A 19-Year-Old UWS Bistro and a Chinatown Institution Shutter

Restaurant closings

Sing Kee Seafood Restaurant, a popular Cantonese restaurant opened in 2011, shuttered abruptly last month, Bowery Boogie reports. Although the owners have not released a public statement, the decision to close the establishment on 42 Bowery was purportedly due to a rent hike. Meanwhile on the Upper West Side, Henry’s, a neighborhood fixture since 1999, announced that its final service will be on Sunday, October 21, according to the West Side Rag. Owner Henry Rinehart cited “changes in my personal and professional priorities” as his reasons for leaving in a public message to customers. Scott Snyder, his former chef and current business partner, will assume ownership of the space.

Pop-ups and happenings around town

Chef Sam Smith of Tusk, a seasonal Middle Eastern restaurant in Portland, OR, and Matt Griffin of Studio at the Freehand New York hotel will join forces for a two-night dinner series starting on Tuesday, October 9. The duo will serve a special menu with highlights including Tusk’s cumin-spiced hummus made with shelling beans, as well as kibbe naya with raw lamb leg, turmeric, yogurt, and green wheat. For dessert, diners can order a chocolate zucchini cake topped with malted whipped cream. Reservations can be made here. In Brooklyn, Eater Young Gun DeVonn Francis is continuing to bring people together at Living Room, a seasonal chef-in-residence series at Yardy at Rype Studios. On Thursday, October 11, Jae Joseph will host a discussion with Sable Smith, an artist and writer, and Pamela Sneed, a poet, activist, and teacher. Tickets are $40. Over on Orchard and Essex Streets, the Lower East Side Partnership is gearing up for Sunday, October 14, when the neighborhood will celebrate its 19th annual Pickle Day, a street festival featuring gherkins galore from 20-plus local vendors.

Slice Out Hunger lets diners try New York’s best slices for $1 each

New York’s most prominent slice shops are teaming up on Wednesday, October 10 for Slice Out Hunger, an annual pizza festival at St. Anthony’s Church in Greenwich Village. All proceeds will be split between The Sylvia Center, a nonprofit that promotes healthy eating, and City Harvest, a local charity that rescues 61 million pounds of potential food waste each year and delivers it to food-insecure New Yorkers. Scott Wiener, the founder of Scott’s Pizza Tours, is throwing the event, which brings together a star-studded line-up including Di Fara, Lucali, Paulie Gee’s Slice Shop, Patsy’s, and Prince Street Pizza. All slices are available for just $1, with a limit of one per customer from each pizzeria. A $150 donation allows two customers to skip the lines with a VIPizza Passport.

Hot Bread Kitchen’s pioneering founder will step down after a decade

Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez, the founder of East Harlem-based social enterprise Hot Bread Kitchen, will step down from the organization after 10 years, the Times reports. Rodriguez worked for years in the nonprofit sector prior to launching the project in her Brooklyn kitchen. Over the past decade, the organization has provided job training for income-insecure women, many of whom are immigrants or recovering from incarceration. Since its launch, the program has expanded to include HBK Incubates, an incubator that provides resources to small-scale food entrepreneurs. Hot Bread Kitchen will continue to grow and expand nationally under the leadership of its new executive director, Shaolee Sen.

This New York ice carving studio is offering ice luges for private parties

Okamoto Studio, a New York-based ice carving collective run by Takeo and Shintaro Okamoto, has announced that it will offer hand-carved ice sculptures for private events. In recent years, the father-son team have made a name for themselves at the city’s cocktail bars. Their larger ice sculptures have popped up around town at everything from bar mitzvahs and weddings to flashy events for the fashion set. Now, for $220 a piece, customers can purchase a “Fun Luge,” a 30-pound, LED-illuminated ice sculpture designed to chill drinks. The unconventional centerpieces come in more than 50 designs ranging from predictable — a Halloween pumpkin — to over-the-top — the aptly titled “Dude Torso.” Once the drinks start flowing, party guests have four to six hours before it all quite literally melts away.