Best of the Buzz

Outtake of the Week

BuzzEditor — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Open all night and tastes like it.

Dining News Elsewhere: Organic Sales Flat, Bad News for Bluefin

BuzzEditor — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:38:00 GMT

– Michelle Obama's obesity initiative has sent some food companies scrambling. [Atlantic]
– Organic food sales may have hit their peak. [Reuters]
– Bad news for bluefin tuna from the U.N. [Atlantic]

– McDonald's is contemplating $1 drinks. [WSJ]
– The Yelp extortion class-action lawsuit gains nine more businesses. [Eater]
– Country ham, the new bacon? [Salon]
– Cheese is trendy now. [AP]
– Ostrich eggs for Easter? [Daily Mail]
– Foods the chef loves may not sell well. [P-G]
– Here's hoping that Obama's second state dinner goes better than the first. [Obama Foodorama]
– Top Chef, the tour. [GS: P]
– Ruth Reichl is in on the joke. [Eater]
– What will the first Indian astronauts eat? [DNA, via ColdMud]

Dining News Elsewhere: Free Food Fills Coffers, Florida's Freeze Fallout

BuzzEditor — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:07:00 GMT

– Why all the food giveaways lately? They're good for business. [WSJ]
– New York restaurateurs are nonplussed that the city is really going to force them to display health-score letter grades. [Eater]
– Fallout from Florida's winter freeze won't stop until mid-April. [NRN]

– Praising the restaurant critic. [Time]
– Starbucks will soon offer the ability to completely customize their Frappuccinos. [WSJ]
– Related: the Times' exclusive deal with the coffee chain is over. [AdAge]
– The potato industry is ready for America's decreasing taste for french fries. [The Star]
– Calorie counts loom in Illinois. [S-T]
– Foodies on food stamps. [Salon]
– Restaurant trends that have to go. [Eater]
– What goes into your OJ might surprise you. [Culinate]
– Top Chef's Marcel Vigneron is getting a show on SyFy. [EMD]
– Not content with a menu in Toronto, Wilco gets a beer too. [The Stew]
– One woman's dream to weigh 1,000 lbs. [Gothamist]

Da Vinci Returns in Beverly Hills

BuzzEditor — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:28:00 GMT

Da Vinci

Photo: courtesy of the restaurant

After closing for a year and a half, old-school Beverly Hills watering hole Da Vinci has reopened with new owners and a new chef, who's moved the menu from Classic Italian to Modern Mediterranean (fried artichokes, grilled asparagus with eggplant puree, house-cured bacon); the space has been redone too, boasting a massive marble bar and an illustration of Leonardo Da Vinci gazing benevolently at diners.

9737 S. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills; 310-888-0090

Pulino's Puts McNally on the Bowery

BuzzEditor — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:14:00 GMT

Pulino's

The latest from NYC restaurateur Keith McNally (Pastis, Minetta Tavern), Pulino's is a much-buzzed-about pizza joint on the corner of Bowery and Houston with a hot young chef, Nate Appleman (ex SF's SPQR), manning the kitchen; it's currently serving breakfast and lunch only, but dinner service is expected to begin shortly.

282 Bowery, New York; 212-226-1966

UNICEF's Tap Project Returns!

BuzzEditor — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:46:00 GMT

From March 21–27 (aka World Water Week), the UNICEF Tap Project is coming to a restaurant near you, offering diners a chance to give water to children in need while enjoying a nice meal. Here's how to get involved: during that time, donate $1 (or more) for the tap water you normally drink for free at hundreds of participating restaurants. By doing so, you'll be helping provide children around the world with safe, clean water. You can also donate online or by texting "TAP" to UNICEF (864233) to contribute $5. Before you head out, be sure to peruse our handy guide to participating restaurants, complete with ratings and reviews. To learn more about the UNICEF Tap Project, click here.

Dining News Elsewhere: Gordo Owes, Chile's Wine Woes

BuzzEditor — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:37:00 GMT

– Gordon Ramsay, always in the news, is picking up the pieces of a bad year – and owing the taxman. [Guardian, DR]
– The Chilean wine industry continues to take stock. [WSJ]
– Oh, no! Gloucestershire's annual cheese rolling has been canceled due to health and safety fears. [Guardian, via EMD]

– The anti-HFCS campaign hits success with the return of sugar in products like ketchup and Gatorade. [Ad Age]
– It isn't just about making healthy foods cheaper – you have to make the junk more expensive. [NPR]
– NYC restaurants are turning their expansions toward DC. [WBJ]
– For love of shad roe. [WSJ]
– Bobby Flay heads to prime time. [Eater]
– Gross: 13,780 lbs. of spaghetti. [KTLA]
– How to annoy your server. [CNN]
– A McDonald's that doesn't serve food? [Jaunted]

Outtake of the Week

BuzzEditor — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:41:00 GMT

Horrible waitress, awesome nachos!

Zagat To Go, Now on Palm webOS

BuzzEditor — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:32:00 GMT

Zagat To Go for the Palm webOS

Zagat released its mobile application, Zagat To Go (ZTG), for the Palm webOS. Similar to ZTG for the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry, the webOS application works with the Palm Pre, Pixi and Pre Plus and includes the ability to use GPS to find nearby restaurants, sorted by food, decor, service and cost. You can also make instant reservations and browse top-rated lists. Zagat To Go is available through the webOS app catalog for $9.99.

Dining News Elsewhere: Making a Food Celebrity, Whale Tasting

BuzzEditor — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:13:00 GMT

– Another week, another story on how to make a food celebrity. In this case, Katie Lee. [NYT]
– It isn't just tomatoes suffering – the cold in Florida means OJ prices are about to rise. [Reuters]
– The LA restaurant accused of serving whale meat admits to the charge. [LAT]

– Related: ever wonder what whale tastes like? [Slate]
– The next season of Top Chef will shoot in Washington, DC. [WP]
– Related: Bravo has another cooking show up its sleeve, Around the World in 80 Plates. [Bravo]
– Just like New York, Paris has fancy restaurants popping into its museums. [NYT]
– A Boston bar is selling the right to sit during Red Sox games. [Deadspin]
– Is the butcher backlash on? [Salon]
– Make a sandwich with Lady Gaga in her latest video. [GS: B]
– Breathable chocolate. Want a hit? [BH]
– Top Chef gets the porn treatment. [Eater]

Gerard Butler Inspires OMG Press Release of the Week

BuzzEditor — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:28:00 GMT

Like most journalists, we get a lot of press releases here at Zagat Buzz. Every once in a while we get one that just, well, needs to be shared:

What do Gerard Butler and the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City have in common? Big packages! And an undying love for one another. In fact, Butler and leading lady Jennifer Aniston filmed several scenes of their new comedy, The Bounty Hunter, at the Borgata and “got to know each other” off-camera while frequenting the hotel’s restaurants and hot spots.

Really, that's how the release started. Want more? The whole thing is after the jump.

What do Gerard Butler and the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City have in common? Big packages! And an undying love for one another. In fact, Butler and leading lady Jennifer Aniston filmed several scenes of their new comedy, The Bounty Hunter, at the Borgata and “got to know each other” off-camera while frequenting the hotel’s restaurants and hot spots.

In celebration of the film’s release and the couple’s budding romance, The Borgata incorporates Butler and Aniston’s favorite accommodations, spa treatments and dining experiences into one bang-up package so guests can experience the hotel just as these A-listers did (paparazzi free!).

The ‘Follow the Bounty to Borgata’ Package is available from March 12 through April 10 and includes:

Accommodations in a spectacular Hideaway Suite at The Water Club at Borgata

Spa treatment from Immersion Spa’s Bounty-Inspired menu, including the Ultimate Oxygenating Facial by Intraceuticals (Jennifer Aniston is reportedly a fan) or a Men’s Deluxe Facial
$200 Food & Beverage Credit redeemable at any of Borgata’s fine restaurants, including Bobby Flay Steak or Seablue by Michael Mina where Jennifer Aniston and crew dined while filming
$100 Retail Credit for any Borgata boutique - perhaps to buy sunglasses for those staying incognito to escape their own bounty hunters?
VIP Entry and Complimentary Admission to MIXX and mur.mur nightclubs to glide pass the velvet rope like any A-lister
Complimentary use of the Fitness Center during stay to keep guests buff and toned Hollywood-style

Package price is $1,499/night and is available weekends only (Friday through Sunday) at The Water Club. For more information about packages at Borgata, visit www.theborgata.com or call 609.317.7555.

Dining News Elsewhere: Fat Kids, Whale Meat

BuzzEditor — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:31:00 GMT

– Anti-obesity efforts are now all about the kids. [Slate]
– From the department of terrible ideas: a New York lawmaker wants to ban salt from all restaurant cooking preparation. [NRN]
– Not content with their Oscar, the team behind The Cove managed to help bust an LA eatery for serving whale meat. [NYT]

– Evaluating Chile's wine industry after the quake. [Bloomberg]
– Restaurants are embracing professional foragers when seeking hard-to-find ingredients. [NRN]
– Is decaf coffee cool now? [NYT]
– Related: we are now in coffee's "third-wave." [Time]
– Tap water is so hot right now...enter the fancy filters! [WSJ]
– Florescent lights are good for plants like spinach. [Mail]
– Meet a mushroom farmer. [SE]
– Lox, not kosher? [NYP]
– P&G has recalled Pringles flavors "Taco Night" and "Cheeseburger" due to salmonella concerns. [Salon]
– A New York chef is serving (but not selling) cheese made from his wife's breast milk, and the New York Post can't get enough of it. [NYP]
– Listing restaurant design flaws. [The Stew]
– With a bacon rocket, pigs really do fly. [SE]

Inside Jean-Georges' ABC Kitchen

BuzzEditor — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:38:00 GMT

By Beth Landman

Jean-Georges Vongerichten opens ABC Kitchen.

ABC Kitchen

Photo: courtesy of the restaurant

Everything is slightly magical at ABC Kitchen, Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s organic farm-to-table concept opening tonight on the first floor of the ABC Carpet & Home building in NYC. From the salvaged entry doors covered with distressed mirrors to the antique chandeliers to the bar that contains a little diorama filled with mini crystals, small sprigs and a tiny Ganesh statue – it all feels like a fairy tale come to life. The whimsical boho style is an extension of ABC-founder Paulette Cole’s vision, and there she was at a friends-and-family tasting night last week, sampling goodies from Vongerichten’s kitchen with New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr.

While Jean-Georges is busy in the kitchen, eagerly listening to feedback, the woman running the show is Lois Freedman, one of Vongerichten’s longtime business partner. Dressed in a striking blue Valentino dress one night and hippie-chic jeans with flowing floral top another, she has spent the past three months whipping the staff into shape. It’s been a hectic time for both Vongerichten and Freedman: he launched The Mark just two weeks ago, and she, in addition to helping run the majority of his New York restaurants, has her own 110-seat Italian restaurant in Woodstock called Cucina, which she opened in 2008. After putting in a full week at ABC, she zips upstate weekends to oversee the charming spot, which has played host to a few celebrities of its own.

The changing menu has a market table section, and the bounty is on display – naturally colored eggs in pastels that look like they were dyed for Easter, cauliflower in orange and green, mini purple potatoes and fresh chamomile flowers. Beets are served in homemade yogurt, portobellos are simply roasted with celery leaves and endive is baked with ham and Gruyère – a recipe the chef inherited from his mother. “We are still working with winter vegetables – wait until spring arrives," Freedman smiles.

Photo: courtesy of the restaurant

Appetizers include shaved fluke with olive oil and blood orange and a roast carrot and avocado salad with hints of orange and cumin. An organic chicken entree is served with barely cooked puntarelle and golden raisin balsamic, and a pork chop with apple–Meyer lemon purée and Swiss chard.

The food is organic and locally sourced, and so environmentally conscious that the produce has no pesticides, synthetic fertilizers or GMOs. Cleaning products are green and even the menus are mounted onto pieces of cardboard from delivery boxes. “We encourage staff to get uniforms at local thrift stores," she points out.

In a matter of weeks ABC Kitchen will also serve brunch and lunch, and its all-day cafe and juice bar will morph into a lounge and wine bar in the evening. For now, that area displays a jaw-dropping array of desserts, including a marshmallow frosted chocolate ganache cake and tarts so beautiful they look like they came out of a top Parisian patisserie.

During ABC Kitchen’s months of training, the staff was given classroom-style instruction and eventually role-played, half of them acting as servers, half as guests. “We do this so the customer doesn’t feel like the place just opened – I never want to be embarrassed," Freedman explains. As the staff prepares for opening night, Lois’ eye for detail catches a minor flaw. “I don’t think the blue light bulb in that corner works," she observes of a single bulb in an antique armoire.

“Um, it’s a grow light for the little plants on the shelf under it," explains Ryan Armstrong, the general manager.

“Ok, leave it on all day, but during dinner service, let’s change it. We need a glow light, not a grow light."

35 E.18th St., New York; 212-475-5829; reserve online
Check out the dinner and dessert menus.

St. Patrick's Day 2010 Dining and Drinking

BuzzEditor — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:22:00 GMT

Photo: Umberto Salvagnin

Next Wednesday, March 17, is St. Patrick's Day. Here's where to paint the town green with festive food and drink in the following cities:

Zagat's Atlanta Results Arrive

BuzzEditor — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:38:00 GMT

Photo: Wikipedia

Zagat has completed its latest survey of restaurants in Atlanta, and the results are now available on ZAGAT.com, Zagat.mobi and on the Zagat To Go applications for iPhone, Android and BlackbBerry smartphones. Covering 737 restaurants, the survey paints a picture of a relatively affordable dining scene making do in a tough economy.

The recession has affected Atlanta diners – 35% are eating out less and 38% report being more attentive to prices – but the city is still a relative bargain compared to similar metropolitan areas. An average meal in Atlanta costs $31.35 while an average meal in New York is $41.81 and $35.13 in Washington, DC, which helps explain why Atlantans eat out slightly more than the average American (3.3 times a week vs. 3.2).

And the economy hasn't been all bad for diners. With a number of restaurants introducing prix fixes and small-plates options, 66% of those surveyed reported finding better deals, and 41% said they had an easier time scoring reservations. Speaking of reservations, since Zagat's last survey, the number of diners who use online reservation tools has jumped from 40% to 51%.

But what about the winners? Click past the jump to find out who is on top in Atlanta.

Westside's Bacchanalia has once again claimed the title for Top Food in Atlanta while also reclaiming its spot as the Most Popular restaurant in town (it switched from second place with last year's No. 1, Bone's Restaurant). The New American didn't do so badly in service either, coming in second to its sibling restaurant, the Quinones Room at Bacchanalia (which came in second for Food and third for Decor). Rounding out the biggies is Midtown's Nan Thai Fine Dining, which scored not just the Top Decor title, but also was rated the Top Thai restaurant in town.