This Underground Barbecue Joint Has Attracted a Following in Crown Heights

Legit North Carolina-style barbecue on a Brooklyn street corner

The Times spotlights a barbecue operation at the corner of Albany Avenue and Pacific Street in Crown Heights, run by Donnell Rogers out of his front yard. On Saturdays, Rogers makes pecan wood-smoked pork ribs and chicken legs with a vinegar-based sauce that have attracted a following. A cardboard sign calls it Smack Grill, and customers say they love it for how well the smoke sticks to the meat.

Chicago’s famed Fat Rice chef will cook next at Chefs Club

Starting on August 13, chef Abe Conlon of Fat Rice in Chicago will take up the next three-month residency at Chefs Club in Soho. Conlon is fresh off a James Beard Award win for Best Chef: Great Lakes in 2018. His popular restaurant Fat Rice is beloved for its Macau cuisine, which melds Chinese, Portuguese, and Indian flavors in dishes such as the arroz gordo with curried chicken, char siu, linguiça sausage, wood-roasted beef, and chile prawns. There will also be a speakeasy-style cocktail bar in the private dining room called Ladies Room.

Seven coming attractions to watch out for

Headed to Astoria is a doughnut shop called Sugar & Water, set to open at 29-14 23rd Ave. In Tribeca, French cafe Maman will open another location at 205 Hudson St. Further uptown, 1004 Second Ave. will become a global small plates restaurant called Wanderlust from the owner of now-closed La Mangeoire. The same owner will open Encore, another French restaurant, but in the Meatpacking District. Plus, Chinatown pho shop Pho Grand will be a part of the mix in the upcoming Market Line at Essex Crossing on the Lower East Side. On the Upper West Side, 301 West 96th St. will become a Super Tacos Deli. Nearby, bone broth shop Brodo will open at 2144 Broadway.

Three new restaurants in NYC

Now open in Williamsburg at 271 Metropolitan Ave. is once very-trendy vegetarian restaurant the Butcher’s Daughter in a 1,900-square-foot space that also offers CBD in drinks. And at 48 Third Ave., deli and market Healthy Green Gourmet is open. Plus, the owner of Bond St. has opened Burger Box, a burger restaurant in Urbanspace’s Times Square market.

Great Jones remains closed after the owner’s death, and other closings

But, one-year-old Lower East Side restaurant Hemlock will close on July 28, the owners announced on Instagram without providing a reason. Since the death of the owner of Great Jones Cafe, the beloved Noho Cajun-Creole restaurant has remained closed, with no word as to when it will reopen. On the Upper West Side, Aroma Espresso Bar is now closed. Finally, four-year-old Irish pub Dorian Gray Tap & Grill in Alphabet City has closed after four years.