Le Bernardin Diners Evacuated Yesterday After Chopper Crashed Into Building

Helicopter crashes into Le Bernardin building, prompting restaurant evacuation

Lunch service abruptly halted at high-end Midtown seafood restaurant Le Bernardin on Monday when a helicopter crashed into the building where it’s housed. The chopper crash-landed on top of the building at 787 Seventh Ave. at around 2 p.m., killing the pilot and prompting the restaurant’s evacuation. Located on the ground floor of the office tower, Le Bernardin remained closed through Monday night.

Get ready for the second Amazon Go store in NYC, and other Manhattan openings and closings

Amazon is opening a second convenience store today: The Amazon Go store at 300 Park Ave. in Midtown will sell ready-to-eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, plus some groceries. Local vendors include Dominique Ansel, Magnolia Bakery, Ess-a-Bagel, and Bien Cuit. It’s the second cashierless Amazon cafe to open in NYC; the first debuted at Brookfield Place in Battery Park City.

Upper West Side French bakery La Toulousaine has closed at 942 Amsterdam Ave., between 106th and 107th streets, but the neighborhood will gain a Dunkin’ on Amsterdam Avenue between 120th and 121st streets. Also, King David Tacos brings its Austin-style breakfast tacos to Madison Square Park today at the corner of 26th Street and Fifth Avenue, its third NYC location.

Ample Hills opens its Brooklyn waterfront outpost this week, and more happenings around the borough

Over in Brooklyn, Ample Hills Creamery is getting ready to open its newest outpost at the Brooklyn Bridge Park — located at the historic Fulton Ferry Landing. It opens Thursday, with the following hours: Sunday to Thursday from noon to 10 p.m., and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Meanwhile, East Williamsburg gains an all-day restaurant called Apollonia today, backed by the team behind Walter Foods and Walter’s. The Mediterranean restaurant at 128 Meserole St., on Manhattan Avenue, will be a cafe during the day, with dinner rolling in around 5 p.m. Chef Jordan Heissenberger (Faun, Vinegar Hill House, Buvette) is at the helm, and drinks will lean toward wine.

Another blow for high-end Greek restaurant Milos, this time in Montreal

Following Eater NY critic Ryan Sutton’s zero-star review of Greek restaurant Milos at Hudson Yards — in which he calls it “one of the last big restaurant scams in New York” — a Montreal critic revisited the high-end seafood chain and was also unimpressed. Though she had positively reviewed the Montreal spot in 2016, her latest take also notes the restaurant’s “staggering” prices, as Sutton does in his review. Of a $108 grilled fish, she writes, “did this fish have exceptional finesse or taste? No.”

Iconic Florence panini maker will be in NYC for a month this summer

Crazy popular Florence panini shop All’Antico Vinaio is heading to New York City for a month. Starting June 13, the sandwich shop — a tiny counter-service restaurant that’s perpetually packed in Florence — will pop up at Greenwich Village Italian restaurant Otto Enoteca e Pizzeria, previously owned by Mario Batali before his business partner Joe Bastianich took over. The famed paninis are made on schiacciata, a Tuscan flatbread, and stuffed with Italian ingredients such as mozzarella and prosciutto.

SNL stars Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones spotted in historic Greenwich Village bar

Saturday Night Live stars Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones were spotted having a grand ol’ time at the new White Horse Tavern on Saturday night. The Greenwich Village literary haunt recently reopened following several weeks of renovation.

NYC’s Fairway Market is opening a cooking school

Specialty grocery store Fairway Market is behind a new cooking school open to the public called the Cooking Place, located within the Upper West Side store on 74th Street and Broadway. Over 100 cooking classes will be offered, from a wide variety of genres like “chinese takeout,” “Parisian steakhouse,” and “afternoon tea party.” They’ll be taught by Fairway’s executive chef Laura Licona. Classes start on June 15.