Pure Food Staff Walks Out, Lupulo Is for Lovers, and More A.M. Intel

— Raw food restaurant Pure Food & Wine went dark once again last night when employees walked out and formed a picket line after allegedly not being paid.

Once again @OneLuckyDuck & @PureFoodandWine employees are picketing, please spread the word. #NoPayNoWay!!! :-( Vegan pic.twitter.com/orDyjq2X03

— JP Ross (@JxPx) June 25, 2015

Here's a close-up of those signs:

.@sarma why do you find it so hard to pay your employees? @PureFoodandWine @OneLuckyDuck cc: @Gothamist pic.twitter.com/ymUsCLKv8T

— Howard Sherman (@hsherman) June 25, 2015

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time this has happened at Pure Food. Staff walked out in January for the same reason and owner Sarma Melngailis literally disappeared for weeks. Ultimately, with the help of a crowd-funding campaign, the restaurant reopened three months later and the staff was paid.

Update: Eater editor Nick Solares spotted this sign up today.

— Post critic Steve Cuozzo seriously thinks you should bring a date and get your swerve on at George Mendes's Lupulo. "Flirty types perched on cushioned stools radiate romantic energy," he says in his 2.5 star review. "Ever since Mendes launched Aldea six years ago, fans wondered what he’d do next. Lupulo was worth the wait."

— Michael White's still nameless fancy French project along Park Avenue isn't slatted to open until this fall, but there are already posting for front of house staff on Craigslist, so perhaps things are further along than we thought. Want the gig? "Knowledge of the French language preferred, but not necessary."

— Wylie Dufresne's Alder has gotten in on the sweet al fresco game:

Nick Solares

— Robert Sietsema approved Venezuelan hot dog vendors Santa Salsa are coming to Smorgasburg this summer (starting next weekend) along with a slew of new vendors. Order the perro con todo (dog with everything), explains Sietsema. It "arrives heaped with cheddar cheese, potato chips, onions, slaw, and ketchup, but as if that weren’t enough, it is then heavily squirted with a sprightly corn sauce called santa salsa. The effect on your taste buds is electric."

— Looks like Tal Bagels has taken over the old Ess-A-Bagel space. No word on Tower Bagels, which was slated for the spot. Ess-A-Bagel fans, don't worry, the team promises the bagels are returning to a space just across the street. Tal bagels, watch out. Here's visual proof of that Tal outpost, courtesy of a tipster.

Tips

— Looking for a meal cooked by a mom who isn't your mom? There's a spot for that. Introducing soul food spot Mama's House that's run out of a woman's Boerum Hill home.

— No. 7 man Tyler Kord and the Robicellis competed in an edible undies contest with Upright Citizens Brigade. There are no words, just watch: