Hell’s Kitsch

Torishin, a successful Japanese restaurant on 1^st Ave, is the next spot to try opening at the former La Silhouette store on W 53^rd St. The place has been awarded a Michelin star for three consecutive years, as well as various other awards, and are very passionate about “yakitori”.

A few months ago Clubhouse BBQ was planning on opening in the space, but ran into strong resistance from the neighbors for planning on using the courtyard space that’s part of the store (so unreasonable). They ended up backing down from using any outdoor space, but eventually faded away… Now Torishin is having a go, and right on cue the NIMBYs “concerned neighbors” have begun their campaign:

As we mentioned during the Clubhouse BBQ saga, while I understand people not wanting excessive noise coming from right outside their window, the courtyard is part of the store’s lease – any tenant there will be paying for it – so it’s a bit unreasonable to expect them not to use it. The buildings across 9^th Ave there are above three bars/​bar-​like restaurants with music playing all through the night and you don’t see campaigns going on from those residents about it, so, not to be dismissive, but if a restaurant with people dining outside is the worst this block has to worry about, they’re doing pretty well…at least that’s one opinion.

Anyway, we’ll see what happens…

Update: DNAinfo have some more info on the place.

As part of their 20^th anniversary celebrations, Sullivan St Bakery have been having all sorts of promotions over the past few weeks, and tomorrow, if you head into their store on W 47^th St they’re rolling back to 1994 prices on all their breads.

They’ve also got a buy-​one-​get-​one-​free deal on their pizzas on the 17^th, $2 birthday cake on the 20^th, and more. See the flyer for all the details, or see Midtown Lunch for more.