Life in and around Hell’s Kitchen, NYC
After what has felt like an eternity, it finally happened…Kiehl’s on 9th Ave opened its doors. The purely coincidental timing meant that it opened on Black Friday “Kiehlsfest”, so of course they had the deals going.
The first 50 people into the store today got free gift cards, with one of them getting the $1000 one.
For those who haven’t kept up with our gripping non-stop coverage of the store, the place is foremost a beauty products store, with a few other stores across the city. What makes this one special though is that it also has a barbershop inside. Should be an interesting combination.
At the risk of this becoming a trend, we’ve had a break today for Thanksgiving (and also the last-time-for-70000-years overlap of Thanksgiving/Hanukkah). Whether you camped out early for the parade or had an indoors day of turkey, hope it was fun. We’ll return to our regular programming tomorrow, after recovering from a food coma.
Out of nowhere, Energy Kitchen have shut down their entire chain of stores across the city, as reported by DNAinfo. We saw earlier this month they shuttered their location on W 47th St for renovations, but given the effort they put into the signage announcing the renovations it looked like that was really the plan. Obviously, over the past few weeks something has changed, and the store won’t be returning.
The news came in the form of this sudden posting on their website:
We have made the difficult decision to close all of our NYC and Long Island locations – so it’s time for Energy Kitchen to say good-bye to all of our loyal customers. Thank you so much for your support over the years – it has been our pleasure to serve you!
The construction signage is still up at the Hell’s Kitchen outpost:
Energy Kitchen was a popular health food destination, growing to nine stores across the city. Interestingly, one lone franchised outpost remains in Montvale NJ, but given the outpouring of support on their Facebook page the main stores will be missed.
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.
A quick heads up: it’s been announced that the incoming Kiehl’s on 9th Ave will be opening its doors for the first time this Friday the 29th, which will bring our non-stop coverage of the place to an end. You may have noticed the new signage went up last week in preparation:
No word on any Black Friday deals…
On W 48th St over the weekend:
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.
9th Ave might still be a nightmare, but here’s at least some good news in the never-ending roadwork saga: the perpetually-under-construction (and occasionally home to “bedbugs alley”) strip of W 49th St between 9th & 10th has mostly cleared of construction, save for the very ends:
Just imagine that on 9th Ave. We can dream…
You might not have noticed, but it’s getting a bit cold lately. Unsurprisingly, park attendance is suffering:
Middle of the day…clear blue skies…empty.
The local brass quintet was out at 49th & 9th today, as spotted by HK regular OldNewsCS:
I guess we’ll see them in another two months.
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.
Hudson Yards and Gotham West are bringing a lot of attention to the neighborhood. Now even the Times have jumped on it.
That’s one expensive fungi. The soon-to-be mayor donated it to the Food & Finance High School on W 50th St.
The imminent Kiehl’s store on 9th Ave is shaping up to be a big deal. Now it’s going to have a barbershop within it.
A bit further north, the forever-vacant retail area of the Columbus Circle station will finally start to fill up in the coming months.
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…