New chemistry libation laboratory is about to take the windy city by storm. Word has it that The Aviary, a high-concept cocktail curiotorium, is finally opening next week. Forget about all those “artisanal” and “hand-crafted” drink salons, Chef Craig Schoettler … Read More
The Windy City Gets It’s Own Get-Lit Bar Following in L.A.’s suddenly strong nightclub scene–which last year saw the opening of a Hemingway-themed lounge–is Chicago’s Hubbard Inn, a Continental Tavern with many a nod to the great burly-man writer. The … Read More
Because nothing curtails a hangover beter than salty, post-countdown caviar. Even during the infrequent intervals when the U.N. lifts the ban on exporting wild caviar from the over-fished Caspian Sea, the stuff can be insanely expensive if you’re even able … Read More
SoHo has a much-needed new bistro that has us coming back for seconds. Somehow in the fray we missed Burger & Barrel, a toasty and cool-looking new restaurant from John McDonald (Lure Bar, Chinatown Brasserie), which has been open since … Read More
New ‘WoHo’ bar and good eats crosses the bridge sans hitches. Full disclosure: We don’t “do” Brooklyn. It’s not that we don’t want to go there-there’s just so little time in a day (and we hate the “L” train and … Read More
A sports bar with a rooftop garden? We’re so there. We are suckers for sports bars that don’t carry all of the trappings of the testosterone set, but DO come equipped with say, 50 television screens. The newish Benchmark sports … Read More
NoLiTa lands another great scenery: Tacombi at Fonda Nolita. The name’s a mouthful, but so are the tacos and tamales, served inside this garage-like space from a vintage VW microbus-turned-food stand. Check it out. There’s no liquor yet, but the … Read More
Deep-fried turkey: It’s not a new foodie trend, but nice to see it migrate to L.A… For Thanksgiving this year, Little Dom’s in Los Angeles is going to be offering 12-pound, organic, free-range, deep-fried turkeys with giblet gravy, courtesy of … Read More
After 23 years behind the reservations stand of West Hollywood’s fabled, manly Dan Tana’s steakhouse and pasta joint, general manager Craig Susser is calling it quits, and opening his own restaurant nearby, aptly named Craig’s. We’re seeing a kind of … Read More
In the land of the faux-thentic San Gennaro fest, and tourist red-sauce shills, it took an infamous club doorman to bring it back home. Angelo Bianchi is best known for being the well-heeled and smiling clipboard Nazi at New York’s … Read More
Wine bar meets the snack food machine in new downtown drinking spot. Beginning in the early 1900s with the first opening in Philadelphia, the automat craze swept the country as busy folk clamored for quick coin-op eats on the go. … Read More
Malibu enjoying its own taste of Cuban by way of NoLiTa. For nearly a decade now, we’ve been major fans of Café Habana and its hep-cat, porkpie-hatted owner Sean Meenan. Even when you can’t get a booth or a bar … Read More
The West Village’s private Norwood Club thrives, sans the pomp and circumstance, through tough times. Now going on its third-year anniversary, the Norwood Club-which was founded in 2007 as a private hospice for artistic but not necessarily rich types-has quietly … Read More
Here’s a few newcomers on the Parisian blocks, in time for the big spring-summer runway rollouts, September 28-October 6. Le Mini-Palais (Champs-Elysées) – With or without the adjacent Monet, this is a museum restaurant for food lovers. Playtime (Gare de … Read More
Like Baja Fresh! With the opening of a new al fresco, food court deck at Santa Monica Place, it got us thinking about how random, and nerdy, so much of Los Angeles really is. And no one really stops and … Read More
