November 19, 2008

Wednesday Food & Drink Round-Up

Now Closed: Trout Swims with the Fishes
102 Smith Street (at Pacific Street)
"Boerum Hill’s dumpy oasis, Trout, closed on Sunday... A plan to develop the corner Trout occupied on Smith and Pacific also fell through after two years of negotiations, [owner Jim Mamary] said, but he assured us that Pacifico is safe (and still serving margaritas). As for that oyster bar planned to go with Black Mountain Wine House, Mamary today declared it 'dead in the water.'" [Grub Street]

This Week's Opening: Vinegar Hill House
72 Hudson Avenue, Vinegar Hill
As we reported back in September, former Freemans chef Jean Adamson has been converting the former butcher shop at 72 Hudson Avenue into a restaurant. According to New York magazine, it's opening this week as Vinegar Hill House: "Adamson describes her menu as Moosewood Cookbook–ish in its focus on grains, legumes, and vegetables, which are intended to supplement smaller portions of protein. Her fish will be sustainable and her meats broken down from whole animals procured from Fleisher’s, the upstate cult butcher, all cooked in the wood-burning oven. Also on offer: a raw bar, an American-cheese-and-homemade-cracker board, and $9 classic cocktails—liquor license pending."

After the jump: The secret to getting seated instantly at Al Di La, a taste of Naples in Williamsburg, and a waiter gets "repeatedly stabbed" with a fork at the newly renovated Kellogg's Diner...

Want a Table at Al Di La Without a Wait?
248 5th Avenue, Park Slope; (718) 783-4565
Go at lunch time. Al Di La quietly started serving midday meals last week, so grab a seat before everybody finds out. Chowhound jinx reports: "The menu is quite truncated from the dinner menu, but still plenty of yummy stuff to be had. I was a bit disappointed that they didn't have the malfatti or the beet raviolis (as I had a friend with me from out of town, and had been raving to her about the malfatti.) But she was perfectly happy with the butternut squash tortellini and I with wild mushrooms and swiss chard over creamy polenta.... Only a few other tables taken, but I imagine the word will be out now!"

A Taste of Naples: Motorino
319 Graham Avenue (near Devoe Street), Williamsburg; (718) 599-8899
CHOW's Outer Borough Digest has good things to say about the new Williamsburg pizzeria, Motorino: "[Chowhound] wew classifies it as 'near soft crust strictish Neo style' and finds it even better than well-regarded competitors La Pizza Fresca and Una Pizza Napoletana. He describes an exemplary crust out of the wood oven, boasting 'a touch of crisp on the very bottom that dissolved as I ate,' and sauce with just enough salt and a pleasing zing." And Tasting Table recommends picking up a bottle from nearby Blue Angel Wines on your way there, as Motorino is presently BYOB.

Fork Stabbing at Kellogg's Diner
Metropolitan and Union avenues, Williamsburg
Kellogg's Diner has a sleek new look, but staffers still have to watch their backs: "A drunken maniac turned a [this] Williamsburg diner upside down yesterday when he went on a profanity-laced tirade, threw a plate of pancakes, and repeatedly stabbed a waiter with a fork," reports the New York Post via Eater.

Posted by Kara at 11:29 AM | Comments (20)
Categories: Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, Food and Drink, Park Slope, Vinegar Hill, Williamsburg

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