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Roberta's Midtown, Sirio Recuperates in Italy, and More Intel

Is Amazon starting a restaurant delivery service? Find out about that development, plus more restaurant news from around NYC.

[The dining room at Stephen Starr's Upland.  Great place to grab dinner this evening.]
[The dining room at Stephen Starr's Upland. Great place to grab dinner this evening.]
Daniel Krieger

— As rumored, a Roberta's spinoff is indeed coming to the UrbanSpace Vanderbilt market near Grand Central Terminal. The team from the most important Bushwick restaurant of all time will operate a counter inside the market along with the teams from AsiaDog, Ovenly, Delaney Chicken, Mimi's Hummus, Red Hook Lobster Pound, and Amali. The menu at this Roberta's outpost will include nine of the restaurant's most popular pizzas priced from $6 to $17 (all available in small or large sizes), plus a romaine salad, baked goods, and beer. Those precious garlic knots and pizza bites are making the trip to Manhattan. The team has operated similar kiosks at outdoor markets around the city for a number of years, but this is their first permanent spinoff. UrbanSpace Vanderbilt is slated to open on September 17.

New York's most famous maitre d', Siri Maccioni, spent a month at a hospital in Tuscany this summer, recovering from a fall. The good news is that the 83-year-old restaurateur is feeling better now, and he will be spending the rest of the month resting up in Montecatini Terme, Italy. Sirio's son, Mauro, tells the Post: "He is charging himself up for an eventful fall season and new Le Cirque menu. He broke his leg and has some pins placed inside."

— Look who's giving away free coffee in Midtown this morning:

Stumptown Coffee Roasters partnered with the late night host for this "Col Brew" giveaway.

Amazon is currently staffing up its "restaurants" division in New York. Rumor has it that the company is trying to get into the meal delivery game. Amazon has already tested out a meal delivery program in Seattle.

— The Maritime Hotel's patio is now wrapped in plywood. Behind that massive green wall, workers are building Mario Batali and Jose Bastianich's new Italian restaurant, La Sirena:

[La Sirena]

Bugs, the tiny sushi restaurant from chef Shoo Boo on East 12th Street, is closed for good. An EV Grieve reader recently spotted the restaurant's signage in the trash outside the space. Chef Boo is apparently returning to her native Japan. Bugs got some love from Ligaya Mishan shortly after it opened three years ago.

In other shutter-related news, the Park Slope location of Beauty Bar at 249 5th Ave is dunzo. The bar/nail parlor opened in 2012. The East Village original is still open.

Max and Eli Sussman want to open more locations of their Berg'n shawarma stand Samesa. The chef bros take Jeff Gordinier on a trip to their home city of Detroit, in search of culinary inspiration.

Vice President Joe Biden will attend a fundraising dinner at '21' Club this Thursday.

Once Upon a Tart on Sullivan Street has new owners, who are now serving lunch items in addition to baked goods. One of the proprietors, Alicia Walter, worked at Eataly's cooking school before reopening the Soho restaurant. The team is vying for a liquor license, although so far, they've had no luck getting approval from the CB2.

— Although restaurants are performing better than ever during DOH inspections, the number of complaints from diners has increased by about 18 percent over the last year.

Dominque Ansel will host a "pie night" at his new West Village bakery/cafe on October 1, where guests can eat as many slices as they want for $35. Tickets go on sale this Thursday.

— And finally, here's how to make chicken like Marc Forgione:

UrbanSpace Vanderbilt

230 Park Avenue, New York, NY

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