Chez Panisse Chef Tapped to Lead a Graydon Carter Restaurant

Times contributor takes over Monkey Bar kitchen

City Kitchen columnist and former head chef of famed Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif. David Tanis has been tapped as the new chef of Graydon Carter and Jeff Klein’s Monkey Bar. Tanis told the Times his food “will be straightforward and simply presented” and “that the menu would evolve, but would veer away from steakhouse fare and emphasize more salads, fish and vegetables with a seasonal focus using sustainable ingredients.”

Lots of closings, and an opening

Sunset Park coffee shop Parkette closed at the end of January after two years in the neighborhood, thanking customers in a farewell post on Instagram. The Carroll Gardens outpost of Toby’s Public House has also closed after owner Christine Iu was unable to pay a contractor for work done on the pub. It had been open for less than a year. After 19 years in Fort Greene, South African restaurant Madiba has too closed. Specialty bakery Tribeca Treats is also set to close after 11 years in Tribeca but will remain open until March 25th.

In more positive news, Jianbing Company just hit the Gotham West Market, serving the traditional northern Chinese breakfast dish jianbing, crepes made with a wheat and grain flour-based batter, eggs, and sauces that are then filled with different ingredients.

A conversation with David Chang, an Academy Award-winning director, and an Eater NY editor

David Chang’s globe-trotting food docuseries Ugly Delicious drops on Netflix on February 23, and the 92Y is hosting an event to promote the new series. David Chang and Academy Award-winning director Morgan Neville will be in conversation with Eater NY’s own Serena Dai, talking “global adventures in culinary culture” and “the unique power of food to bring us together.” Tickets can be purchased here.

El Toro Blanco gets revamped by a chef returning to NYC

Ivy Stark, formerly the executive chef of Dos Caminos, has returned to New York from Chicago to partner with John McDonald as the chef of El Toro Blanco. Some of the dishes she plans to serve up at the West Village joint include mashed black beans on corn masa, a Mexican beef tartare, cauliflower fajitas, and chile-roasted fish with a cucumber and citrus slaw. She has also developed a margarita made with cucumber and mint. The new menu should roll out by early March. Until then, try a cactus taco: