York Times, New York, Time Out New York, New York Sun, and Eater.

Scoops No More

After more than 70 years in operation, the legendary Jahn's Ice Cream Parlour in Richmond Hill, Queens, has closed. A branch still remains in Jackson Heights.

Counting Calories

The Bloomberg administration has reintroduced a measure requiring chain restaurants to post calorie information on their menus. The proposal demands all chain restaurants with 15 or more outlets to display calorie counts on their menus and menu boards (more).

Turin on the Hudson

Turin's Eataly, a Slow Food-ish gastronomic bazaar, is coming to Midtown Manhattan in spring 2008.

Deli 2.0

The New York Times Magazine tracks the return of the legendary Second Avenue Deli.

Pearl v. Ed's

Pearl Oyster Bar's Rebecca Charles has filed suit in Federal District Court against Ed McFarland, chef and co-owner of Ed’s Lobster Bar, charging that the restaurant launched by her former sous-chef is a knockoff.

BBQ Hangover

Bloggers, food fora recap this year's Big Apple Barbecue Block Party: Off the Broiler, eat2love, eater, Gothamist, Gawker, Hot Sauce Blog, Mouthfuls, Chowhound, and eGullet,

To the (Basil-Topped) Barricades!

Di Fara fans lead a MySpace-based resistance to Di Fara's closure by the New York City government; others propose a waiver of liability for eating at the hygienically-challenged pizza mecca.

Salad Smackdown

In New York magazine, a roundup of department store salads.

Food Stamp Diet

New York City councilman Eric Gioia takes the Food Stamp Challenge -- eating only what a New Yorker could typically afford on a week’s worth of food stamps (or $28).

Korean Fried Chicken Roundup

Off the Broiler's guide to Korean fried chicken in metropolitan New York. See also: Close encounters of the fried chicken kind.

Coop in a Co-op

How to raise chickens in a Manhattan apartment.

The Big Offal

Gridskipper's guide to where to get your organ meats on in New York City.

Arepas Online

The "Arepa Lady" has a MySpace page. Via epifurious.

Vintage Brooklyn

Urban winemaking on the borough's rooftops and balconies.

Bedding Down with Bruni

The New York Times restaurant critic navigates cold toast, levitating tables, and a leopard-print robe on a seven-night marathon tour of haute room service at top New York City hotels.

Batali-Bastianich Empire to Conquer Westchester?

Is the Batali-Bastianich empire (or at least the Bastianich part) expanding into Westchester?

Best Ramen of New York

Manhattan User's Guide noodles around New York for the best ramen.

Best of New York

 New York magazine unveils its annual "Best of New York" eating and drinking picks.

NYC Rat Inspectors: Sleeping on the Job

Metro: In the wake of New York's rat crisis, a videotape records New York City restaurant inspectors (literally) sleeping on the job.

"The rats will not win"

Metro: New York restaurant vermin czar to rodents: "The rats will not win."

Artisanal Scavenging

Metro: New Haven's late-night artisanal bread club.

Chinatown Celebrity Chef Smackdown

Metro: Chinatown celebrity chef smackdown: Zak Pelaccio vs. Tyler Florence.

New York Burger Roundup

Metro: In the Village Voice, Robert Sietsema surveys the new wave of upscale burger joints.

Queens Eats

Metro: Former New York Times restaurant critic William Grimes reflects on the ethnic realignment of Queens.

Best Chicken Soup

Metro: Where to find the best chicken soup in New York.

How To Make the Most of Restaurant Week

Metro: Time Out New York suggests 20 ways of gaming Restaurant Week. N.B. #13: Telepan and Craftbar will actually serve dishes off the regular menu. Imagine that.

Boulud Accused of Discrimination

Metro: Chef Daniel Boulud is in the hot seat over allegations of racial discrimination against Latino and Bangladeshi employees.

New York's Picks for 2007

Metro: New York magazine unveils it's 2007 guide to where to eat.

Jewish Christmas

Metro: Where to celebrate a proper Jewish Christmas, replete with pupu platters, flaming hibachis, and Polynesian décor.

E. Coli Outbreak in New Jersey, New York

Metro: Thirty-nine people in central New Jersey and on Long Island have been infected with E. coli bacteria in an outbreak of food poisoning traced to the Taco Bell restaurant chain.

Time Capsule Dining

Metro: A visit to Le Veau d'Or on the Upper East Side is like stepping into a French bistro time capsule from 1937.

Travel + Leisure ranks New York's top 50 restaurants

Metro: Travel + Leisure picks the top 50 restaurants in New York City.

Brooklyn Style?

Metro: Domino's new Brooklyn-style pizza puzzles Brooklynites.

Ramsay: Good Cop, Bad Cop

Metro: Gordon Ramsay plays good cop, bad cop in anticipation of New York opening.

NYC Plan Would Require Calorie Counts on Menus

Metro: The New York City Board of Health is weighing a plan to require some of New York’s 20,000 restaurants -- including fast-food chains -- to display the calorie counts of items on their menus.

Garlic, New York

Metro: Where to eat garlic in New York.

Rachael Ray to Open New York Restaurant

Metro: The Rachael Ray juggernaut is unstoppable. According to Star magazine, Ray plans to open "an as-yet-unnamed burger joint in New York" featuring 190 of her favorite burger recipes. Thanks Jennifer!

"Drizzling the Midnight Oil"

Metro: New York chefs "drizzling the midnight oil" [great line] cater to appetites forged between dusk and dawn.

Touring New York With Calvin Trillin

Metro: The secret's out about Calvin Trillin's secretive New York food tour.

Top Dogs

Metro: The New York Sun rounds up the best hot dogs in New York City.

Three Stars for Robuchon

Metro: New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni drops three stars on L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon.

Angst at the Park Slope Food Coop

Metro: Angst at the Park Slope Food Coop: "I quit less than three months after joining the Coop. Like somebody in a bad relationship, I started finding fault everywhere I looked. The organic blueberries were a little on the squishy side. The cheddar cheese always seemed to be low. But the real reason was that the trouble outweighed the advantages."

Wine Bars of New York

Metro: Touring the wine bars of New York.

Fall Preview Time

Metro: Compare and contrast dueling fall restaurant previews in the New York Times and New York magazine. See also: Last year's hits and misses.

BAMN!: "Crap-o-matic"

Metro: The newfangled automat BAMN!, which opened to great fanfare last week, gets a cold and cranky shoulder from the New York Post's Steve Cuozzo: "If its mostly vile $1-$2 delicacies - from chicken nuggets to peanut-butter-and-jelly empanadas - were sold in a deli, they wouldn't draw a fruit fly. They are possibly the worst foodstuffs ever offered for human consumption outside a famine zone."

Best Headline

Metro: Best headline ever: "Unfazed by the Chocolate Glazed."

A Dollar's Worth of Deliciousness?

Metro: How many delicious things can you buy in New York for a dollar?

Supper on Seventh

Metro: Seventh Avenue is the new Tenth Avenue, according to New York magazine.

The Sushi Spreadsheet

Metro: For your downloading pleasure: The Sushi Spreadsheet, one sushi maven's mashup of excel and NYC sushi restaurant rankings.

Buford's Best

Metro: In the Observer Food Monthly, Bill Buford, author of Heat, picks his top five restaurants in New York City (Babbo tops the list, natch).

Cheap Eats

Metro: New York magazine unveils its 2006 "Cheap Eats" issue, including a five-star ranking system ranging from "noteworthy" to "the categorical best."

Ibérico Coming Soon

Metro: Products made from Spain's legendary black-footed Ibérico pigs are coming soon to a handful of New York gourmet stores and specialty shops.

Ibérico Coming Soon

Metro: Products made from Spain's legendary black-footed Ibérico pigs are coming soon to a handful of New York gourmet stores and specialty shops.

Defections at the Park Slope Food Co-op

Metro: Members are fleeing the Park Slope Food Co-op for Twinkies, parking, and ideology-free shopping at the new Fairway in Red Hook.

Drinking Al Frecso

Metro: New York magazine rounds up rooftop bar options around the city.

Health Violations at High-end Eateries

Metro: In the New York Post, Braden Keil tracks food service violations at upscale eateries.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party

Metro: Photos, reviews, and pre- and post-event discussions of the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party -- snoots and all -- at eGullet, mouthfuls, and flickr.

Dining by Subway

Metro: This dining directory of New York City, organized by subway line, includes all restaurants within 200 meters of a subway station. Via kottke.

The Lobster List

Metro: East Village restaurant O.G. maintains a "lobster list" of 20 restaurant regulars who receive a personal phone call whenever the establishment offers a special, off-the-menu lobster crepe.

Mapping Shake Shack alternatives

Metro: When the line is just too long -- a map of Shake Shack alternatives. Via tmn.

Abrams, Bradley Split

Metro: The New York Times reports that restaurateurs Danny Abrams and Jimmy Bradley are going their separate ways and will split their restaurants. Mr. Bradley will get the Red Cat and the Harrison, while Mr. Abrams gets the Mermaid Inn.

Del Posto Showdown

Metro: Mario Batali and his partners face a Friday showdown in court with their landlord over the fate of Del Posto.

Three Stars for A Voce

Metro: New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni bestows three stars upon Andrew Carmellini's A Voce.

Cheesecake . . . in Miami?

Metro: An alternate version of the history of Brooklyn landmark Junior's places the birth of the legendary cheesecake on Collins Avenue in Miami beach, not Flatbush Avenue.

Food Influentials

Metro: New York food world influentials, as picked by New York magazine.

Dirty Bird, Round II

Metro: Slade Rushing, husband of chef Allison Vines-Rushing, has the last word on the Ed Levine/Dirty Bird tangle: "Ed, sounds like you want to choke my chicken."

Dirty Bird Not the Word?

Metro: Early word on brand new Dirty Bird is that it's, well, not "the word": "I wanted to love it. I really did. I have profound respect for Allison Vines Rushing as a chef and human being. But based on my lunch today I would have to say the fried chicken at The Dirty Bird is not the word. In fact, it's not even a syllable." Update: "Allison" [Vines-Rushing?] bites back: "Thanks Ed for giving me five days. Even William Grimes gave me seven." Zing!

New Brooklyn Cuisine

Metro: The top 15 exponents of the "New Brooklyn Cuisine," as picked by New York magazine.

Pocket Guide to the Upper West Side

Metro: Food writer Ed Levine's pocket guide to eating on the Upper West Side.

BYOB Map of New York

Metro: Revolting against New York wine markups, blogger Amuse-Bouche launches an interactive map of BYOB (and low corkage fee) restaurants in the five boroughs.

New President at Beard Foundation

Metro: Susan Ungaro, former editor-in-chief of Family Circle, has been named president of the James Beard Foundation (more).

TONY Eat Out Awards

Metro: Time Out New York unveils its 2006 Eat Out Awards.

Softee Saga

Metro: First Mr. Softee sighting of spring turns from overwhelming joy to utter hatred: "Two servings of said gloop could instead buy chemical free tubs of Haagen-Dazs at any bodega, and yet trusting young children fork their money over by the handful to the criminal for chemical gloop, lured by the piper's song."

Spring Impostors

Metro: New York Post restaurant critic Steve Cuozzo likes spring, but bemoans "spring menus": "Most 'spring' menu items popping up around town are clever impostors. Frozen soft-shell crabs should be detained at JFK. You won't catch me mistaking dandelion greens for fresh, local peas or asparagus, which won't poke through the earth for several weeks more."