3. Penn Station is a risky place to eat

    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.

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    Of course, rather than have everyone think they’ve closed for health reasons, they’ve put this sign up:

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    A new Penn Station can’t come soon enough.

Tuesday, Nov 12th

  1. Water main break on W 53rd St

    While checking out the new Totto Ramen tonight, we heard water was out around W 53rd. Turns out that a water main broke, taking out water to that whole street (and maybe others?).

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    Here was our first clue something was up:

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    I imagine the water will be back on soon, given the response. Still, losing water is never fun, so I’m sure the fix can’t come soon enough to the residents of the street.

  2. Totto Ramen II is here, get in before there’s a line

    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.

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    It was surprisingly quite inside there, given the swarms outside the first Totto Ramen over on 9th Ave every night of the week:

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    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.

  3. New signage at Crispín’s

    There’s new signage up at the “Manhattan-​Italian influenced” restaurant and wine bar Crispín’s, on the corner of 52nd & 10th, giving a much clearer picture of what the place is actually about:

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    We noticed they were closed for a few days last week, but they let us know it was just for the renovations.

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    Crispín’s is still relatively new, having opened in July of this year, but looks to be doing pretty well on that corner. It’s a pretty upscale place, with a long wine list, and always a good level of patrons, so the new signage should only further that.

Monday, Nov 11th

  1. Get set for edgy innovative luxury and the new West Side Story

    If you haven’t seen the posters all over the place, the future development 540 West has come out of hiding over the past few weeks and begun its marketing push. Here’s what we can look forward to around this time in 2014:

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    Source: 540 West/​Facebook
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    Source: 540 West/​Facebook
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    Source: 540 West/​Facebook

    (Head over to their site for more renderings)

    The development will consist of two buildings – each seven stories high – with a total of 114 condos. Most importantly though, they’ll bring “edgy innovative luxury” to “HLSKTCHN” (they’re too edgy and innovative for vowels, it seems):

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    The development will be taking over a full strip between 48th & 49th, between 10th & 11th. Here’s the site at the moment:

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    Behind the plywood, crews were working away in the pit over the weekend:

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    Not wasting any time, the sales center is set up just around the corner from the construction site on 10th Ave, so you can head in to find out more about this exctng dvlpmnt.

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  3. Co Ba bringing Vietnamese to W 53rd

    It looks like the new tenants for the former site of Kiran Indian on W 53rd St are getting ready. This evening a few people were checking out the (still partially furnished) spot, assumedly representing the future tenant Co Ba, a Vietnamese restaurant in Chelsea who look to be expanding north.

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    The liquor license application hearing was tonight, so the people would’ve come straight from that. With any luck they’ll be up and running by Christmas so they can make the most of the lights.

Sunday, Nov 10th

  1. Around the web

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    Storefronts along 9th Ave

Saturday, Nov 9th

  1. “The Asian Chipotle” Satya Eastern Kitchen shutters its doors

    After a relatively short run on 8th Ave, Satya Eastern Kitchen has closed. The place, described by some as “the Asian Chipotle”, has only been around since February of this year. Midtown Lunch spotted the closure earlier this week, and Satya have announced the closure on their Facebook page, so it’s official.

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    Meanwhile, the actual Chipotle a few streets up is still going strong…