L’Apicio Sets Closing Date — and More Intel

— With an Indian molecular gastronomy restaurant set to take over 11 East First Street, L’Apicio has set an official closing date. The large Italian restaurant from the L’Artusi team will shutter on May 20, it announced on Facebook.

— Du’s Donuts owner and chef’s chef Wylie Dufresne has some interesting eating habits chronicled by the Times. TL;DR is that he starts all his days with a deli egg and cheese and a coffee quest, followed by a Pret a Manger balsamic chicken and avocado sandwich, a cucumber seltzer, and a brownie bite.

— Tonight brings the annual James Beard Awards, AKA the Oscars of the hospitality industry, with of course several NYC chefs and restaurants in the running. Here’s a look at who Eater thinks will — and should — win.

— Speaking of awards, following her James Beard for “Lidia Celebrates America: Holiday for Heroes” on PBS, Lidia Bastianich is the subject of a musical called Marry Harry. It’s a romance between a real estate broker and a cook who works at his family's failing Italian restaurant— who decides he's going to join the kitchen at Felidia as Lidia's sous chef and has to break the news to his family. (Yes, this is a real play). It’s running through May 21 at The York Theater.

— Citywide ferry service launched today, along with a on-boat snack shop called The New Stand. It’s supposed to be what happens “if your favorite bodega and favorite blog had a baby,” which in practice means coffee, green juice, cold brew, shrimp chips, and non-food items like Moleskin notebooks. Alcohol will also eventually be served.

Cliff Endo

— A couple new restaurants to note: Ice cream shop Alphabet Scoop has reopened for the season at 543 East 11th Street; and American restaurant Bowery Road is now open inside the Hyatt Union Square (134 Fourth Avenue).

— Local juice giant Juice Press has shuttered the experimental annex next door to its original location on East First Street. The space was used as an incubator for another concept, which apparently did not catch on.

— Uptown food festival Harlem EatUp!, cofounded by Red Rooster chef-owner Marcus Samuelsson, returns from May 15 through May 21. The full lineup is here, full of big-name restaurants and bars such as Minton’s, Pig & Khao, The Meatball Shop, Barbuto, Oceana, and more.

— Danny Meyer’s thin-crust pizza restaurant Marta is putting on a new dinner series called Dueling Pizzas, bringing in five guest chefs to take over half the pizza menu. Razza’s Dan Richer (May 8th), Best Pizza’s Frank Pinello (June 5), Olmsted’s Greg Baxtrom (July 10), Lucali’s Mark Iacono (August 14), and Hearth’s Marco Canora (September 12) will all create three to four of their own pizza’s on Marta’s cracker-like crust, available a la carte or as part of a $75 pizza “omakase.” Reserve here.

— And finally, here are some of the aforementioned Marta’s fried pasta balls: