BURGER WEEK

For the past few years, it’s been hard not to notice a critical mass of new burger restaurants popping up. There are so many in fact, they could probably have their own restaurant week—oh wait, they do. Kicking off yesterday, the second annual New York Burger Week (May 1 to 7) celebrates this all-American classic in all its iterations, from rock-star renderings, like a GNR-inspired Appetite for Destruction beer-and-burger pairing to global spins, like a spicy Korean pork belly patty. Check out a full lineup of specials—and you’ll want to have some fries with that.

The Burger Week

EATER AWARDS

Trying to decide what to eat next? Check out Eater.com’s rundown of the best dining and drinking venues of 2012. Eater readers voted on the top three, and then the Eater editorial team selected the Restaurant of the Year, So Hot Right Now Restaurant, Chef of the Year, Bartender of the Year, and Stone Cold Stunner. Top honors went to S.F. import Mission Chinese Food for best restaurant, Alex Raij of La Vara picked up best chef, and Doug Quinn won bartender of the year. Rosemary’s in the West Vil was deemed So Hot Right Now—and the Stone Cold Stunner? The Nomad. 

2012 Eater Awards for New York City

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RSVP, PLEASE

Sure brunch is a great weekend tradition, but what about when you’re craving this hybrid meal on say, a Tuesday afternoon, and don’t feeling like slumming it to a greasy-spoon diner? Problem solved: Opening last night, RSVP is the newest venture from Jon Bakhshi, onetime owner of nighttime hotspots Greenhouse, Guest House, and Home. During workday hours, this new lounge-restaurant in the heart of Soho on Watts Street “daylights” as an all-day, every-day brunch spot for the kind of “freelancers” who might wake up around noon with a hankering for PB&J pancakes or stuffed French toast.

the RSVP

CHARTING NEW TERROIR

The elitist wine bar for everyone is moving on up: First, Terroir’s Paul
Grieco picked up an Outstanding Wine, Beer or Spirits Professional Award
from the James Beard Foundation in early May and now the bar’s literally
moved up—as in perched on the High Line. Now through November, the outdoor
café is the only sit-down restaurant in the elevated park and offers up
Marco Canora’s trademark meatball subs with locally sources dishes that
complement Grieco’s expert homegrown picks for beer and wine. Raise a glass
of Riesling and say cheers to a four day week!
The Terroir | The elitist wine bar for everyone

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CALLING SUPER LINDA
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Super Linda! This newly opened South
American hotspot in Tribeca was dreamed up by a Justice League-like
team of rock-star restaurateurs. “Negotiating the space between food
and fun, New Yorkers could ask for no better architects than Matt
Abramcyk—owner of Smith and Mills, the Bunker and Tiny’s—and Serge
Becker, whose design credits include Miss Lily’s and La Esquina,”
observed the Thursday Styles last week. “While diners carve up
rib-eyes and slurp ceviches at street level, party seekers gather in
the basement lounge where a festive scene channels the owners’
nightclub roots.”

The NYtimes review of Super Linda

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HISTORY COURSES

For their latest menu debuting December 1, Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi of Torrisi Italian Specialties didn’t just hit the cookbooks, they cracked the history books as well. Now that they “have moved all the sandwich-making to their next door spinoff Parm, they’re getting ready to launch an all-new menu that’s largely inspired by New York’s vast culinary history,” reports Eater.com. “To develop the new dishes, the chefs combed through old menus in the Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room of the NYPL.” So what does NYC History 101 taste like? How about a knish and fish roe dish channeling 1920s caviar service, cashew chicken “oysters” nodding to Chinese takeout, and even a tribute to Jay-Z called “Oysters Rockafella.” Sign us up for that “course.”

Torrisi to launch NYC History themed tasting menu

FRESH FROM THE “PARM”
One of the biggest debuts this fall, according to Eater.com, opened this week: “Parm, the new lunch spot and full-fledged restaurant from the team behind uber-popular Torrisi Italian Specialties is outfitted with a bar and counter with swivel stools, a small dining room, and actual table service.” For lunchgoers, the venue offers nearly every imaginable form of “parm” possible, as in roasted turkey, chicken, eggplant, meatball, sausage and peppers, chicken francese, potato and egg, and Italian, served on rolls, subs, or platters—depending on how ravenous you are.
PARM <— Check it out

Photo via Eater.com