Sunny’s Will Live On Thanks to Neighborhood Support

Sunny’s is saved

Quintessential Red Hook dive Sunny’s is officially saved, with an announcement on its Facebook page celebrating. Once owned by Sunny Balzano, the owner died last year. Against his family’s wishes, his widow Tone Balzano Johansen got approval to buy the building (253 Conover Street) in January and had six months to raise funds for the down payment.

Not dead yet

The Daily News reports that Great Jones Cafe may stay open after all, with an unnamed employee who says, “It’s a possibility but nothing has been decided yet.” EV Grieve offers its own update with back reporting from April.

Signage alert

Signs are going up at Martina on 11th Street, the fast-casual pizza spot from Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group that may be poised to become the pizza version of Shake Shack. Stay tuned.

Speaking of pizza...

First We Feast weighs in on the best pizza for every budget, from the dollar slice at Vinny Vincenz to the $30 regular pie at DiFara, which, by the way, has gone up $10 since 2014.

A Hell’s Kitchen transplant

Newsday reports that Ariana’s Rona Mirzai, who sold her share of the Hell’s Kitchen restaurant, is now on Long Island at Choopan Grill way out in Selden. She has teamed up with her daughters and her 73 year-old mother to run the place:

Mirzai’s cooking showcases dishes — meats, curries, dumplings and hearty rice platters dubbed palau — that she began learning as a little girl from her own mother in Kabul. She brought the recipes with her to Queens 36 years ago, when she escaped a then Soviet-occupied country that remains mired in conflict. At Choopan Grill, she feeds a blossoming community of fellow Afghans who, like her, have settled in a region that includes Selden, Ronkonkoma and Medford.

London’s Turkish cuisine

For tonight, find your own Dining on a Dime inspiration: