Whiskey Soda Lounge Is Now Open; Takashi's Skewer Party

COLUMBIA STREET WATERFRONT DISTRICT — Andy Ricker's new bar Whiskey Soda Lounge Ny is now open down the street from its sister restaurant, Pok Pok Ny. Food & Wine's Kate Krader was among the food world luminaries at a friends and family opening last night and files this glimpse of her Mango Alexander on Instagram. Stay tuned for pictures of the space later this week. [EaterWire]

WEST VILLAGE — There are still some tickets left for Takashi's Natsu Matsuri, a traditional Japanese summer festival that centers on grilled skewers. For $60 per person, diners get five meat skewers of their choice, plus a cocktail and a beer, an appetizer, and a s'more skewer. Tickets are available online for seatings at 6:00, 7:30, or 9:00 p.m. [EaterWire]

BED-STUY — Cafe-by-day, bar-by-night Bedford Hill has just added a menu of small plates to its evening offerings. It includes things like smoked carrot pickles and octopus salad, and comes matched with an expanded list of wines and beers. [EaterWire]

BOOK CLUB — Eater National has a look at Anthony Bourdain's forward to Grand Forks, the collection of reviews by Marilyn Hagerty that will be pubished by his Ecco imprint next week. Hagerty is the small-town North Dakota restaurant critic whose review of an Olive Garden went viral last year, and this collection of her reviews is, as Bourdain puts it, "the antidote to snark." [~EN~]

[Photo: kkrader/Instagram]