http://www.blackbookmag.com/ en blongton@bbook.com Copyright 2009 2009-11-24T20:50:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/img/logo2.gif http://www.blackbookmag.com http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/nyc-openings-cafe-gitane-la-lucha-east-side-social-club/13314 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/nyc-openings-cafe-gitane-la-lucha-east-side-social-club/13314#When:13:10:00Z ● Cafe Gitane (West Village) - Gitane recreates its leisure-class café scene for the west side. ● La Lucha (East Village) - Mexican street food with a wrestling theme hits the E.V. Split the difference between Zaragoza and Mercadito. ● East Side Social Club (Midtown East) - Joltin' Joe overlooks loving homage to Little Italy social clubs of yore. restaurants 2009-11-24T13:10:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/paradou-wrapping-up-the-waiter-rage/13310 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/paradou-wrapping-up-the-waiter-rage/13310#When:23:30:00Z Well, when we last checked in on the hands-down winner for Restaurant Rage of the Year -- Paradou owner Vadim Ponorovsky -- he was still fairly unrepentant about his debatable management style, which peaked when he sent a scathing, pejorative-laced email to his staff (to put it kindly). So, what happened since it went down hard on Friday? Well, for one thing, I knew somebody who was actually headed there. restaurants 2009-11-23T23:30:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/paradous-owner-vadim-ponorovsky-is-talking-to-bloggers/13226 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/paradous-owner-vadim-ponorovsky-is-talking-to-bloggers/13226#When:19:40:00Z Okay, here's what happened: one of the three night editors at Gawker, Ravi Somaiya, went live around 7am with a post of a leaked, uh, memo from Meatpacking District restaurant owner Vadim Ponorovsky, to Paradou's staff, berating them for not collecting guests' email addresses for the Paradou's online mailer. Sample sentence: "You sit there bitching about how you make no money, remember its because youre fucking lazy motherfuckers. YOU SHOULD ALL BE FIRED IMMEDIATELY!!!!! ALL OF YOU, INCLUDING THE HOSTS!!!!" The post broke 10,000 hits, the rage of the masses ensued. Ponorovsky maybe tried to sneak into Gawker's comments to defend his actions. We contacted Ponorovsky for quote. So did Daniel at Grub Street, and Amanda at Eater. Both posts are worth reading. And here's what he told me. restaurants 2009-11-20T19:40:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/nyc-openings-mermaid-oyster-bar-obao-noodles-grill/13178 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/nyc-openings-mermaid-oyster-bar-obao-noodles-grill/13178#When:13:10:00Z ● Mermaid Oyster Bar (Greenwich Village) - Mix-n-match aphrodisiacs at this beachy slip. Sixteen varietals, including the elusive Hood Canal. ● OBAO Noodles & Grill (Midtown East) - Noodle colony of Michael Bao Huynh's budget Asian empire: pad see iew hearts green mango kimchi. restaurants 2009-11-20T13:10:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/la-preview-soda-pops/13046 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/la-preview-soda-pops/13046#When:13:20:00Z ● Soda Pop's (Mid-City West) - Recycled materials for the tables, artisan ingredients for the sandwiches...sounds like a winning combo. restaurants 2009-11-19T13:20:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/chicago-opening-genes-sausage-shop-delicatessen/13052 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/chicago-opening-genes-sausage-shop-delicatessen/13052#When:13:30:00Z ● Gene's Sausage Shop & Delicatessen (Lincoln Square) - Achtung, baby. Gourmet grocery store in Lincoln Square proper specializing in sausages, all things German. restaurants 2009-11-18T13:30:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/la-previews-the-tar-pit-hatfields-mooi/13044 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/la-previews-the-tar-pit-hatfields-mooi/13044#When:13:20:00Z ● The Tar Pit (Mid-City West) - '40s decor, '60s tableware, timeless drinks, celebrity chef. Drinking is going upscale. ● Hatfield's (Mid-City West) - Upgrades planned for an already very upped restaurant. ● Mooi (Echo Park) - On the off chance you didn't know, the gentrification of Echo Park is official: Vegan bakery. restaurants 2009-11-18T13:20:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/miami-openings-blue-capri-kitchen-305/12972 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/miami-openings-blue-capri-kitchen-305/12972#When:14:30:00Z ● Blue Capri (Coconut Grove) - Coco Grove boutique for the beach set. ● Kitchen 305 (Sunny Isles Beach) - American fusion resto with wacky plating and late-night tunes. restaurants 2009-11-17T14:30:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/la-openingsthe-mercantile-mendocino-farms/12936 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/la-openingsthe-mercantile-mendocino-farms/12936#When:20:00:00Z ● The Mercantile (Hollywood) - Wine bar, ice cream parlor, French bistro, by one of Hollywood's most successful restaurateurs. ● Mendocino Farms (Downtown) - Grab-and-go operation that has all of Downtown in a frenzy. restaurants 2009-11-16T20:00:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/nyc-openings-maialino-penthouse-808-patty-bun/12922 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/nyc-openings-maialino-penthouse-808-patty-bun/12922#When:14:30:00Z ● Maialino (Gramercy) - Hospitality master Danny Meyer tries his hand at a neighborhood trattoria. ● Penthouse 808 (Long Island City) - Terrace lounge sprawling atop the Ravel Hotel. ● Patty & Bun (Greenwich Village) - Bringing Follow Me Caffe-style love to the Village. restaurants 2009-11-16T14:30:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/portlands-cannabis-cafe-hopes-to-create-long-lasting-buzz/12896 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/portlands-cannabis-cafe-hopes-to-create-long-lasting-buzz/12896#When:19:55:00Z Our America! With everyday, it's becoming a vacuum of sliding morals! A veritable trash heap of dead dreams, soiled ambitions, and lost hope. Of easy escapes and paused progress. I mean, first, that much-ballyhooed topless coffee shop in gay-hating Maine re-opened. And now some rowdy folks in Portland (in Oregon, not Maine) have set up America's first-ever pot cafe. No, it's not a cafe where you eat your meals by scooping food out of large pots with your hands. It's a proper marijuana cafe. The horror! The horror! Anyway, considering the cafe's long-term goals, "cafe" may be a misnomer. It's also not exactly open to the general public. It's open to any Oregon residents who hold an official medical marijuana card who are also standing members of the pot non-profit outfit NORML. But it only gets more mired from there! restaurants 2009-11-14T19:55:00-05:00 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/new-york-eats-dine-her-i-barely-know-her/12840 http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/new-york-eats-dine-her-i-barely-know-her/12840#When:05:43:01Z I JUST came back from the perpetually underwhelming Coffee Shop in Union Square with the girl. It’s far from the Elite Model farm team that it was when I was a handsome 14-year-old LA transplant. Back then I used to cop two dimes for a quarter, nahmean? Chelsea Now reveals in an interview with co-owner Carolyn Benitez today that Coffee Shop is expanding beyond its ugly walls and the worst bathrooms to do drugs in this side of a midtown pub. Owners will be taking over the lease of that silly lil' Chelsea area Empire Diner that I pass everyday en route to better meals. I know what you’re thinking: he reads Gothamist. It’s true. But in my defense, I was checking the weather. But what of Empire and their low-lidded waitstaff? restaurants 2009-11-13T05:43:01-05:00