A ‘Speakeasy-Style’ Cocktail Bar Is Joining Brooklyn’s DeKalb Food Hall

Downtown Brooklyn’s DeKalb Market Hall is gaining an events space and bar

Over in downtown Brooklyn, a new events space and cocktail bar is heading to DeKalb Market Hall, a spokesperson tells Eater. A 7,500-square-foot space called DeKalb Stage will be added to the food hall early next year, specifically for hosting arts and culinary events. And the bar, dubbed Understudy, will debut around the same time. The latter is described as a “speakeasy-style” venue designed by New York-based Home Studios and other Brooklyn artists. A rotating menu of snacks, created by food hall vendors, will be served alongside cocktails.

Sunnyside BID is raising money for the restaurants and businesses destroyed by last week’s fire

The Sunnyside community is rallying support for the six Queens businesses destroyed in a massive fire last week, which began inside the New York Style Eats diner and engulfed nearby restaurants and bars Sidetracks and Zen Yai. The Sunnyside Business Improvement District — which supports neighborhood businesses — has raised nearly $80,000 for the affected businesses through an online fundraiser, and a real-life fundraising event was planned for Monday night, where vendors from Queens Night Market were to donate a portion of their proceeds to the relief fund, amNew York reports. The BID is also connecting the 70-plus people who have lost their jobs with potential employers in the area, according to the report.

UWS gains two restaurants

Brooklyn-based ice cream store Van Leeuwen continues its ambitious expansion across NYC, with plans to open a second location on the UWS at 253 Columbus Ave., between 71st and 72nd Streets, West Side Rag reports. The upscale shop already has an outpost at 448 Amsterdam Ave., between 81st and 82nd Streets. Earlier this year, the Van Leeuwen team told Eater that as many as 40 more shops could blossom around the city in the next couple of years. Kosher restaurant chain Holy Schnitzel is also heading to the UWS with a new store at 654 Amsterdam Ave., on the corner of 92nd Street, its fifth outpost between Long Island and NYC, according to West Side Rag. It will take over the space once home to Amsterdam Burger and will dish out salads, sandwiches, burgers, and more starting early year.

Grub Street will no longer dole out stars for restaurant reviews

Grub Street is ditching the star-based rating system for restaurants and adopting a numerical one instead. The new scale will range from 1 — meaning unfortunate — all the way to 100, which is synonymous to “nirvana,” critic Adam Platt says. The abrupt and major change-up comes after “much deliberation,” plus a closer look at New York’s post-gourmet dining era, where a taco can be just as star-worthy as a “lavish” Dover sole, he writes. Platt says the numerical system aims to be “broader” in scope and “simpler to navigate,” and it’ll allow the publication to judge all restaurants equally — whether it’s a local deli or a fine dining affair.