Sorry Cat Owners, Every New Restaurant Is Named After a Dog

The long list of New York restaurants named after house pets can’t be stopped: There’s Bronson’s Burgers in Nolita, Nura in Greenpoint, Rolo’s in Ridgewood, and Winona’s in Bed-Stuy — all of which opened during the pandemic. (Sorry, Deux Chats.) The latest comes from Greg Baxtrom, the chef behind Prospect Heights restaurants Olmsted, Maison Yaki, and Patti Ann’s, as well as the newly opened Five Acres in Rockefeller Center. According to a spokesperson, Baxtrom has shuttered his French Japanese skewer spot Maison Yaki to make way for Petite Patate, a French bistro named after his dog, Spud. The new restaurant, opening on February 10 at 626 Vanderbilt Avenue, near Prospect Place, ditched Japanese influences for a menu with mussels a la bouillabaisse, duck liver toast, and steak bearnaise.

Tacombi is opening a massive tortilla factory in Brooklyn

Tacombi, the taqueria chain backed by Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer, is bringing a 30,000-square-foot tortilla factory to Sunset Park. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the news in a press release on Thursday afternoon, saying the facilities would “expand operations and increase production capacity.” In addition to the 11 locations of Tacombi in New York, the company runs the Vista Hermosa line of pantry items, including packaged corn and flour tortillas sold at some 2,000 retailers across the country.

The city’s ‘first Peranakan restaurant’ opens this month

Salil Mehta, the Singaporean chef behind Laut, Singapura, and a handful of restaurants in and around Union Square, claims to be opening the “first Peranakan restaurant” in New York this month (though readers have refuted the claim, with Peranakan dishes found throughout the city). Kebaya will focus entirely on food from Singaporeans with roots in Malaysia and parts of Indonesia, with savory kuih pastry and a medley of braised pork intestine, stomach, and ears braised in caramelized ginger. It opens at 20 E. 17th Street, between Broadway and Fifth Avenue, on February 14.

Could Greenpoint be ‘Little Tokyo’ in Brooklyn?

The New York Times argues this week that Greenpoint, a north Brooklyn neighborhood best known for its Polish immigrant communities, has become an enclave for Japanese businesses and immigrants. The article points to a crop of Japanese food businesses that have opened in the area in recent years, including the restaurant Rule of Thirds; Mitsuki, a small grocer along Manhattan Avenue; the cafe Acre; and others.