After 35 years, this restaurant is . . . not closing
In the second about-face this week, Francisco’s Centro Vasco owners have changed their minds after announcing their closure last week, reports DNAinfo. Having shuttered July 24, they announced they’ll reopen next week. Javier Quintans, who planned on selling the building, said, “I just felt like I was going in the wrong way to just sell the building right now, and just not thinking of my future and everyone else’s future as well.” The restaurant that specializes in lobster dinners has been a family-run operation since 1979.
AbcV brunch starts this weekend
On the heels of Jean-Georges’ Public Kitchen as the locus for randy goings-on, AbcV is priming diners during its debut brunch service, starting Saturday, with a Champagne cocktail that includes blueberries, lavender, and damiana, an ingredient touted as an aphrodisiac. Also on the menu there’s a vanilla chia bowl with dates, cacao, and brazil nuts, as well as a sweet potato brunch bowl with kale, avocado, coconut and quinoa. Brunch runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Netflix-fueled doughnuts, today only
Fans of Narcos, the drug-trafficking cat-and-mouse chase on Netflix, take note: In conjunction with season three starting September 1 focused on the Cali Cartel, a Narcos truck will be stopping around NYC giving out donuts and coffee, with Arturo Castro at the A.M. locations.
Astoria gets a Korean import
The fourth U.S. Pelicana Chicken will open in Astoria at 22-58 31st Street, following locations in Flushing, Sunnyside, and Palisades Park, New Jersey. Pelicana Chicken offers 50 variations of seasoned chicken, with the flagship based in South Korea, where there are 2,000 stores and counting.
A fat celebration
The Institute for Culinary Education will have its First Friday soiree tomorrow from 6 to 10 p.m., a $30 ticket that includes drinks and a demo. This Friday’s is Mad for Mangalista, with Chris Andersen, the founder of Mangalitsa by Mosefund, Hillary Sterling of Vic's NY serving prosciutto cotto sandwiches, ICE’s Chad Pagano serving pork fat pretzel rolls, and more.
A new Tasty Garden
Baron’s Dim Sum has closed and Tasty Garden will open at 518 6th Street, EV Grieve reports. No news yet if it’s a name change or a switch in ownership.
In honor of Francisco’s Centro Vasco
A celebration of lobster, this time in the form of a lobster roll: