Brodo Pops Up at Morgenstern's, Wells Lists His Favorite Dishes, and More Intel

— Two trendy food operations are joining forces this winter: Brodo and Morgenstern's. Marco Canora's bone broth stand now has a pop-up window at Nick Morgenstern's Lower East Side ice cream parlor. It's going to be open for the next few months with a menu that has all the broths and add-ins from the East Village original plus some new items. One of those creations is a savory riff on egg nog made with chicken broth, egg yolk, and nutmeg. Another new item called the "St. Nick" is made with beef broth, unsweetened chocolate, and coconut milk. When people start lining up at an ice cream parlor for holiday-themed sweet/savory bone broth drinks, we have officially reached peak 2015.

— This year, Pete Wells loved eating the sticky bun at Sadelle's, the duck carnitas at Cosme, the chicken at Houseman, and the uni & chickpea duo at Momofuku Ko. Here's Wells on that last dish: "I didn’t totally see the point of this spooky, unstructured pairing of sea urchin lobes with a swoosh of partly fermented chickpea purée the first time I ate it. Now I can’t get it out of my head. That’s how new ideas put down roots."

— An anonymous tipster writes in to the tipline: "The reason Empire can't make it is plain and simple, the outrageous rent. I was approached by a realtor about the space yesterday, the asking starting rent is $33K!! What exactly can you sell IN A DINER, to make your overhead?"

— Alex Gaudelet, the CEO of the company that manages Joël Robuchon's North American restaurants, says that his team is "in advanced negotiations with a landlord" for a new home for L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon. The group was originally planning to open at 250 Vessey Street, which is part of Brookfield Place, but the team suddenly backed out of the deal earlier this month. Gaudelet tells the Post: "It’s an old building." No word yet on just where the Robuchon crew is headed next.

— A new South Asian restaurant called Lucky Bee is slated to open the first week in January in the Broome Street space that previously housed Jin Sushi. Former Fat Radish chef Matty Bennett is opening this new project along with restaurateur Rupert Noffs.

— Inwood's Viva Tapas Bar and Lounge was busted for serving alcohol to minors. The restaurant was served a court order and the police shut the place down last week, but it reopened over the weekend. DNAinfo notes that there is no evidence of a notice of appeal, so the bar is probably operating illegally.

— Amelia Lester of Tables for Two files on Oiji this week: "In short, the food whispers, to varying effect, and so do the patrons, as the subdued end of the Beatles catalogue plays softly. The best dish is the most comforting: cold buckwheat noodles and preserved spring ramps, in a broth like silk which makes you almost forget that winter is coming."

—Restaurateur Joey Allaham if fighting to keep his kosher steakhouse Prime Grill in the atrium of the Sony Building. He has 14 years left on his lease, but Allaham's landlord (and ex buddy) Joseph Chetrit wants to give the restaurant the boot so that he can renovate the space as part of a plan to turn the building into a condo/hotel combination. Chetrit claims that Allaham did not get the proper DOB permits for some renovations, but the restaurateur says that his landlord failed to submit the applications. Allaham tells Page Six: "I’ll be there for a long time. We’re fighting every way we can."

— The Awl's Matt Buchanan has a theory about how the Major Food Group fairytale ends: "Everybody lived happily ever after, gorging on veal parm and everything bagels and turkey sandwiches and duck l’orange, or at least everybody that could afford it, which was just a few people, but consider just how happy they were, even though nobody lived quite as happily ever after as Major Food Group."

— And finally, here's a look at how Ratchanee Sumpatboon prepares the fiery salads and stir fries at Larb Ubol in Hell's Kitchen: