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Santina's Tomato Menu, B & H Dairy Setbacks, and More A.M. Intel

Everything you need to know about New York dining today, Friday, August 7.

[Root and Bone in the East Village. Have you tried their fried chicken? Some people love it. It's brined in iced tea before hitting the frier.]
[Root and Bone in the East Village. Have you tried their fried chicken? Some people love it. It's brined in iced tea before hitting the frier.]
Daniel Krieger

Santina — the restaurant of the summer and maybe the year — now has a section of the menu devoted entirely to tomatoes:

No word yet on how those tomatoes are prepared, exactly, but trust that the Torrisi Team knows what to do with them. Mario and Rich can make four-star tomato dishes in their sleep with both of their arms tied behind their backs, all while humming "My Way" in perfect two part harmony. And they will probably do just that at their revamp of the Four Seasons space next year.

The Sixty LES Hotel has a new open-air horrorshow on its roof called Tiki Tabu. Acme's Jon Niedich put together this outdoor drinking corral along with cocktail-maker Jim Kearns, and guests can get food from Blue Ribbon down below. DJs will blast tunes long into the night, and it will be impossible to use the restroom or settle your tab, probably. Remember: Although drinking outside can be fun, all rooftop lounges are the worst.

Last week the owners of beleaguered Easts Village lunch counter B & H Dairy explained that they'd passed the Department of Buildings inspection, and an opening date was just around the bend. But now, a rep for the DOB tells DNAinfo that the restaurant actually didn't pass a test that would have allowed the gas to be turned on. Co-owner Fawzy Abdelwahed says that his contractor relayed the message that the restaurant passed the necessary DOB tests last week. Technically, the restaurant could reopen now, but it still need to pass the gas authorization test if the team wants to cook with flames. B & H has been closed since the horrific Second Avenue explosion back in March.

Steve Cuozzo likes the miniature ravioli at Soho newcomer Mamo, but he thinks basically everything else is awful: "Dull dish after dull dish tasted more whitewashed than the room — underseasoned and not always properly cooked. Among the perpetrators: moistureless Milanese-style veal chop ($31); osso buco ($38), which hadn’t been braised slowly or long enough and clung to the bone; and penne arrabbiata without a molecule of seasoning beyond generic chili flakes." The Cuozz gives the restaurant one star.

— Clinton Street Baking Company's new space is now freed from its plywood shackles. The additional dining room will seat about 55 people, and if everything goes according to plan, it should open on September 15. The interior of the space looked pretty bare as of last week.

You won't find any women behind the bar at Sukiyabashi Jiro, the Tokyo restaurant featured in the hit film Jiro Dreams of Sushi, because the chef won't allow it. Jiro's son explains: "[B]ecause of the menstrual cycle, women have an imbalance in their taste, and that's why women can't be sushi chefs." Oof.

— A new bakery on the UWS called Farinella plans to serve four-foot-long pizzas.

— The proprietors of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream will talk about how they built their business at the Brooklyn Historical Society tonight. Tickets are $5.

— And finally, here's a recipe for the weekend courtesy of Ovenly's Agatha Kulaga and Erin Patinkin:

Santina

820 Washington Street, Manhattan, NY 10014 (212) 254-3000 Visit Website