New York Restaurants

Big news for W.I.P., as the Soho nightclub was victorious in its legal battle with the State Liquor Authority to keep its liquor license. W.I.P. had its license revoked following last year's bottle throwing bonanza between hip hop moguls Drake and Chris Brown over their mutual love of Rihanna, but the club challenged the ruling, saying the punishment did not fit the crime. The Court of Appeals agreed with the club's argument, and now owner Barry Mullineaux can feel secure knowing his nightmare that "New York will lose a bright night light in its entertainment crown" if W.I.P. had to close will not come true. We can already feel our stress levels dropping. Just because the club can stay open doesn't mean they are out of the woods yet. There are many other civil lawsuits remaining over the bottle brawl, including NBA star Tony Parker suing the club for $20 million and the two instigators suing each other. Sue you, sue me, sue everybody! · SoHo Club Where Chris Brown & Drake Brawled Can Keep Liquor License [NYP] · W.I.P. Coverage [~ENY~]

Coffee or chocolate? Marshmallow or pretzel? These are the important decisions Ben & Jerry's wants your expert opinion on. Along with their local partners, Liddabit Sweets, Spoonable Caramels, and Sixpoint Brewery, Ben & Jerry's is churning New York into a flavor. Think long and hard about what flavor combination embodies the spirit of New York (or tastes delicious), then get to voting. Once you've picked the flavor that represents your city, try it at a Ben & Jerry's community event at the end of the program. Click here to learn more.

In bed together. Each year, the World Food Prize Foundation awards a quarter-million dollars to someone who's improved the quality, quantity, or availability of food. It sounds like a nice, fair idea, but Mother Jones reports that the prize's "recipients have been champions of exactly the kind of industrial-scale agriculture that is the livelihood of the award's corporate backers." The U.S. government supports this not-so-democratic selection process: The State Department hosts the announcement ceremony, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the World Prize Foundation "consult regularly together." Here are some things to keep in mind before the recipient is announced this afternoon. 1. Like the James Beard Awards are called the "Oscars of the food world," the World Food Prize is often referred to as the "Nobel Prize of food." But the World Food Prize was actually founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner Norman Borlaug in the eighties. 2. Since the ceremony is hosted by the State Department, John Kerry will announce the winner today! But that doesn't mean it's a fair playing field: "Funders of the foundation which backs it have a vested interest in promoting industrialized farming around the world." 3. Between 2009 to 20111, combined donations to the World Prize from ADM, Cargill, Monsanto, and General Mills totaled over half a million dollars. 4. The Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation made combined donations of $1.93 million during that time, too. These big charities have their own agendas. 5. Prior winners have gone on to "blast critics of industrial agriculture" and serve on the advisory committee for DuPont, a global research- and technology-based science company. 6. It makes sense that the U.S. government supports this prize: "The Obama administration has been ramping up agricultural development as both a means of third-world poverty alleviation and a business opportunity for Americans." In other words, the government is invested in foreign agribusiness — and, thus, this award. The World Food Prize, Brought to You By Monsanto [Mother Jones] Read more posts by Sierra TishgartFiled Under: food politics, agriculture, farming, general mills, genetically modified foods, gmo, gmo crops, gmo seeds, government, monsanto, world food prize

Akhtar Nawab will leave the La Esquina restaurants at the end of the month. The chef was just tapped by the EMM Group to helm the kitchen at the Latin revamp of the Abe & Arthur's space, which should open this fall. In other chef shuffle news, former Roberta's cook Nick Subic is opening a "pan-Asian noodle" restaurant in Bushwick next month called King Noodle. [DJ/NYT]

In four years, this marks only the second Indian restaurant we’ve reviewed on Immaculate Infatuation. Why? Who really knows. I’m sure part of it is because we’re less versed in this cuisine and therefore less comfortable critiquing it than say, a pile of short ribs or some white guy’s attempt at making ramen. Part of it also comes from the fact that Steinthal is afraid of the stuff, so that leaves one of us to handle all of the Indian eating – me. Regardless, it’s time to up our game in this department. And we’re starting today with Moti Mahal Delux. Moti Mahal Delux is the first US franchise of a massive restaurant chain originating from New Dhelhi. The Moti Mahal name is world-renowned for a few signature dishes from the Mughlai cuisine of India, including some of the best tandoori chicken you can find anywhere in the world. And thanks to a guy who owns a few other Indian restaurants in town, you can now find it on the Upper East Side. This location of Moti Mahal Delux opened in July of 2012, and they’ve already bagged a two-star review in the New York Times and built a loyal following among the Indian food enthusiasts in town. We recently checked out Moti Mahal Deluxe for dinner, and despite not knowing much about the intricacies of Indian dining, we do know one thing – this place is really, really good. As a matter of fact, this might have been the best Indian food I’ve had in New York, and even though I don’t eat it all the time, I do have functioning taste buds. Plus, we clearly aren’t the only people that feel this way. The dining room at Moti Mahal is packed every night. As we mentioned, there are some signature dishes here that you absolutely must order, but it’s a huge menu, and you probably can’t tackle them all in one sitting unless you’re eating with a really big group. We’ll cover some of the can’t-miss items in the Food Rundown below, but our best recommendation is to follow the advice of your waiter and come here a few times to try different things. I’d love to say that we’ll be coming back often, but we’ve got a lot more ground to cover when it comes to Indian food in New York. If anyone needs me, I’ll be in Curry Hill for the next few months. Food Rundown Bunni ChatSkewers with pineapple, peppers, and sweet potato. They’re sweet and savory and really delicious. You want some. Murgh TandooriThere are plenty of good appetizers to get into on the Moti Mahal menu, but we dove right into the good stuff from the tandoor oven. This tandoori chicken is one of the legendary items associated with this restaurant’s name, and we have to say it’s probably the best we’ve ever had. The chicken is perfectly cooked, and the spices are balanced so that you don’t get overwhelmed by them. This is an absolute must order. Burrah KebabA plate of tender and delicious lamb chops from the clay oven. The dry heat puts a nice char on the edges, but the meat is falling of the bone and is soft and delicious like a tasty pillow made from baby animal meat. So good. Murgh MakhaniYet another famous item from the Moti Mahal empire, this butter chicken is rich and amazing, and it needs to be on your table. Daal MakhaniSo, being that we are students of language, we’ve now picked up on the fact that the word “makhani” must mean sh*tload of butter” in the Indian language. The Daal Mahkani is a bowl of lentils with lots of butter stirred in, and it tastes very good. It’s also probably terrible for you, but that’s never stopped us before. MMD Signature MasalaThere are a few options when it comes to masala at Moti Mahal Delux, including chicken, shrimp, crab, and brain. We don’t get down on brain (what happens when you eat thoughts?), but we did order the chicken variety and loved it. We hear the crab masala is pretty incredible too. Lemon RiceThis rice h

The flamboyant television food personality and enthusiastic pusher of an inane new line of pointless butter spreads allegedly admitted to telling racist jokes, using the N-word regularly, and — wait for it — enlisting "black men to play the role of slaves at a wedding" she was planning. All of these awful new Paula Deen factoids and more are courtesy of Radar, which reportedly had access to a deposition that was videotaped last month in conjunction with the sexual harassment charges levied against Deen's brother Bubba by former Uncle Bubba's Seafood and Oyster House general manager Lisa Jackson last year. Details, some of which have been posted in advance of what's being touted as a "bombshell report" that publishes tomorrow in the National Enquirer, states that the celebrity chef tells jokes "about Jewish people, rednecks, black folks" and says, "I can’t determine what offends another person." When asked if she uses the N-word, Deen allegedly responds, "Yes, of course." Another line of questioning allegedly pertained to a wedding planned by Deen in which she had the idea to have a team of "middle-aged black men" wearing "beautiful white jackets with a black bow tie" serve guests. Here's Deen's (perhaps tellingly) ellipsis-heavy comment: “I mean, it was really impressive. That restaurant represented a certain era in America … after the Civil War, during the Civil War, before the Civil War … It was not only black men, it was black women … I would say they were slaves.” If this is any indication of what's going in the museum, we're just going to stay on the tour bus, thanks. Paula Deen Admits Using The N-Word & Making Racial Jokes In Explosive Deposition [Radar via Jezebel] Earlier: Paula Deen-Branded Butter Sounds Absolutely Delicious Earlier: Paula Deen and Brother, Bubba Hiers, Accused of Sexual Harassment Related: 10 Things That Need to Go Inside the Paula Deen Museum Read more posts by Hugh MerwinFiled Under: lawsuits, bigots, paula deen, racism, savannah, savannah restaurants

The owners of rec room-themed LES bar Welcome To The Johnson's are expanding across the East River later this month, to open a second location in Bushwick. The new spot will just be called The Johnson's, and sounds like it will be a little more grown up than the original. That means those seedy plastic-covered couches are out, but there will be an outdoor patio and a take out window for food. [Bedford + Bowery]

Simon Oren, of the 5 Napkin chain, will get to open his new restaurant in the Union Square Pavilion after all. Last spring, the chef/restaurateur won the contract for the restaurant, and in January, the Union Square Community Coalition filed a suit against the city arguing that the use of the space was awarded without proper approval from the State Legislature. A judge issued an injunction against the restaurant and the park's seasonal holiday markets, but that ruling was overturned yesterday by a panel of New York State appellate judges. The panel ruled that "the seasonal restaurant and holiday market concessions at issue do not violate the public trust doctrine since they are permissible park uses." Work on the space began last spring, but it was stopped by the lawsuit in January. Now, Oren and his team can finish what they started. The new restaurant is doing business under the name Chef Driven Market. As the Post notes, this will be an upscale seasonal restaurant that is expected to serve things like an $18 omelet. It should open later this year. · Appeals Court Backs Opening of Tony Union Sq. Park Eatery [NYP] · Union Square Pavilion CAN Be Turned Into Brunch Destination [Gothamist] · All Coverage of The Union Square Pavilion [~ENY~] [Photo: Wikipedia]

It will look something like this. A large new restaurant with killer views of Hudson River Park and the choppy gray-green river itself is coming to Tribeca, it turns out. Hudson River Park Trust has issued an RFP for the under-construction building at Pier 26, which is being used these days for the most part to host special events but is the future home of an elegant pavilion building next to the boathouse. Once completed, it'll boast tall windows on three sides, large sliding glass doors that open on to the river, and multiple outdoor seating areas for al fresco dining. "It's an empty slate right now," Hudson River Park CEO Madelyn Wils tells Grub Street. It's expected that the incoming operator will put locally produced food to good use at the venue, she says, but the trust is looking for a broad cross section of fresh ideas. A large seafood house might be a natural fit for the pier, but the site could also become a beer garden focusing on regional microbrews, or even a family-oriented bistro. "I'd like there to be something for everyone," Wils says. Some details: The dining room is 1,678 square feet and will have room for 114 people. Outdoor terraces at pier level will seat up to 150 more, and a showstopping, 4,458-square-foot roof terrace will accommodate up to 300 guests. The windows that wrap around three sides of the building are practically ten feet tall. (And yes, the restaurant will be built with a floodwall to help mitigate any future storm surges.) Restaurant consultant Steven Kamali is acting as a pro bono food and beverage adviser to the HRPT and will help field the proposals of potential operators later this summer. He considers the Pier 26 project an opportunity to create a future landmark. "There are plenty of spots along the park that provide amenities," he says. "But the way we're thinking about this is for the restaurateur to come in and open something that becomes a true dining destination, a place to get a great piece of chicken or some great sushi. The idea is to open a place that diners will actively seek out. That's why we're looking for phenomenal operators." The trust is accepting proposals until August 23 and plans to select an operator by the end of September. More information can be found here. Bids & Business Opportunities [Hudson River Park] Read more posts by Hugh MerwinFiled Under: coming soon, hudson river park, madelyn wils, new york, new york restaurants, pier 26, steven kamali

Alex Stupak and Charlie Palmer are both scouting locations for new restaurants. The Empellon chef tells Zagat: "I am looking south of 14th Street...It will be Mexican, but I want to do something focused more on masa, with a price point of about $45 per person." Palmer says that he's "looking in the Times Square area," but he has not determined what kind of restaurant he wants to open there yet. [Zagat]