‘Top Chef’ Runner-Up Launches NYC Dinner Series

Top Chef’s NYC-based runner-up launches Southern food dinner series in Harlem

This season’s Top Chef runner-up chef Adrienne Cheatham is launching a new dinner series dedicated to Southern fare called “Sunday Best.” Dinners will include four courses, a welcome cocktail, and wine and will take place monthly throughout Harlem, starting at Ginny’s Supper Club. The first dinner is this Sunday, April 8th at 7:30 p.m. Cheatham has worked in NYC restaurants like Le Bernardin and Red Rooster, and dishes expected to be served at the events include blackened octopus with squid ink grits and banana pudding with yuzu and meringue. More information about how to get tickets, which are $150 per person, can be found here.

Planned Two Boots in FiDi might be DOA

The East Village-based pizza chain Two Boots had plans to go into a new space on Nassau St., near Fulton Street in the Financial District, but EV Grieve is reporting that a for rent sign has suddenly gone up on the building. The Two Boots website still lists the location as coming soon, so stay tuned for updates.

Closings and coming attractions

Tribeca’s long-running American restaurant and bar Souths is closing after almost 18 years in the neighborhood. In a farewell statement, the owners said the restaurant will be open through April 27th. Meanwhile, on the UWS, Latin-Chinese hybrid spot La Dinastia has been temporarily closed by the Health Department.

In coming attractions, also on the UWS, Greek restaurant Elea is getting ready to open at 217 West 85th St. some time this spring. And Lucky Pickle, the latest restaurant from Jacob’s Pickles’ Jacob Hadjigeorgis, is set to open at the end of April.

A deeper look at gentrification and the new Starbucks in Bed-Stuy

AMNY delves into the politics and polarizing impact of the new Starbucks location in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where 36th district City Council member Robert Cornegy says the massive coffee chain has stirred up “mixed emotions.” The coffee corporation opened the Bed-Stuy location as part of its plan to open 15 stores in low-income neighborhoods and invest in the local economy by hiring locals and providing free job-skills training for young adults. Opponents of the job-skills program argue that Starbucks is just training young people to enter jobs with low wages, exploiting them for cheap labor.