DŌ, the Edible Cookie Dough Shop Opens Today, Taquitoria to Close by Week’s End, and More Intel

— DŌ, the edible cookie dough spot opens today, the shop from Kristen Tomlan at 550 LaGuardia Pl., serving over a dozen cookie dough flavors served in a cup or cone, as part of cookie sandwiches, ice cream sundaes, and other sweet treats.

— Robert Deiaco, who served as executive chef at Armani Ristorante 5th Avenue before opening East 12th Osteria, will open an upscale Northern Italian restaurant next month. Avena will take the bi-level space at 141 East 57th Street previously occupied by Teodora. "It will be a modern interpretation using organic and biodynamic ingredients,''' says Deiaco, who grew up on a farm in the Dolomites. Among the dishes on his new menu will be crudi de mare with raw langoustine and apple topped with sturgeon caviar as well as his take on vitello tonnato. The 120-seat restaurant will feature banquettes, oversized chairs, and a fireplace on the second floor. - BL

— Taquitoria at 168 Ludlow will close by the the end of the week, due to high rents in the neighborhood. Bowery Boogie says its next move is a commissary to prepare food for its kiosk inside Madison Square Garden.

— Food cart operator Sameh Bules, who was stabbed in early Jan. over a bag of chips, returned to his spot on 86th Street near Central Park West this week. The stabbing ruptured his kidney. Neighbors started a GoFundMe campaign to help him, raising over $16,000 to help him so far.

— The city’s department of Small Business Services has put together a three-month, paid training program for 18 to 24 year olds in restaurant kitchens, geared toward those who aren’t in school and are unemployed. Following a week of classroom training, trainees are placed in restaurants starting now, during Restaurant Week. Participating spots include Momofuku, Le Pain Quotidien, and Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, The Modern, Ai Fiori, and Marea.

— Aged sushi and natural wine are the focus in the Times’ T Magazine piece on newly-opened Ichimura. “He says that spanish mackerel ages for 10 days before it arrives at its sweet spot, while yellowtail needs a week. Meanwhile, he serves horse mackerel hours after it has arrived from Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market.”

— In parts of Queens, especially near the Kennedy Airport, 80 percent of all sewer backups are caused by cooking oil (and the fact that pipes in the area are half the diameter of those in other boroughs) Crain’s reports. As a result, New York officials have been encouraging over 1,000 restaurants in the area to sell used cooking oil to some of the 24 licensed haulers that pick up cooking grease and convert it into biodiesel. “In October those haulers got a boost when Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a law requiring that the biodiesel content in the city's heating oil supply increase to 20% in 2034 from the current mandate of 2%.”

— Designed by James Corner Field Operations — the group behind the architecture of the High Line — includes Greenpoint Landing (21 Commercial St.) among its projects, a 22-acre project that stretches for half a mile along Brooklyn’s waterfront. Its first retail tenant will be Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream, which will debut in April at 7 Bell Slip. The ice cream company has five New York locations as well as trucks in warmer weather.

— Tonight is the birthday of Robert Burns, Scotland’s most famous poet, which makes for an excuse to attend Burns dinners, try haggis, and read/listen to his poems aloud. The Spotted Pig (314 W. 11th St.) features a Burns night family-style menu of cullen skink (haddock soup), venison sausage, and haggis with neeps (a swede/turnip) and tatties (mashed potatoes). There’s a whisky toast, readings of classic Burns poetry, and bagpipes. Tickets are $100 and reservations are accepted through events@thespottedpig.

— Analogue (19 W. 8th St.) will also offer a Scotch flight in honor of Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns, which includes a Highland single-malt Dalmore 12 -Year, Balvenie 12 Year Doublewood from Speyside; and the heavily-peated Ardbeg 10 Year from Islay for $40.

— Saturday from 7 to 10 p.m., Cochon555 hosts a chef’s course dinner series that starts at Ghost Donkey and heads to Saxon + Parole (316 Bowery) for five courses with chefs Brad Farmerie (Saxon + Parole, PUBLIC), Nicole Gajadhar (Saxon + Parole) , Matt Lambert (The Musket Room), and Mads Refslund (soon to open Fire and Ice). Tickets are $125, with donations made to Piggy Bank for small farms and sustainable agriculture.

— And last, check out the making of squid ink chitarra at Al Di La.