Life in and around Hell’s Kitchen, NYC
It’s almost here. The second outpost of Turco II, which we’ve been watching for months, is gearing up for its opening. The signage was completed recently, bringing the construction of the new spot much closer to an end.
Over the (long) weekend crews were continuing on the store:
Residents above 46th St can start getting excited for a two-block-closer gyro fix.
It’s been a few weeks since we’ve seen a health department closure around the area, but before we could get to the end of the year, Breeze was hit with the notice.
We’ll have to wait and see how long they stay shuttered for. With any luck we can make it through the rest of the year without the bright yellow notice returning.
The new outpost of popular West Village restaurant Snack Taverna opened on Monday, under the name Snack EOS. The Greek restaurant has taken over the former home of Sandwich Planet at 39th & 9th, just south of Port Authority.
The restaurant opens at 5pm daily, so we didn’t get a chance to see it up and running when we went by. Here’s a photo of the interior from a few days before it opened, to give you a sense of what the décor’s like:
The letter they posted near the window announcing their arrival:
Here’s the section from it on the name:
We call ourselves EOS as Eos os the Greek Titaness of the Dawn and for us this restaurant represents a “new dawn” or “new beginning.”
We’ve been watching the place for the past few months as the store took shape, and suddenly it’s arrived. The place isn’t trying to be flashy or obnoxious, and looks like it’ll be a quiet, relaxing dinner spot.
We missed this place when it opened, but better late than never. The Marshal, a new “farm-to-table” restaurant opened at the end of September on 10th Ave (between 44th & 45th), and so far has gotten rave reviews.
The entrance to the place is pretty subtle and tasteful:
…and so is the interior:
The place is already proving extremely popular, making a great addition to the area. Check out the very diverse menu to see their offerings. They’ve also got a special menu for Thanksgiving tomorrow, if you’re looking for somewhere to spend part of the day.
Thanks to HK readers @OldNewsCS and N W for the heads up!
Work is steadily progressing at the incoming BarBacon on 9th Ave, with the rebuilding of the interior of the former café surging ahead. They’ve been putting up plenty of updates on the progress on their Facebook page:
BarBacon is taking over the former home of Brasilina Café on 9th Ave between 54th & 55th. We’ve simmered a bit since our previous coverage of the incoming place, hopefully it ends up being classier than its name leads us to believe. Either way though, bacon-lovers are sure to flock to the place, so it should end up being quite popular.
Update: Puff Cha opened on Christmas day, so you can head in now for your curry puff fix.
It’s winter, so the only way to lure us outside is with hot food. With that in mind, Puff Cha is gearing up to open in a small space near the corner of 50th & 10th, and will bring tea, coffee, and pastries, along with curry puffs.
The street signage is looking a bit more toned down than this rendering they posted at the end of August:
Construction at the place has been ongoing for months, and they seemed to indicate they were going to be opening earlier this month, but it looks like they’ve been delayed. The place should be open soon though – there’s still another week of November – so you’ll be able to try out “the South Asian equivalent of an empanada” in no time.
A quick note that the mysterious Urban Market we’ve been watching for a while on W 47th St is now open, stocked full of all sorts of groceries. The place looks like a bigger, fancier version of a bodega, and given the lack of supermarkets close to that area it should be popular. Be warned though, it’s a bit pricey.
A taste of what’s inside:
So far there’s still not too much online about the new place…the only thing we could find is a Yellow Pages listing (remember those?), with nothing more than a phone number. Williamsburg is also due for an Urban Market some time this year, no word on whether they’re related.
A quick announcement that is super important: the long-awaited Gotham West Market is finally open – as announced by every website ever – bringing its collection of eight varying vendors to 11th Ave. Eater has a pretty good look at the place, with great photos and menus from the various vendors.
What you can look forward to inside, again per Eater:
Inside is an all-star lineup of vendors, ranging from Court Street Grocers to Ivan Ramen. Caroline Fidanza is serving soup, salad, and sandwiches at Little Chef, an offshoot of her beloved Saltie, while across the way is El Colmado, a tapas bar from Tertulia’s Seamus Mullen. There’s also another bar from The Cannibal, a burger joint from the AvroKo design team, plus outposts of Blue Bottle Coffee and the Brooklyn Kitchen.
The market has been a long time coming. Even their “opening party” was over a month ago, which might say something. Regardless, it’s here now, and although it’s not the supermarket many people wanted, I’m sure it’ll be insanely popular, especially once Gotham West itself fills up…
The harvest season is wrapping up at the Hell’s Kitchen Farm Project (on the roof of the Metro Baptist Church on W 40th). Just in time for Thanksgiving, they’re offering a “Thanksgiving Vegetable Share” basket for sale to the community, full of locally-grown produce.
Here’s what’s in each basket:
The baskets are $30, and will be available for pick-up on the 26th (next Tuesday), but orders have to be in by tomorrow. Per the announcement, if you want to order one, you should contact lbaccus@hellskitchenfarmproject.org.
The incoming second outpost of Turco has run into some trouble, being hit with a stop work order for expired permits.
So far things have been moving pretty quickly with the construction (too quickly to renew permits, I guess…). We’ll have to see if they keep the momentum going once they get past this issue.
Update: The day we post this, the notices get taken down. I guess it’s all back to normal at Turco II then.
The prize wheel is back: the new Pie Face on 8th Ave at 46th St is now open, selling their signature meat pies and “real” coffee from Australia. We’ve been watching this spot for months now as the store slowly took shape, and now it’s finally here.
Already busy:
As usual, they’ve got opening week promotions going on. Most exciting of all is the wheel, obviously:
Pie Face’s are taking over. A few months ago they opened a spot on 9th Ave, and recently opened one at Union Square, in addition to the “older” spots at Penn Station, Broadway & 53rd, as well as several more throughout Midtown.
The signage for the return of Golden Chicken & Ribs is up, and it’s a bit fancy. The neons behind the shiny letters cycle colors:
Still no word on an opening date, but things are moving along quickly.
As first noticed by DNAinfo, the Department of Health have shuttered the combined Pizza Hut/Taco Bell store – which also has Colombo’s Yogurt, Nathan’s Pizza, and Tim Horton’s in the same space – in Penn station for a whole heap of violations, including live roaches and flies around the store.
Of course, rather than have everyone think they’ve closed for health reasons, they’ve put this sign up:
A new Penn Station can’t come soon enough.
The new Totto Ramen on W 51st near 10th Ave is finally here. We’ve been watching the space for some time now, but the signage didn’t go up until the end of last month, so it’s still pretty secret.
It was surprisingly quite inside there, given the swarms outside the first Totto Ramen over on 9th Ave every night of the week:
It’s been a busy few months of The Ramen Wars in the area, with competitor Ippudo opening a location just one block over from the first Totto Ramen, and now Totto Ramen’s response with this one another street down.
Anyway, if you’re thinking of going, make sure you do it soon before the crowds from the other location find out and you end up with half-hour minimum waits here too.