April Bloomfield Has Closed Her LA Restaurant

April Bloomfield shutters her Los Angeles restaurant

Chef April Bloomfield has closed her Hollywood restaurant Hearth & Hound after just over a year in the city. Despite tons of hype, the restaurant was troubled almost from the start; six days after it opened, owner and restaurateur Ken Friedman was accused of sexual misconduct at New York City restaurants like the Spotted Pig. He stepped away from day-to-day management, and by June 2018, Friedman and Bloomfield split their empire so that she would keep the spots in LA, where she moved. She maintains the Breslin in New York and Tosca Cafe in SF.

More deals for government workers affected by the shutdown

Today, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Harlem restaurateur Melba Wilson is offering a free buffet-style lunch at her restaurant Melba’s to federal employees affected by the government shutdown. The buffet will have options like fried catfish, cornbread, barbecue chicken, as well as vegan dishes. Diners will need to show federal employee ID cards. Sullivan Street Bakery is handing out free loaves of bread at both of its Manhattan locations to furloughed workers who present a federal employee ID card. Furloughed workers can also get a free pasta dish and glass of wine at La Fontana on Staten Island.

Openings, closings, and coming attractions

The gluten-free and vegan pizza spot Cheska’s has opened in the Bowery Market. Brooklyn-based coffee brand Nobletree opened an East Village outpost at 37 St. Mark’s Pl. Karvouna Mezze will be a new Greek tapas restaurant at 241 Bowery. Birch Coffee is plotting its eleventh location for luxury South Harlem condo building the Fifth Avenue, opening in June. On the Lower East Side, tapas restaurant Cata closed.

The Ainsworth debuts a CBD menu

The Ainsworth, the restaurant that serves gold-dusted chicken wings ($45 for 10 pieces), is going all the way in on the CBD boom, rolling out a new CBD-centric menu at its Midtown location this week. Burgers, mac and cheese, and wings all get the CBD treatment.

EMP reacts to new World’s 50 Best rules

As previously reported, Eleven Madison Park will never be named one of the World’s 50 Best restaurants again thanks to new rules from the organization. EMP boss Will Guidara posted a reaction to the news on Instagram, writing: “On one hand, it would have been nice to try to take the top spot one more time, but on the other hand we know it’s the right move for the organization.”

Kamala Harris hits the deli after announcing presidential bid

After announcing her intent to run for president in 2020 on Good Morning America, Senator Kamala Harris stopped in a deli at Penn Station to have a classic egg and cheese sandwich.