Keeping you just far enough ahead of the curve so the wind ruffles but does not displace your hair, it's the Eater Dish for the week of September 26, 2005...
1) Buzz-a-plenty for Fatty Crab, which opens this week on the ever-expanding borders of the Meatpacking District (borders that are, in this case, creeping south to Hudson between Jane and Gansevoort). Overseen by 5 Ninth chef Zak Pelaccio, Fatty Crab promises Malaysian cuisine that New York likens to Pelaccio's late lamented Williamsburg eatery Chickenbone Cafe. The place got the DailyCandy treatment today, which described the interior thus: "The restaurant is (refreshingly) small and simple. No architectural gimmicks, no three-story fountains, no secret membership cards. The design might be a tad caligynephobic: The Asian porn wallpaper in the bathroom has been strategically painted over for modesty’s sake." Get in fast; the early reports we've heard are euphoric.
2) Also newly open, albeit in soft opening mode, is Jimmy's, the East 7th Street (at Second Ave.) subterranean beerhall and European eatery from former Patio Dining chef Jimmy Carbone. Thrillist stopped by last week and reports that Jimmy's is offering a $20 prix fixe of sorts through October 1, 6-10pm nightly.
3) Eater spies report that Loft opened last night at 84th and Columbus on the Upper West Side. The lounge/Mediterranean restaurant hybrid looks intriguing, though questions remain about the crowd it will draw.
4) We've been waiting to drop word of Cookshop's official opening, but seems the folks from Con Ed still haven't done their thing at Chelsea's newest hotspot-to-be. Sit tight.
5) No other top-flight openings this week, but a few notes. New York talks up Bar Carrera, a new tapas restaurant opening next door to Bar Veloce on Second Avenue in the East Village; it's under the guidance of Veloce owner Frederick Twomey. And Strong notes that the redesigned temple of commuter-watching, Metrazur, re-opened last week in Grand Central Station.
