/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/49179161/20160319-sweet_green_bleecker-1.0.jpg)
— Murray Hill Italian staple Da Ciro closed its doors one year ago, but now the owners are planning to reopen the restaurant in Clinton Hill. Proprietors Ciro Verdi and Victoria Frignani signed a lease at 458 Myrtle Ave. The menu will include many of the favorites from the original restaurant, but Frignani tells DNAinfo: "We’re messing around with Italian tacos, doing our own twist....We’re trying to bring a little more new wave tapas style. People tend to go more towards ordering small plates." It's slated to open next month. The original restaurant had a 20-year run on Lexington Ave.
— Adam Platt notes that there's a "slightly precious quality" to some of the cooking at High Street on Hudson, but he loves a lot of the dishes. Here's Platty on the dinner menu: "Poached and fried tripe is rendered smoother and less tripey by a subtle dose of sunchokes, and my dubious-sounding order of 'seaweed bucatini' turned out to be a delicious, tangy symphony of umami-laced goodness (kombu, spicy bits of ’nduja, rosy petals of bottarga made with lobster roe). Except for the rubbery, possibly overbrined chicken, the entrée options (tender, faintly bacon-y duck breast, melting arctic char, borderline-Wagyu-quality Pennsylvania beef) are better than you’ll find at most neighborhood bakery and sandwich shops. " Three stars out of five.
— Beloved kitchen goods store Broadway Panhandler is in the last phase of its going-out-of-business sale. A public auction of the restaurant's remaining equipment is slated for this Thursday, March 31.
— Nicholas Niarchos of Tables for Two digs J.J. Johnson's "Afro-Asian-American" cuisine at The Cecil in Harlem: "A recent revision to Johnson’s menu saw the end of well-loved dishes such as his fried guinea hen. An excellent collard-green salad, which melds the softness of red adzuki beans with the crumble of candied cashews, thankfully remains. Along with braised goat dumplings, it is the best way to start a meal."
— Declan Rainsford and Rory Dolan — the proprietors of frat-tastic Second Avenue bar The Brazen Fox — are vying for the old Gothic Cabinet Craft space directly across the street from their tavern. The duo applied for a liquor license for a bar/restaurant at this address. EV Grieve notes that this area is saturated with bars, so the restaurateurs might have a tough time getting a new liquor license in a space that's never had one before.
— Tribeca saloon Raccoon Lodge celebrated its 34th anniversary the weekend. The bar is slated to close and possibly move to a new space soon because the building is being demolished to make way for a mega-development. A bartender recently told Tribeca Citizen: "We’re month to month at this point....I’d be surprised if we get another month." Rumor has it that the nearby New York Dolls strip club also got an extended stay from the developer. Word on the street is that it might move to the Remix space at 27 Park Place once the buildings are torn down.
— Veterans of Rouge Et Blanc and Dover are planning to open an Asian snack shop called Char Sue at 119 Essex Street. A sample menu includes blackened pork shoulder, curried lamb ribs, papaya salad, Chinese celery, egg noodles, and sticky rice. The team is applying for a beer and wine license for the tiny space.
— A new Japanese restaurant called Shinbashi is coming to the First Avenue space between East Fifth and East Sixth streets that previously housed Tinto Fino.
— And finally, here's a look at how Christina Tosi & Co. make Milk Bar's "Naked" cakes: